The Eskimo

The earliest migrants moved southward to better lands and warmer climate. The last wave of Asians to reach North America arrived between three thousand and two thousand B.C. By then the land bridge was once again underwater so these later Asians must have crossed by boat. These people, the ancestors of today's Eskimo did not go south. Instead they settle in the cold northern lands. There were no trees, few animals to hunt and little or no land for farming. They had to spend most of their time building shelters, finding food and keeping warm. The Eskimo built different homes in different seasons. During the summer they lived in tents made from animal's skins. But during the winter their homes had to protect them from the Arctic cold. When they had no wood or stone, the Eskimo built igloos with blocks of ice and snow. They learned to be good hunters. Sometimes they had to travel hours over ice and snow to find the animals. People living near the oceans, caught fish and hunted seals and whales.