Dissertation Improvement Grant: A Comparative Analysis of Inuit Mortuary Practices from Prehistoric Times to the Influences of Christianity

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This dissertation grant proposal is a comparative analysis of the mortuary practices of Inuit groups from prehistoric times up to the influence of Christianity. Although Inuit groups are geographically disperse, they share many cultural similarities. However, methods of corpse disposal are varied. The study combines ethnographic and archeological descriptions and data with folklore accounts from museums and libraries in the United States, Canada, and Denmark in an effort to document the range and nature of the variability. The project will produce a fuller understanding of historic and pre-historic Inuit groups and arctic hunter-gatherer mortuary practices.