The Nutaarqortoq Tribe

The Nutaarqortoq (Nut-a:ɾ-qoɾ-toq) are a tribe of people living on the Nutaarqortoq islands of the Maniitloq region. They are in close contact with the country of Vladirkuta, and there is some dispute over if they are natives of Agea or Sisune because of it. They are distantly related to the Hiuralik, but are considered a unique culture due to their environment and different customs.

The Nutaarqortoq are unplayable

## Culture

### Industry and Housing

Nutaarqortoq live year round in semi-underground homes called an Ulaq. These homes are made of a wooden or whale bone frame and covered in sod and are entered through the roof. There are two rooms, a main room with the beds and the fire and a secondary room for storage. In a village there are both family homes and communal buildings. The homes are about 15.2 by 6.1 m and several families will share one home.

Weapons and boats are the excelling pieces of technology made by the Nutaarqortoq.

The Nutaarqortoq have two styles of boat. The smaller baidarka and the larger baidara. Baidarka are one to three person fishing and hunting boats similar to the Hiuralik qajaq. They are made by stretching animal skin over a frame of wood and bone. The Baidara is a larger, open boat used for carrying cargo and transporting people across the islands, it is similar to the Hiuralik umiak.

### Art

The typical forms of Nutaarqortoq art are weaving, figurines, clothing, carving, and mask making. Ivory and wood are the favored materials.

Men typically carve figurines, masks and armor (as well as boats). Women weave and sew clothing. The exception the male dominated art of carving is sewing needles, which are carved by the woman who uses them. They are typically decorated with carved animal heads.

Carved figurines are used for decoration of other items and are made of ivory or wood. They typically depict animals. Ivory is used for jewelry and piercings and is distinct to each village and family. These small carvings have become a form of trade currency to the Nutaarqortoq. Masks are always carved from wood, then painted and decorated with feathers. The masks are used for telling the oral history of the tribe, and often villages have a large number of unique masks for use in these story telling practices.

Baskets and mats are woven by women, and serve both aesthetic and practical purposes. Women grow out and sharpen their thumbnails to use as a basketry tool. Baskets are woven from grass, baleen, birch bark and puffin feathers. Weaving is one of the most culturally important arts of the Nutaarqortoq.

### Clothing

Men and women wear calf length parkas, with women wearing coats of otter fur while men wear coats of bird skin. Hunters don gutskin parkas called kameikas, or rain-gear. Children wear down feather parkas and caps made of birdskin.

Men will prepare skins by soaking them in animal urine and repeatedly stretching them, then women would sew the garments. Sewing garments takes an incredibly long time and lots of skins, about 100 puffin skins and one year went into one feather parka.

Men show their social standing as a hunter through bentwood hats. Fishermen and whalers wear a long billed, open crown hat. Regular hunters will wear an open crown visor with short bills. Young hunters have the smallest bills, which will gradually grow longer as he matures. Closed crown hats with long bills and a conical top are worn by exceptional hunters, fishermen and leaders. Walrus whiskers are additionally used to signify hunting prowess. All hats can be decorated with paint and figurines, but the closed crown hats will occasionally have bone plates added to give the hat a shape of a stylized birds head.

The Nutaarqortoq have a large set of customs around tattoos and piercings. They believe that modifying the body in such a way will dispel evil and please the spirits of the animals. Specifically, they believe that piercing the nose, mouth and ears will prevent spirits from entering the body (As they believe the orifices are how spirits can 'posses' a person). In addition, body art is a way to gain a higher social standing and be seen as more beautiful.

Nose pins are typically done days after birth, and are made of bark, bone or feather shafts. Some women will dangle pieces of amber or coral from the pin. Multiple earrings are worn around the rim of the ears and have a wide variety of materials including shells, bone, feathers, dried bird wings or skulls and amber. Only experienced hunters could wear walrus whiskers or ivory earrings. Elders and high standing members of the tribe will pierce their lips with ivory or beads.

Women will begin to be tattooed at around age 20, when they are physically mature. Men receive their first tattoos after they kill their first animal. Facial tattoos are the most common, and are used to signify family history, accomplishments and social standing.

### Burial Practices

Deceased are buried in mounds at the edge of the closest bluff to the village. Stones are placed over these mounds to mark the dead. In villages that are near caves, deceased will be buried in the backs of caves, with important items such as the deceased's boat. If a highly important man dies, he might be buried in an above-ground sarcophagi.