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Place: Alaska
People: Inuit (Eskimo)
Language:
Pacific Gulf Yupik and Siberian Yupik
Climate:
extremely cold
Kind of home: Tents and huts
The Inuit, meaning “the real people,” inhabit the coastal
areas of Greenland, and northeastern Siberia, and Arctic North America,
which, of course includes Alaska. Their social units consist of the
usual nuclear family; parents, children, and, at times, grandparents
and other family member. There are two kinds of Inuit homes, the tent
and the hut. In the summer, they use walrus or sealskin for their
tents. As for the winter, they build huts or houses made of stone
with frames made of whalebone or driftwood covered with moss. The
igloo homes that most people are familiar with are built by Canadian
Inuits. These are made of snow blocks piled in a dome shape. The term
“igloo” comes from the Inuit word, “iglu,”
which means “house.” These snow houses are extremely unusual
in Greenland, and completely unknown in Alaska. As time goes on, more
Inuits are moving into towns to live in government-built, Western
housing.
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Place:
Pennsylvania
People: Amish
Language:
At home, Pennsylvania Dutch (a German dialect), at school
English, at church, German.
Climate: Spring and
summer tend to be wetter than the rest of the year. Fall offers warm
days. Winter is colder and more severe in the north and the mountains.
Kind of home: large homes with large properties,
outhouse, barns, and farms.
Their homes are typical homes. Amish people have to do all their farm
work without using high tech equipment. Instead of using tractors,
they use motorized devices such as a mower
The Amish live in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and 24 other states. Amish life
is dictated by a list of written or oral rules, known as Ordnung.
These rules outline the basics of the faith and help to define what
it means to be Amish. They live a plain lifestyle, which consists
of church, farm work, housework, and social activities, which may,
of course, center around the church. In some Amish communities, people
have to go outside to get water. It is common for the Amish to use
telephones, but they do not allow them in the home. Instead, several
Amish families will share a telephone housed in a wooden shanty in
a nearby location, and only for a specific purpose. They pretty much
use luxury items in times of absolute need. Instead of using vehicles,
they use horses to plow.
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