The Tuniit, Tuniq or Sivullirmiut are a legendary race from Inuit mythology. According to legend, they were the first inhabitants of their land and described as tall people who were taller and stronger than the Inuit, but easily scared off and extremely shy. Most of the evidence demonstrates that by 1500 they had essentially disappeared, but maybe isolated remnants of them still survive.
The Dorset[]
Scholars and scientists called them the Dorset culture (500 BCE–1500 CE) that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. It is named after Cape Dorset in Nunavut, Canada where the first evidence of its existence was found. The culture has been defined as having four phases due to the distinct differences in the technologies relating to hunting and tool making. Artifacts include distinctive triangular end-blades, soapstone lamps and burins. Longhouses use much bigger stone than the Ancestral Inuit, potentially the reason the Myth came to be as human remains show to be normal size.
The Dorset were first identified as a separate culture in 1925. Archaeology has been critical in adding to our knowledge about them because the Dorset were essentially extinct by 1500 due to difficulties in adapting to the Medieval Warm Period. The Ancestral Inuit, who began migrating east from Alaska in the 1000s, began the displacement of the Dorset. However, a small, isolated community of people known as the Sadlermiut survived until 1902-1903 in Hudson Bay on Coats, Walrus and Southampton islands. DNA testing has confirmed that these people were directly related to the Dorset culture.
Interaction with the Inuit[]
But until now archaeologists couldn't find evidence of whether the Inuit and the Dorset existed in the same place at the same time as is stated in Inuit stories. "A huge and controversial and sort of major issue in the whole Arctic past is whether the two actually did meet," University of Toronto archaeologist Max Friesen said.
He also said whether the Inuit and the Tuniit actually interacted is another mystery he and his team are hoping to solve. There is still very little evidence that proves the two groups were in direct contact with each other.
Inuit legend already knows the answer to that question. The Inuit and the Tuniit intermarried, which is why the Inuit today vary in height. But again, there is no evidence of whether they did actually meet.