Dorset (culture)
The Dorset culture preceded the Inuit culture. The legends of the Inuits relate of a people called the Tunit, which were driven away by the Inuits.On Southampton Island, whalers discovered a tribe of eskimos who called themselves Sallirmiut or Sadlermiut and talked in a strange dialect. The descriptions of these Sadlermiuts strongly resemble the Inuit descriptions of the Tunits.
Genetic research has, moreover, confirmed the genetic connection between the Sadlermiut and the Dorset culture. However, surprisingly, there was no genetic connection between the Dorset culture and the Inuit culture.
The last of the Dorsets are, however, extinct due to an epidemic brought by whalers.
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