Inuit Giants

Q: I read that according to Inuit legends, the first people of Nunavut, who lived there before the Inuit, were giants. Do you know whether there is any truth to this legend-- could prehistoric people like the Dorset culture have been giants, and could this be related to Northwest legends of Sasquatch?

A: Well, archaeology is a bit outside our wheelhouse, so I couldn't tell you with any authority how tall the Dorset people were in real life. However, one thing you should keep in mind is that back then, Inuit men were 5'2"-5'4" in height and Inuit women were almost all shorter than five feet. So "giant" may have been a relative term! Ordinary Plains Indian men would probably have looked like giants to the Inuit ancestors.

With that said, the Tuniit (giants) had many other supernatural qualities in Inuit legends. In some stories they could carry a walrus (which weighs more than a ton) or shapeshift into polar bears. So those would definitely not have been things the real-life Dorset people could have done no matter how tall they were! Either the Tuniit were not the Dorset people at all and were indeed mythological wilderness beings like Sasquatch, or else these legends were historical stories about the Dorset civilization which became changed and embellished over time to include supernatural elements.

Hope that is interesting to you, have a good day!

Further reading:

Inuit people
Sasquatch