Case file · Folklore / legend
The Tuniit in Inuit memory
Boas also recorded Baffin Island stories of the Tuniit (Tornit), strong, shy people who lived in the land before the Inuit; archaeology identifies them with the Dorset culture, which vanished around 1300-1500 CE.
1888 CE · 66.15, -65.70 · status: account
The account
Stories tell that the Tuniit built stone houses and caught walrus by hand, and withdrew after conflicts. It is a rare case where oral tradition and archaeology describe the same people.