![]() ![]() ![]() Traditionally, the Inuit saw yelling at a small child as demeaning. Traditionally, the women and children in the community eat with an ulu knife. But she was left with a lingering question: How do Inuit parents instill this ability in their children? How do Inuit take tantrum-prone toddlers and turn them into cool-headed adults? I would sulk or I would snap or I would do something that they never did."īriggs, who died in 2016, wrote up her observations in her first book, Never in Anger. " often impulsive in an antisocial sort of way. "My ways were so much cruder, less considerate and more impulsive," she told the CBC. "Sew it together," someone said quietly.īy contrast, Briggs seemed like a wild child, even though she was trying very hard to control her anger. In another instance, a fishing line - which had taken days to braid - immediately broke on the first use. "Too bad," the offender said calmly and went to refill the teapot. Jean Briggs Collection / American Philosophical SocietyĮven just showing a smidgen of frustration or irritation was considered weak and childlike, Briggs observed.įor instance, one time someone knocked a boiling pot of tea across the igloo, damaging the ice floor. Above: photos of the girl and her family in the hunting camp of Qipisa during the summer of 1974. Myna Ishulutak (upper right, in blue jacket) lived a seminomadic life as a child. "They never acted in anger toward me, although they were angry with me an awful lot," Briggs told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. "And we ate only what the animals provided, such as fish, seal and caribou," says Myna Ishulutak, a film producer and language teacher who lived a similar lifestyle as a young girl.īriggs quickly realized something remarkable was going on in these families: The adults had an extraordinary ability to control their anger. They built igloos in the winter and tents in the summer. Read and listen to stories in the series here.Īt the time, many Inuit families lived similar to the way their ancestors had for thousands of years. Join NPR in our exploration of anger and what we can learn from this powerful emotion. Anger can be a destructive emotion, but it can also be a positive force. It's in our politics, our schools and homes. There's no question we are in angry times. This story is part of a series from NPR's Science desk called The Other Side of Anger.
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