The term Scraeling originated when the Norsi people first encountered the natives and described them as black haired, short and tanned skinned. It is unclear why they were called so due to the differing dialects at the time. Depending on how it is spoken Scraeling could mean barbarian, weakling, or dry skinned.
Since the Scraelings did not farm, raise animals, or shape metal like the Norsi they were derided as ignorant and backwards. That the Norsi were considered barbarians themselves it is ironic that they would label another people so.
The average Scraeling man stood on average five feet tall and were wiry in comparison to the Norsi who stood a head taller then them, hence weakling. They were not weak, fools just believe a small man is.
The dry skinned interpretation has two theories. First is due to the weather worn features of the natives being seen like dry leather. The other is that all peoples in Scraeling society, from the oldest matron to the youngest babe, wore dry leather clothes lined with fur to survive the artic conditions. The leather they favored was seal skin since it was best at retaining heat. Most Norsi wore cotton clothes even though leather could hold heat better. The practice stemmed from a belief that cotton clothes were more civilized.
The Scraelings did not call themselves Scraeling. The collective term they called themselves was Nuit, The People in their tongue. The origin of their people is hard to pin down but they do say they arrived in Godazland thousands of years before the Norsi. The Nuit had to abandon the land around three hundred years before the Norsi arrived due to harsh winters and a lack of game. The had only recently returned and reclaimed their ancestral lands and were fine with the Norsi claiming the warmer southern part of Godazland.
They subsisted on the abundant fish and seal populations and occasionally hunted the local whales. The only plants they ate were summer berries and root plants. The only animals that the Nuit kept were large thick furred dogs that pulled sleds through the snow. The sled dogs served multiple purposes such as guarding, hunting companions, friendship, and spirit guides.
The Nuit people were skilled rowers and sailors but had difficulty making ships due to the lack of trees so they used whale bone or drift wood and what tools they had were made from bone, stone, or wood. The Nuit did occasionally trade walrus tusks for the much desired iron weapons that the Norsi had. The spear being a Nuit's favorite weapon of choice then the bow.
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Their culture is hard to define since each wandering band will tell different creation myths and stories but broad generalizations can be made. Their religion could be categorized as animism, or the belief that humans, animals, plants, and natural land formations have a soul. Their religion was lead by shamans that served the dual purpose of priest and village doctor. Their gods are almost always animals of some kind that take on a human form when it suits them. The Great Bear, The Dread Wolf, The Mistress of the Sea are all examples of their gods. That gods are a real is not in question it is whether they are true gods or very powerful spirits that is in question.
Since they were a hunter gatherer society they did not field large armies instead they lead small raiding groups that numbered no greater then twenty and no less then five. They would attack isolated farmsteads and carry away all the food, metal tools, and women they could carry. The men and livestock they would slaughter since they had no use for them.
The Nuit were not a united group and were divided into three broad clans. The western Kalit, the eastern Tunu, and the northern Inuk. The Kalit were largely peaceful and traded frequently with the Norsi and the Inuk were so far north they couldn't raid. It was the Tunu that were causing trouble. The Norsi had been hunting walrus for their tusks in Tunu lands, a important animal in their religion. The Tunu were not angry that the walrus was being hunted since they were a staple of their diet. They were angry that the walrus were being killed only for their tusks and that thousands of pounds of meat were being left to rot on their beaches. The shamans saw this as a grave sin. Wasting so much and taking so little would endanger the tribe, no doubt a lesson the Nuit people as a whole learned in order to not overhunt the local wildlife. The Tunu shamans and chieftains had a grand conference where they collectively agreed to go to war against the Norsi.
The war started small. A missing hunter here, a sacked farm house there. It was when a young warrior, Amaqju, who was considered the most skilled hunter of his people rose to power that the raids became much more organized and devastating. Amaqju was the son of a chieftain and a shamaness. Since he had been a child his mother had layered protective magics around him and his father taught him how to fight and hunt since he could grip a spear. When he was a boy he had successfully killed an Amarok Wolf. Amarok's are a much larger wolf species that hunt alone and even one of the Nuit gods is an Amarok. Magical abilities are attributed to them and their taste for man flesh is well known. That Amaqju had killed one alone was a major achievement. He had many more great hunts in his life. He was soon seen as a sort of royalty among the Tunu. He was given many honors and privileges and many young women - and some wives - carried his children. The man's life was like the old stories of heroes. The Norsi were just the great enemy he needed for his tale.