Not a dumb question at all. The various native groups (Aleut, Alutiq, Yupik, Inuit, etc) have inhabited the treeless northern regions from the Aleutian Islands to Greenland for thousands of years. Related groups live in the Russian arctic. Needless to say, there were many variations to adapt to local conditions, but in general they lived in very small groups. They tended to be semi nomadic, following food sources. They were mostly dependent on hunting.

Permanent houses tended to be some form of very small, low, sod covered house. Rafters might be driftwood, or on some coasts where there was little or no driftwood they would use whalebones to support the roof. They burned seal oil for cooking and warmth. In a few areas they were able to gather coal from outcrops, and they burned that. When traveling to hunt, they used tents, or snow shelters. The "igloo" is one variation, though not all groups used igloos. In many ways their adaptation to this incredibly harsh environment is amazing, but there is no doubt that life was very hard in the old days!

The current villages are much larger, and date from after contact with whites. Whalers brought western tools, firearms, and other goods. Missionaries built churches, trading posts, and schools, and encouraged the native peoples to gather in much larger fixed villages. Some areas remained traditional longer than others. As is often the case, progress was a mixed blessing, but the northern population is much larger now.

Many early explorers haughtily refused to learn and adopt native ways in the far north, and paid a severe price for their ignorance. (The classic example was the Franklin Expedition, all 128 of whom starved to death.) Other explorers learned to adopt native methods and did much better.

Some good sources on early native life are the several books by the explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson. (Stefansson was one who did learn and adopt native ways.) During WW2 he did work for the US military, trying to prepare soldiers for fighting in arctic conditions. He wrote a book for the Army called "Arctic Manual". It is classic and long out of print. It was reprinted at least once in 1984 as "Arctic Survival", and you might be able to find a used copy.

Another good source are the several books by Richard K. Nelson. He is an anthropologist who studied the Inuit ("Eskimo") in Alaska from 1964 to 1966, while some of the old ways were still in use, or still remembered by elders. He wrote the classic "Hunters of the Northern Ice" (1972), also out of print but you might find one on Amazon. One of my favorite books is Nelson's "Shadow of the Hunter", which is I believe still in print. It is a semi fictional series of vignettes taking Inuit hunters through the seasons. Another good book by Nelson is "Hunters of the Northern Forest" about the native peoples of the forested lands of Alaska.

Kind of a short summary of a very broad topic, but I hope it helps.