Sometime around the beginning of the 2nd millennium, Thule people began migrating east. As western Thule peoples settled the northern and western coasts of Alaska, other Thule groups migrated eastward across the Canadian Arctic as far as Greenland. Prior to 1000, the central and eastern Canadian Arctic were occupied by people of the Dorset Culture. Within a few centuries, Dorset culture was completely displaced by Thule immigrants from the west. Evidence of contact between Dorset and Thule peoples is scarce and the nature of the Dorset/Thule succession remains poorly understood.