Inuit clothing

The Inuit decorated their clothing with fringes, pendants, and insets of contrasting colours, and later adopted techniques such as beadwork when trade made new materials available.

Around the same time, Europeans began to conduct research on Inuit clothing, including the creation of visual depictions, academic writing, studies of effectiveness, and museum collections.

In the modern era, changes to the Inuit lifestyle led to a loss of traditional skills and a reduced demand for full outfits of skin clothing.

The most basic version of the traditional Inuit outfit consisted of a hooded parka, pants, mittens, inner footwear, and outer boots, all made of animal hide and fur.

[1][2] These garments were fairly lightweight despite their insulating properties: a complete outfit weighed no more than around 3–4.5 kg (6.6–9.9 lb) depending on the number of layers and the size of the wearer.

"[19] Numerous regional variations of the amauti exist, but the hem is typically left longer and cut into rounded apron-like flaps, which are called kiniq in the front and akuq in the back.

[31] Although the Mother Hubbard parka only arrived in the late 19th century, it largely eclipsed historical styles of clothing to the point where it is now seen as the traditional women's garment in those areas.

[36] In some regions, particularly the Western Arctic, men, women, and children sometimes wore atartaq, leggings with attached feet similar to hose, although these are no longer common.

The hoods of the Iñupiat people of northern Alaska are particularly notable for their distinct "sunburst" ruff around the face, made of long fur taken from wolves, dogs, or wolverines.

During summer, when the weather is warmer and mosquitoes are in season, the hood is not used; instead, the cap is draped with a scarf which covers the neck and face to provide protection from insects.

[23] What clothing they did wear, usually a small jacket, cap, mittens, or socks, was made from the thinnest skins available: fetal or newborn caribou, crow, or marmot.

[81][82][83] Although it is uncommon for modern Inuit to wear complete outfits of traditional skin clothing, fur boots, coats and mittens are still popular in many Arctic places.

Skin clothing is preferred for winter wear, especially for Inuit who make their living outdoors in traditional occupations such as hunting and trapping, or modern work like scientific research.

[92] Less commonly used sources included bears, dogs, foxes, ground squirrels, marmots, moose, muskoxen, muskrats, whales, wolverines, and wolves.

[128] Beginning in the late 1500s, contact with non-Inuit, including American, European, and Russian traders and explorers, began to have an increasingly large influence on the construction and appearance of Inuit clothing.

[134] Beginning in the mid-19th century, the Alaskan Iñupiat began to use colourful imported fabrics like drill and calico to make over-parkas to protect their caribou garments from dirt and snow.

[31][135] While they became common, these new materials, tools, and techniques generally did not alter the basic design of the traditional skin clothing system, which has always remained consistent in form and function.

[142] It could also lead to negative health outcomes including illness, hypothermia, or frostbite, which in extreme cases can result in loss of limbs and eventually death.

[145][154] After contact with non-Inuit explorers and traders, Inuit began to make use of sheet tin, brass, non-meteoric iron, and steel, obtained by trading or scrapping.

Modern seamstresses generally use thread made from cotton, linen, or synthetic fibres, which are easier to find and less difficult to work with, although these materials are less waterproof compared to ivalu.

[116][185] Archaeologist Douglas Stenton noted that cold-weather garments such as Inuit clothing must maintain two attributes to be useful: "(i) protection of the body and (ii) the maintenance of task efficiency.

[122] Historically, Inuit have added visual appeal to their clothing with ornamental trim and inlay, dye and other colouring methods, decorative attachments like pendants and beads, and design motifs, integrating and adapting new techniques and materials as they were introduced by cultural contact.

Contact with new cultures, as well as the arrival of new materials like cloth and beads hastened the evolution of fashion among Inuit and made the changes in style more evident to outsiders.

Shades of red, black, brown, and yellow were made from minerals such as ochre and galena, obtained from crushed rocks and mixed with seal oil.

An infant whose older siblings had died might be dressed in garments made from a mix of caribou and sealskin, or with contrasting fur flow, to hide the child from evil spirits.

[270] Inuit shamans, called angakkuq,[c] usually wore garments like those of laypeople, but which included unique accessories or design elements to differentiate their spiritual status.

[106][269] Traditional ceremonial and shamanic clothing also incorporated masks made of wood and skin to invoke supernatural abilities, although this practice largely died out after the arrival of Christian missionaries and other outside influences.

[23][295] Issenman describes the continued use of traditional fur clothing as not simply a matter of practicality, but "a visual symbol of one's origin as a member of a dynamic and prestigious society whose roots extend into antiquity.

The introduction of the Canadian Indian residential school system to northern Canada disrupted the cycle of elders passing down knowledge to younger generations informally.

[321] Incorporating modern techniques and purchasing materials commercially reduces the time and effort needed for garment production, lowering barriers for entry.