Sealskin woman's parka discovered at Qilakitsoq in 1972, dated to c. 1475.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the use of Inuit clothing extends far back into prehistory, with significant evidence to indicate that its basic structure has changed little since. The clothing systems of all Arctic peoples (encompassing the Inuit, Iñupiat, and the indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Russian Far East) are similar, and evidence in the form of tools and carved figurines indicates that these systems may have originated in Siberia as early as 22,000 BCE, and in northern Canada and Greenland as early as 2500 BCE. Pieces of garments found at archaeological sites, dated to approximately 1000 to 1600 CE, are very similar to garments from the 17th to mid-20th centuries, which confirms consistency in the construction of Inuit clothing over centuries.
Beginning in the late 1500s, contact with non-Inuit traders and explorers began to have an increasingly large influence on the construction and appearance of Inuit clothing. Imported tools and fabrics became integrated into the traditional clothing system, and premade fabric garments sometimes replaced traditional wear. Adoption of fabric garments was often driven by external pressure to conform to non-Inuit standards of dress, but many Inuit also adopted fabric garments for their own convenience. These voluntary adoptions were often a precursor to the decline or disappearance of traditional styles.
With an increase in cultural assimilation and modernization at the beginning of the 20th century, the production of traditional skin garments for everyday use declined as a result of loss of skills combined with shrinking demand. Formal schooling, particularly during the era of the Canadian Indian residential school system, was destructive to the ongoing cycle of Inuit elders passing down knowledge to younger generations. Wider availability of manufactured clothing and reduced availability of animal pelts further reduced demand for traditional clothing. The combination of these factors resulted in a near-complete loss of traditional clothing-making skills by the 1990s.
Since that time, Inuit groups have made significant efforts to preserve traditional skills and reintroduce them to younger generations in a way that is practical for the modern world. Although full outfits of traditional skin clothing are uncommon overall, they are still seen in the winter and on special occasions. Many Inuit seamstresses today use modern materials to make traditionally-styled garments, leading to the growth of an Inuit-led fashion movement, a subset of Indigenous American fashion. In light of the growing interaction between Inuit clothing and the fashion industry, Inuit groups have raised concerns about the protection of Inuit heritage from cultural appropriation and prevention of genericization of cultural garments like the amauti.
and 29 Related for: History of Inuit clothing information
Archaeological evidence indicates that the use ofInuitclothing extends far back into prehistory, with significant evidence to indicate that its basic...
Traditional Inuitclothing is a complex system of cold-weather garments historically made from animal hide and fur, worn by Inuit, a group of culturally...
The Inuit are an indigenous people of the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America (parts of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland). The ancestors of the...
long historical tradition of research on Inuitclothing across many fields. Since Europeans first made contact with the Inuit in the 16th century, documentation...
Inuit are indigenous people who live in the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America (parts of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland). The ancestors of the...
Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is...
Central Inuit are the Inuitof Northern Canada, their designation determined by geography and their tradition of snowhouses ("igloos"), fur clothing, and...
Traditional Inuitclothing Outerwear Ski suit Jacket Winter Gloves Selbuvott Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cold weather clothing. "Centre for...
Copper Inuit, also known as Inuinnait and Kitlinermiut,[pronunciation?] are a Canadian Inuit group who live north of the tree line, in what is now the...
and relied on caribou to supply food, shelter and clothing for their communities.The Caribou Inuit used caribou skin to make parkas to keep themselves...
Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik (or Yuit) of eastern Siberia...
and anorak is a type of coat with a hood, often lined with fur or faux fur. These two kinds of garments are staple ofInuitclothing, traditionally made...
of the Greenlandic Inuit who live there today appear to have migrated there later, around the year 1200, from northwestern Greenland. While the Inuit...
Inuit navigation techniques are those navigation skills used for thousands of years by the Inuit, a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples who...
Traditions OfInuitClothing. Montréal: McCord Museum of Canadian History. ISBN 0-7717-0182-9. OCLC 17871781. John Tyman. "Summer Clothing (III.2: INUIT CLOTHING/SHELTER)"...
Sinews of Survival: The Living Legacy ofInuitClothing is a 1997 ethnographic book about Inuitclothing by Canadian ethnologist Betty Kobayashi Issenman...
The northern Inuit dog, along with its offshoots, the British timber dog, the tamaskan and the utonagan, is a crossbreed of dog developed from a 1980s...
1500 CE, that followed the Pre-Dorset and preceded the Thule people (proto-Inuit) in the North American Arctic. The culture and people are named after Cape...
in the 1920s, when Nanook was filmed, the Inuit had already begun integrating the use of Western clothing and were using rifles to hunt rather than harpoons...
plural amautiit) is the parka worn by Inuit women of the eastern area of Northern Canada. Up until about two years of age, the child nestles against the...
the death of an InuitInuit pursue Grænlendingar Neighboring Inuit prepare for battle against settlers of modern-day Julianehaab Death of the last Grænlendingar...
Novalinga also uses her platform to model traditional Inuitclothing. She celebrates clothing handmade with local furs and animal skins by her mother...
Their clothing articulates the traditional style of dress necessary to survive cold winters, wind, and snow. Dolls could have been gifts to young Inuit girls...
Clothing in Myanmar varies depending on the ethnicity, geography, climate and cultural traditions of the people of each region of Myanmar (Burma). The...
properties. The Inuit peoples of the Arctic relied on fur for most of their clothing, and it also forms a part of traditional clothing in Russia, Ukraine...
the recommendations of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). For many centuries, the Inuit (Eskimos) have used snow...
(2005). "Dance of the Loon: Symbolism and Continuity in Copper Inuit Ceremonial Clothing" (PDF). Arctic Anthropology. 42 (1): 33–46. doi:10.1353/arc.2011...
also called the Caribou Inuit (Inuktitut: Kivallirmiut/ᑭᕙᓪᓕᕐᒥᐅᑦ), barren-ground caribou hunters, are Inuit who live west of Hudson Bay in Kivalliq Region...
Global Information