Arctic Clothing of North America-Alaska, Canada, Greenland : Alaska, Canada, Greenland

Natives, anthropologists, and historians look at contemporary and traditional clothing in the north.In the Arctic, sea and land animals provide the raw materials for garments that allow people to hunt and survive in the world's harshest conditions. Arctic Clothing, developed from a conference held at the British Museum, showcases the work of native artists and skin sewers in an exploration of the ways in which clothing connects native societies to the environment and the continuing importance of animals, birds, and fish to these communities.Essays cover a wide range of subjects, including clothing and identity, the semiotics and function of dress, the significance of birds in Inuit life, ownership of design, and the ways in which creativity has been affected by rapidly changing traditional societies. Fish-skin clothing, the use of caribou and seal hair, wedding dresses, and kayak clothing have rarely been examined and the contributors to Arctic Clothing offer exciting insights on these topics. Contemporary issues include changes in arctic clothing, the importation of manufactured materials, the use of sealskin stencils in art prints, and the adaptation of Native clothing by explorers and for sportswear. Intro Contents Preface Editorial Note List of Contributors Acknowledgements Map Introduction Keynote Address: Our Clothing, our Culture, our Identity Part I: Personal Narratives Part II: Materials Part III: Styles and Techniques Part IV: Change and Responses to Outside Influences Part V: Clothing and Art References Index Photographic Acknowledgements Seams of Time My Recollections -- Nengqerralria, Yupiaq Elder Elena Charles How Do We Heal? Quiet and Reserved Splendor: Central Yup'ik Eskimo Fancy Garments of Kuskokwim Bay, Bering Sea. Caribou and Seal Hair: Examination by Scanning Electron MicroscopyArctic Clothing from Greenland The Poor Man's Raincoat: Alaskan Fish-skin Garments Tupigat (Twined Things): Yup'ik Grass Clothing, Past and Present Birds and Eskimos Eskimo SewingTechniques in Relation to Contemporary Sewing Techniques -- Seen through a Copy of a Qilakitsoq Costume Iniqsimajuq: Caribou-skin Preparation in Igloolik, Nunavut Amautiit Women's Skin Coats from West Greenland -- with Special Focus on Formal Clothing of Caribou Skin from the Early Nineteenth Century. The Roald Amundsen Collection: The Impact of a Skin Preparation Method on PreservationThe Remarkable Clothing of the Medieval Norse Greenlanders Dressing up in Greenland: A Discussion of Change and World Fashion in Early-colonial West Greenlandic Dress Formal Clothing: The Greenlandic National Costume Clothing as a Visual Representation of Identities in East Greenland Kayak Clothing in Contemporary Greenlandic Kayak Clubs Caribou, Reindeer and Rickrack: Some Factors Influencing Cultural Change in Northern Alaska, 1880-1940. Hairnets and Fishnets:The Yup'ik Eskimo Kaapaaq in Historical ContextClothing in Inuit Art Skin Appliqué and Stencil Prints Clothing Portraits: Identity and Meaning in Inuit Figure Studies from the Eastern Arctic Kiana Creations: Iñupiaq Parkas as Wearable Art. In the Arctic, well designed and superbly tailored clothing allows people to hunt and survive in the world's harshest conditions. Both sea and land animals, birds and fish, provide raw materials for the creation of unique forms of highly efficient clothing - different types of parkas, trousers, layered footwear, gloves and headwear. Such clothing not only protects people but also connects societies to the environment that they inhabit and expresses the continuing importance of animals, birds and fish to these communities. Arctic clothing encompasses a great diversity of national and community styles and also contemporary and traditional costume making. Questions of identity, the semiotics and function of dress, and the copyright and ownership of design are explored along with the nature of people's creativity in rapidly changing traditional societies. The contemporary issues of changes in clothing, the importation of manufactured materials, developments in fashion, clothing and art, and the adaptation of Native clothing by explorers and for sportswear are all examined. Several essays address previously unpublished areas such as fish-skin clothing, hairnets, the use of grass, birds and costume, and kayak clothing. 4e de couverture: In the Arctic, sea and land animals provide the raw materials for garments that allow people to hunt and survive in the world's harshest conditions. Arctic Clothing, developed from a conference held at the British Museum, showcases the work of native artists and skin sewers in an exploration of the ways in which clothing connects native societies to the environment and the continuing importance of animals, birds, and fish to these communities. Essays cover a wide range of subjects, including clothing and identity, the semiotics and function of dress, the significance of birds in Inuit life, ownership of design, and the ways in which creativity has been affected by rapidly changing traditional societies. Fish-skin clothing, the use of caribou and seal hair, wedding dresses, and kayak clothing have rarely been examined and the contributors to Arctic Clothing offer exciting insights on these topics. Contemporary issues include changes in arctic clothing, the importation of manufactured materials, the use of sealskin stencils in art prints, and the adaptation of Native clothing by explorers and for sportswear "Arising from a conference held at the British Museum in 2001, Arctic Clothing of North America - Alaska, Canada, Greenland is a wide-ranging and authoritative account of clothing use in the north. For the first time, contributors include Native and non-Native artists and seamstresses, anthropologists, historians, curators and conservators with expertise in Alaska, Canada and Greenland."--Résumé de l'éditeur "Arising from a conference held at the British Museum in 2001, Arctic Clothing of North America - Alaska, Canada, Greenland is a wide-ranging and authoritative account of clothing use in the north. For the first time, contributors include Native and non-Native artists and seamstresses, anthropologists, historians, curators and conservators with expertise in Alaska, Canada and Greenland."--Jacket I remember rather vividly when, as a little girl of about five, I sat beside my aaka, my grandmother, and watched her sew on a pair of winter mukluks (boots).