Inuit and the Fashions of Nunavut

The new Inuit fashions emerging from Nunavut are very exciting. Sewing jackets with matching wind pants, amautiit (large pouched at the back of the woman`s parka, used for carry our new-born till too big to fit, or too heavy), children`s clothing, teens, this trend is becoming popular among our young people. When looking back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the girl would have different styles of atigi (inner top wear usually made from caribou skin) and qulittaq (outer to the inner top wear) all the way up to maturity. Very feminine designs for girls were worn all the way to adulthood for some, according to who their clothing maker was, of-course life did have their great and not so great designers then. This kind of style and other traditional clothing...

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Louisa Angugatsiaq Tungilik The Seamstress

Louisa Angugatsiaq Tungilik was my beautiful mother. She was beautiful externally and in her heart. One of her great abilities was to sew Inuit traditional clothes. When she sewed caribou skin clothing, her stitching was so fine it looked only like a fine line where her seams were. Her waterproof kamiit were exactly that, waterproof. She came from a line of perfectionists, and she was no different. I recall one time we were in an iglu and it was mid winter because the days light were short. My dad Marc Tungilik had indeed been softening caribou skins he and my brother Kadluk caught during the early fall at the end of August. It was the man`s duty to do the traditional skin softening process, while my mom is in the process of making clothing for every one...

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Fashions of Nunavut

The fashions of Nunavut will be well presented in Vancouver during the Olympics at the Canada`s Northern House. It has been quite the journey for the Inuit of Nunavut for the last half a century. From being born in an igloo to living in a modernized world, it was challenging at times through this fast transition. Our fashions were made out of necessity in the beginning. With no stores in site for thousands of miles, Inuit like anyone else made do with what was available to them to survive. So in the days of old animal skins were the only clothing used in the north through all seasons. Animals were hunted during certain seasons while others were hunted throughout the year. An example with the caribou skin. The bull`s skin is mainly used for bedding. Then it...

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