The whale-gut parka is a veritable masterpiece. Only a few complete specimens remain in existence today. Whale-gut parkas are thought to date back at least 5,000 years ago, which means that the Inuit invented the raincoat well before the arrival of plastics in the mid-20th century. As a material, gut is superior to plastic because it is not only waterproof but also breathable.
Whale- and seal-gut parkas came in handy for hunting sea mammals by kayak. Completely waterproof and equipped with closures at the cuffs and around the face, they kept hunters comfortable without restricting movement and also served as windbreakers.
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1-2. Whale-gut parka
Western Arctik 20th century
McCord Museum collection
Raw materials
The garment consists of long strips of gut, assembled vertically and sewn together with sinew. The stitching doesn’t fully penetrate the material in order to maintain its natural waterproofing.
Preparing the whale gut
After the intestines were emptied and thoroughly cleaned inside and out, they were filled with salt water and pulled taut so they could be scraped on the outside. They were then refilled—this time with urine, which was changed daily for several days. Several saltwater rinses followed, then a five-day soaking in fresh water. Lastly, the intestines were dried, filled with air, then hung or stretched out on the ground so they could be cut lengthwise along the curved outer contour.
Preparing the caribou sinew
The sinew was carefully stripped away from the muscles on the animal’s back. (To make thread, the sinew was stretched over a board so the women could clean it using the blades of their ulus, then washed and spread on top of the tent to dry in the sun.)
Assembling the coat
o ensure waterproofing, the edges of each piece were folded back to create a simple hem prior to assembly. Putting the coat together was complex, because of all the narrow strips. The sinew thread was very strong and would swell when damp, effectively plugging the needle holes and making the seams waterproof. Smooth and round in shape, it would not tear the gutskin. Source : Design et culture matérielle database, artifact #49 (Anutshish.com).
Papers of Henry Bascom Collins, Photographs (GA-30-87)
National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The photo was taken at Gambell, Saint Lawrence Island and it is dated 1930.
Fur for staying warm
“All our garments were made from wild animal skins, because there were no imported fabrics. Animal-hide clothing—that’s all we had.” Lizzie Irniq, Inuk
“We had to master sewing techniques for lots of different garments.” Alasie Koneak, Inuk
Caribou and seal were the main source of furs used for making clothes. The polar bear and smaller animals—like the fox—had special uses.
Most parkas, pants, mittens, booties, and boots were created using these materials.
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1. Inuit in traditional costume, circa 1903.
Photograph taken during the expedition of Leonidas Hubbard in Labrador and Northern Quebec.
Les Musées de la civilisation, 89-3672
2. Parka
Circa 1965
Les Musées de la civilisation, 65-494
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective
3. Muffle
Ringed seal skin
Les Musées de la civilisation, 65-494
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective
4. Pants
Caribou skin
Les Musées de la civilisation, 68-4016
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective
The parka
The parka, a hooded garment made from skins with the fur intact, was used to stay warm in very cold temperatures. There were actually two distinct types of parka, one with the fur on the inside for winter, the other with the fur on the outside for summer. This roomy garment lets the wearer move freely and helps retain body heat.
Minnie Etidloie and Kusugaliniq Ilimasaut, Inuit
Sewing workshop, Kangiqsujuaq
Interviews: Laurent Jérôme and Fabien Pernet
Images: Carl Morasse
Les Musées de la civilisation (Québec), La Boîte Rouge vif,
and CURA Leadership and Governance in Nunavut and Nunavik
Pants
Men’s caribou-skin pants were distinguished from women’s pants by the patterns on their sides.
Pants were also made out of seal or polar bear skins. Bear skin pants were lighter than their caribou skin counterparts and are still worn today by hunters.
Processing caribou skin with the fur intact
The fresh skin was left to dry, then spread—but not stretched—fur side down on the ground, where it was held in place by small stones around the edge. The skin was then rolled up and stored to await processing later in the season.
Skins used for clothing were scraped with two different scrapers—one dull, the other sharp. This made them impervious to snow and easier to dry. After a woman stretched and scraped the skin, it was dampened with human urine (because tannic acid would prevent rotting) and left it outside a day or two to freeze. As a final step, any remaining traces of flesh were removed using a very sharp blade. Source : Design et culture matérielle database, artifact #50 (Anutshish.com).
Minnie Etidloie and Kusugaliniq Ilimasaut, Inuit
Sewing workshop, Kangiqsujuaq
Interviews: Laurent Jérôme and Fabien Pernet
Images: Carl Morasse
Les Musées de la civilisation (Québec), La Boîte Rouge vif,
and CURA Leadership and Governance in Nunavut and Nunavik
Warm, dry feet
Boots also used a multi-layer design, with up to five layers to keep wearers comfortable in all kinds of conditions. They included stockings (sometimes two pairs), an inner slipper, boots, and overboots. Feathers or dried grasses were traditionally stuffed in the boot to add insulation and absorb perspiration.
The slippers, made of seal- or eider-skin, were worn over stockings inside the boots. Hunters could also wear a kind of overboot to stay even warmer. Seams were kept to a minimum to optimize insulation and waterproofing. Because the skins breathe, perspiration evaporated quickly.
Sealskin was used without any additional coating so as not to interfere with its natural breathability, and the stitching did not fully penetrate the skin in order to ensure waterproofing.
The important task of keeping footwear in good condition fell to the women, who saw to it that boots kept their shape and flexibility by chewing them, stretching them, and drying them very slowly away from direct heat.
A hunter had five pairs of boots, including three for summer (boots had to be dried two to three days before they could be worn again).
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1. Boot
Sinew, ringed seal skin, bearded seal skin, fiber, coton
Les Musées de la civilisation, 65-535
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective
2. Boot
Seal skin
Les Musées de la civilisation, 65-548
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective
3. Boot
Ringed seal skin, bearded seal skin
Les Musées de la civilisation, 65-596
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective
4. Eider duck skin stockings
Les Musées de la civilisation, 89-1804
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective
Processing shaved and tanned caribou skin
Flesh and fat were removed from the skin using a flesher made of bone. The hair was then removed and the skin washed, stretched, and dried. Once dry, it was scraped again and soaked for a day in a mixture of water, fish soup, urine, and rotting moose or caribou brain (tannic acid prevented rotting).
After soaking, the still-damp skin was scraped once more, then wrung out and dried on a horizontal pole. When thoroughly dry, it was softened up with a long stone scraper.
Source : Design et culture matérielle database, artifact #48 (Anutshish.com).
National Film Board of Canada
Traditional methods for preparing sealskin
After a seal was killed it was gutted immediately, then skinned so the hide could be used to make clothing, bags, and other items.
Sealskin used to make waterproof summer boots had to be scraped in a special way. Women spread the cold, wet skins on their bare thighs and used their ulus to scrape off the fur, keeping the skins wet the whole time. They then flipped the skins over on their thighs to remove the flesh before stretching the skins out to dry on the snow. Sealskin treated this way was waterproof but also very hard and stiff. It had to be chewed and softened before sewing.
The boot soles and thick straps were usually made with the skin of the great bearded seal. The thick skin of this large mammal was cut into 10 inch rings that were subsequently cut in spirals to produce long strips. The strips were then stretched taut between two stones. Source : Design et culture matérielle database, artifact #50 (Anutshish.com).
Assembly
One important feature of Inuit footwear was the way the sole was assembled and stitched. The stitch did not fully penetrate the skin, so the boots remained waterproof. Sinew thread is very strong and swelled when damp, effectively plugging the needle holes and making the seams waterproof. Source : Design et culture matérielle database, artifact #50 (Anutshish.com).
National Film Board of Canada
Eider ducks as a natural resource
Parkas made from eider duck skin had many uses, due in large part to the nature of the skin which has thick down, covered with water-resistant feathers. The resulting garments were lightweight, durable, waterproof and extremely warm, making them particularly useful in cold weather and wet snow. In cold, dry weather, the garment was worn with the feathers toward the inside, in direct contact with the skin. In extreme cold, two layers were worn, the first with the feathers inside and the second with the feathers outside. The dog-fur trim around the hood is extremely warm and helped keep the wearer’s face from freezing. This coat is made of tanned duck skin with feathers. Source : Kaine, Élisabeth. ‘’Métissage’’. La Boîte Rouge vif Editor, 2004, p.75, 80.
Depending on which part of the garment they were meant for, skins of young female eider ducks (for softness) or adult males (for sturdiness) were used. To make clothing for an adult, as many as 75 skins were needed. Eider-skin parkas were used mainly by Inuit cultures that did not have access to caribou herds. This type of parka was supplanted by commercially made garments that came on the scene in the 1970s. Source : Douglas J. Nakashiwa, 1989.
Duck skin parka
Inuit, Circa 1970
Craftsperson : Nialikallak
Eider duck skin, caribou sinew, dog fur
Belcher Island, Hudson Bay
Les Musées de la civilisation, 72-21
An everyday garment for her: the amauti
Amauti
The amauti is the ideal garment for mothers. It is designed to carry an infant in a comfortable, roomy pouch (the amaut) on the mother’s back, beneath the hood. It is also longer in the back, to keep the wearer warm while seated.
The pattern
Traditionally, the garment was made of several caribou skins, with the front coming from a female and the sleeves and hood area from an adult male. There was also a band of ringed seal skin on the front. The fur is worn to the inside.
Making an amauti took considerable skill because it needed to be roomy enough to bring the baby to the front when it was time to nurse. The belt fastened to the front of the parka helped hold the infant securely.
Assembling the pieces
The pieces were sewn using an overcast stitch. Special attention was taken with regard to the direction of the fur: on the front skin and sleeves, the nap pointed upward to prevent the garment from riding up on the neck; on the back the nap pointed downward to help keep the baby securely nestled in the amauti.
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1. A group of Inuit women, circa 1903.
Photograph taken during the expedition of Leonidas Hubbard in Labrador and Northern Quebec.
Photograph : Les Musées de la civilisation, 89-3658
2. A group of Inuit women seen from behind, circa 1903.
Photograph taken during the expedition of Leonidas Hubbard in Labrador and Northern Quebec.
Photograph : Les Musées de la civilisation, 89-3676
3. Kangiqsujuaq
4. The pattern
Source : Bernard Saladin-d’Anglure, 1970.
