Outer Parka

Item number A2.486 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Men’s outer coat or parka of cormorant skins. The coat has a close fitting hood and is thigh length. The sleeves, hood and hem are trimmed with a band of wolverine fur. The coat consists largely of the belly skins of the birds with smaller pieces on the lower part and wherever the design requires it, like the neck and shoulder areas. The inside of the coat is lined with canvas. Throughout the coat the feathers point downward except for the hood. Below the left sleeve a piece of white fur is inserted. The front and the back each consist of six belly skins. The back of the hood is made of one belly skin. Approximately thirty entire belly skins are used throughout the whole coat. In addition smaller pieces of bird skin are used and there's a small patch of caribou skin on one arm.

History Of Use

Bird skins were used on St. Lawrence Island for clothing because of the absence of caribou. The feathers on the hood point up enabling the wearer to flick out the snow more easily. Wolverine is used for the ruff around the hood so the frost caused by breathing can be brushed off more easily because the hair is long and uneven. While mass-produced clothing from the south is now commonly worn, the making of skin clothing is being revived in the Arctic.

Specific Techniques

The skins are sewn with an overcast stitch of cotton thread (rather than sinew). The bird skins were identified as double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax aurituss); there's a minimum of 20 belly skins used in the outer layer. Wolverine fur encircles the hood and the bottom hem. There is a small patch of caribou fur on one sleeve.

Narrative

According to a postcard in the documentation file, Francis Fay sent this parka to Audrey Hawthorn, then curator of the Museum of Anthropology, by parcel post from Anchorage, Alaska. A letter from him states that he wore it for four years before donating it, while doing field work on St. Lawrence Island.