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Specific Techniques

The pieces are sewn together with an overcast stitch.

Description

Woman’s outer coat, or parka, made of caribou fur. The coat is calf length with a close fitting hood and narrow shoulders. It is cut in an A-line to flare at the bottom. White fur panels on each side extend down below the neckline into elongated triangular gussets. Bands of white fur are inserted in the sleeves below the shoulders and along the hemline. The hood, sleeves and lower edge are trimmed with wolverine fur. Two rectangular pieces of white caribou fur are inserted on the back below the shoulders. Paired tassels of wolverine fur are attached into the seams off the shoulders, on the chest, and on the back below the white inserts.

History Of Use

This type of women’s clothing came into use in the 1920’s. The Danish born whaler/trapper Christian Klengenberg moved with his Inupiaq wife Qimniq to the Coronation Gulf area in 1916. She continued to make her Alaskan style clothing and their eldest daughter Etna instructed Copper Inuit women. By the 1930’s the new fashion was spread throughout the Coronation Gulf area. The insulating capability of animal skins is enhanced by the practice of wearing two layers of skin clothing, especially in winter. One layer of clothing is worn with the fur on the inside and a second layer is worn with the fur on the outside. The clothing also is designed so as to minimize ingress of wind and cold. During winter men and women wear two hooded waist-length coats, two pairs of trousers, two pairs of stockings and boots, and mittens. Men often wear a longer, heavier outer coat when outdoors in winter. While mass-produced clothing from the south is now commonly worn, the making of skin clothing is being revived. In the Arctic, the making of clothing is considered as important as the creation of sacred objects. Aside from its important function as protection against the cold, clothing is imbued with power and spirituality. Women as seamstresses play an extremely important role in the expression of cultural value and meaning. The clothing of each group is cut and decorated according to distinctive cultural aesthetics. In addition to expressing the group’s identity, seamstresses express the beliefs and values of the group through clothing, which marks social identities like gender, age, childbearing status, and geographical origin. Clothing also expresses the special relationship of people in the Arctic with the animal world. People, animals, and spirits are subject to metamorphosis. Clothing often refers to this ability to transform, and could effect such a metamorphosis.

Iconographic Meaning

The white triangular inserts on the front refer to walrus tusks. Wolverine fur became a symbol of prestige, affluence and cultural group affiliation among the Copper Inuit.

Narrative

Pierce donated this collection to the UBC Geology Museum in 1932, from which it transferred to the newly-opened Museum of Anthropology in 1948. Michell Pierce put together this collection of examples of Copper Inuit clothing and implements, while working in the area for the Hudson’s Bay Company. Before going to the area, he interviewed Dean Brock and M.Y. Williams about the possibility of collecting for UBC while there. This was the second collection he assembled, as the first was lost when the ship carrying the materials was caught in the ice.