Amauti

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Terms in the various dialects
language long-tailed amauti shirt-like amauti
Iñupiaq not in use amaaġun ~ amaunnaq
Nattiliŋmiut akulik amauti
Inuinnaqtun ᐊᑯᖅ akuq ᐊᒪᐅᑎ amauti
Paallirmiut ᐊᑯᖅ akuq ᐊᖏᔪᖅᑕᐅᔭᖅ angijuqtaujaq
North and South Qikiqtaaluk ᐊᑯᖅ akuq ᐊᖏᔪᖅᑕᐅᔭᖅ angijuqtaujaq

An amauti (also amaut (actual singular, largely no longer in use) or amautik , plural amautiit ) is a parka , the weather jacket of the Eskimo women of the Arctic and thus also of the Inuit women of the eastern Canadian Arctic. The characteristic part of the Amauti is the widened back that merges into a hood. In this back pocket, the toddler can be kept in close contact with the mother up to the age of about two, while she keeps her hands free for other activities. For breastfeeding, she can bring it to her breast without the baby being exposed to the elements.

The making of the Amauti

  • Amauti made from caribou skin

  • Amauti made of seal skin

The Amauti can be made of different materials, such as seal skin , caribou skin or duffel , a heavy woolen material with a windproof outer cover. The women of the Nunavut and Nunavik peoples living in the eastern Arctic usually transport their toddlers in this way. The garment can also be found in the Northwest Territories , Greenland, Labrador , the Russian Arctic and Alaska . Amautis made of fur have largely been replaced by those made of fabric in everyday life.

In the past, the back tendons of the caribou , the North American reindeer, were used for sewing , from which very good threads can be made. The women used finely ground bone parts with sharp points and eyes as needles. For commercial production, a fur sewing machine may be used today. Women who produce on a smaller scale probably all still sew by hand, with needle and thread (as of 1991). While different sizes were used in the past, the Amauti is now often made individually to fit the wearer. Older women still measure in the traditional way, starting with the thumb, the spread hand is placed on it, using the middle finger as a landmark, something like this: "1, 2, 3 hands plus 1 finger"; or "1, 2 hands up to the first link of the memory finger".

In 1934, a German fur newspaper reported that the Lomen Brothers company in the town of Nome , Alaska had trained Eskimo women in the use of fur sewing machines. The reindeer fur coats made with it were sold in cities on the Pacific coast.

Skilled workers need two to three working days to produce a simple Amauti. For a normal seamstress working full time, this can take up to a week, and longer for complex parts.

The placement of the child

Although it looks as if the child is being transported in the hood, it is also shown imprecisely in many of the images. The child sits in the extended back section, which is attached to the hood and enlarged to make a backpack. If the hood is put on, it protects both mother and child. The child is sitting on its stomach against its mother, its legs bent; but it can also be carried as a baby and also with the back to the mother. The Amauti is held together at the waist with a tape or belt so that the child is prevented from slipping out of the bag. The weight rests on the mother's shoulders, and the load is usually redistributed with two additional straps in the shape of a "V", starting from the collarbone and secured with a strap around the waist. Another tie strap leads to the front edge of the hood and enables the mother to open the hood from there, so that the child can look around, or to close it over the child in bad weather. The baby cave used to be covered with a reusable "diaper" made of caribou skin or moss. Incidentally, the wish "I want to fill your Amauti" is considered a very decent declaration of love to a young Eskimo woman.

A woman's anorak without the baby bag is called "Arnautit", in the western Arctic "Niviaqsiaqsiuti".

Winter and summer amauti

Inuit woman with long-tailed Amauti (Angijuqtaujaq) with baby ( Cape Dorset , Nunavut, 2002)
Two Inuit women with amautis in shirt form (Akulik) (Nunavut, 1995)

The traditional clothing of the Eskimos consists of several layers. Depending on the season, type of use and use for outside or inside, more or fewer parts are put on top of each other. The top part is the parka or anorak, for mothers in the shape of an amauti with a back pocket. One of the characteristics of these overclothing is the roomy cut, especially the sleeve holes. It helps to retain body heat without the parts sweating and starting to smell unpleasant too quickly. Another feature is the omission of fasteners, the jackets can be pulled over the head. This means that no wind comes in and the temperature remains constant. Shoulder, sleeve hole and neck seams are placed in such a way that they are as little stressed as possible by the weight of the garment and the seams do not come loose prematurely. The warmest Eskimo winters are on the Arctic Atlantic coast with an average of −10 ° Celsius, in the western Arctic the temperature can drop to −60 to −70 ° C.

There are two types of Amauti: the Amauti Angijuqtaujaq, which is elongated to the rear like a tailcoat (right illustration, two women), and the shirt-like cut, also with an extended back, but with a sloping, non-rounded hem, the Akulik (left illustration). By the late 17th century, men's and women's parkas still had long back laps, a feature that went out of fashion at different times among tribes throughout the Arctic. For example, at the beginning of the 18th century, the Labrador men no longer wore laps, while the parkas of the Caribou and neighboring Ungava Inuit continued to wear them well into the 20th century.

Based on the different hood shapes, the decorations and the shape of the tail, the region or the trunk from which the wearer comes can be determined. The sleeves and the hem of the winter amauti are trimmed with brightly colored stripes that emphasize the feminine style and the curve of the tailcoat. The classic winter Amauti has a white cotton cover (Silapak), it is also available in strong colors, with an inner lining made of strong wool, also trimmed, in darker neutral colors. All suitable, modern outer fabrics (synthetics) are also used today.

The Amauti was originally made entirely of fur. All types of fur can be used, seal fur (hairy and depilated), caribou fur , dog fur , polar bear fur , ground squirrel and even bird skins of various types. Festive amautis, to be worn with the hair facing out, have artful patterns. Contrasting fur is cleverly placed next to each other and neatly processed like a mosaic, sometimes in the form of grotesque ornaments or as wide trimmings and narrow borders. If possible, all parts of the fur , such as paws or head pieces, are used for this. For long-haired trimmings, the mane of the caribou is used in addition to arctic fox fur . Light parkas can be made from the flat-haired skins of the young animals (pijiki). In 1937 it was observed that the fur types used became more valuable the further a tribe was removed from the European-American civilization and, accordingly, lived more originally. At that time, the high price for these types of fur was likely to have been more decisive, which made it less attractive to the residents of the south, who lived closer to the purchase points, to use them for themselves.

Originally, in the northernmost areas, the seal skins that were produced there were used for the Amauti, which is likely to have resulted in the tailed back shape corresponding to the seal skin. This extension allows you to sit down on the ground or in the snow without getting cold. It used to be decorated with amulets such as pearls, shells and pierced coins. Since the church declined this as "pagan", its use decreased. It was said that the amulets were intended to attract the spirits and make them stimulate the ovaries through the swinging back tail, and those attached to the front promote fertility.

The modern summer Amauti has no sleeves and is less warmly lined. It enables the mother to take the child with her when picking berries or other summer activities. But it is also worn in winter with an oversized parka that envelops mother and child at the same time. The summer amauti typically consists of quilted fabric in any pattern.

Differences by population group (as of the early 1990s)

In 1995, Oakes / Riewe list the following population groups for the different boot designs of the Canadian Inuit:

Just by looking at the pattern and style of the Eskimo boots , those who are knowledgeable can recognize the origin or the affiliation of the wearer to his tribe. The designs of the parkas and amautis can be assigned in a similar way.

The Igloo Inuit

The Iglulik Inuit region, they call themselves Iglulingmiut, includes the communities of Iglulik , Hall Beach , Repulse Bay , Coral Harbor , Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay .

The Igloo Inuit wore layers of sealskin as summer clothing and layers of caribou and polar bear fur as winter clothing . The Amautis had broad laps with a longer back, which had become shorter and shorter in the later years. They differed from those in other areas in that they had numerous ribbons of light-haired and dark-haired fur, which were attached to the hem, the edge of the hood, the pockets and sleeves. Pearls obtained from the whalers were placed as lavishly as possible on the lower edge of the parka. Shortly after 1910, the Igloo Inuit women adopted a new style of parka from the southern Baffinland communities. It was characterized by a short, straight hem, an A-shaped outline and many ribbons of light- and dark-haired caribou fur that were sewn around the edge of the hem. The parka was worn with leggings and caribou skin boots with seal skin soles.

Today's igloo women wear a mixture of southern-style clothing (including jeans) and traditional fur clothing, almost exclusively southern-style in summer. Even around 1990, women with small children preferred hand-made amautis made of fabric.

The Baffinland Inuit

Nunavut, Cape Dufferin, Quebec (1920)
Frobisher Bay , Northwest Territory (now Iqaluit , Nunavut) (1958)

The Baffinland Inuit inhabit the southern two thirds of Baffin Island , the largest island in the Canadian Arctic archipelago and the fifth largest island on earth.

When the Canadian fur trader Benjamin Frobisher came to the Baffinland Inuit in 1577, the Amautis had a long, tongue-shaped back lap, a wide short lap in front, and a children's bag sewn across the back. They also wore shorts and leggings.

Today's Amautis are made of caribou or seal skin, finely decorated with contrasting colored pieces of fur, the boots are accordingly fantastically adapted. Every settlement in the south of Baffin Island has its own style, especially with the parkas. These parts are only brought out on special occasions, in everyday life one wears industrially manufactured mass-produced goods and hand-made southern-type clothing.

The Labrador Inuit

Before the end of the 18th century, the Labrador Inuit inhabited the entire coast of Labrador . Today they live mainly in the coastal communities of Nain , Hopedale , Postville , Makkovik and Rigolet . Until 1926, the Moravian brothers worked here as missionaries and traders, and their influence continues to this day.

At the end of the 17th century, men's and women's parkas had long back laps. In the early 18th century, the Labrador Inuit men's parkas no longer had laps, while women wore them for much longer. Many species of fur animals lived on the Labrador Peninsula, and the material used for the clothing of its inhabitants was correspondingly varied: seal skin, caribou skin, dog skin, polar bear skin and bird hide. According to contemporary representations, the women allegedly carried their toddlers not only in amauti, but also on their legs, in one of the boots with a pocket.

The Ungava Inuit

The Ungava Inuit inhabit the Québec- Labrador Peninsula north of the tree line, along the Hudson Bay .

Furs used by the Ungava Inuit were from seals, caribou, and occasionally bird hides were used. Unique in the region was a parka that featured long skirt tails on both the front and back. The amautis were decorated with a beaded ribbon that ran from one shoulder to the other. On the Belcher Islands , the caribou had been extinct since the 1870s and bird skins were more used there than caribou skins, especially from the abundant eider ducks, also for stockings, boot covers, hats and bags. Fish skin and seal intestines were also occasionally used for parkas. The eider duck parkas were worn together with trousers, boots and underlips made of ringed and bearded seal, polar bear and dog fur. Until the 1960s, all Inuit there wore parkas made of eider duck skin, they were warmer than southern clothing.

Today's Ungava Inuit wear southern-style clothing that is bought in northern or cooperative stores or ordered online. The women combine this with things that they make from imported fabrics, their own furs and collected eiderdown . The Amautis are made of white cotton or polyester and lined with materials such as cotton flannel, duffle, sheepskin or down. The hoods are trimmed with ice fox, dog or, occasionally, polar hare fur. Around 1970 caribou were resettled and are hunted in a controlled manner. Almost all parts of the animals are used, all meat is eaten, the leg skins are made into boots and the torso skins are made into outer clothing, tools are made from the bones and the sinews ("sinew") are used as yarn.

The caribou Inuit

Martha Nulukie and Louisa
( Inukjuaq , 1947)

Caribou Inuit reside in the Keewatin District in the parishes of Chesterfield Inlet , Baker Lake , Rankin Inlet , Whale Cove, and Arviat .

The typical garment of the Caribou Inuit in the 19th century were beaded parkas with long, wide front and back laps. The assumption also arises for the caribou Inuit that the women transported small children in the fur boots. An Inuit woman gave a different explanation in the 1980s: The boot bags were used to store and dry caribou diapers. This "diaper" was a large piece of caribou skin that was placed under the naked baby before it was put in the mother's amauti pocket. She let the used diaper freeze and then cleaned it with the teeth of a caribou's antlers or with a blunt scraper, then she put the diaper in one of the two boot pockets to dry. A third, already dry diaper was in the pocket of the second boot.

Although the communities are similar to other places today, people continue to wear southern clothing made of caribou and seal skins, as well as textiles made in traditional style. Some seamstresses decorate parkas with bead-embroidered pieces that they buy in craft stores. With rick braid, sashes and other decorations, they create modern variations of the traditional parka.

The Netsilik Inuit

The Netsilik Inuit habitat extends over a vast area from Garry Lake , Back River, and Chantrey Inlet in the southwest to the tip of the Boothia Peninsula .

In a watercolor by John Ross from the period between 1829 and 1833, men and women from the Netsilik Inuit area are shown wearing parkas with short front and long back laps. The women also wore leggings that were buttoned to a strap at waist height. If there were no caribou skins, young musk ox skins were used for clothing; adult skins are too heavy for this purpose and their hair is too thick. The leg skins were made into gloves and boots.

Taboos prevented the netsilik women from sewing while they were hunting. Therefore, they made winter clothing in late autumn when their families moved into camp along the coast.

The Netsilik Inuit from the Garry Lake , Back River area spent a lot of time inland, so there were and still are similarities with the clothing of the people there. In addition, stylistic elements are similar to those of the Iglulik Inuit in the east and the Copper Inuit in the west. If available, wolfskin , musk ox skins and wolverine skins are used for the heel braids .

Most of the Netsilik Inuit today wear hand-made or industrially manufactured cloth clothing.

The Copper Inuit

The Copper Inuit are the most western native Canadian Inuit. They reside primarily in the centers of the Northwest Territories, the parishes of Coppermine , Cambridge Bay, and Holman . Several clans are also found in distant camps on Coronation Gulf , Bathurst Inlet , Contwoyto Lake and on Victoria Island .

Between 1914 and 1918, the Copper Inuit still wore parkas with a short waist and long, narrow back laps and sleeves that reached to the wrist and left a piece of skin uncovered. They also put a heavy parka over a light one. The women's parkas had over-emphasized shoulders and elongated hoods. A marked change occurred between 1916 and 1918 when a married couple moved to the area where the Alaska woman came from. The subsequently created, finely decorated parkas that reach to the knee or mid-calf are still popular.

In the 1990s, the Copper Inuit had a wide variety of fur styles. In contrast to the mainland, on Victoria Island, for example, dog fur was used for clothing, but above all for boots. Chemically tanned Wildnerzfelle , Arctic hare fur , rabbit fur - and beef hides , which were available directly in the North and cooperative stores over the Winnipeg Fur Exchange, was made into fashionable under- and over-drawing parkas for parties and other events in the town. The various items of clothing were made from both self-scraped and industrially tanned skins. Another material for parkas was otter fur .

The Inuvialuit

The Inuvialuit live mainly in the Yukon area and the Northwest Territories and there mainly in the mainland communities of Aklavik , Inuvik , Tuktoyaktuk and Paulatuk as well as in Sachs Harbor on Banks Island . Around 1930, diseases brought in by whalers decimated what was once the largest group in the Canadian Arctic, from probably 2500 people, to 10 to 150 Inuvialuit. The few that remained mingled with the Inupiat from Alaska and with neighboring Indians. In the 20th century, many Inuvialuit from Alaska, the Mackenzie Valley, the Yukon Territory, and the south migrated to the area to hunt fur animals. A new corporate structure has also emerged from the increased oil production.

Before the fateful arrival of the whalers, the Inuvialuit men wore an under parka, underpants and stockings made of muskrat or squirrel skin , plus an over parka, overpants and gloves made of caribou skin. They preferred short-haired pelts for the under- and long-haired for the over-parkas. In summer, they wore winter clothes with their hair facing outwards. The women's parkas were comparable to the men's in terms of cut and decoration, only the front and back laps were a little longer and the hood was cut wider because of the lush braids and buns. The hem and the hood were decorated with ribbons made from white-haired caribou bellies. After the merchants sold red and blue wool, it was sewn into the seams along this strip of fur. The white hood band reached down to the chest of the parka. A pair of the white ribbons were on the front lap of the parka. Dance parkas had a straight hemline that came just below the waist, and some had a long lap. Stripes of white caribou peritoneum on the hem, shoulders and hood were decorated with glass beads, hair and fur tassels. In addition, there were sewn-on decorations in the form of tassels, made from a variety of skins, such as the short-tailed weasel or wolverine. Both men and women tattooed their faces.

Today's Inuvialuit women wear ready-made goods similar to those of the copper Inuit in the east. Muskrat and squirrel skins are still used to make parkas. Local seamstresses also use tanned hides and duffels that are covered with cotton or polyester fabric. Women and girls wear parkas with a ruffle hem, known as "Mother Hubbard". The parkas of the Inuvialuit are about 6 to 10 centimeters longer than those of the Copper Inuit.

various

In 2007, a beaded Amauti owned by Ooloosie Ashevak, daughter-in-law of well-known Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak , previously valued at $ 4,000 to $ 6,000, was auctioned for $ 19,000 in Waddington .

  • Amautis

  • Labrador Inuit. With a straight hem. A child in a boot
    (1812)

  • Chukchi family
    (between 1900 and 1910)

  • Made from caribou calf skins ( pijiki )
    (early 20th century)

  • Under-Amauti of the Iglulingmiut
    (1910-1914)

  • Fabric with a fox-trimmed hood
    (1999)

Web links

Commons : Amauti  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Other Inuit clothing  - collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ↑ http://www.tusaalanga.ca/glossary/inuktitut
  2. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Asuilaak Living Dictionary@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.livingdictionary.com
  3. ^ A b Betty Kobayashi Issenman: The Art and Technique of Inuit Clothing. In: McCord Museum . 2007, accessed April 2, 2012 .
  4. ^ Betty Kobayashi Issenman: Sinews of Survival: The Living Legacy of Inuit Clothing . University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, BC7 1997, ISBN 0-7748-0596-X , pp. 166 .
  5. ↑ a b Without indication of the author: Eskimos ' furrier art . In: Die Kürschnerfibel , No. 2, November 21, 1932, Verlag Alexander Duncker, Leipzig, pp. 16-19.
  6. ↑ a b c http://www.nmto.ca:/ Elijah Tigullaraq: Amauti - Ladies Parka . October 2008 (PDF file) . Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Jill Oakes, Rick Riewe: The art of Inuit women: proud boots, treasures made of fur . Frederking & Thaler, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-89405-352-6 , pp. 18, 51, 78, 89, 91, 101, 117, 118, 137, 155-156, 168-173, 180-185 .
  8. ^ "VI": The coats of the Eskimos. In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt , No. 73, Leipzig, September 15, 1934, p. 4.
  9. ^ Frances Loring, National Gallery of Canada
  10. ↑ Valeria Alia: Arts and Crafts in the Arctic . In: Wolfgang R. Weber: Canada north of the 60th parallel . Alouette Verlag, Oststeinbek 1991, ISBN 3-924324-06-9 , pp. 101-102.
  11. ↑ www.wipo.int: Phillip Bird: Intellectual Property Rights and the Inuit Amauti. A case study. Prepared for The World Summit on Sustainable Development by Pauktuutit Inuit Women's Association , p. 5. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  12. ^ L. Jolliet: Journal de Louis Julliet allant à la descouverte de Labrador manuscript: Archives du Service Hydrographique, Paris, 1694; Reprint: Rapport de l'Archiviste de la Province de Québec pour 1943-1944 . Secondary source Oakes / Riewe, p. 101.
  13. ↑ K. Birket-Smith: The Caribou Eskimos: Material and social life and their cultural position. Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition. John Hopkin Press, Baltimore, MD, 1967. Oakes / Riewe secondary source.
  14. ^ William C. James: A Fur Trader's Photographs. AA Chesterfield in the District of Ungava, 1901-4 . McGill-Queen's University Press, Kingston and Montreal 1985 (multiple photos). ISBN 0-7735-0593-8 .
  15. ↑ Without mentioning the author: furs and furs. Clothing and jewelry among primitive peoples . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 41, Berlin, October 15, 1937, p. 3.
  16. ^ 1) GF Lyon: The Private Journal of Captain GF Lyon of HMS Hecla. During the Recent Voyage of Discovery under Captain Parry . John Murray, London, 1824. 2) T. Mathiassen: Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos. Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition , 1921-1924. Vol. 6. Copenhagen, 1928. (secondary source Oakes / Riewe, pp. 76-77).
  17. ^ Mathiassen 1921
  18. ↑ Jolliet 1694
  19. ↑ L. Fornel: Rélation de la découverte qu'a fait le Sieur Louis Fornel en 1743 de la baie des Eskimeaux nommée par les sauvages Kessesskiou . In 2 of Inventaire des pièces sur la Côte de Labrador conservées aux Archives de la Province de Québec, 1940-1942, R. Paradis, 1743, pp. 204-229. In: Oakes / Riewe.
  20. ↑ K. Birket-Smith: The Caribou Eskimos: Material and social life and their cultural position. Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition, 1921-1924 . (1945). Secondary source Oakes / Riewe, pp. 137-138.
  21. ↑ K. Birket-Smith: Ethnographical Collections from the Northwest Passage. Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition, 1921-1924 . 6/2). 1945. Secondary source Oakes / Riewe, p. 152.
  22. ↑ a b A. Balikei: The Netsilik Eskimo . Natural History Press, Garden City, 1970. Secondary source Oakes / Riewe, pp. 152, 154.
  23. ^ JG Taylor: Netsilik Eskimo Material Culture: The Roald Amundsen Collection from King William Island . Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, 1974. Secondary source Oakes / Riewe, p. 152.
  24. ^ Ethnological Museum, Oslo, 15843. Oakes / Riewe, p. 152.
  25. ^ V. Stefansson. 1914 (unclear year at Oakes / Riewe, who only list works by Stefansson from 1913 (2) and one from 1919 as sources). Oakes / Riewe p. 168
  26. ↑ Waddington's Auction House ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), website no longer available @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.waddingtons.ca
  27. ↑ waddingtons.ca: Lot 66 OOLOOSIE ASHEVAK, Cape Dorset DORSET AMAUTI, duffle, beads, coins and wolverine fur trim, 60.98 "x 24.02" 154.90 x 61.00 Cape Dorset . Retrieved April 15, 2015.