Guest Author - Phyllis Doyle Burns
The women of the harsh, bitter cold climate of the region that stretches from southeast Alaska to Greenland, had to have a strong determination to survive and make sure their family did. The Inuit woman of today has a life not much different than her ancestors dating back to 1000 AD when they emerged from western Alaska and spread east across the Arctic. The Inuit mostly settled north of the tree line, where they established their own culture and way of life separate from the Native American cultures to the south. Their culture and development of their own society was better suited to the bitter cold of the Arctic.
Although the men were traditionally the hunters and fishers of food, some women would take over this task when the need called for it or often just because they preferred to do so. Generally the women stayed in their village, tending their homes and children, cooking, sewing and found plenty to do. Their life was one of constant preparation for the winter months and the need for survival. The typical diet of the Inuit was, and still is, high in protein with very high fat content. Since it was not possible to cultivate plants for food, the women, when they had time away from their daily chores, would gather grasses, roots, stems, tubers, berries and seaweed to supplement the diet. These food sources were also preserved for the winter months. Their extreme low carbohydrate diet did not seem to have any negative affect on them and they had adequate vitamin C sources from the raw meat they ate, such as seal liver and whale skin.
The traditional and most important "annuraaq", item of clothing, for the Inuit woman was a parka with a hood large enough to accommodate the baby they carried on their back and was essential to survival. It was made of caribou or sealskin and very warm, with the edging around the hood trimmed in animal fur. The needles they used for sewing were made from animal bones and sinew was used for thread. The dress for both men and women was also made of skins and furs with watertight boots of sealskin and trousers of double layer skin. This has got to be the warmest clothing you will find anywhere in the world! It had to be for the extreme environment they lived in. Even today, the parka is the common garment to be worn. For better insulation from the cold, their clothing was made in such a way that they could overlap the layers. The clothing these creative women made not only provided warmth, but expressed their unique culture.
With the arrival of Europeans, trade items such as beads, fabric and other materials became available to the Inuit. The women used these items to combine with their own style in creative and artistic fashion. Elaborate bead work in bright colors soon adorned their parkas. The detailed designs of blossoms, animals and intricate patterns on some of the parkas is astounding. In the winters, when their life was spent indoors for months, they would fashion beautiful dance wear for the drum dances that they held within their snow houses. Some of these houses could hold as many as sixty people and dancing was a form of entertainment for the long winters they had to endure inside.
Their life was not in any way easy, but they were strong and innovative and they were survivors, managing to maintain and pass on their unique culture to new generations.
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You may purchase books with more on the lives of Inuit women, by clicking on the Amazon links below.
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