Sinews of Survival: The Living Legacy of Inuit Clothing

Betty Kobayashi Issenman

Nov 2011 · UBC Press

About this ebook

Betty Issenman examines all aspects of winter and summer Inuit clothing, going back 4000 years, with particular emphasis on northern Canadian Inuit. She also describes the kinds of material and tools used to make the clothing. The focus is on on Inuit clothing as protection, identity, and culture bearer, roles it has played for thousands of years. No other book brings together contemporary and historical material from the circumpolar worlds with original research.

Sinews of Survival is a fascinating study of Inuit clothing, past and present. It includes over 200 illustrations of various kinds of clothing. The voices of the Inuit are heard throughout the text in quotations from consultations and the literature.

By describing one component of Inuit society, the author opens a pathway to understanding the culture as a whole.

About the author

Betty Kobayashi Issenman is a well-known specialist in Inuit clothing, a subject on which she has written and lectured extensively. From 1978 to 1988 she researched and catalogued the Artic clothing collections at the McCord Museum in Montreal, Quebec, and in 1988-1989 she was the guest curator at the museum of an exhibition of Inuit clothing called 'Ivalu: Traditions du vetement inuit/Traditions of Inuit Clothing'