Ikpukkuaq and Higilaq in decorated dance clothing at Tahiryuak Lake, Northwest Territories.
Photograph: George H. Wilkins, 1915.
Canadian Museum of Civilization 36913

Among Canadian Inuit, drum dances took place in large snowhouses built to hold up to sixty people. Dances were held to welcome travelling groups and friends or to celebrate a successful hunt. Drumming and dancing were complemented by songs that recorded all aspects of daily life.

The Copper Inuit had distinctive dance garments. A decorated caribou-skin parka was worn with pants and boots, sealskin shoes, and a bonnet-style hat. The hat had a single loon's beak attached to the crown. The white winter skin of an ermine hung down the back and was swung around the head to the sound of the drum. Both the loon and ermine were powerful spiritual protectors.

(above) Dance shoes, Copper Inuit, Victoria Island, Northwest Territories, 1915-1916. Canadian Museum of Civilization IV-D-1163 a,b The finely crimped pleats were made using a bone tool or the right thumb nail.
(right) Dance hat, Copper Inuit, Coronation Gulf, Northwest Territories, early twentieth century. Canadian Museum of Civilization IV-D-977