(left) Woman's beaded parka made by Lizzie Ittinuar, Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories, 1975.
Canadian Museum of Civilization IV-C-4538
(decoration detail)

(right) Boots made by May Mogena, Coppermine, Northwest Territories, 1972.
Canadian Museum of Civilization IV-D-2029 a,b

The arrival of the Hudson's Bay Company and European and American whalers, traders, trappers, and explorers in the Canadian Arctic provoked cultural changes that found expression in Inuit clothing. Access to trade goods and technology, such as glass beads, fabric, and steel needles, introduced a variety of decorative material into traditional clothing styles.

European trade goods introduced the Inuit seamstress to an exciting world of colour and texture. Glass beads provided a new medium for artistic expression. Today, seamstresses like Lizzie Ittinuar continue to sew garments in traditional styles intricately decorated with multicoloured beads.

Women also sewed fabric, available from the trading posts, into a parka shell called a Mother Hubbard. The Mother Hubbard, often seen today in matching mother-daughter styles, is made from a variety of printed fabrics worn over a duffle or skin liner. This style continues to be fashionable among Inuit, Dene, and non-Native women in the Northwest Territories and in southern cities.

Woman's and girl's Mother Hubbards made by Margarite Tangik Egotak, Holman, Northwest Territories, 1987.
Canadian Museum of Civilization IV-D-2155, IV-D-2156

other examples of contemporary clothing