Amauti

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The amauti (also amaut or amautik, plural amautiit) is the tradtional Inuit parka designed to carry a child in the same garment as the parent so that the child is warm and safe from frostbite, wind and cold. The amauti can be made from a variety of materials including sealskin, caribou skin or duffle (a thick woollen cloth) with a windproof outer shell. Children continue to be commonly carried in this way in the Inuit communities of Nunavut and Nunavik, but the garment is less frequently seen in the Northwest Territories, Greenland, Labrador and Alaska. Traditionally the mother or female care-giver wears an amauti, but the garment may also be worn by fathers or male care-givers.

Most people think that the child is carried in the hood of the amauti but this is not the case. The hood is enlarged in an amauti to permit both child and mother to be covered by a single hood. The child actually is put into an extended back of the garment. The child rides with his or her belly against the mother's back and with knees bent. The garment is secured at the waist with a tie or belt which prevents the child from slipping down from the pouch. The weight of the child is carried across the shoulders of the garment although this weight is typically re-distributed by two more ties which form a "v" from the collar bone, with the base secured by the tie at the waist. A final tie attaches to the front edge of the hood, permitting the mother to either open the hood for a curious child to emerge and take in the surroundings, or to pull the hood across closing the child away from the wind and elements.

An amauti was featured in the film Atanarjuat.

[edit] External links

• Inuit Women’s Traditional Knowledge Workshop on the Amauti and Intellectual Property Rights (PDF)
• Amauti used in the film Atanarjuat
• Amauti from the mid-19th century at the McCord Museum

There are usually two styles of amauties called:angajuqtaujaq -like a dress (shown on the right,with the 2 women),and akulik- a longer back,tail like(shown on the left picture-white).