Sinews of Survival: The Living Legacy of Inuit Clothing

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

Traditional materials of fur and skin have protected the Inuit for
thousands of years. These garments, with their intricate design and
decoration, are an expression of Inuit culture and the powerful spirit
that has enabled Inuit to survive in conditions that would have
decimated a weaker people. This wide-ranging survey of Inuit clothing
covers styles, tools and techniques, and spiritual, artistic, and social
traditions. Thorough and scholarly, it is well illustrated with
black-and-white photographs of the clothing and the people who make and
wear it. There are also maps of key areas.

Betty Kobayashi Issenman, an associate of the Department of Ethnology
at the McCord Museum of Canadian History in Montreal, has written
extensively on the subject. Sinews of Survival is the first book to
bring together information scattered in many articles and books,
including Inuit writings. Issenman’s prose is clear and graceful. She
has a firm grasp of her complicated topic, and the breadth and depth of
her research is evident.

Sinews of Survival is an important resource for both Arctic scholars
and general readers.