Login with PatreonIn the Sermerssuaq entry, I posted a link to this image that I found in my research, saying that I now really wanted an Inuit Assassin’s Creed game:
Shortly after that, though, I got a message pointing out that it’s not an authentic image:
impling asked: Hi! I was poking around here, because this place is awesome, and clicked the Inuit archer photo hoping for more… only to find a comment (from Dec. 4,) that said it’s from a movie called Jadesoturi (Jade Warrior). Checked that out and sadly… the woman is not Inuit and the costume isn’t, either. Google “Anna-Maria Vilppunen master of arts” and get the third link down- it leads to a write-up and a nice high-res version of the image. Ms. Vilppunen was the movie’s costume designer. Sorry. :(
Which, you know, super bummer. I replied with another image found in my research, of Mi’kmaq (not Inuit) dancer Daniel Stephens, from a photographic series called Warrior: Fire and Ice.
This Reddit thread indicates his outfit is kind of a mishmash of different tribes, but at least it’s authentic in parts, and it’s a great picture.
After this, several other people chimed in with even MORE awesome pics and information. Tumblr user northernselkie replied:
So, even though I’m an archaeologist up here, I’m by no means an expert, but you know what’s really cool? Armor from NW Alaska and the Chuckhi. NW Alaskan pre-historic Inupiat armor looks like this
And Chukchi armor looks like this:
For non-armor, but further awesome Inuit costume design, (and great movie-making all around) check out, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
…to which someone asked if that armor is actual battle armor, or if it’s purely ceremonial. Tumblr user oosik jumped in:
That’s legit armor, a concept that goes back some time. Bone and ivory armor slats have been found along the northwest coast of Alaska from at least 1,000 years ago. It is suspected to have been a product of conflict between two neighboring groups, the Birnirk, a purely maritime culture, and Ipiutak, which have a coastal and inland variant. The conflict would have arisen at whaling and walrus “hot spots,” prime real estate where the marine mammals would have come closest to the shore. One of these locations is Point Hope, where a burial excavation uncovered a projectile point embedded in a sternum. If this doesn’t show proof of armor, it at least shows proof for the need of armor.warf
Truly, RP readers are the best readers.
