The Red Amautiit Project

The Red Amautiit Project, organized by Pauktuutit Inuit Woman of Canada, serves to raise awareness and to honour the lives and legacies of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Gender-Diverse Inuit.

Eunice Tunraluk

Akuq style red Amauti

Eunice Tunraluk’s amauti is a traditional style from Ikpiarjuk and Eastern Arctic,  Baffin Island, Nunavut. The pattern is inspired by her late mother-in-law Tuugaq and mother Qaapik, learning techniques and different patterns that were traced from my ancestors. This red Akuq Amauti has a beautiful fox fur on the hood to keep the woman and child warm.

Heather Angnatok

Labrador style red Amauti

Heather Agnatok made her Amauti with a unique Labrador style, as her elders have made before her. She used a beautiful red impression material, embellished with a beaded amamiutal for the hood of her alulil.

Nancy Pukinaq

Nunavut style red Amautiit

Pukinaq’s amautiit reflects her belief that The Red Amautiit should represent some easing of the bereavement that everyone goes through. Pukinaq used a pattern that her community had as inland Inuit since time immemorial. It is the first style and pattern that she ever saw and grew up with. It has the frills, the hanging tailored patterns in both the front and back as well as the hood carrying a baby. The Red Amauti demonstrates that our blood gives us life, the will to live a better life and that resilience is prominent in our lives.

Sarah Samisack

Nunavik Inukjuak red style Amauti

Sarah Samisack believed it is important to remember the women and girls that have been missing or murdered because they are somebody’s mother, auntie, sister and friend. This amautiit reflects Samisack’s belief that women must take care of one another. Samisack has made a simple traditional red Nunavik Inukjuak-style amauti. The akulik design was made by very innovative Inuit women by looking at the caribou'sat caribou’s mouth top part, the akuk, and designed to look like the akuk.

Shirley Elias

Inuvialuit red style Amauti

The Inuvialuit Amauti would normally have the sunburst made from wolverine and wolf, as those were the most durable and warm furs that would last the harsh climate. The wolf part of the sunburst is cut from the longest part of the wolf, cut into tiny pieces and matched in colour to line up nicely. Instead, Elias  has used dyed red fox fur.

The trimming, or the Delta braid, has been made with tiny pieces of bias tape cut and geometrically sewn to create a pattern. She used tanning tools that were inherited heirlooms to work with the fox fur. Elias’ mother did a lot of the qupak work, the intricate trimming detail on the parka.

Eunice Tunraluk

Nunavummiuq, Aupaluktuq, Nunavut

Eunice Attagutsiak Tunralukwas born and raised in Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay), Nunavut. Tunraluk has enjoyed teaching for more than 25 years at Inuujaq School in Ikpiqrjuk, and learnt traditional sewing skills, including cleaning and preserving hides, to make warm clothing from the hides and furs that are hunted by her husband  Rubuen Tunraluk. 

Many of her family members are seamstresses, particularly her late mother-in-law Tuugaq Tunraluk and mother Qapik Attagutsiak, who is 101 years old, who taught her many sewing techniques.

Heather Angnatok

Nunatsiavummiuq, Nain, Nunatsiavut

Heather Agnatok  has been sewing for about 30 years. She began by making clothes for her  children and family to keep them warm during the long cold winter months. Agnatok has worked on various projects including: two akulets for girls from my community, to wear during the opening ceremony of the Canada Winter Olympic Games. She also teaches women and youth how to sew atiget and akulet

Nancy Pukinaq

Nunavummiuq, Aupaluktuq, Nunavut

Nancy Pukinaq was born in Aaruannuaq located near Uqsuqtuuq (Gjoa Haven), Nunavut and the Back River area. In her community’s Iglu camps, their tuktu clothing required cleaning and scraping so that they were soft and prepared properly. The first time Pukinaq worked on a clothing-making project was as a child when she made an atigi, learning how to prepare the skin by cleaning, scraping and softening it with water. Pukinaq learnt how to sew from her sisters who prepared and sewed clothing for their family.

Sarah Samisack

Nunavimmiuq,Inukjuak, Nunavik

Sarah Samisack has been sewing for about 15 years, which she first learned from her grandmother, who inspired her to become a seamstress. Samisack also became interested in cleaning traditional skins which she learned from her grandmother, too. Samisack has since made different patterns of parkas, amautiit, snow pants, hunting gear, sealskin kamituinaat, polar bear pants, mittens and mosquito jackets. Notably, she was included as one of the seamstresses in Canada Goose Project Atigi 2.0. In October 2021, she started her own business called Sarah Samisack Designs. For about 10 years, Samisack has worked in her local daycare and at the school teaching grades one and two Inuktitut classes.

Shirley Elias

Inuvialuk,Inuvik, Inuvialuit Nunangit Sannaiqtuaq 

Shirley Elias, whose Inuvialuktun name is Mimirlina, was born and raised in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories. Growing up, Shirley Elias’s great-grandmother Mamie Mamayauq taught Elias how to cut out and put together parkas as Elias played and made clothes for her dolls. Elias also learnt sewing from her mother, who was an artist herself, and taught Elias how to do qupak work. Elias has since learnt the art of working with fur, specifically how to tan a hide piece and put it together.