Clothing from East Greenland VI. The traditional clothing of East Greenland

Hair style and finery
Women wore their long hair piled on top of the head, fastened with a hair ornament made of beads and cotton. Sometimes amulets were worn in the hair, and amulets were also often worn on the inside of the tail attached to the front of the amaat, or (as in the case of men) to a band on the upper arm. A woman often wore a necklace in the form of a string of beads, from which a large number of shorter bead strings hung down over the breast. Women also often wore the naatsit inside the house, together with the hair ornament and a necklace.

Many women were tattooed on their faces, arms, legs and upper bodies. Tattooed women were considered beautiful, and were also believed to go the kingdom of the dead (i.e., heaven) after death, just like great hunters, and women who had borne many sons. Unsuccessful hunters and women without tattoos ended in the underworld after death. Tattooing was also linked with the production of children - tattooed women were believed to suffer less pain in childbirth. This belief may have been connected with the fact that the application of the tattoo, using needles and soot for the black colouring, was a painful experience.


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