Festive clothing
In the past many of the people of the Arctic region had no special festive clothing. They simply wore their finest or newest clothes on special occasions. These, however, were virtually the same as ordinary, everyday wear, without special significance.

Two girls engaged in a song duel during a cultural festival in Ammassalik. They have been coached by Anna Kuitse. The boy to the left is wearing a traditional headband, a blue cotton anorak, with seal-skin trousers and boots. (Photos: Cunera Buijs, 21st June 2001).

The lack of festive clothing derived from the social and political structure of these societies, egalitarian and without leaders. It was only after long contact with non-Inuit people that special festive wear began to be developed. This may be connected with the new materials then beginning to appear in the Arctic - beads and cotton, for example.

West Greenland had a festival known as mitaartut, which had marked similarities to the East Greenland traditional feast, uaajeertut. The name mitaartut derives from the West Greenland verb mitarpoq, meaning 'to dress up', or 'to pull strange faces'. In East Greenland this feast was also celebrated in the winter, at about the same time as the Christian celebration of Twelfth Night (called the Feast of Three Kings on the Continent) on the 6th of January. Consequently mitaartut was also named kongepingasiit, literally 'three kings', although differences can be found. At this celebration grotesquely dressed figures appear, turning normal relationships upside down; men are dressed in women's clothes, and paint their faces black and red. Just as clothes are an expression of identity, 'dressing up' is a sign that the normal identity is temporarily being exchanged for a different one.

Today, the Lutheran Church festivals are celebrated in both East and West Greenland. On such occasions the Inuit wear the Sunday suit (kalaallisuut), which developed during the course of the twentieth century. This costume is worn not only on Sunday, for going to church, but also on festive occasions such as baptisms and weddings. The woman's Sunday suit consists of a cotton anorak with a huge, colourful bead collar or yoke, shoulder covering, a pair of short seal-skin trousers decorated with leather mosaic, and long, finely finished boots.

The anorak with bead collar, the short trousers and boots of the Sunday suit (RMV 4458-74a, 74c and 73d).

The men wear black trousers, beautifully worked black seal-skin boots, and a white cotton anorak. Today, these clothes are regarded as the national costume.

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