Amaat (plural amaati)
Woman's coat with hood, and wide back panel for carrying a child.

Ammassak (plural ammassat)
Small fish (Capelin, Mallotus villasus). The neck vertebrae are used as beads.

Angilertaat
Large beads.

Anorak (East-Greenland: annangraaq)
Jacket with hood, without front fastening. This garment is pulled on over the wearer's head.

Hjemmestyre
Greenland's home government.

Ikkiaq
Waterproof kayak anorak made from gut skin.

Innikkilaq
Snow goggles.

Kalaallisuut
Sunday suit worn in East and West Greenland; women's national costume.

Kamiit (singular kamik) Boots made of seal fur, sewn with sinew thread; found among all the Inuit.

Kayak (East-Greenland: saqqit)
A one-person boat, driven with a paddle. Found throughout the entire Arctic region.

Kiliilarnaq
Bone or aluminium scraper used in East Greenland for removing the last traces of fat from seal skin.

Kongepingasiit
Twelfth Night (Feast of the Three Kings) in East Greenland.

Maattaalit
Leather mittens. In East Greenland, Maattaalit with two thumbs are used in the kayak.

Mattak
The skin and fat of the whale, regarded as a delicacy in Greenland.

Mitaartut
Festival in West Greenland. Shows marked similarities to the East Greenland festival of Uaajeertut.

Naatsit
Underpants, worn by both men and women.

Nasaq
Cap.

Parka
Coat with hood. This is found in many variations, long and short, throughout the entire Arctic region, and is worn by both men and women. In Greenland this garment is called an anorak.

Piniartorsuaq
Great hunter.

Qaajarsiit
Waterproof kayak anorak made from seal leather. In the Ammasalik region this was sometimes worn over the anorak made from gut skin.

Qapiarpik
Board over which the seal skin is stretched while being scraped free of fat.

Qartiipasalik
Leather whaling suit from East Greenland. The suit consisted of boots, trousers, jacket, mittens and hood, all sewn together.

Sakkeq
Woman's knife from East Greenland. The West Greenland women's knife, the ulu, is better known.

Saparngaq
Beads.

Sikkulaarqat
Small round beads.

Suluarpalaat
Small cylindrical beads.

Ulu
Curved woman's knife from West Greenland. This is used for all household tasks, including the skinning of seals and scraping the fat from their skins.

Uaajeertut
Festival in East Greenland, no longer celebrated. Aspects of this festival are to be found in the Twelfth Night (Three Kings) festival - Kongepingasiit and Mitaartut.

<< previous        next >>