Content note: This article contains a discussion of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S). Support is available 24 hours a day for anyone affected by MMIWG2S or who may be triggered by content dealing with MMIWG2S through the national crisis line at 1-844-413-6649.
May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People, also known as Red Dress Day. Two years ago today, Pauktuutit—the national representation organization for Inuit women in Canada—unveiled The Red Amautiit Project to honour Inuit women, girls and gender-diverse folks affected by this crisis. The project comprised of five amautiit, each sewn by an Inuk seamstress. Four represent the particular style in their region of Inuit Nunangat: Shirley Elias for the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Eunice Tunraluk for Nunavut, Sarah Samisack for Nunavik and Heather Angnatok for Nunatsiavut, with a fifth amauti that serves as a “heritage piece” by Nancy Pukinaq Aupaluktuq, representing a style particular to inland Nunavummiut.
To commemorate the initiative, last month the IAQ spoke with Angnatok about her parka-making journey and her experience representing Nunatsiavut in The Red Amautiit Project.
IAQ: Why did you want to take part in The Red Amautiit Project?
HA: You can't help but feel very proud, especially when you're representing your region within a significant initiative. I think that it's so important to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People because it's so sad that our women are taken so harshly and tragically, and they must never be forgotten. Red Dress Day is an opportunity to remember people who we knew, who were a part of the community, but are no longer here. It's a reminder, every year, that there's still people who go missing or are murdered, and we must continue to raise awareness that it's not acceptable.
Heather Angnatok’s Labrador style red Amautiit (2023) (left) and Augatnaaq Eccles’s Piuguqtaililavut (Let us not forget) (2024) (right) laid out for view at FOFA Gallery during the exhibition launch of Ilagiit/Relatives, Montreal, 2024
PHOTO INUIT ART FOUNDATION © THE ARTISTS
IAQ: How did you begin making parkas?
HA: My grandmother—who used to do a lot of sewing and was my main inspiration—taught me how to crochet as a girl. I was so thrilled that I was actually crafting with my grandmother, and I kept it right into my adulthood. I must have been about 18 years old when I really started sewing, and I learned a lot from my mother-in-law. It renewed my desire to keep sewing traditional clothing, and I was so keen that I would try to learn on my own. Of course, I would never get it right the first time, so I took some evening classes with my aunt, who taught beading and parka making. I was in my early twenties when I started making parkas and I would make them for my family, friends or myself.
Heather Angnatok Labrador style red Amautiit (2023) (detail) commander cloth, quilted lining, seed beads, otter fur and wool
PHOTO INUIT ART FOUNDATION © THE ARTIST
IAQ: What do you like about making parkas?
HA: I really enjoy sewing, and it's even more fulfilling when I make traditional clothing. Our language and culture in Labrador really began to diminish and started to die out, and I was just so keen on trying to learn from seeing the old photos of akuliit, amautiit, atigiit (pullover parkas) and kamiit. The Nunatsiavut-style akulik is a women’s parka that isn’t designed to carry a baby in the hood, it just has a very large hood. I wasn’t able to find a pattern to do the amauti, so I stuck with making the other traditional clothing.
I had a young family, and we would go out on the land a lot, and I would always make my children their parkas, mitts or boots to keep them extra warm. In Nunatsiavut, we have a lot of cultural events and events hosted by our Moravian Church, and we wear our cultural clothing for them. So it's really important that we continue making our clothing that we've known for so long. It might change from time to time—become a little bit more modern or use different materials—but it's still the same style.
In 2020, I had an opportunity to present my work at the Northern Lights trade show in Ottawa, ON, so I fashioned an outfit, and after that, I just continued to design and sew traditional outfits. It's fun when you're able to represent your region.
Heather Angnatok Labrador style red Amautiit (2023) (detail)
PHOTO LAURENCE POIRIER © THE ARTIST
IAQ: Can you talk about the elements of your design for The Red Amautiit Project and what each element represents?
HA: I put a lot of thought into how I would design it. I knew that, since it was for this project, it would be a red parka, and I chose to make a Nunatsiavut-style akulik and embellish the hood and front with beadwork. The colour of the beads tells a story. My mother's favourite colour is purple, so the purple flowers represent mothers, and then I used red and pink beads to represent young girls and single women, blue beads to represent married women and white beads to represent widows because those are the colours we use in our church to signify if we're married or single or widowed. The small red flowers scattered throughout the amâmiutak—the decoration on the hood of the akulik—and the front represent all of the missing and murdered Inuit women from Labrador, and in particular, the small red flowers on the front represent eight missing women from Nain, Nunatsiavut, NL, who I knew personally. I also thought of the non-Indigenous women who went missing from my region while beading. Then I added a little bit of otter fur around the hood.
IAQ: What do you remember about working on the design?
HA: When I’m sewing or designing a piece of clothing, I put a lot of thought into exactly how it would look and how it would fit and the purpose. It was a very long journey making this akulik, because it took me a long time to sew and bead. I would try to work on it every evening, beading a little bit here and there. Even when I went to my cabin during the weekends, I would take it with me. So it took me quite a number of weeks before I even finished the beading.
The Red Amautiit Project
© 2024 PAUKTUUTIT INUIT WOMEN OF CANADA
IAQ: What is it about sewing that makes you feel connected to this issue?
HA: There were a lot of inspirational women in my community who helped me on my journey to where I am today, including my grandmother, mother, aunts and mother-in-law. And I remember when I was a little girl, I would always watch my grandmother sewing, so I really like to teach what I know to other young girls or women or even men because it is so important to continue the tradition, so that it doesn't get lost.
Red Dress Day reminds us that we can try to do everything in our power to help our neighbours, our young girls and women and Two-Spirit folks, so that this doesn't happen to them, because if you could help one person, then that's a lot. It makes a difference in your community, and that's always something that I strive to do: make a difference in my community.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and condensed.