Aleut clothes and headdresses

АThe Aleuts wore parkas – long straight shirts of plain cut. Parkas were sown of sea animals’ skins or birds’ skins. Fur parkas were worn fur inside if the weather was bad, and parkas from birds’ skins were worn feathers outside. The rain trickled down the feathers and the man remained dry. When going out into the sea the Aleuts wore waterproof overalls made of sea animals’ guts over their parkas. The lap, the sleeves and the hood of the overall were pulled tight with cords. Everyday male and female clothes were the same, while festive clothes differed in pattern details. 

When going out into the sea an Aleut hunter wore a prominent wooden peak. It protected eyes from sea splashes and sun highlights on water. 

Such headdresses were hollowed out with a stone tool from a piece of wood thrown ashore by the waves. Unlike simple peaks, conical hats fully covered the head. All these headdresses were covered with painted patterns and decorated with beads, feathers, ivory figures and eared seal whiskers. Decorations had magical meaning and were supposed to bring luck to hunters. The making of such headdress took several months and it was very expensive. The price of one hat equaled the price of two or three slaves, which was usually the fate of prisoners of war and orphans. Wooden headdresses were usually the sign of the hunter’s social status. Conical hats of closed type could only be worn by chiefs, while common people wore peaks with the open top part.

Conic wooden hat. USA, Russian America. The Aleutians. 19th cent.		Wooden peak. USA, Russian America. The Aleutians. 19th cent.		Ritual headdress USA, Russian America. The Aleutians. 19th cent.