A parka that allows wind penetration, boots that leak, mittens with seams that open in freezing temperatures — any of these failures in an environment where external temperatures drop to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit can kill.

The specific techniques of Arctic skin garment construction — the waterproof stitch, the layering principles, the choice of specific skins for specific purposes (caribou for insulation, seal for wind resistance and water repulsion) — represent centuries of refined engineering.

The ulu, the traditional Iñupiat woman’s knife with its half-moon blade, was the primary tool for processing animal skins for garments and for the skinboats women built and maintained.

The processing of an animal skin into usable material for clothing or boat cover required specific knowledge: how to scrape the skin without weakening it, how to soften it to the right flexibility, how to preserve it without chemical agents while maintaining its structural properties.