SPIRIT OF SIBERIA: Traditional Native Life, Clothing, and Footwear

In this richly illustrated volume, Jill Oakes and Rick Riewe detail how indigenous peoples of Siberia make, wear, and interpret the meaning of their traditional clothing. Drawing on extensive research and their travels across northern Asia, the authors document the intricate designs executed in fur, embroidery, beads, paint, and dye that adorn indigenous apparel, from everyday parkas and boots to shaman's robes. They also record the complex belief systems that inform nearly every aspect of a garment's construction and decoration. Among the Even of Central Siberia, a healing shaman wears human-shaped pendants made of red-dyed seal fur to help cure a sick person. Among the Koryak of the Far East, burial clothing made from white-haired reindeer skin can't be seen or finished until someone actually dies. The Nenets of western Siberia sew bells on their children's sleeves both to keep them from getting lost and to ward off evil spirits. Oakes and Riewe also draw parallels between the practices of Siberian peoples and those of northern Canada and Alaska.