A Study on Costume of Arctic Circles in Pacific Coast

태평양 연안 지역 북극권 복식 특성 연구

The North Pacific Arctic region has common factors such as climatic characteristics and similarity of animals inhabiting the region. But also there exists geographical barriers that separates the tribes, different languages between the tribes. Although there are such differences, the clothing and ornaments of the region have relatively similar design and style. And above all possess the ‘spirit’. The tribes find the motives of such ‘spirit’ in human, animal, and soul\`s adaptability to change and in grafting such changes of forms into clothing. Especially as means of pleasing the animal that they vitally rely on, the tribes made the clothing as beautiful as the nature itself and they tried to connect the humans and animals universally through such clothing that have social, artistic, and enchantic conditions. The supply of raw materials of animals has elevated the creativeness one step up and the precise knowledge about fur show their superior techniques in making fur clothing. The use of gutskin has is an excellent example of such knowledge, which is very unique of the region. The gutskin has moderate plasticity and thus can be cut into all sorts of pattern. It harmonizes the functionality and practicality. The worldwide fashion trend is dominated by Western style, but the clothing of this region is still keeping its distinctive folk identity. At the start of the research, Kayak and itelmen tribes of Asia, the tribes of Amur river and Aleut and Tlingit tribes of North America seems to be geographically too far from each other and therefore searching theoretical background for common cultural origins seems to be immoderate. But lighting the fact that geographical adjacency that can be perceived through costume cultural history, is the most important factor that gives mutual influences to costume culture between the neighboring tribes, cultural relative similarity of the costume is influenced by geographical location rather than physical distance between the tribes. Also humans\` adaptability to their environment is seriously contaminated with man-made products. This study on North Pacific Arctic region is telling us many things about our past, present and future.