clothing"; the Inuvialuit referred to cloth pants as kam'-mik-hluk, meaning "makeshift pants". The Inuit selectively adopted foreign elements that simplified the construction process (such as metal needles) or aesthetically modified the appearance of garments (such as seed beads and dyed cloth), while rejecting elements that were unsuitable (such as metal fasteners, which may freeze and snag, and synthetic fabrics, which absorb perspiration). Construction and maintenance Historically, women were responsible for managing every stage of the clothing production process, from preparation of skins to the final sewing of garments. The skills relating to this work were traditionally passed down in families from grandmothers and mothers to their daughters and grandchildren. Although the learning process began in early childhood, fully mastering these skills could take until a woman was into her mid-thirties. Learning to make traditional clothing has always been a process of acquiring tacit knowledge by observing and learning the sewing process, then creating items independently without explicit verbal directions in what can be characterized as learning-by-doing. Traditionally, young girls practiced by creating dolls and doll clothes from scraps of hide before moving on to small clothing items like mittens intended for actual use. To ensure the survival of the family unit and the community as a whole, garments had to be sewn well and properly maintained. Heat loss from poorly constructed clothing reduced the wearer's ability to perform essential tasks in camp and on the hunt and limited their ability to travel. It could also lead to negative health outcomes including illness, hypothermia, or frostbite, which in extreme cases can result in loss of limbs and eventually death. For this reason, most garments, especially boots, were constructed from as few pieces as possible to minimize the number of seams, which in turn minimized heat loss. Preparation of new items occurred on a yearly cycle that typically began after the traditional hunting seasons. Caribou were hunted in the late summer and autumn from approximately August to October, and sea mammals like seals were hunted from December to May. Production of clothing was an intensive process undertaken by the entire community gathered together in a camp. Men contributed by butchering the animals and stockpiling food, while women processed hides and sewed the garments. The sewing period that followed hunting could last for two to four weeks. It could take up to 300 hours just to prepare the approximately twenty caribou hides necessary