Inuit woman with tattoos, Hudson Bay, Canada

• Main Author: Comer, George (Creator)
• Format: Still Image
• Language: unknown
• Published: Ownership Statement: Mystic Seaport 1897
• Subjects: Iglulik Eskimos; Inuit; Tattooing; Arctic; Bedford; Canada; Hudson; Hudson Bay; New Bedford; Aivilik; eskimo*; inuit
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11134/70002:5423

A woman with tattoos, and wearing an Inuit costume, poses in front of a white back-cloth, 1897-1905. She is identified as Gilbert's daughter. Infrastructure Lifestyle Title supplied by cataloger. Information from original envelope identifies this as Photo 63. The woman is probably a member of the Aivilik or Aivillingmiut group of Iglulik Inuit. These Inuit of the west coast region of Hudson Bay were closely associated with Captain George Comer and the American whalers for many years. Taken by Captain George Comer (1858-1937), a sealer and whaling captain from East Haddam. He went to sea while still in his teens and was later master of vessels from both New London and New Bedford. Comer participated in voyages involved in polar expeditions and was noted for his studies of Arctic peoples and their environment. This is one of a group of photos taken by Comer to record facial tattooing of various Inuit groups of Hudson Bay. He had Aivilik women paint their faces to simulate the tattooing styles of various other groups, in this case, a group he identifies as the ""Tunuma [Tununermiut] or Ponds Bay natives.""