Yupʼik doll
eskimo style doll
Yup'ik doll (Yup'ik yugaq sg yugak dual yugat pl or yuguaq, irniaruaq, irnianguaq, inuguaq; also, yunguaq in Unaliq-Pastuliq dialect, sugaq, sugaruaq, suguaq in Bristol Bay dialect, cugaq, cugaruaq in Hooper Bay-Chevak dialect, cuucunguar in Nunivak dialect) is a traditional Eskimo style doll and figurine form made in the southwestern Alaska by Yup'ik people. Also known as Cup'ik doll for the Chevak Cup'ik dialect speaking Eskimos of Chevak and Cup'ig doll for the Nunivak Cup'ig dialect speaking Eskimos of Nunivak Island. Typically, Yup'ik dolls are dressed in traditional Eskimo style Yup'ik clothing (as irniaruam atkua "doll parka"), intended to protect the wearer from cold weather, and are often made from traditional materials obtained through food gathering. Play dolls from the Yup'ik area were made of wood, bone, or walrus ivory and measured from one to twelve inches in height or more. Male and female dolls were often distinguished anatomically and can be told apart by the addition of ivory labrets for males and chin tattooing for females. The information about play dolls within Alaska Native cultures is sporadic. As is so often the case in early museum collections, it is difficult to distinguish dolls made for play from those made for ritual. There were always five dolls making up a family: a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, and a baby. Some human figurines were used by shamans.
Eskimo doll
Both Yup'ik, Siberian Yupik, and Iñupiaq dolls are also known as Eskimo doll in Alaska.
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This entry incorporates text from “Yupʼik doll” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.