If they would only see how they are really used up North, I think they would think twice about how they're appropriating the designs. I've seen some non-Inuit go up there and try to sell their own version of Inuit design, but it's often a real distortion of our traditional design. For instance, one non-Inuit woman designed an amauti and normally the front is shorter than the back, which is longer and gives you room to move and keeps your legs warm from the back. But this lady made the back part very short and started to wear it herself, and she was selling them as authentic Inuit designs, but they weren't. The design of it is complicated.
Every piece has a name, each section has a name and a purpose to it.
For instance, with the amauti you can carry the baby in the back, or if you want to breastfeed you put your arms inside and you can roll the amauti backward to take the baby inside. If you distort that design, it becomes meaningless because you can't actually do any of those things. That is what it's all about. It would really be best if designers consulted with us instead of just stealing our designs and pattern. We want recognition that these are our designs and we we want to know what they are doing with our designs.