LITMIR.BIZ

      Fig. 468. Old stone scrapers found in graves.

       (National Museum, Washington, a, b, 34083; c, 34084; d, 34085.) ⅔

      Skins of Phoca annellata, Phoca cristata, and Phoca grœnlandica are prepared in the same way.

      Those which are intended for kayak covers, boots, mittens, quivers, &c. are prepared in a different way. They are either put into hot water or laid in a brook for a few days until the hair begins to loosen. Then both sides are worked with the ulo, in order to clean and shave them. When the hair is removed they are dried and made pliable in the same way as has been described. If it is intended to make the skin as soft as possible it is allowed to become putrid before it is cleansed. Then the hair and the blubber are removed, and afterwards it is left to hang in the sun for a few days until it acquires a light color.

The large ground seal (Phoca barbata) is skinned in a different manner. Its skin is very thick, thicker even than sole leather, and therefore extremely durable and suitable for all sorts of lines, particularly traces, lashings, and harpoon lines, and for soles, drinking cups, and boat covers. This seal is very large, sometimes attaining a length of ten feet. The skin of the back and of the breast dries unequally, and therefore a piece covering the throat and breast is taken out before the rest is skinned, and the parts are dried separately. If it is to be used for lines it is cut by making girdles about six inches in width around the body. The hair and the blubber are removed from these cylindrical rings, from which lines are made by cutting spirally, a strip seventy or eighty feet long being thus obtained. This line is stretched as taut as possible between two rocks, and while drying it undergoes an enormous tension. Before being taken from the rocks the edges are rounded and cleaned with a knife.

      Walrus hide is always cut up before being prepared. As soon as the walrus is killed it is cut into as many parts as there are partners in the hunt, every part being rolled up in a piece of skin and carried home in it. Sometimes the skin is used for making boats, but generally it is cut into lines. Both kinds of hide, that of the walrus and that of the ground seal, are as stiff as a board when dried and require much work before being fit for use. They are chewed by the natives until they become thin and pliable. The whole skin must be chewed in this way before it can be used for soles and boat covers. Afterwards it is scraped with the tesirqun and softened with the straight scraper. The new thongs, after being dried between the rocks, must also be chewed until they become sufficiently pliable, after which they are straightened by a stretcher that is held with the feet (Fig. 469). Frequently they are only pulled over the sole of the boot for this purpose, the man taking hold of the line at two points and pulling the intermediate part by turns to the right and to the left over the sole of the foot.

      Fig. 469. Stretcher for lines. (National Museum, Washington. 9836.) 1/1

      Another kind of line is cut from the hide of the white whale, which is skinned in the same way as the ground seal, but, as it must be slit on the spinal column, the single pieces of line are much shorter, and they cannot be used to the same extent as seal lines. Some lines are cut from the skins of Pagomys fœtidus, but these are weak and greatly inferior to lines of ground seal hide.

Deerskins are dried in summer and dressed after the ice has formed. Like all other kinds of skins they are not tanned, but curried. They are hung up among the rafters of the hut, and the workers—in Oqo and Akudnirn the women, in Hudson Bay the men—take off their jackets and begin preparing them with the sharp scraper. After being cleaned in this way they are thoroughly dried, either by hanging them near the roof of the hut or, according to Gilder, by wrapping them around the upper part of the body next to the skin, after which they are again scraped with the tesirqun. This done, the flesh side is wetted, the skin is wrapped up for half a day or a day, and afterwards undergoes a new scraping. Then it is chewed, rubbed, and scraped all over, thus acquiring its pliability, softness, and light color.

      In the spring the skins of bears and of seals are sometimes dried on large frames which are exposed to the sun, the skins being tied to the frames with thongs. Smaller quadrupeds, as foxes and ermines, are skinned by stripping the entire animal through its mouth without making a single cut in the skin. Birds are opened at the breast and the body is taken out through this small hole, the head, wings, and legs being cut off at the neck and the other joints. Ducks are frequently skinned by cutting the skin around the head and the outer joints of the wings and legs and stripping it off. The skins are cleaned by sucking out the fat and chewing them.

      Skins of salmon are used for water proof bags; intestines of seals, particularly those of ground seals, are carefully dried and after being sewed together are used for sails, windows, and kayak jackets.

      Fig. 470. Ivory needle. (National Museum, Washington. 34135.) 1/1

      Fig. 471. Ivory needle case from Cumberland Sound. (Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. 6832.) 1/1

      Fig. 472. Common pattern of needle case. Iglulik. (From Parry II, p. 548.)

      Sundry Implements

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The sewing is done with thread made of deer or white whale sinews. Particularly are those sinews at the back dried and when intended for use they can easily

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