ABORIGINAL SKIN-DRESSIN< i, 565 



with the tesirqun and softened with the straight scraper. The new 

 thongs after being dried between the rocks must be also chewed until 

 they become sufficiently pliable, after which they are straightened by a 

 tretcher that is held with the feet (Boas, Fig. 4G9.) 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 aud to the left over the sole of the foot. 



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 can not be used to the same extent as seal lines. Some lines are 

 cut from the skins of Pagomys fcetidus, but these are weak and greatly 

 inferior to lines of ground-seal hide. 



Deer skins are dried in summer and dressed after the ice has formed. 

 Like all other kind of skins, they are not tanned, but curried. They 

 are hung up on the rafters of the hut, aud 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 ac- 

 quiring its pliability, softness, and light color. In the spring theskinof 

 bears and of seals are sometimes dried on large frames which are ex- 

 posed 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, aud legs being cut off at the neck and the 

 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, par- 

 ticularly those of ground seals, are carefully dried, and after being sewed 

 together are used for sails, windows, and kyak jackets. 



The Malemut Eskimo tan and soften the seal skin used for boot-soles 

 in urine (Whimper, Tr. Ethnol. Soc. L868). For making kyaks and 

 umiaks seal skins are used. The skin is prepared in the first instance, 

 while the hair is yet on it, by spreading fermented fish -spawn over it, 

 and allowing it to remain until the hair rots off. It is then stretched 

 on a frame and saturated with urine until it becomes translucent. The 

 fat is removed with bone and stone knives, metal being considered 

 likely to cut it. (Whimper, Alaska" 1G2.) 



