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EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



Moccasins. These are worn by all of the metis and Indians 

 of the North; the whites in the country soon become accus- 

 tomed to their use and are loth to return to the hard and 

 cramping "English shoes." They are all made after the same 

 general pattern; a single piece around the foot, a semi-elliptical 

 more or less ornamented piece over the instep, and a top of 

 light leather or canvas which folds around the ankle. They 

 are fastened by a pair of leather strings which draw around the 

 heel and pass two or three times around the ankle. Dressed 

 moose leather is the best material obtainable by the Northern 

 Indians for the manufacture of moccasins; caribou leather is 

 also used, especially by the inhabitants of the caribou country, 

 where few moose are to be found. The moccasin is certainly 

 the best form of foot wear for use in the fragile birch canoe or 

 for walking upon snow-shoes. But it is not a perfect protec- 

 tion for the foot, as the soft and flexible mooseskin will admit 

 water as readily as blotting paper, and then wear away rapidly 

 and stretch immoderately. Four or five pairs a day are some- 

 times required in tracking, and in spring traveling they are 

 soon cut to pieces by the ice, though they are sometimes pro- 

 tected by a sole made from the skin of a caribou's leg with the 

 hair on. They are sewed with sinew thread, which is strong 

 and durable. 



The collection contains a pair of moccasins, No. 10,835, of 

 caribou leather, which were made for use upon the musk-ox 

 hunt of the Dog Ribs in 1894. They are quite large, to admit 

 double blanket foot wrappings. The central piece is of scarlet 

 cloth without embroidery and bordered with narrow blue and 

 yellow tape. The top is of an inferior quality of leather. 



I obtained a pair of slippers, No. 10,887, at McPherson, which 

 are of heavy moose leather smoked a dark brown. The central 

 piece is of blue strouding ornamented with a simple pattern in 

 beads and bordered with two rows of horsehair colored blue 

 and yellow. Around the tops is a strip of strouding, 1.5 inches 

 wide, free at the lower edge which is crenulated. These were 

 made after a metis pattern by the wife of the Eskimo interpreter. 



There is a pair of "silk-worked moccasins," No. 9,597, in the 

 collection from Grand Rapids, which is an excellent example 

 of metis art. The tops are of woodland caribouskin with a 1 

 inch piece of white-tanned Barren Ground caribouskin inserted 



