NELSON] BOOTS 41 



Oil the tundra south of the lower Yukon this general style of boot is 

 made in a somewhat different fashion. The sewing is much more 

 crudely done in that district than in the region to the northward. 

 Plate xxi, 9, shows a pair of winter boots typical of the lower Kusko- 

 kwim district; they are made of deerskin tanned with the hair on and 

 the hairy side turned in, but with a long, oval flap turned down in front 

 from the top, thus having the hairy side outward on this portion. The 

 outer flap is bordered by one or more narrow strips of white-hair deer 

 skin with little tags of worsted scattered along the lower edge, and is 

 finished by a narrow strip of mink fur. 



The soles of the shoes worn in this district are of sealskin sewed on 

 in the same manner as already described, but in a very crude fashion, 

 owing to the unskilfulness of the needle women in this part of the 

 country. 



On the lower Kuskokwim and southward to Tikchik lake the boots 

 worn are more like those from the region north of the Yukon, except 

 in the example shown in plate xxr, 8, from Tikchik, which have the 

 front and rear of the legs ornamented with little tags of red worsted 

 and white hair, and along the sides of the seams a series of little strips 

 of reindeer-skin two or three inches in length. 



The top of the boot has two bands of white-hair reindeer-skin sewed 

 around, each bordered above by a narrow strip of plucked beaver-skin. 

 The lower of these white bauds is bordered on its lower edge by strips 

 of plucked beaver-skin, three or four inches in length, hung in pairs. 

 These boots have two pairs of little leather ears one on each side of the 

 toes and the other on each side of the ankles. A long cord is passed 

 across the top of the foot through the first of these, the ends of which 

 are crossed over the foot and passed through the ears at the sides of 

 the ankles, thence crossing behind and around forward and tied, as 

 already described. 



On King island and the Diomedes in Bering strait some of these deer 

 skin boots are handsomely ornamented, as shown in the accompanying 

 illustration (plate xxi, 7) of a typical pair from the first named locality. 

 They are made of white-hair reindeer-skin taken from the legs of the 

 animal, and have a hard-tanned sealskin sole and a narrow strip of 

 tanned sealskin of russet color between the sole and the uppers. The 

 legs are handsomely ornamented with pattern work sewed on in colors 

 red, black, white, blue, and yellow being used. The white work is done 

 mainly by sewing in long reindeer hairs. In addition colored threads 

 are used for the red and blue. A fine, yellow checked pattern work is 

 produced by drawing narrow strips of yellow-tanned seal intestine 

 through little slits cut along the strips of russet-colored tanned sealskin 

 which are set into the sides of the legs. Along these bands and on the 

 borders of the pattern work are set little tufts of hair from the pup 

 seal, dyed a deep chestnut red, alternating with little square tags of 

 white-hair skin. As usual, around the top are several bauds of white- 



