ESKIMO DRESS 57 



The women, like the men, wear hairy seal-skin 

 trousers but the women adorn theirs with a band 

 of white or coloured skin on the front of each leg : 

 the boots, made of seal-skin from which the fur 

 has been removed, reach to the knees; they are 

 usually white or bright scarlet and decorated with 

 some geometrical pattern made by sewing strips 

 and small pieces of coloured skin to the front and 

 top of the boots. The native boots (Fig. 39), 

 known as kammiker, are double; into the outer 

 covering of seal-skin fits an inner boot of dog-skin 

 with the hair next the leg; some dried grass is 

 placed between the two soles. The outer sole, 

 made of the skin of the Greenland seal, is turned 

 up all round the edge and very skilfully stitched 

 to the upper part of the boot, made of the skin of 

 another kind of seal (Phoca hispida). The skin of 

 the sole is first chewed by the women to soften it 

 before being stitched with sinews of whale or 

 reindeer. The kammiker are very comfortable and 

 warm; their soft soles, which are kept in good 

 condition by being frequently drawn backwards 

 and forwards over a metal edge, are admirably 

 adapted for walking over smooth, slippery rocks, 

 and they are water-tight. Above the trousers the 

 women wear a broad belt and a blouse both made 

 of some brightly coloured imported material, and 

 on special occasions an elaborate home-made collar 

 of open beadwork over the shoulders. The once 

 prevalent custom among the women of gathering 

 up the hair into a short column on the top of the 

 head is dying out, but it is still seen, especially in 



