218 



THE HUDSON BAY ESKIMO. 



there is bat one seam ; the tongue or piece to cover the instep may 

 or may not be a separate piece. If it is, the leg seam comes in front; if 

 it forms one piece with the leg piece, the seam is behind. When the 

 leg is sewed up and the tongue properly inserted the sole is sewed on. 

 It is tacked at the heel, toe, and once on opposite sides of the foot, to 

 the upper. The sewing of the sole to the upper is generally begun at 

 the side of the seam and continued around. Perpendicular creases 

 at the heel, and more numerously around the toes, take up the slack of 

 the sole and are carefully worked in. The making of this part of the 

 shoe is most difficult, for unless it is well sewed it is liable to admit 

 watei'. The creases or "gathers" are stitched through and through 

 with a stout thread, which holds them in place while the operation 

 proceeds, and which besides has a tendency to prevent the gathers 

 from breaking down. The heel, which comes well up the back of the 

 boot, is stiffened by means of several threads sewed perpendicularly, 

 and as they are drawn shorter than the skin, they prevent the heel from 

 falling and thus getting " run down." 



The seams of the boots, which are turned inside out during the opera- 

 tion, are so arranged on the edges that one will overlap and be tacked 

 with close stitches over the rest of the seam. This is done not only for 

 comfort when the boot becomes dry and hard while being worn, but also 

 to take the strain from the stitches which hold the edges together. The 

 value of a pair of boots depends much on the care bestowed in tanning 

 and in sewing. 



The hands are protected by mit- 

 tens of different materials. Fur or 

 hair mittens are worn only in dry 

 we.ather, as the hair would retain too 

 much moisture. 



Among the Innuit the mammals 

 are divided into two classes: the 

 noble and the inferior beasts. The 

 skins of the former are used, though 

 not exclusively, by the men, while 

 the latter may be worn only by the 

 women. No man would debase him- 

 self l>y wearing a particle of the fur 

 of the hare or of the white fox ; the 

 skins of these timid creatures are 

 reserved for the women alone. Either 

 sex may wear the skins of all other mammals, except at certain times, 

 under restrictions imposed by superstition. 



The women wear mittens of hare or fox skin, with palms of sealskin 

 or Indian-tanned bird's skin. Reindeer skin with the hair on is also used 

 for mittens. The heavy skin from the body is selected for the sake of 

 warmth. When these mittens are to be used when driving dogs the 

 palm is made of sealskin, to enable the wearer to get a firm grasp ou 



Fio.41. Eskimo 1)0013. 



