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 
