Ethnology of the Ungava District, Hudson Bay Territory Part 15

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 98.--Man's winter coat, with hood.]

The garments worn by the women in the warmer season consists of thin dresses of calico purchased from the traders. Thin shawls serve to protect the head and shoulders. The feet are incased in moccasins. Some of the women are able to purchase dresses of cloth, and these are cut into a semblance of the dresses worn by the women of civilized countries. It is not rare to see a woman wearing a skirt made from the tanned skin of the deer. The lower portions of the skirt are often fancifully ornamented with lines and stripes of paint of various colors, extending entirely around the garment. A piece of baling cloth is often fashioned into a skirt and worn.

The females appear to be less susceptible to the sudden changes of the summer weather than the men. At least they exhibit less concern about the thickness of their apparel. It is not unusual to see a woman whose only clothing appears to be a thin dress of calico. During the winter the women dress in the most comfortable skins (Fig. 100), blankets, shawls, comforts, leggings, and moccasins. During exceptionally severe weather, they appear as traveling wardrobes, doubtless carrying their all on their back, and in some instances presenting a most comical appearance as, loaded with clothing of most miscellaneous character, they waddle over the snow. The winter cap is similar to that worn by the men, but is not so peaked. It is an object on which they expend a great amount of labor. The material is usually a kind of cloth locally known as Hudson bay cloth, either red, dark blue, light blue, or black. The caps of the men and women are usually made from the better grades of this cloth, while the dresses of the women and the leggings of the men are of the inferior grades.

If the cap is to be all one color, in which case it is always red, the cloth is cut in two pieces only, and put together so as to produce a cup-shape. Sometimes five or six pieces are cut from two or three different colors of cloth and the strips sewed together. Over the seams white tape is sewed to set off the colors. In the center of the strip is a rosette, cross, or other design worked with beads, and around the rim rows of beads variously arranged.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 99.--Man's winter coat, with hood.]

The body is covered with a heavy robe made of two deerskins sewed together. This robe is often plain, and when ornamented designs are painted only on the bottom of the skirt. These robes are always of skins with the hair on. The flesh side is often rubbed with red ocher while the extreme edge may be painted with a narrow stripe of the same mixed with the viscid matter obtained from the roe of a species of fish. The edge stripe of paint is always of a darker brown than the other colors from the admixture of that substance with the earth.

This garment is put upon the body in a manner impossible to describe and difficult to understand even when witnessed. It is held together by small loops of sinew or deerskin. A belt around the waist keeps it up.

The women also wear in winter a sleeveless gown reaching little below the knees and as high as the chin. The sleeves are put on separately, like leggings. They are usually made of red or black cloth.

The gown is often extravagantly decorated with paint. The flesh side of the skin is rubbed with red ocher, on which are painted in describable designs. A strip of deerskin dotted with beads borders the gown, and from the edge of the strip hang strings of these ornaments, terminating in variously colored ta.s.sels of thread.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 100.--Nenenot woman in full winter dress.]

The leggings of the women differ from those of the men. They extend higher and the bottoms cover the tops of the moccasins. They are made of skin or cloth, the latter black or red. To cut out a pair of leggings requires skill. The cloth is doubled and then cut nearly in a circular form. A size sufficient to fit the limb is sewed up leaving the crescent-shaped remainder a flapping ornament. The "wings" are often edged with cloth of a different color and on the outer border rows of beads complete the decoration. The two crescents are left free, and as the wind separates them they flap most fantastically. They are always worn so as to be on the outer side of the legs. The bottoms of the leggings are heavily loaded with numerous rows of fancy beads.

Moccasins are alike for both s.e.xes.

As additional protection from cold the shoulders are covered with a mantle of soft skins from young deer. Blankets purchased from the traders are also sometimes thrown over the shoulders or around the waist.

Children are clad like adults, excepting that their apparel is less carefully made and they often present a disgusting appearance, with their clothing glazed with filth and glistening with vermin.

Infants usually have their garments made in the "combination" form.

The cap forms a separate piece and is fitted so closely that it is not removed until the growth of the head bursts the material of which the cap is made.

When traveling men and women smoke or snuff a good deal. Tobacco and a few other necessary articles are carried in a bag known as "fire bag."

These are made of cloth and trimmed with beads, and are often quite tastefully ornamented.

The detailed figures which I have presented show much better than any description the designs used in ornamenting their clothing. Some of the patterns are rude copies of the designs found upon cheap handkerchiefs, scarfs, and other printed fabrics.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 101.--Sealskin headband. Nenenot.]

I have already spoken of the headbands worked for the men by their wives and sweethearts. Such a headband, made of sealskin procured from the Eskimo, is shown in Fig. 101 (No. 3449). The headband is used to support the weight of a load carried on the back, relieving the strain on the shoulders and making it easier to breathe. The band pa.s.ses over the forehead to the back, where it is attached to the load. Various forms of these headbands or portage straps are made. Sometimes a piece of birch bark is placed under the strap where it touches the forehead. It is said that the bark does not become wet from the moisture induced by the severe exertion and thus burn the head.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 102.--Skin sc.r.a.per (front). Nenenot.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 103.--Skin sc.r.a.per (back). Nenenot.]

PREPARATION OF THE SKINS FOR CLOTHING.

Having now given a general description of the clothing of the Nenenot, I may proceed to describe the process of preparing the skins of which this clothing is made. The skins of the deer, which are to be converted into buckskin and parchment, are laid to one side in a heap, just as they came from the bodies of the animals or after they have gone through a process to be subsequently described.

When the skins have laid in this heap for several days decomposition sets in and loosens the hair so it will readily pull out. When the pelt is ready for sc.r.a.ping it is thrown over a round stick of wood some 3 or 4 inches in diameter and 3 or 4 feet long, one end of which rests on the ground while the other is pressed against the abdomen of the woman who is doing the work. Then she takes a tool like a spoke shave (Figs. 102, 103, No. 3162) made from the radius of the deer, by cutting a slice off the middle part of the back of the bone, so as to make a sharp edge while the untouched ends serve for handles, and with this sc.r.a.pes off the loosened hair.

The sharp edge of the bone instrument coming against the hairs pushes or pulls them out but does not cut the skin.

The flesh side of the pelt is now worked to free it from particles of flesh and blood, together with as much of the moisture in the skin as may be hastily done, for if the person has a great number of skins to attend to she must work rapidly lest they decompose too much and putrefy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 104.--Skin-cleaning tool. Nenenot.]

Where the hunter has great success in killing deer many of the skins are left untouched because there is no one to attend to them and they are thus wasted.

When the pelts of the deer or other large animals have been taken from the carca.s.s they are allowed to dry with the adherent flesh, fat, and ligaments until a convenient opportunity occurs to remove those portions from the skin, which must be moistened to permit them to be more readily sc.r.a.ped off. If the fresh skins are to be cleaned immediately, they are operated upon in the same manner as those previously dried. All the skins of fur-bearing animals and those furnishing skins for clothing and other purposes must be sc.r.a.ped, otherwise they would soon be soiled by the infiltration of the fat among the hairs.

To remove the adherent particles on the flesh side of the skin a peculiar instrument has been devised. The tibia, or large bone of the hind leg of the reindeer, is used for this purpose (Fig. 104). The peculiar shape of the bone renders it particularly well adapted to form a combination of saw, chisel, and gouge at the same time. The lower portion of the bone is cut squarely off. A part of one side of the remainder is cut so as to leave one side (the inner side of the bone) in the shape of a chisel, having either a straight edge or else slightly rounded. On this edge are cut a number of fine notches, which give the edge of the instrument a serrated form. Some of the bones have a spatula-shaped piece of iron or steel cut with the serrations upon it and the metal piece set in the cavity of the bone. If the leg of a deer is not convenient a wooden handle shaped like the long handle of a mortising chisel is fashioned, and to it is affixed the metal point by means of stout lashings (Fig. 105). Around the upper portion of the wooden shaft a notch or groove is cut, and in this is tied a stout thong in such manner as to form a loop to prevent the hand from slipping down the smooth bone when the blow is struck.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 105.--Skin-cleaning tool, iron-bladed.

Nenenot.]

The manner of using this instrument is peculiar and effective. The skin is thrown, with the flesh side up, over a stake 2 or 3 feet high driven firmly into the ground. The person kneels down before the stake, and when the skin is placed so as to afford a convenient portion to begin upon, an edge is taken between the fingers of the left hand and lifted slightly from the ground. A blow is given with the tool which separates the subcutaneous tissue, and by rightly directed blows this may be separated from the skin entire. The skin is then laid aside for further working. The subcutaneous tissue is washed and dried, after which it is used for a variety of purposes, such as coverings for bundles of dried meat and other articles.

The skin is worked over with this instrument to free it from a portion of its moisture and is now ready to receive the tanning material which consists of a mixture of putrefying brain, liver, and fat. They sometimes soak the skin in wine, which is reputed to add greatly to the lasting qualities of the leather, but the odor of that liquid lasts as long as the skin.

The tanning material is laid on the flesh side of the skin in a thin layer and by rubbing with the hands it is well worked in. Several hours or days elapse and the superfluous matter is sc.r.a.ped off. The skin is then sc.r.a.ped and rubbed between the hands, the harder portions with a sc.r.a.per resembling a small scoop, until all the skin is worked into a pliable condition. If the skin is yet too oily a quant.i.ty of powdered chalk, clay, calcined bone, or even flour, is thoroughly rubbed over it to absorb any fatty matter yet remaining.

The skins having the hair on, for clothing, or those intended for buckskin, are treated in this manner. Those intended for parchment are simply rubbed with a quant.i.ty of fat, and then allowed to dry in that condition, being of a yellowish or pale glue color.

Where a great number of skins have to be prepared, and some of the more energetic men have as many as two or three hundred buckskins and parchment skins for the spring trade, a constant application to this labor is necessary in order to prepare them in season. This, in a manner, accounts for the number of wives which an energetic or wealthy man may have in order that the products of the chase falling to his share may be promptly attended to.

When the skins intended for sale are selected they are bundled up and covered with parchment skins or the subcutaneous tissue.

The skins intended for use among themselves are generally inferior grades, such as those cut in the skinning process, or else those obtained in the earlier or the later part of the season.

A species of gad fly infests the deer, puncturing the skin on both sides of the spine, and depositing within the wound an egg which in time is transformed into a grub or larva. These larvae attain the size of the first joint of the little finger, and at the opening of the spring weather work their way through the skin and fall to the ground, where they undergo metamorphoses to become perfect insects.

A single animal may have hundreds of these grubs encysted beneath the skin, which, on their exit, leave a deep suppurating cavity, which heals slowly. The skin forming the cicatrices does not have the same texture as the untouched portions.

When the skin is dressed it reveals these scars, and of course, the value of the skin is diminished according to their number. The Indian often endeavors to conceal them by rubbing flour or chalk over them.

The season when the skins are in the best condition is from September to the middle of December. The freshly deposited eggs have not yet produced larvae of sufficient size to injure the skin, and the wounds produced by those dropping out in the month of May have healed and left the skin in condition.

Certain skins intended for special purposes must be smoked. The process of smoking tends to render it less liable to injury from moisture.

The pyroligneous vapors act as antiseptics and thus at least r.e.t.a.r.d decomposition of those articles most exposed to wet. The tents and foot wear are always tanned with the smoke and this process is always subsequent to that of bringing the skins into the pliable condition.

The process adopted by these Indians in smoking the deerskins is as follows: The woods are searched for rotten wood of a special character.

It must be affected with a kind of dry rot which renders the fibers of a spongy nature. This is procured and thoroughly dried. The skins to be smoked are selected and two of nearly the same size and condition are chosen, and sewed into the form of a bag with the hairy side within. The after portions of the skin are suspended from a convenient pole and the head and neck portions left free or open. To the edges of these is sewed a cloth, usually a piece of baling cloth, and this is also left open.

The rotten wood is placed in a pan or vessel and as it smolders, never burning into a blaze, the pale, blue, pungent smoke is allowed to ascend within the cavity of the deerskin bag. The cloth is merely to form a conduit for the smoke as the skin should not be too near the fire.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 106.--Paint stick. Nenenot.]

As the process continues the skins are inspected between the st.i.tches of the sewing and when the operation has progressed sufficiently they are taken down. It will now be found that the surface has a.s.sumed a pale, clear brown color, the shade of which depends on the length of the exposure to the smoke.