Boots

Item number A2.491 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

The boots (part a-b) are brown sealskin with a band of fur and blue fabric around the opening. The boots made of shaved ringed sealskin with soft pleated shaved bearded sealskin soles. The top of the boots is trimmed with a haired strip of ringed sealskin with horizontal fur flow and a blue fabric casing. The drawstrings are made of blue fabric tape that can be tied at the back of the boots. The leg section of the boots is rather broad, angling slightly outward.

History Of Use

Waterproof boots of shaved seal skin were worn in the winter as well as to hunt seals and caribou and gather wood in wet weather.
While mass-produced clothing from the south is now commonly worn, the making of skin clothing is being revived in the Arctic.
In the Arctic, the making of clothing is considered as important as the creation of sacred objects. Aside from its important function as protection against the cold, clothing is imbued with power and spirituality. Women as seamstresses play an extremely important role in the expression of cultural value and meaning. The clothing of each group is cut and decorated according to distinctive cultural aesthetics. In addition to expressing the group’s identity, seamstresses express the beliefs and values of the group through clothing, which marks social identities like gender, age, childbearing status, and geographical origin. Clothing also expresses the special relationship of people in the Arctic with the animal world. People, animals, and spirits are subject to metamorphosis. Clothing often refers to this ability to transform, and could effect such a metamorphosis.

Specific Techniques

Before crimping, the soles are moisturized. To begin crimping the seamstress folds the sole in half longitudinally. The crimps are made by hand and pinched between index finger and thumb and between the teeth. Crimps are about 3 to 4 cm. long and 0.1 cm. apart throughout the toe and heel area. The pieces are sewn together with an overcast stitch.