Page:Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos.djvu/126

rubbed with the hands, dried again and then softened by scraping with the stone scraper (or the blunt scraper).

Of unhaired sealskin there are three different kinds: the brown water-tight skin (magtaq), which is used for boots, is stretched, wetted with salt water, then scraped — partly on the flesh side with the ulo in order to remove remains of flesh and blubber, partly with the salikut on the hair side to remove the hairs, the black epidermis Image missingFig. 68.Skin comb. 1 : 2. remaining and giving it the dark colour; it is then dried and softened by folding, wringing, by stamping on it and by scraping with the stone scraper.

Yellow skin (kiaqtaq), which is also used for boots, is rolled up while wet and placed in the sun; this makes it ferment and turn sour; or it may be scalded; the scraping will then bring the dark epidermis off. Scraping and unhairing are done with the salikut.

White skin (naluaq) is treated like yellow skin; but after the final scraping it is hung out in the open air in hard frost; the white skin is only used for summer boots or for white strips for decoration.

The preparation of kayak skins has already been referred to.

When scraping sealskin the scraping board (akbin) is used; this is a wooden stool over which the skin is stretched during the scraping, which is done in a forward direction. A scraping board from Ponds Inlet consists of a wooden board, rectangular, 45 × 21 cm, about 2 cm thick, on the underside near the ends being crosspieces as long as the width of the board and 6 and 7 cm high respectively; the pieces are held on by nails. Many families, however, have no special scraping board but simply use an upturned meat tray, wooden box or something similar.

Gut-skin (inaluk), usually of the gut of the bearded seal, used for windows, etc., is first prepared by removing the muscular layer with the salikut on the scraping board; it is then washed in salt water, blown up. dried and split.

Skin for boot-soles (atungeq); of bearded-seal skin, is scraped with the ulo, scalded or allowed to ferment, after which the hair is scraped off; it is then dried and chewed. If no bearded-seal skin is at hand, sealskin with the fleshy tissue can be used as soles.

Bear skin is prepared by scraping off the fat, stretching and drying; it is not used, by the way, but is sold, as are wolf, fox and ermine skins, to the trading station. Bird skins are now only used as wipers, on which to dry the fingers after eating; they are turned,