Identifier: alaskaitshisto00bruc (find matches)
Title: Alaska, its history and resources, gold fields, routes and scenery
Year: 1899 (1890s)
Authors: Bruce, Miner Wait
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, Putnam
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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he females. It consists of three or fivelines about an eighth of an inch wide on the chin. In-stead of pricking it in, a sharp instrument is drawn overthe skin until blood comes, and wood ashes are thenrubbed in, and when it heals it leaves marks like tattoo-ing. This practice is universal, and is usually put onwhen a girl reaches the age of eight years. The men seldom tattoo their arms and hands. Theironly peculiarities of dress are shaving the crown of thehead and wearing the labret. An aperture is puncturedin either side of the lower lip with much care and somepain, to insert the labret, which is usually made of highlypolished ivory w^ith a colored bead in the centre, and isfrom half an inch to an inch in diameter. The only difference in the style of the clothing wornby men and women is the shape of the artiger, or coat,and trousers. The artiger of the women has a slit at bothsides from the bottom to the hips; that of the man isthe same length all around. The trousers of the women
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A TYPICAL ALASKA ESKIMO GIRL. ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS 105 have the foot-gear sewed to them; those of the men arecut off at the knee or ankle. When a woman is bundledup, with the hood of her artiger drawn closely around herface, the tattoo marks are covered, and the only way todistinguish her sex, is by the shape of her artiger. A most ingeniously contrived garment is the Eskimorain-coat. It is made from the intestines of the hairseal and walrus. Strips about three inches wide aresewed together with thread made from the sinew of thereindeer, stripped in shreds and woven into this remark-able thread. This Eskimo mackintosh is exceedinglylight, not weighing more than four ounces, and is largeenough to cover the head and body as low as the knees.Clad in it, one is as thoroughly protected from rain as hewould be in the mackintosh of civilisation. Plurality of wives is a practice that is by no meanscommon, and when it does occur it is among men who,by virtue of their possessing more prope

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