The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1894-01-12
ARcTIcM UjIMIlIANlrv.


Dress % DsOulnaN Hen, weAen ana
These Esqulmatax were the queerrst,
dirtiest hooking individuals had ever
seen. Clad entirely In furs. thy re-
s0minded me more Of monkeys than Of
human beings. Ikwa, the man, was
about s feet 2 or inches In height.
round a. q dumping, with large,
smooth, fat face. In which two little
black eyes, q nat nose and large cxI,an-
sive Nc nth were alrlost lost. His
coarse black hair was allowed to strag.
gle in tangles over his face, ears and
neck to his shoulders, without any at
tempt at arrangement or order. His
body was covered with garment
made Of bi.ylsklns, called by the MI
tives'.ahtee," the feathers worn next
the body, and outside of this a garment
made of seafskln with the fur ON the
outside, called ''netcheh." These CUR
lnents, patterned exactly alike, were
made to At the figure, cut short ut the
hips. and coming to point back and
front; q close-titting hood was sewed to
the neck OF each garment, and invarla-
bly, pulled over his head when he was
out Of doors. His legs were covered
with seaiskin trousers or "nanookies,"
reaching just below the knee. where
they were met by the tanned sealskin
boots, called by the natives 'kamiEs."
We learned later tlat sealskin trousers
were worn only by those men wha
were fortunate enough or able to kill Il
bear. In winter these men wear dog
skin trousers, which are as warm us
those made of bearskln, but not nearly
SO stylish. Winter and summer. the
men wear stockings reaching the knees
made Of the fur Of the Arctic hare.
At first l thought the wOmen's dress
was identical with that Of the man,
and 1t puzzled me to tell one from the
other; but In day or two made out
the many little differences In the cos.
umes. The woman, like the man.
vOre the ahtee and netchell. made re-
pectively Of the birlskin and sealskin.
hey differed in pattern from those Of
III width IL sewetl In, which forms u
he back of the wearer, and fitting
light around the hips. In this pouch or
food the baby Is carried: its little body,
Overed only by shirt reaching to
he waist, made Of the skin OF a young
blue fox. IL placed against the bare
back of the mother, and the head, COW
cred by tiglt-titting skull-cap made Of
sealskin, IL allowed to rest against the
mothers shoulder. In this way the
EsQuimau child Is carried constantly,
whether awake or asleep, and without
clothing except the shirt and cup. un-
til 1t can walk. which Is usually ut the
age Of . years; then 1t il clothed In
skins, exactly like the father IL 1t is Il
boy, or like the mother II It IN q girl,
and allowed to tOddle about. II 1t IL
the youngest member Of the family, af-
ter 1t has learned to walk 1t takes It's
place in its mothers hood whenever 1t
ia sleepy or tired. just as American
mothers pick up their little tOtldlers
and rock them.
The wOmans trousers or nanOOkies.
are made Of fOxskin, and are hardly
anything more than trunks" these
are met by the long-legged boots, or
kamiks, made Of tanned sealskin, and
the long stockings. or allahsy," Of rein
deer fur. Altogether this family ap-
pearcd fully us strange to us Us we did
to them. They had never before seen
woven material and could not seem to
understand the texture. insisting that
1t was the skin Of some animal In
America.-Mrs. Pcary's Journal.