Waterproof Mittens (1 Pair)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 9 Feb 1882
name: label: Collector
content: Edward W. Nelson
label: Donor Name
content: Edward W. Nelson
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "WORN IN THE KYAK. ILLUS. IN BAE 18TH AR, PT. 1, PL. XXI-6, P.60. INVENTORIED 1976."
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=111 , retrieved 12-16-2021; see web page for additional information: Waterproof mittens, Inupiaq. Long sealskin mittens like this pair from King Island were worn at sea to protect against cold water. They have drawstrings at the top and decorative tufts of fur. The reddish-brown color is from alder bark dye, and the white is seal skin that was bleached in freezing weather. Men wore waterproof mittens when hunting at sea, handling nets, or in wet weather. They were sewn from oiled seal skin or fish skin and secured with a drawstring at the end of the cuff. Waterproof mittens were ornamented with tufts of fur, winter-bleached (white) sealskin and alder-dyed (reddish-brown) sealskin. Edward Nelson-who was in the Bering Strait region from 1877 to1881-collected this pair of waterproof mittens from King Island. He described them as "a typical pair of these mittens measuring 21 inches in length. They are well made, with a piece of tanned skin welted into the main seam. Near the upper border is a broad strip of sealskin, and a strip of the same extends down each side of the seam, running thence to the end of the thumb. Set about the lower border is a wide band of skin; near the upper edge and also along each side of the bands running to the thumb are tufts of white seal bristles with little tufts of young seal fur dyed a reddish brown."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 2 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: King Island, Bering Strait, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Inupiaq
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 82A00003
label: USNM Number
content: E48381-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Mitten
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 61 cm