Infants Or Model Boots
date: label: Accession Date
content: 23 Nov 1927
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Henry B. Collins Jr.
label: Collector
content: Dr. T. Dale Stewart
label: Donor Name
content: Dr. Henry B. Collins Jr.
notes: label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
label: Notes
content: From card: "Seal skin boots. Same as 340325."
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=346 , retrieved 10-25-2021; see web page for additional information: Boots, Yup'ik. Adults and children wore short sealskin boots indoors throughout the year and outdoors during summer. The hair could be left on or scraped off. Bleached seal gullets were used to make white boot trimmings, like the cuffs on this pair. Women cleaned and hung the seal throats outside during February and March so that they would turn white in the cold. Maklak - bearded seal - was used for the soles. This pair of boy's boots is plain, without tassels or other decorations. Short sealskin boots were worn indoors throughout the year and outdoors during the summer. The hair could be left on or scraped off. A woman made short boots with thick soles for her husband to wear while hunting, according to Elder Annie Blue, who added that "they were as effective as today's factory-made hunting boots, but they were light weight." Children's boots like this pair were similar to what adults wore. Boot soles were usually fashioned from bearded seal, with finely pleated toes and heels. The soles could be replaced or patched as needed. The Yup'ik name of the bearded seal-maklak-is the origin of "mukluk," a word popularly used by English speakers to refer to Eskimo boots. In the early 1840s, Russian explorer Zagoskin recorded one traditional Yup'ik method of preparing bearded seal skins for use: "The wet hide of the seal is smeared on the hair side with fermented fish eggs, and then left, rolled up, for three days in a warm place to rot off the hair. Next the fish eggs are washed off, the skin is stretched on poles, hung out in the air, and wetted with fermented urine until it does not soak through, at which time it takes on a translucent reddish color." Bleached seal throats (esophagi) were used for making white boot trimmings, like the cuffs on this pair. Women cleaned and hung seal throats outside during February and March so that the skins would turn white in the cold.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 15 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Nunivak Island, Bering Sea, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Yup'ik
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 096521
label: USNM Number
content: E340328-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Boot