_Mittens._--The hands are usually protected by mittens (aitkă´ti) of
different kinds of fur. The commonest kind are of deerskin, worn with
the flesh side out. Of these the collection contains one pair, No.
89828 [973] (Fig. 67). They are made of thick winter reindeer skin,
with the white flesh side outward, in the shape of ordinary mittens
but short and not narrowed at the wrists, with the thumb short and
clumsy. The seams are all sewed “over and over” on the hair side.
These mittens are about 7½ inches long and 4½ broad. The free part of
the thumb is only 2¼ inches long on the outer side. Such mittens are
the ordinary hand covering of men, women, and children. In extreme
cold weather or during winter hunting, very heavy mittens of the same
shape, but gathered to a wristband, are worn. These are made of white
bearskin for men and women, for children of dogskin, with the hair
out. When the hand covered with such a mitten is held upon the
windward side of the face in walking, the long hair affords a very
efficient protection against the wind. The long stiff hair of the
bearskin also makes the mitten a very convenient brush for removing
snow and hoar frost from the clothes. It is even sometimes used for
brushing up the floor.
[Illustration: FIG. 67.--Deerskin mittens]
In the MacFarlane collection are similar mittens from the Mackenzie
region. Petitot[N224] says the Anderson River “chief” wore pualuk
“mitaines en peau de morse, aussi blanches et aussi soyeuses que de
belle laine.” These were probably of bearskin, as a mitten of walrus
skin is not likely to be “blanche” or “soyeuse.” Gloves are worn under
these as at Point Barrow. All these mittens are short in the wrist,
barely meeting the frock sleeve, and leaving a crack for the cold to
get in, which is partially covered by the usual wolf or wolverine skin
fringe of the sleeve. I have already mentioned the common habit among
the women of carrying only one mitten and drawing one arm inside of
the frock.[N225] The men, except when hunting, frequently wear only
one of these heavy mittens, which are called pu´alu. Waterproof
mittens of black sealskin, coming well up over the forearm, were also
observed, but not obtained. I do not remember ever seeing them in use.
[Footnote N224: Monographie, etc., p. xv.]
[Footnote N225: Compare Parry, 2d Voy., p. 494, where a similar
habit is mentioned at Iglulik.]
[Illustration: FIG. 68.--Deerskin gloves.]
_Gloves._--Gloves of thin deerskin, worn with the hair in, and often
elegantly ornamented, are used with full dress, especially at the
dances. As already stated, the men wear such gloves under the pualu
when shooting in the winter. When ready to shoot, the hunter slips off
the mitten and holds it between his legs, while the glove enables him
to cock the rifle and draw the trigger without touching the cold metal
with his bare hands. There are two pairs of gloves in the collection.
No. 89829 [974] (Fig. 68) illustrates a very common style called
a´drigûdrĭn. They are made of thin reindeer skin, with the white flesh
side out, and are rights and lefts. The short and rather clumsy
fingers and thumbs are separate pieces from the palm, which is one
straight, broad piece, doubled so as to bring the seam on the same
side as the thumb. The thumbs are not alike on both hands. The outside
piece of the thumb runs down to the wrist on the left glove, but is
shorter on the right, the lower 2 inches of the edge seam being
between the edges of the palm piece. Each finger is a single piece
doubled lengthwise and sewed over the tip and down one side. The
wrists are ornamented with an edging of two narrow strips of clipped
mountain sheep skin, bordered with a narrow strip of wolverine fur
with the reddened flesh side out. These gloves were made for sale and
are not well mated, one being 8½ inches, with fingers (all of the same
length) 4½ inches long, while the other is 8 inches long with fingers
of 3½ inches. No. 56747 [128] is a pair of gloves made in the same way
but more elaborately ornamented. There is a band of deerskin but no
fringe round the wrist. The back of the hand is covered with brown
deerskin, hair out, into which is inserted the square ornamental
pattern in which the light stripes are white deerskin and the dark
pipings the usual almost hairless fawnskin. Gloves like this type are
the most common and almost universally have a fringe round the wrist.
They are also usually a little longer-wristed than the mittens.
Mittens are universally employed among the Eskimo, but gloves with
fingers, which, as is well known, are a much less warm covering for
the hand than mittens, are very rare. They are in use at Norton
Sound[N226] and in the Mackenzie district[N227], and have even been
observed among the Arctic Highlanders of Smith Sound, who, however,
generally wear mittens[N228]. Dr. Simpson[N229] mentions both deerskin
and bearskin mittens as used at Point Barrow, but makes no reference
to gloves. The natural inference from this is that the fashion of
wearing gloves has been introduced since his time. It is quite
probable that the introduction of firearms has favored the general
adoption of gloves. The following hypothesis may be suggested as to
the way the fashion reached Point Barrow: We may suppose that the
Malimiut of Norton Sound got the idea directly from the Russians. They
would carry the fashion to the Nunatañmiun at Kotzebue Sound, who in
their turn would teach it to the Point Barrow traders at the Colville,
and these would carry it on to the eastern natives.
[Footnote N226: Dall, Alaska, pp. 23, 152, and 153. He speaks of
the thumb (p. 23) as “a triangular, shapeless protuberance”;
a description which applies well to those in our collection.]
[Footnote N227: MacFarlane MS., and Petitot, Monographie, etc.,
p. xv.]
[Footnote N228: Bessels, Naturalist, vol. 18, p. 865.]
[Footnote N229: Op. cit., p. 242.]
[Illustration: FIG. 69.--Man’s breeches of deerskin]