_Scrapers (ikun)._--For removing bits of flesh, fat, etc., from a
“green” skin, and for “breaking the grain” and removing the
subcutaneous tissue from a dried skin, the women, who appear to do
most if not all of this work, use a tool consisting of a blunt stone
blade, mounted in a short, thick haft of wood or ivory, fitting
exactly to the inside of the hand and having holes or hollows to
receive the tips of the fingers and thumb. The skin is laid upon the
thigh and thoroughly scraped with this tool, which is grasped firmly
in the right hand and pushed from the worker. This tool is also used
for softening up skins which have become stiffened from being wet and
then dried. The teeth appear to be less often used for such purposes
than among the eastern Eskimo.
[Illustration: FIG. 289.--Skin scraper. 1/2]
We obtained eighteen such scrapers, some without blades, and two
unmounted blades. Every woman owns one of these tools. While they are
all of the same general model, they vary a good deal in details. Four
different forms or subtypes have been recognized in the series
collected, all modifications of the form seen in Fig. 289, No. 89313
[955], which may be called the type. The blade is of brown jasper,
rather coarsely flaked, 1.1 inches long. It is wedged with pieces of
skin, into a deep slot in the tip of the handle, which is of fossil
ivory, slightly yellowed from handling. The left side against which
the thumb rests is slightly flattened, and the right slightly
excavated to receive the third and fourth fingers, which are bent
round under the lobe, their tips pressing against the concave under
surface of the latter. The fore and middle fingers rest upon the upper
surface.
[Illustration: FIG. 290.--Skin scrapers--handles only. 1/2]
No. 89320 [1171] from Utkiavwĭñ, without a blade, is of the same
general pattern, but is slightly excavated on the left as well as the
right side so as to make a sort of shank. It is of fossil ivory,
stained a dingy orange from age and grease. The two incised circles
and dots on the upper surface close to the slot make the end of the
handle look like the head of a Lophius, which it is perhaps meant to
represent. No. 89321 (858), an old fossil ivory handle, has the left
side slightly hollowed to receive the tip of the thumb, and a median
keel on the upper surface with a barely perceptible hollow on each
side of it for the tips of the fingers. This is a step toward the
second subtype as shown in Fig. 290 (No. 89317 [748] from Utkiavwĭñ,
which has no blade). This is of fossil ivory, thicker and more
strongly arched than the type described, deeply excavated below so as
to form a broad lobe at the butt, with the upper surface deeply
grooved to receive the tips of the fore and middle fingers, and a
slight hollow on the left side for the thumb. This specimen is very
neatly made and polished, and all the edges are rounded off. One-half
of the handle (lengthwise) and the outer quarter of the other half are
stained with age and grease a beautiful amber brown. This specimen was
said to be as old as the time when men wore but one labret.
[Illustration: FIG. 291.--Skin scrapers. 1/2]
The only essential difference between this subtype and the preceding
is that the former has deep grooves or hollows for the thumb and two
fingers. We collected five specimens of this pattern, all but one with
handles of fossil ivory. The single exception, which came from Sidaru,
has a handle of walrus ivory, yellowed with age and grease. This
specimen (Fig. 291_a_, No. 89322 [1426]) has an unusually short blade
(only 0.4 inch long), and is much cut out on the right side so as to
make a sort of nick. Fig. 291_b_ (No. 89314 [1780]) is a nearly new
handle of this pattern, which was bought of the “Nunatañmiun,” who
came to Pernyû in 1883. It is very highly ornamented, both with
incised patterns, colored black, and by carving the space between the
unusually deep thumb hollow and those for the fingers into what seems
to be meant for an ear, in high relief, colored red inside.
[Illustration: FIG. 292.--Skin scraper. 1/2]
The third subtype has the lobe separated from the body on the right
side only, leaving the left side unexcavated, except by the
thumb-hollow, as is shown in Fig. 292 (No. 89316 [1177] from
Utkiavwĭñ) which has a handle of yellowed fossil ivory and a black
flint blade. No. 89310 [1071] Fig. 293, from Utkiavwĭñ, is a rather
unusual modification of this pattern, with a wooden handle, in which
the bottom is not cut out. The thumb groove is deepened into a large
hole which opens into the excavation on the right side, while a large
oblong slot on top, opening into these cavities, takes the place of
the two finger hollows. The blade was of gray flint and rather longer
than usual.
[Illustration: FIG. 293.--Peculiar modification of scraper. 1/2]
The last subtype which, according to my recollection, is the one most
frequently seen in use at the present day, has the butt produced
horizontally into a broad, flat lobe. The excavation of the right side
may be continued through to the left in the form of a notch, as shown
in Fig. 294 (No. 89315 [1365] from Sidaru) which has a blade of black
flint and a handle of fossil ivory, with hollows for the thumb and
fingers; or the left side may be unexcavated except for the thumb
groove as in Fig. 295 (No. 89309 [1135] from Utkiavwĭñ). This specimen
has a rather large wooden handle, with the grooves as before. It
appears, however, to have been remodeled to fit a smaller hand than
that of the original owner, as the thumb groove has been deepened for
about two-thirds of its original length, and there is a deep, round
hole in the middle of the groove for the second finger. The
peculiarity of this specimen, however, is that it has a blade of
sandstone, flat and rather thin, with a smooth, rounded edge. The
natives told us that scraper blades of sandstone were the prevailing
form in old times.
[Illustration: FIG. 294.--Skin scraper. 1/2]
[Illustration: FIG. 295.--Skin scraper. 1/2]
[Illustration: FIG. 296.--Skin scraper. 1/2]
Fig. 296 (No. 89312 [1336] from Utkiavwĭñ) is another wooden handle,
in which the excavation for the third and fourth fingers is merely a
large round hole on the right side, while in front the handle is cut
into two short lobes, between which in a deep groove the forefinger
fits. There is a hollow for the thumb under the left lobe and one on
the right for the middle finger. No. 89311 [1079] from the same
village is almost exactly similar. These are the only two specimens of
the kind which I recollect seeing. A rather large flint-bladed scraper
with a wooden handle very much the shape of that of No. 89309 [1135]
is the tool most generally used at the present day. The blades are all
of the same general shape and vary in size from the little one above
mentioned (No. 89322 [1426], Fig. 291_a_), only 0.4 inch long, to
blades like No. 89612 [820], Fig. 297, from Utkiavwĭñ. This is newly
made from light gray translucent flint and is 5 inches long. The name
kibûgû, applied to this specimen by the native from whom it was
purchased, appears to refer either to the material or the unusual
size. The blade is ordinarily called kuki, “a claw.” With the ivory
handles a blade about 1 or 1½ inches is commonly used and with the
wooden ones a considerably larger one, 2 to 3 inches in length. The
handles vary in size to fit the hands of the owners, but are all too
small for an average white man’s hand. All that we collected are for
the right hand.
[Illustration: FIG. 297.--Flint blade for skin scraper.]
This pattern of skin scraper which appears from the Museum collections
to be the prevailing one from Point Barrow to Norton Sound, is
evidently the direct descendant of the form used still farther south,
which consists of a stone or bone blade of the same shape, mounted on
a wooden handle often a foot or 18 inches long, which has the other
end bent down into a handle like the butt of a pistol. Shortening this
handle (a process shown by specimens in the Museum) would bring the
worker’s hand nearer to the blade, thus enabling him to guide it
better. Let this process be continued till the whole handle is short
enough to be grasped in the hand and we have the first subtype
described, of which the others are clearly improvements.
A still more primitive type of scraper is shown by Fig. 298, No. 89651
[1295] from Utkiavwĭñ, the only specimen of the kind seen. This has a
flint blade, like those of the modern scrapers, inserted in the larger
end of a straight haft of reindeer antler, 5½ inches long. We did not
learn the history of this tool in the hurry of trade, but from the
shape of the blade it is evidently a scraper. Its use as a skin
scraper is rendered still more probable by the fact that the scrapers
used by some of the eastern Eskimo (there are specimens in the Museum
from Cumberland Gulf and Pelly Bay) have straight handles, though
shorter than this.
[Illustration: FIG. 298.--Straight-hafter scraper.]
The Siberian natives use an entirely different form of scraper which
has a long handle like that of a spoke-shave with a small blade of
stone or iron in the middle and is worked with both hands.[N411] Fig.
299 (No. 89488 [1578] from Utkiavwĭñ) is a tool which we never saw in
use but which we were told was intended for scraping skins. It is
probably an obsolete tool, as a knife would better serve the purpose
of removing the subcutaneous tissue, etc., while the stone scrapers
just described are better for softening the skin.
[Footnote N411: Nordenskiöld, Vega, vol. 2, pp. 122, and Fig. 1,
p. 117.]
It is the distal end of the “cannon” bone or metacarpal, of a
reindeer, 6.2 inches long, with the two condyles forming the handle.
At the other end the posterior face of the shaft is chamfered off so
as to expose the medullary cavity for about 2½ inches, leaving a sharp
edge on each side. The tip is roughly broken off. The tool appears to
be old but the two condyles have been recently carved rudely into two
human faces, one male (with marks for labrets) and the other female.
There is a somewhat similar tool in the Museum brought by Mr. Nelson
from Norton Sound.
[Illustration: FIG. 299.--Bone scraper. 1/2]
_Scraper cups (óhovwĭñ)._--In removing the last of the blubber from
the skins of seals or walruses when they wish to save the oil, they
scrape it off with a little oblong cup of walrus ivory with a sharp
edge at one or both ends. The cup, of course, catches the oil which is
transferred to a dish. These cups are sometimes, I believe, also used
for dipping oil. We collected ten of these cups, of which No. 89251
[1287], Fig. 300_a_, will serve as the type. This is 3.7 inches long,
carved out of a single piece of walrus ivory, and worked down from the
inside to a sharp edge on each end. The carving is smoothly done on
the outside, but more roughly within, where it is somewhat hacked. It
is stained a dark yellow with oil and polished on the outside,
probably by much handling. Fig. 300_b_ (No. 89258 [1090] also from
Utkiavwĭñ) is a similar cup, but has a sharp edge only at one end
which is cut out in a concave curve.
[Illustration: FIG. 300.--Scraper cups. 1/2]
The ten cups in the collection are all about the same shape and size
and all of walrus ivory, stained yellow with oil. The largest is 4
inches long and 2¾ wide, and the smallest, 3 by 2.1 inches. The
majority are about 3½ by 2½ inches. Five of the ten have sharp edges
at both ends, the rest at one only. Mr. Nelson brought home specimens
of this implement from Point Hope and St. Lawrence Island, but I do
not find it mentioned elsewhere.
With these tools and their knives, they do all the work of preparing
skins for clothing, boat covers, etc. I had no opportunity of seeing
the process in all its stages, and can therefore give only a general
account of it. Deerskins are always dressed as furs, with the hair on.
The skin is rough-dried in the open air, with considerable
subcutaneous tissue adhering to it, and laid aside until needed. When
wanted for use, a woman takes the skin and works it over carefully
with a stone scraper on the flesh side, removing every scrap of
subcutaneous tissue and “breaking the grain” of the skin, which leaves
a surface resembling white chamois leather and very soft. This is then
rubbed down with a flat piece of sandstone or gypsum, and finally with
chalk, so that when finished it seems like pipeclayed leather. All
furs are prepared in the same way. Small seal skins to be worn with
the hair on are scraped very clean and, I think, soaked in urine,
before they are spread out to dry. The black waterproof seal skin has
the hair shaved off close to the skin, great care being taken to leave
the epidermis intact, and also has a certain amount of tanning in
urine. It is probable that a little of the blubber is left on these
skins, to make them oily and waterproof.
When, however they wish to prepare the white-tanned seal skin, the
skins are brought into the warm house, thawed out or dampened and then
rolled up and allowed to ferment for several days, so that when they
are unrolled hair and epidermis are easily scraped off together. The
skin is then soaked in urine, stretched on a large hoop, and put out
to dry in the sun and air. Many of these skins are prepared during the
first sunny weather in the early spring. The skins of the large seal,
walrus or bear when used for boat-covers or boot soles appear to be
sweated in the same way, as the epidermis is always removed. We did
not learn whether urine was employed on these skins, but I think from
their ordinary appearance that they are simply stretched and dried in
their own fat, as appears to be the case with the skin of the beluga,
from which the epidermis is easily scraped without sweating.[N412]
[Footnote N412: Crantz describes the process of preparing boat
covers as follows: “The boat skins are selected out of the
stoutest seals’ hides, from which the fat is not quite taken off;
they roll them up, and sit on them, or let them lie in the sun
covered with grass several weeks, ’till the hair will come off.”
History of Greenland, vol. 1, p. 167.]
_Combs for deerskins._--The loosened hairs on a deerskin garment are
removed by means of a comb made of a section of the beam of an antler,
hollowed out and cut into teeth on the end. This instrument probably
serves also to remove vermin, as its name “kúmotĭn” looks very much as
if derived from kúmûk, louse. I must say, however, that the natives
whom I asked if kúmotĭn had anything to do with kúmûk said it had not.
When vermin get troublesome in a garment, it is taken out on the
tundra, away from the houses, and beaten with rods like a carpet. Very
old garments when much infested with lice are taken out back of the
village, cut into small pieces, and burned. It is no uncommon sight in
the spring to see an old woman sitting out on the tundra, busy with
her knife cutting up old clothes.
We brought home nine of these combs, of which No. 89354 [1879], Fig.
301_a_, has been selected as the type. It is 4¼ inches long and has
sixteen teeth about 1 inch long. The small holes near the other end
are for a lanyard to hang it up by.
[Illustration: FIG. 301.--Combs for cleaning deerskins. 1/2]
Six of these combs have teeth at one end only, the other three at both
ends. These teeth are generally about fifteen in number, and 1 inch or
a little over long. No. 89781 [1005], a very small comb only 2.9
inches long, which belonged to the “inland” native Ilûbw’ga, has
twenty teeth 0.6 inch long. These combs are usually about 4 or 4½
inches long. No. 89556 [1017], Fig. 301_b_, from Utkiavwĭñ is an
unusually long comb, 5.3 inches long, which is peculiar in being solid
except at the end which is cut into teeth.
Fig. 301_c_ (No. 89359 [993]), from Utkiavwĭñ is a double-ended comb,
having ten teeth on one end and thirteen on the other. It is 4.1
inches long and made with considerable care, being ornamented with
incised rings colored with red ocher. This is a common implement at
Point Barrow, but seems unusual elsewhere. There is a single specimen
from the Diomedes in Mr. Nelson’s collection.