Everything in the Eskimo dress has a reason for its existence.
The members of Captain Amundsen’s expeditions had become
accustomed to the Eskimo dress and had adopted it, but many of
them thought it ridiculous for grown-up men to go about wearing
fringe to their clothes, so they cut it off. The captain had
his scruples about this, as he had already learned that most
things in the Eskimo’s clothing and other arrangements had their
distinct meaning and purpose, so he allowed the fringe to remain
on his garments in the face of ridicule. One bright, sunny day
the anovaks, a variety of tunic reaching below the knee, made of
deerskin, from which the fringe had been cut off, began to curl
up, and if the fringe had not been put on again quickly, they
would soon have looked like mere shreds.
There is a purpose in every ordinance and ceremony of the
Church. Observance of established forms is for the upbuilding of
faith in the believer. (Text.)
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