Examining & identifying
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Uses
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Whole sealskin
2002
Examining & identifying
Neva Rivers: Arr’inaq.
(Sealskin hunting bag.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Qemaggvissuk. Tepsaqvaa!
(Storage bag. So stinky!)
Neva Rivers: Tau issurit tepait augaiyuitut akanun. Issuriyagauguq-qaa?
(It takes a long time for the scent of a spotted seal to disappear. Is it a one-year-old spotted seal?)
John Phillip, Sr.: Issuriq. Issuriyaagaq. Useqnak. Useqnaarauguq wani-w’ una.
(Spotted seal. One-year-old spotted seal. Two-year-old spotted seal. This one here is a two-year-old spotted seal.)
Neva Rivers: Angturriqertengraata qaill angtataringraata uutun waten pitangraata wangkuta issuriyaagarmeng pituaput imkut takenrit uyiqnerrlugneng.
(Even if they are larger than about this size, we call them issuriyaagaq [one-year-old spotted seal], and those ones that are longer we call uyeqnak [two year old spotted seal].)
John Phillip, Sr.: Wangkuta piipiyaagaat issuriyaagarnek pilaraput mikcuaraat.
(We call the small ones issuriyaagaq.)
Neva Rivers: Kenugutait maa-i makut tangnirrcautait kelugquareluki pillrit. Tuntum tengayuaneng maa-i piluteng. Kelugqunek pitiit makut tengayuneng pitulriit. Makut white-alriit. Maa-i mink-auguq man’a.
(They put the kelugquq [special stitching with caribou throat hair] here [along edge of bag opening] to make this look pretty.
They made these kelugqut with caribou throat hairs. These [stitches] white ones. This here [trim at opening] is mink.)
Aron Crowell: This fringe here, is this just sealskin that’s just been turned in to fringe?
Neva Rivers: Yes, that’s the hand [flipper]. Cut them all up just for to look fancy.
Uses
Joan Hamilton: Caneng tua cat tua qemaggluki makucimun piarciki? Pilallruat?
(What would you store in these? What did they do with them?)
Neva Rivers: Angutet makucineng atutuut qamigarrsuutekluki.
(The men used these when they went seal hunting.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Akluteng-wa taugaam avani matches-aaritlermegni pilallrukait. Akluteng taugaam aturateng qemagglui pilallrukait mecungyugngalriit.
Augkuneng-llu wangkuta malingqerturatullruukut canegnek tua waten qemaggvimteni cimiritkamtenek. Iluatnun makut mecungevkarpeknaki.
(When they had no matches, they used these for their clothing. They stored their clothing, anything that would get wet in these. We would bring our extra change of clothes and grass inside these storage bags. They kept them dry inside these.)
Neva Rivers: If one of their legs goes through the ice into the water, they just take it [boot] off, squeeze [wring] it out and change it with dry grass inside.
John Phillip, Sr.: Augkut-llu ava-i tangellrullikeci alliqsaat imkut can’get. Tua-i makuni-ll’ qemangqayugngaluteng.
(You probably saw the boot insoles made of grass. They could be kept in here.)
Neva Rivers: The braided grass that we have seen, they have to keep it in there in case they fall in water, for their change [of grass].
These are the kinds [of things] that they carried and put in here. They carried them all the time, wherever they went.
Aron Crowell: Used both for traveling on the land but also in your kayak?
Neva Rivers: Both. They cannot leave this one when they go out to sea, to keep their feet nice and warm on cold winter days.
Suzi Jones: Did it usually have a handle or a strap or something?
Joan Hamilton: Qaill teguluku pilallruatgu?
(How did they take it?)
Neva Rivers: Makut taugken tunumigsuut [they carried these on their back]. They made a loop in here and a loop in here [each end of bag] and a string around [connecting loops]. For carrying it, like an issran [twined grass carrying-bag].
Joan Hamilton: Pitainani taugaam.
(This doesn’t have one [carrying strap] though.)
Neva Rivers: Maybe the ladies used it for putting away their treasures in here. And they have loops in here [edge of bag opening] that a string goes through to tie it, to keep it closed. But they don’t have a string in here like that.
John Phillip, Sr.: Maa-i-gguq makut putuqayagaat.
(These [edge of bag opening] are the putuqayagaat [holes made through material for lacing it].)
Whole sealskin
Aron Crowell: How did you get the whole skin? How did you remove it from the seal to make a bag like this?
Neva Rivers: From here [around face from above eyebrow to below chin] cut out. The line is above the eyebrow. And you start it here [at head end].
Joan Hamilton: You have to be really good before you get to there [skinning a whole seal skin].
Neva Rivers: All the way, all the way [separate skin from blubber by cutting back and forth with uluaq using downward strokes inside skin along cut made around face]. And all the way here [down to front flippers]. Take that thing out [flipper] and cut it in there [off at base from the inside]. And on the other side, take this [flipper] and cut it from inside. And then start again doing that all the way [cut back and forth with downward strokes inside skin]. All the way down until we cannot reach [further] down there [arm inside skin down to shoulder], all the way down [to bottom]. And if we don’t want to make another hole, pull the skin up, cut it [skin off] all the way down the blubber [from inside]. Cut it down there [to bottom]. Cut it around there [the sides]. And then take the oil [blubber] out by inside [cut it out using uluaq]. Pull it out from in here [through opening at head]. And when it’s big enough through this hole [at head], hold it up in here [at flippers], put our feet in here [put feet on end of bag], and pull it [the carcass] out [of the skin] this way [with both hands from opening at head].
Then scrape it off, all the oil. Take the flippers [skin them] all the way down to the bone, to the last tip of the bone.
I did this kind [of skin] this winter. I blew it out [rounded shape] and froze it outside. Everybody looked at it very excitedly. They had not seen this kind before or for long time.
John Phillip, Sr.: Qamiqurriqataarqamteki wangkuta qaugkut qapiaqataarqamteki nayiit qapiaqataarqameng ciutait engelekluki waten augalarait waten. Un’a engelekluku man’a una uitalluku.
(When they are going to remove the head of a ringed seal, when they are going to skin it starting from the mouth, they remove it like this with the ears as the edge. They use that as the edge and leave this [chin] alone.)
Joan Hamilton: In his area, they do it a little bit differently.
Neva Rivers: Tamlua una ilakluku, ukut pirraarluki.
(They keep the chin part along with it after they do these.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Nutaan-ll’ avatii qapiarraarluku ukuk talliquq. Ancimariami-llu ingkuk pirraarlukek nutaan imkut unaksuarayagaak augarturluki.
(After they skin it around the head, then these flippers. After the body is taken out and those two taken care of, then they remove the hands.)
Neva Rivers: Unaksuarai augatuit ukut kep’rrarluki una arivnerat-ggun.
(They remove their small hands, after they cut this on its joint.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Ancissuutekraarluki teguyaraqluku. Tuacetun tua-i.
(After they used them to remove it, they used it for handling it. That is how they did it.)
Joan Hamilton: They used the limb from the seal hands, they used it to help pull out the meat.
It sounds easy but you need to really know how to do it, believe me.
John Phillip, Sr.: Tua-i-llu maaggun cetui igvartevkenaki kangiitgun cali matuggun kep’luki ilaitgun.
(You don’t put the nails through, but you cut it on the end, on the feet.)
Joan Hamilton: Qamaggun.
(On the inside.)
This sealskin storage bag is made from the entire skin of a spotted or harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). To remove a seal’s hide in one piece, a woman skinned it from the inside, working through an opening at the head with a small uluaq [woman’s semi-lunar knife]. Once all natural and man-made holes had been plugged or tied off, this sealskin poke provided a leak-proof and convenient container for seal oil, blubber, and dried fish. Inflated with air like a large balloon, it became a float for sea mammal hunting. Cut open and provided with laces, it served as a waterproof packing bag for furs and clothing. Any species, from large bearded seals to small harbor, ring, and ribbon seals, could be used.
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