Examining & explaining
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Storing food
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Materials
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Preparing fish skin
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Fishskin clothing
2002
Examining & explaining
John Phillip, Sr.: Qemagvissuk. Qemagvissugmek wani-wa. Una tua wani-wa wiinga makucingqellruama. Mecungyuglalriit yukutarcessqumanrilrenka wavet eklaranka. Espickangqerquma wavet eksugngaluku. Imat imkut puyurkat.
(Storage bag. This is a storage bag. And this one right here, I had this kind. When I didn’t want anything to get damp, I would put them in this. If I had matches, I would put them in here. Those bullets, gunpowder.)
Joan Hamilton: Anything you want to keep dry, absolutely dry, you put it in here. Aklut-llu-qaa [clothes too]?
John Phillip, Sr.: Augkut angtuaneng ilait aklut pingqelallruaput. Angenruurluteng makuni. Taryaqvagnek taugaam angenruluteng.
(We had those larger ones for some clothes. They were larger than these. They were king salmon, but they were larger.)
Neva Rivers: Hooper Bay-mi sealskin-anek ar’inangqetullruut. Ar’inaq.
(At Hooper Bay they would have sealskin hunting bags. Sealskin hunting bags.)
Storing food
Neva Rivers: King salmon-aaneng-llu makucineng cal’ qemagvingqellruut neqneng.
(They also had food storage bags made from king salmon.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Taquarkaput caquliluki waten makucineng mingeqluteng.
(They would make these ones for our provisions by sewing this kind.)
Virginia Minock: Keep them fresh, yes.
John Phillip, Sr.: Ii-i, ii-i. Caqusrayaliluku-gguq tua-i tauna neqnek imarluni taquarkaitneng.
(Yes. And then they would make many fishskin containers for that and put food in it for provisions.)
Neva Rivers: Mm-hmm.
John Phillip, Sr.: Qamigarlallemni tua wii tamakungqelallruama nallunritanka. Ici-w’ angussaagtekngamegteki angutet taquarkait save-arluki taquarkait, taquarkait upnerkami. Tua-ll’ atraamta qayamtenun ekluku. Taquaqluku tua upnerkarpak, upnerkarpak tauna canek tua-i neraqluta, ilaqaqluku. Wiinga tua tuaten pilallruama qayatullemni.
(When I used to go seal hunting I had one of those, so I know about them. They saved food for the hunter’s provisions in the spring. Then when they went to their kayaks, they would put their provisions in. It was their provisions for spring and after they ate some of the food they would add more. I used to do that when I used to go in my kayak.)
Materials
John Phillip, Sr.: I love that one.
Virginia Minock: This is beautiful.
Joan Hamilton: Cakuciq neqa?
(What kind of fish is it?)
Neva Rivers: Qavlunat. Qavlunaneng pilitullruukut. Pineng-llu taryaqviit-ll’ amiitneng.
(Silver salmon. We used to make them with silver salmon. We also used king salmon skins.)
Joan Hamilton: Atam makut nuyat.
(Look at these hairs [stitches along the horizontal bands of skin].)
Neva Rivers: Tuntut tengayuitneng pitangqertuq. Qulii-ll’ maa-i taperrnaneng. Tuntut qaraliq, tuntut makut piitneng pilriit kelugquneng pituit. Melquitneng maa-i kipuurluki.
Qipluki mingququurulluku maavet.
(There are some [stitches made] with caribou throat hair. The top part has coarse seashore grass. The caribou decoration, these caribou ones they made, they call them kelugpaneng [big stitches]. They twist the fur. Twist it and sew them here.)
Virginia Minock: Sinew-mek-qaa kelulirluku?
(You make the seam with sinew?)
Neva Rivers: Sinew-rullilria mana akallaulria. Tuntum-llu maa-i pianeng.
(This [stitching along the horizontal bands of skin] is probably sinew because it is old. And it has caribou here.)
Joan Hamilton: Mana-mi kavirliq?
(But how about this red part?)
Neva Rivers: Elitaqengnaqsaaqaqa.
(I am trying to recognize this.)
Virginia Minock: Elatii ilutmun cauluku mana-ll’ kavirpak.
(The outside part is facing inwards, and this part is red.)
Neva Rivers: Tamana uitercimaluni.
(That has ocher on it.)
Joan Hamilton: This here is inside out.
Virginia Minock: King-am tua-r taun pikekii.
(It seems like that [bottom of bag] belongs to a king [salmon].)
Neva Rivers: Taryaqviim pikaa ullelluku cali. Thicker, yes.
(This is from king salmon but reversed. Thicker, yes.)
Joan Hamilton: You can tell by how much thicker it looks.
Virginia Minock: Yes.
Joan Hamilton: Mana-ll’?
(And this [drawstring]?)
Neva Rivers: Seal hide, makut taugaam fish-at pikait.
(Seal hide, but these [loops for drawstring] are from fish.)
Joan Hamilton : Both sides have taperrnaq [coarse seashore grass] here [at the top edge].
Aron Crowell: So this strengthening stitch along the top is the grass.
Joan Hamilton: Yes. When you see that and this pattern of stitching, you can make an assumption that it’s probably waterproof, to make it tight.
Preparing fish skin
Neva Rivers: Kiagmi amiirluki. Amiit muragaarneng keligtuurluki.
(You skin them in the summer. You scrape the skin with a piece of wood.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Wangkuta nunamteni wani augkut maurluunka makulitullermegni kinerrcirluki neqet tua-i-llu imkutnun kuusqutnun ekurluki tutmarluki. . . . Qeciit augarluki nallailkun allakarturluki makut cal’ allakarluki amiit. Nutaan tamakut allakarrarluki makut kelikarturluki. Kelikarturarraarluki tequmun ekluki. Erurraarluki nutaan iniluki cali. Piluguliluta-ll’ wall’ makucililuteng cali.
(In my village when my grandmothers made them, they would dry the fishskin and put them into a grass basket and continuously step on them. . . . During the time they removed the skins, they put these skins aside. Finally those put aside, they would scrape these. After they are scraped, they are put in urine. After they are washed, then finally they are hung. They would make us skin boots or they would make these kinds too.)
Fishskin clothing
Neva Rivers: Arillulilua wii.
(I made fishskin mittens.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Makucinek-ll’ iqelqignek pilugurlua. Uqgetqapiaraneng.
(I had this kind of fishskin boots. They are so light.)
Neva Rivers: Ii-i, nangyuinateng-llu. Meciyuinateng-llu. Makut pores-ait, close-aumameng.
(Yes, and they don’t get worn out. They don’t get damp inside too. These, these pores are closed.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Taugaam piluguput tamakut atuyunaunateng wani qavaqataqumta qillrutartumaluuku piunaunani. Qillrutartumaqaqumeng tamana qillengqalria unugpaagaq aruqerrciiquq camna allegyukaarluni.
(But when we are going to sleep, our skin boots are not good to wear here and it can’t be tied.
If the lace is tied all night, the area where the lace is will rot and be fragile and easy to tear.)
Virginia Minock: They keep them away from heat.
John Phillip, Sr.: Arilluk qayani makungqerturatullruukut qayani.
(Fishskin mittens were always in our kayaks.)
Neva Rivers: Rubber-ameng pingqessuitellermegni. Rubber gloves-angqiyuitellratni,tamakuneng tau anguteput qamigarnariqataraqan pilitulqaput uggun kangritggun pilirluta anguarluteng pituameng. Qalililuki-llu tamavet avatinun qayam qerrcugngariluku.
(That is when they didn’t have rubber. When they didn’t have rubber gloves, we would make those for our men when seal hunting time came, and they would put something on top of them. We also made seal-gut parkas, and they were easily stored in the kayak.)
John Phillip, Sr.: Taukut aliimatek wani qayaq makuciq wantaurtuq.
Ready-malutek ikaraliit aciatni. Teguqerluku egmian allukek tua-i mecungnarqekan qailiqan-ll’ acugngaluku.
(Those mittens are right here [by the legs] on the kayak. They are ready below the grass kayak mat. You take them right away when it is wet, or if it is rough you can put them on.)
Joan Hamilton: Maqagglutek.
(They are warm.)
John Phillip, Sr.: King Salmon-aat taktuanek pililallruitkut. Iqertanek aterpagtaqluku tamakut.
(They would make us long ones [boots] with king salmon. We would call those iqertaq [fishskin boot].)
Virginia Minock: Ivruciqluki.
(Used as waterproof skin boots for wading.)
Joan Hamilton: Tapernameng ilaqerluku.
(They would add coarse seashore grass.)
Neva Rivers: Cagniquureluuku.
(They made them tight.)
Joan Hamilton: And the sewing for the waterproof boots is that same stitch where you use rye-beach grass to sew in, to seal it. Imkut-llu imarnitet [and those gut parkas].
Neva Rivers: Ukuatnun imarnitet wangkuta atutulqaput, qayam pianun agtuqtaarutellriit.
(We would use the gut parka this way [on underside of parka sleeve], where it rubs on the kayak.)
It won’t rub off that fast, not like thin intestines we put in here.
Salmon skins were very commonly used in the manufacture of boots, mittens, and bags, especially by people who lived along the lower Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers where these fish are abundant. When properly prepared, the skins are strong, durable, and waterproof. Fish skin bags, used for storing clothing, dried fish, and other essentials, were among the gifts traditionally offered to the spirits of the dead through their namesakes during Elriq, the Great Feast of the Dead.
This clothing storage bag was purchased by Edward Nelson in 1879-80. It is sewn from salmon and ornamented with bands of red-dyed fish skin and white strips of bleached seal esophagus. It has a rawhide drawstring at the top.
Elder Annie Blue of Togiak said that a similar salmon skin sack in the collection of the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin was used to hold sewing materials. She called it a kellarvik [storage bag], and said, “As women, we always had materials like these for sewing back in those days.
And we always owned bags like these. If someone asked and said, ‘Do you have something?‘ I’d reply, ‘Aren [Oh my], I do have some. It’s in my kellarvik.‘“
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