Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition: Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1887-1888, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1892, pages 3-442Murdoch, John
History
Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition: Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1887-1888, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1892, pages 3-442
Murdoch, John
Eskimos -- Alaska -- Barrow, Point, Region
The woman’s frock differs from that worn by the men, in the shape of
the hood and skirts, as mentioned above, and it is also slightly
fitted in to the waist and made to “bag” somewhat in the back, in
order to give room for carrying the child. The pattern is considerably
different from that of the man’s frock, as will be seen from the
description of the type specimen (the only one in the collection), No.
74041 [1791] (Fig. 61, _a_ and _b_), which is of deerskin. The hood is
raised into a little point on top and bulges out into a sort of
rounded pocket at the nape. This is a holiday garment, made of strips
of skin from the shanks and belly of the reindeer, pieced together so
as to make a pattern of alternating light and dark stripes. The
pattern is shown in the diagram, Fig. 62. The sleeves are of the same
pattern as those of No. 56751 [184]. The edge of the hood is bound
with deerskin, hair outwards. Trimming: a strip of edging (Fig. 63) in
which the light stripes are clipped white mountain sheepskin, the dark
pipings brown, almost hairless, fawnskin, and the tags red worsted, is
inserted in the seam between 7 on each side and 6 and 2, and a similar
strip between the inner edge of 3, 2, 7, 9, and 1. A broader strip of
similar insertion, fringed below with marten fur, with the flesh side
out and colored red, runs along the short seam _ffff_. The seam
between 9 and 7 has a narrow piping of thin brown deerskin, tagged
with red worsted. A strip of edging, without tags and fringed with
marten fur (Fig. 64), is inserted in the seam _gggg_. The border of
the skirt is 1 inch wide (Fig. 64). The dark stripe is brown deerskin,
the white, mountain sheep, and the fur, marten, with the red flesh
side out. The fringes are double strips of white deerskin sewed to the
inside of the last seam, about 3 inches apart. The shoulder straps are
of edging like that at _g_, but have the fur sewed on so as to show
the red flesh side. The hood has a fringe of wolfskin sewed to the
outside of the binding. This frock measures 45 inches in the back, 32
in the front, 19 across the shoulders, and 17 at the waist. The skirts
are 21 inches wide, the front 18, and the back 20 inches long. The
pieces 7, 8, and 9 of the hood are white. This is an unusually
handsome garment.
[Illustration: FIG. 62.--Pattern of woman’s frock.]
[Illustration: FIG. 63.--Detail of edging, woman’s frock.]
[Illustration: FIG. 64.--Details of trimming, woman’s frock.]
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