Kenipitu Belles at Fullerton.
The songs sometimes are varied; when the singer ridicules his neighbour (and an Eskimo’s joke is often much broader than it is pointed), the song is liable to breed ill-feeling; on this account the Christianized Eskimos of the east side of Hudson bay no longer indulge in this amusement, but sing hymns instead.
During the absence of the men on hunting expeditions, the women sometimes amuse themselves by a sort of female ‘angekoking.’ This amusement is accompanied by a number of very obscene rites, which were better left unrecorded.
GARMENTS.
The winter garments of the Eskimo are made from the skins of animals, while only those who can procure European clothing wear anything but skins throughout the year. For winter clothing deerskin is by far the best, and is always used where it can be obtained. When this material is not available, sealskin, or the skins of foxes, wolves, bears and dogs is used, and sometimes the skins of birds. For the summer garments, sealskin is the common material, while waterproof clothing is made from the intestines of the Big seal.
The clothing of both sexes consists of a coat, breeches, stockings and boots. In the winter two suits are worn, the inner with the hair next to the body and the outer one with the hair exposed. The man’s coat is usually made to descend a short distance below the hips, and is cut plain on the bottom. There are no openings in the coat, and it is drawn on over the head. It terminates above in a hood, provided with a drawing string, so that in cold weather the opening may be closed tightly about the face. The bottom is often provided with a fringe hanging several inches below the garment, and made by cutting a band of deerskin into narrow thongs. This fringe becomes entangled with the hair of the lower garment, and serves as a wind-break. The coat, or kulitang, varies somewhat in shape in the various tribes, and the style seems at times to be due to the fancy of the individual. On the east side of Hudson bay the coats are of a moderate length; among the northern Eskimo of Greenland they are quite short and barely reach the tops of the breeches when the man is standing upright, while a wide section of the back is exposed when he bends over. Along the west coast of Hudson bay, among the Aivilliks and Kenipitus, the men’s coats are long, and often have a short apron and tail like those of the women. They are also ornamented by the insertion of white patches of deerskin in the backs and on the sleeves. This white skin is only worn by the women of other tribes. The inner suit is made from light summer skins, while the outer ones are heavy and thick, and are from the deer killed late in the autumn.
The breeches are made loose, and reach from the thigh to a short distance below the knee, where they are quite open to provide ventilation. They are secured to the body by a string in the waistband and have no openings.
Kenipitu Woman in Winter Dress.