Fig. 465. Modern tesirqun or scraper. (Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. IV A 6734.)
Fig. 466. Old style of tesirqun or scraper. (Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin.)
After being dried they are cleaned with the sharp scraper (tesirqun), the modern device of which is represented in Fig. 465. It consists of a handle having a round back and a flat front, with two grooves for the knuckles of the first and second fingers, while the thumb and the other fingers clasp the handle. The scraper itself consists of a rounded piece of tin riveted to the handle. The old scraper (Fig. 466) was made of a deer’s shoulder or of some other bone. I have never seen any that were made of a thigh bone, similar to those found by Lucien M. Turner in Ungava Bay.
Fig. 467. Seligoung or scraper used for softening skins.
(Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. IV A 6697.)
After being scraped the skin is soaked in salt water and washed again. As soon as it is dry it is softened with the straight scraper (seligoung) (Fig. 467).