The boots belong with the breeches, No. 56759. They fairly represent the style of full-dress boots worn with the loose-bottomed breeches. They all have drawstrings just below the knee, and often have no tie-strings at the ankles. The eastern Eskimo are everywhere described as wearing the boots tied at the top with a drawstring and the bottoms of the breeches usually loose and hanging down on them. Tying down the breeches over the tops of the boots, as is done at Point Barrow, is an improvement on the eastern fashion, as it closes the garments at the knee so as to prevent the entrance of cold air. The same result is obtained in an exactly opposite way by the people of Smith Sound, who, according to Bessels (Naturalist, vol. 18, p. 865), tie the boots over the breeches.
All fur garments, including boots, are sewed in the same way, usually with reindeer sinew, by fitting the edges together and sewing them “over and over” on the “wrong” side. The waterproof boots of black sealskin, however, are sewed with an elaborate double seam, which is quite waterproof, and is made as follows: The two pieces are put together, flesh side to flesh side, so that the edge of one projects beyond the other, which is then “blind-stitched” down by sewing it “over and over” on the edge, taking pains to run the stitches only part way through the other piece. The seam is then turned and the edge of the outer piece is turned in and “run” down to the grain side of the under with fine stitches which do not run through to the flesh side of it. Thus in neither seam are there holes through both pieces at once. The sewing is done with fine sinew thread and very fine round needles (the women used to ask for “little needles, like a hair”), and the edge of the leather is softened by wetting it in the mouth. A similar waterproof seam is used in sewing together boat covers.
Fig. 80.—Pair of man’s dress boots of deerskin.
Fig. 81.—Woman’s waterproof sealskin boot.
There is one pair of waterproof boots in the collection (No. 76182 [1794] Fig. 81). The tops are of black dressed sealskin, reaching to the knee and especially full on the instep and ankle, which results from their being made with the least possible number of seams, to reduce the chance of leaking. The soles are of white whale skin, turned up about 1½ inches all around. The leg and upper are made all in one piece so that the double water-tight seam runs down the front of the leg to the instep, and then diagonally across the foot to the quarter on one side. The bottom is cut off accurately to fit the top of the sole. The edges of the upper and the sole are put together so that the inside of the former comes against the inside of the latter, and the two are “run” together with fine stitches, with a stout double under-thread running through them along the surface of the upper. The ornamental band at the top is of white sealskin “run” on with strong dark thread, and the checkered pattern is made by drawing a strip of black skin through slits in the white. Round the top of the band is sewed a binding of black sealskin, which holds a drawstring of sinew braid. The sole is kept up in shape and the boot made to fit round the ankle by a string of sealskin twine passed through four loops, one on each side just back of the ball of the foot, and one on each quarter. These loops are made of little strips of white whale skin, doubled over and sewed to the edge of the sole on the outside. The ends of the string are passed through the front loop so that the bight comes across the ball of the foot, then through the hinder loops, and are crossed above the heel, carried once or twice around the ankle, and tied in front.
Such boots are universally worn in summer. The men’s boots are usually left with an irregular edge at the top, and are held up by the breeches, while the women’s usually have white bands around the tops with drawstrings. Half-boots of the same material, reaching to midleg, without drawstrings, or shoes reaching just above the ankle with a string round the top are sometimes worn over the deerskin boots. Similar shoes of deerskin are sometimes worn in place of boots.