A person rarely owns more than a single pair of breeches; consequently I was unable to obtain any for the collection.
The boots and shoes are of different materials and somewhat different patterns for different seasons of the year. All have moccasin soles of stout material turned up an inch or two all round the foot, a tongue covering the top of the foot, joined to a broad heel band which passes round behind the ankle. Then the legs are either made long enough to reach to the knee or else almost to the ankle. These half-boots are worn over the fur stockings in warm weather, or outside the long boots in very severe weather. Indian moccasins are also worn, sometimes over a pair of inside shoes and sometimes as inside shoes.
For thick waterproof soles the skin of the beaver or the harp seal is used. The former wears the better. White whale skin is also used for indoor shoes, or for shoes to be worn in cold dry weather; the skins of the smaller seals are used, sometimes with the flesh side out and the hair in, sometimes with the grain side out. These thinner skins are comparatively waterproof if the black epidermis is allowed to remain on. The beautiful creamy-white leather, made by allowing the skin to ferment until hair and epidermis are scraped off together and then stretching the skin and exposing it to dry cold air, does not resist water at all, and can only be used for soles in perfectly dry weather.
Buckskin soles are also used to enable the wearer to walk better with snowshoes on, as the feet are not so liable to slip or clog with snow as they would be if the footing were of sealskin. This latter has also another serious disadvantage. If it is very cold it does not permit the moisture from the feet to pass out as it freezes, rendering the boot stiff and slippery on the snowshoe, while the buckskin is porous and readily allows the moisture to escape.
The tongue and heel band are generally made of tanned sealskin, contrasting colors being often used. The legs are of sealskin, with the hair on, or of reindeer skin.
Fig. 41. Eskimo boots.
The figures represent a pair of sealskin boots with buckskin feet (Fig. 41) and a pair of half boots with white sealskin soles, black sealskin tongue and heelstrap, and buckskin tops (Fig. 42). The tanned and smoked reindeer skin for these tops was purchased from the Nascopie Indians.