A couple of times a year the elder women teach the younger women how to make kamituiaq or kamiq for short. These are the boots made out of seal skin or caribou skin and their fur. The men and children are not invited to this teaching and it takes place over a number of weeks.
I was invited to go and watch with my friend Kelly and they let me take some pictures.
The men hunt the seal and prepare them for the women who either dry the skins with the fur on or take the fur off and the inner layer of fat off. They dry these skins also it is time to sew the pieces together they chew on the leather to make it soft.
There was a big bucket of raw seal in the room for when the women got hungry and sometimes they ate it with bread.
The women use a traditional knife to skin and cut the seal but I can't remember it's name. They sharpen it often with a bigger knife and don't even need to watch what they are doing. It is very sharp and they always have a box of bandaids available.
The smell in the room was very strong.
Kelly was very brave and ate three pieces of raw seal but I wasn't so brave.
It was very special to be invited to watch.
This time is an important time for the women and for teaching.
well....we all knew it was coming. Better you didn't eat than eat and have it go a very bad way!
ReplyDeletedid you ever find your box of wine? are there other boxes of wine to be had there?