Arctic Survival
Bags, Boats, Raincoats, Window Panes-All Made from Bearded Oogruk
By Howard Rock
Times Editor
Bags for storing lood. waterproof
raincoats, and translucent window
panes are just a few of the many
articles Eskimos make from the
oogruk — the great bearded seal.
Oogruk is a giant compared with
the hair seal. It weighs up to well
over a thousand pounds. Unlike the
common hair seal that is splotched
with dark gray hair on its back,
oogruk hair is quite uniformly gray
except for a slightly darker shade
on the back.
The Eskimo has adapted the oog
ruk into many uses. Its size makes
it ideal for certain items needed.
S As food, it is considered as one
Bof the most necessary. When stored
pfor future use it is cut in large
j pieces, laced with rawhide thong
£ Into large balls, and put in under
f ground caches. It is also filleted
I and dried and put in seal skin pokes
s Which have been partially filled
f ‘With seal oil and stored in cool
' Blaces.
E’,, The outer part of the intestines
It scraped off and used for food.
IS There are other uses for the oog
' Ittk intestines.
8 Intestines, up to 75 feet in length,
are thoroughly cleaned. The Eski
mo housewife lays a smooth flat
piece of wood usually on coarse,
clean gravel beach. She takes one
end of an intestine, lays it on the
flat piece of wood, and picks up a
scraper. In the present day, this
scraper is usually a common table
spoon. She scrapes off the outer
layer of the intestine down to the
tough inner layer of tissue. The
outer part comes off quite easily.
When the whole length of the
intestine has been scraped thor
oughly. the woman ties one end of
it tightly. She then takes the other
end and inflates the whole length.
When inflated, the intestine is
about two and a half inches in di
ameter.
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It is then strung high off the
I ground from one post to another
to dry.
When it is dry. the Eskimo house
wife prepares it for the following
items.
First she cuts the intestine into
four foot sections. Then she slits
them and spreads them out. Each
section makes a strip of material
5 inches by 4 feet. The woman then
sews the sections into a square.
When finished, she has a new sky
light or window pane. The gut is
translucent and yellowish white in
color and about as thick as onion
skin paper. Daylight can pass'
through the gut nicely but it is air
tight and waterproof.
Raincoat
For another useful item, the Es
kimo housewife repeats the process
she used in making the skylight. Af
ter sewing the strips together, she
patterns a raincoat for her husband,
sewing the pieces together with spe
cial water-proof stitches.
In the old days, when the house
wife busied herself around the
home, she made a nursing bag from
oogruk gut with which to feed her
babies. She cut about a seven inch
section of intestine, tied one and
tightly and filled the intestine with
warm broth. She then tied the open
end rather loosely with sinew leav
ing about an inch between ihe loose
knot and the end. A crosspiece or
a disk cf wood is fitted over the
knot to prevent the baby from
swallowing the bag.
To keep her baby quiet while
busy working, she put the loosely
knotted end into the mouth of her
baby and fed it the warm broth.
In modern supermarkets today
plastic bags are used to store cran
berries, fruits, and vegetables. Cen
turies before they were invented
the Eskimo used oogruk intestine
bags to sore berries and other food
stuffs.
Skin Needed
The skin of the oogruk has been,
perhaps one of the most needed ma
terials the Eskimo has required in
his struggle for survival. He used
the skin for many things.
The skin of the oogruk is an ideal
covering for the umiak or skin boat.
After the hair is separated from
the oogruk skin by it having been
soaked in oil in a warm room for
about a week and a half, several
women get together to sew together
six oogruk skins for an umiak.
Gossips
This working group of sewers is
usually a kind of social gathering
during which the women chat and
gossip as they sew.
A 24-foot umiak requires six oog
ruk skins. These skins are sewn
together by women using water
proof stitches. Then a group of men
drape it on the umiak frame. When
the skin is dry, the boat is ready
for use by whalers.
When the Eskimo needs strong
rawhide thong for whaling and oth
er needs, he uses a yearling oog
ruk for that purpose. A yearling
oogruk is more resilient and tough
and will not snap as easily as older
oogruk skin.
Another common and important
use of the oogruk is for mukluk
soles. The skin is tough, long
wearing and waterproof.
Aogruk. the great bearded seal,
has been one of the great boons
to the Eskimo of the Arctic. With
out this animal, the Eskimo would
not have been able to get some of
his most necessary materials for
living in the north. Whale hunt
ing would have been almost impos
sible without this important animal.
Oogruk must be held in high re
gard by the Eskimo in his long bat
tle of survival.
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Here are some of Congressman Ralph J. Rivers' actions this past
session of Congress:
He has worked diligently for legislation which will help outlying communities. He has worked
for the passage of the Barrow Gas Bill which has authorized the Navy to drill a well at Barrow.
It will make natural gas available to that community of more than 1400 residents. The prev
ious Republican administration did nothing to help the citizens of that community to get
access to the available gas and other fuels in and about Barrow.
Through his efforts and the efforts of Senators Ernest
Gruening and E. L. (Bob) Bartlett, the Townsite Law was
passed. This will allow many villages now on lands hav
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He pledges his conlinued assistance to the betterment of
the outlying communities and would very much appreci
ate your vote in the November 6 election.
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RE-ELECT RALPH J. RIVERS
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