Gut Parka

Object Details

Collector

Captain Zera L. Tanner

USS Albatross

Donor Name

U.S. Commission of Fish & Fisheries

FROM CARD: "WATER-PROOF. IN BOAT NO. 76282. INVENTORIED 1976." Boat no. 76282 is Catalogue No. E398279. Detailed description of kayak and its associated artifacts is in Collins Ms., pp. 765-766. Associated artifacts are Catalogue Nos. E168568 - 77.

Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=265, retrieved 7-17-2013: Gut parka. Also called: kamleika [from Chukchi word for gut parka], gutskin parka, intestine parka, rain parka, snow shirt. According to Mary Bourdukofsky and Vlass Shabolin, a kamleika is a "gut parka" or "rain parka" and can refer to rain gear in general. It comes from the Russian term kamleika. Women sewed waterproof "raincoats" using the gut (intestine) of any large sea mammal. The design includes a hood with drawstring. Men always wore this chag^talisax^ [gut parka] or kamleika (Russian) in their kayaks to keep dry, usually with a birdskin parka underneath. Elders' discussions of the parka in 2003 (see web page cited above for the full entries); several gut parkas were being discussed at the same time, with Mary N. Bourdukofsky, Vlass Shabolin, Maria Turnpaugh and Daria Dirks (Tanadgusix Foundation) at the National Museum of Natural History and National Museum of the American Indian, 4/07/2003-4/11/2003. Also participating: Aron Crowell and Bill Fitzhugh (NMNH) and Suzi Jones (AMHA). Vlass Shabolin: Chag^talisax^. (Gut parka.) Mary Bourdukofsky: Chag^talisax^, yes, but they usually used to call it a kamleika. In my time, I never saw anybody wear this kind of chag^talisax^ or kamleika. It could be in early 1900s that in the Aleutian Chain they were still wearing them. Maria Turnpaugh: I think old George Berrinon used to wear it once in a while, but I've never seen anybody else that I can remember. We had one in our house when we left, but it was gone when we came back, after the evacuation. Aron Crowell: Were these just worn by men? Maria Turnpaugh: Yes. Aron Crowell: So from what you heard, were these used when you were out in a kayak? Vlass Shabolin: In a single kayak or a three-man kayak. Maria Turnpaugh: The bottom used to have a drawstring, and you'd tie it around the opening of the kayak so the water wouldn't come in there. Notice that there its neck part is longer where you would pull the drawstring tight. Aron Crowell: So you would wrap the hood tightly around your face with that string?

Mary Bourdukofsky: Yes, that's a drawstring. Vlass Shabolin: It tightens up around your face and makes it more seaworthy, because the water won't come down through your neck, like if you had elastic around your raingear. Aron Crowell: We haven't looked at the hoods closely. Did the other ones have the strips that are going forward like this [seams running vertically down hood]? Maria Turnpaugh: Yes. Mary Bourdukofsky: Yes, curve it down or else it'll be pointed. Aron Crowell: And how were the intestines prepared? Mary Bourdukofsky: Cleaned and blown up. Dried in the air, in the sun. They don't cut them until they dry up, and then they split them open. Aron Crowell: Sea lion intestines? Mary Bourdukofsky: It could be sea lion or ugruk [bearded seal (in Iñupiaq)] or any big sea animal you could find. Maria Turnpaugh: I don't think we had ugruk around where we came from. Mary Bourdukofsky: Sometimes they'll find it around Pribilof Island after a big storm, and people used to take parts of it for some uses. According to Vlass Shabolin and Mary Bourdukofsky, fur seal intestines were usually used to make kamleikas.

Record Last Modified

9 Feb 2016

Specimen Count

1

Culture

Aleut (Unangax^ ; Unangan; Unangas)

Accession Date

3 Mar 1894

Collection Date

1892

Accession Number

028022

USNM Number

E168576-0

Object Type

Parka

Length - Object

163 cm

Place

Unalaska Island / Unalaska, Aleutian Islands / Fox Islands, Alaska, United States, North America

See more items in

Anthropology

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

Topic

Ethnology

Record ID

nmnhanthropology_8348694

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3a01377cd-26ad-4cfb-b720-db80991f0200