In the 1980s, Shishmaref's governing council helped establish the local tannery as a link between indigenous hunters and potential fur customers. Percy Nayokpuk behind the counter at the Nayokpuk General Store, which his father opened in 1960. There's also a robust marketplace on Facebook. Generally, sealskin garments are sold at shops and galleries in Alaska's bigger communities, as well as at large craft fairs. There are several of them lined up casually on a shelf, mostly on the chance a visitor will buy a pair.
"Don't get no Crocs if you're gonna live around here. "This is good slippers for up north, I tell you," Nayokpuk says, holding up a gray slip-on shoe accented with blue beadwork. In Shishmaref, Percy Nayokpuk, owner of the Nayokpuk General Store, will sell you sealskin house slippers for a few hundred dollars. "It definitely communicates that you're likely from the northern part of the state," she says. Kellie says there is a sartorial politics at play, because the distinctive mottled sheen signals indigenous heritage. In Alaska and across other parts of the circumpolar north, sealskin is showing up in more places: barrettes, keychains, even high-heeled shoes and lingerie. The community relies on subsistence hunting, including both terrestrial and marine mammals, alongside birds, fish and wild vegetation. It is used in thick outer garments like hats, mittens and boots because of its prowess as insulation from cold, which many say is still unmatched by industrially produced fabrics.Ĭaribou hides hang behind a home in Shishmaref. To the touch, it's both soft and firm, like the outer hairs on a German shepherd.
#Tannery hides troutdale full
The market for raw walrus tusks, strips of whale baleen, and full seal hides went away overnight, replaced with a highly regulated marketplace for crafted goods.īut in the tiny town of Shishmaref, Alaska, with a population of just over 600, a small business is changing that: a seal tannery.įinished sealskin is a dark gray flecked with black, sleek and shimmering in a way that makes it look almost animated. Under the law, wildlife products from sea mammals have to be artistically modified before they can be bought or sold among nonnative people. Then in 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act put an end to that. Goats and Soda The Conflicting Educations Of Sam Schimmelįor decades, fur merchants would trade cash for full pelts, buying stacks of them at a time from Alaska Native hunters.
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