Sugpiaq Puppet "Cecil"

This puppet was adapted and adorned by Mary Babic. Named Cecil, this puppet is modeled off of a Sugpiaq man and wears a bentwood visor decorated with beads and sea lion whiskers. For every seal or sea lion that is harvested, traditionally the person attaches one of their whiskers to the person's visor to show respect for the animal. Beads and feathers are subsequently attached to the whiskers, as demonstrated on the puppet's visor. Cords of finely worked sinew are attached and tied under the chin to make sure that the hat stays on. The nose and ears are ornamented with dentalium shells (others have used bird bones, feathers, beads, or sea lion whiskers), and there is a labret or lip plug in the chin. The labret indicates which village a person belongs to. The rain parka is stitched using horizontally sewn strips of bear intestines, although seal, whale, and sea lion intestines were also used. The strips are sewn with a waterproof stitch. There is a piece of beach grass included in the stitch. The grass expands when wet, which makes the parka waterproof. The intestines of brown bear were always harvested in the spring because in the fall, the bear intestines are full of holes from all the sharp fish bones from the salmon they have been eating. The parka provided the best protection from rain and cold, especially when hunting on the ocean. The guts are more breathable than modern materials, and they don't freeze and crack. The bottom of the gut parka is tied around the hatch opening to seal the vessel against waves. The mittens are made of salmon skin with a waterproof stitch. (Description adapted from Mary Babic's Lesson Storytelling with Your Own Chugach Puppet").

Excerpt out of the book Innerskins and Outerskins - Gut and Fish skin: "The snow is blowing. The seas are rough. And you're getting cold. If you have a rubber raincoat you're going to freeze to death. But if you have this one, this gut parka, you're going to last a little bit longer because it's going to keep you warm."