And though they’ll tan some other types of animal hides, according to Sinnok seal is the most cost-effective.Īfter being closed down for several years, the tannery re-opened last fall. In essence, tanning hides is a process of taking some oils out, and putting others back in, until the material is pliable enough to refashion into garments. “It fleshes the fat right off of the seal.” “These are fleshing machines,” Sinnok explained. On the white walls are a few yellow marks, splatter kicked off from what look like circular saws mounted atop work-tables. (Photo: Zachariah Hughes – Alaska Public Media, Shishmaref) Sinnok said they’d gotten to most of it, but run out of cleaning supplies before they could fully remove all the stains as the tannery was closed up for the season early in January. Fleshing machines had kicked off fat onto the walls. Sinnok manages the business for the Native Village of Shishmaref, which owns the tannery. First we’ll invoice them, count how many seals they have, what kinds of seals they are.” “When people first come in, they come in and drop the seals off here. “This is the work area,” Dennis Sinnok said, standing in a dim, chilly room lined with work tables and tanks. And on the other side of town, in a squat one-story building, is a place dedicated to fur crafting. These house slippers were sewn in Shishmaref. Families here have long relied on hunting ice seals, in part because the fur is exceptionally good protection from the cold, used to make beautifully mottled hats and thick outer mittens. Draped casually below a stereo speaker is a wolf pelt.īut the seal products are extra special.
Walrus ivory earrings are near the candy bars behind the counter.
Percy Nayokpuk has run his store since 1990, when he took it over from his father. Don’t get no Crocs if you’re gonna live around here, get a pair of these,” Nayokpuk said, returning the slipper to a shelf in the corner of the store his family has run since 1960.
#TANNERY HIDES TROUTDALE SKIN#
“This is a Shishmaref slipper,” 65-year-old Percy Nayokpuk explained, holding up a single slip-on shoe made of shimmering gray seal skin with black beaver trim and blue beadwork. After fits and starts, it closed down for several years. It’s a tannery, set up to process hundreds of seal hides a year sent from subsistence hunters. In the small community of Shishmaref, there’s a local business like no other.
Dennis Sinnok walks through the Shishmaref Tannery, which was cleared out for the season after re-opening to handle 850 hides this year.
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