tour 3 of 8
Kayak clothing from Greenland
Sealskin sprayshirt (akuilisaq)
'I always use this sprayshirt, during
Championships, and also for training and everyday paddling. I
prefer sprayshirts made of sealskin, because they are much more
waterproof than those of canvas.' (Member of the Kayak Club
Sisimiut, 2001)
In the
past, kayak hunters used a sprayshirt
(akuilisaq) when the sea
was calm. Fastened to the cockpit, it prevented water from coming
into the kayak. Sprayshirts were usually worn in combination with
mittens and aaqqat,
separate sleeves that a hunter would put on to keep those of his
ordinary jacket or pullover dry. Today, such kayak sleeves are
rarely used in the kayak
clubs.
This sprayshirt was
made in Sisimiut in 1997 for Maligiaq Padilla by his mother,
Juliane Padilla, with the help and advice of her father, Peter
Johnsen. It is made of harp seal skin, with drawstrings of bearded
seal skin at the lower edge. To fasten it to the cockpit, the
drawstrings are pulled as tight as possible and then secured and
held in place with a knot or, like here, with a
toggle.
The upper edge of a
sprayshirt is either folded down, or held up with drawstrings or
braces. These can be of sealskin, and are sometimes lavishly
decorated with pearls of ivory, whale bone, or caribou antler.
Here, the braces are of synthetic
thread.
Other
Views: Maliina Amondsen from Nuuk, ready
for the relay race. She is wearing a sealskin sprayshirt over
ordinary rainwear. Nanortalik, July 2001.