Alaska Natives

This Nome fisherman, circa 1900, is sporting a raincoat make from animal intestines.

Traditionally, women sewed these waterproof raincoats using the gut of any large sea mammal. These hooded parkas, often made from seal intestines, were ideal outer garments for wet weather and ocean travel. They were sewn with fine sinew thread and a special watertight stitch.

Men wore gut parkas when hunting in their kayaks to keep dry, and they often wore bird-skin parkas underneath.

Alaska Natives also used animal intestines to make their traditional drums. The ceremonial tambourine drum was made of seal gut stretched over a wooden frame.