Happy Piluguuk Day!

Really - today is Piluguuk (ba-loo-guk) Day!  A piluguq (singular) is a mukluk, or mocasin - and throughout Yupik culture, women were to wear theirs today.  Although they used to be daily foot wear, now they are worn most often for ceremonial dance. The piluguuks are made of seal skin, with the bottoms being significantly thicker than the sides.  The front (and I don't think you can really tell how detailed they are in the photos) is thickened by tiny, deep folds creased into the seal skin.  Just like the quspeks, each one is adorned differently. They have beaver, seal, or fox fur trim, and thick woolen socks on the top.  Most of the ladies were complaining about how hot their feet were by days' end!!