In Alaska, the Siberian Yupiit of St. Lawrence Island used diapers  
made of sealskin (with the hair to the inside), which they lined with  
sphagnum moss. The little one-piece jumpers the babies wore had  
openings at the crotch and the diaper was sewn to the back at the  
waist, came down and thru the legs and then up to the waist, where an  
attached strap was wrapped around to the back and tied. Quite  
ingenious! To "change" the diaper, just untie the strap, and swap out  
the moss. The dollmakers still make baby-dolls that show this design.

Angela

On Jun 9, 2005, at 5:15 AM, Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig wrote:

> It may be apocryphal, but I've heard from a variety of folk sources  
> that
> Native Americans and early settlers used sphagnum moss for diapers,
> menstrual pads, and bandages.
>
> Nina S-R
>
>
>>>> [log in to unmask] 06/08/05 06:33PM >>>
>>>>
> Native Americans of the Great Lakes area in the through the mid 18th
> century would stuff their cradle boards with the flower from a cat  
> tail
> shoot. ope this sheds another idea on the subject
>
>
> love, annmarie
>
>


Angela J. Linn
Collections Manager, Ethnology & History
University of Alaska Museum of the North
907 Yukon Drive
P.O. Box 756960
Fairbanks, AK 99775-6960
TEL: (907) 474-1828
FAX: (907) 474-5469
www.uaf.edu/museum

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