Finland · Leather craft; Footwear; Lapland tradition
Nutukkaat — Lapin Poronnahkakengät
The Finnish nutukkaat (Lapland reindeer hide shoe) making tradition — the production of the specific Finnish Lapland winter footwear from reindeer leg skin, whose unique hair-out construction (the reindeer hair pointing downward and outward) provides the best possible insulation and snow-shedding of any traditional Arctic footwear. The nutukkaat maker reads the correct leg skin hair density through a stroke-and-count assessment — stroking the reindeer leg skin against the grain and reading the hair resistance that indicates sufficient density for insulation.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not listed; nutukkaat tradition on the Finnish national heritage inventory
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