Note that although this was originally cataloged as a pair of shoes (in the catalog ledger book and on the catalog card) only one of the shoes remains in the museum's collection. There is no known documentation to show what happened to the other shoe, or when it may have gone missing. During the 1970s/80s inventory, it was given a count of 1, which seems to indicate that it was already missing a shoe as of that time.
Illus. Fig. 29.25 p. 220 of Fitzhugh, William W., and Chisato O. Dubreuil. 1999. Ainu: spirit of a northern people. [Washington, D.C.]: Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution in association with University of Washington Press. Identified there as a nonskid boot. "Salmon-skin boots (chep-keri) were mainly worn from winter to spring for mountain walking. Their soles had fishscales pointing backwards to provide traction on the snow, ice, and mud; the backfin was left in the middle of the sole for the same purpose. Such boots were dry and light, but dried grass was added for extra insulation, and bark fiber was used for socks."
