Sole of boot (alu ~ aluq sg aluk dual alut pl [also means sole of foot] in Yup'ik and Cup'ik, atungar in Cup'ig) is the bottom of a boot, in contact with the ground. The nat'raq (in Yup'ik, nateraq in Unaliq-Pastuliq dialect) a special oversole of skin boot used to prevent slipping on ice. Yup'ik soles are traditionally made of bearded seal skin which is usually chewed to make it moldable. The sealskin materials used for skinboot soles are nat'rarkaq (in Yup'ik) "sole material for skin boots, made from the tanned skin of the bearded seal", atungagkar (in Cup'ig) "sealskin material to be used for making bootsoles", arinacir(ar) (in Cup'ig) "aged sealskin used for skinboot soles or as a mat", meqcirer (in Cup'ig) "sealskin aged to remove hair and stretched on stakes over ground (hide is then used for making boot soles)". Boot soles were occasionally cut from old kayak covers that had been made from bearded seal skins. Siberian Yupik, Alaskan Yup'ik, and Iñupiaq boot soles are particularly thick, sometimes reaching a depth of five centimeters.
