Fur or pelt (melquq in Yup'ik and Cup'ik, melqur in Cup'ig). Fur from land animals was warmer than other kinds of skin. Red-fox and white-fox skin parkas were warm. Mink, otter, and muskrat skins were used as parkas around here. Trapping of furbearing animals (melqulek literally "one with fur, one having fur", derived from melquq and the postbase -lek) provides a large part of the income earned by the Alaska Natives as well as many of the white residents of Southwestern Alaska. The principal animals hunted and trapped for fur are black, polar and brown bear, beaver, coyote, blue, cross, red, silver, and white fox, hare, lynx, marmot, marten, mink, muskrat, otter, squirrel, weasel, wolf and wolverine. The highest prices are received for marten, mink, beaver, otter, and silver fox, followed by wolf, coyote, and wolverine; but the major portion of income is derived from mink, beaver, marten, and muskrat due to the greater abundance of these species. The fur of the wolf, and wolverine have little commercial value in the fur market but are utilized by the Alaska Natives for parka trimming.Harbors and rivers in Alaska, Survey Report, Interim Report No. 5: Southwestern Alaska. Prepared by Alaska District, Corps of Engineers, January 20, 1054
