Chapter X: Part 10

178. _Point Hope or Tigara._--Eskimo village at Point Hope, Arctic Ocean. It is Tiekagag-miut of Tikhmenief, 1861; Tikirak of Petrof, 1880, who reports a population in that year of 276. Spelled Tikera in the Eleventh Census. Herendeen gives Tik-i-rah. The Eskimo name of the settlement is said to be Tik-i-rah-mum. Visited by A. H.; important collections.

179. _Wewuk_ (_or Wevok_).--Eskimo village on the Arctic coast, near Cape Lisburne. Eskimo name, published by the Hydrographic Office in 1890. (G. D. A.) (Jim Allen.)

180. _Iniktilik._--Small village, occupied. (S. Chance.)

181. _Pitmegia._--A small old site at the mouth of river of same name, north side. (Jim Allen, S. Chance.)

_e._ _Napayochak._--Old camp, two igloos. (S. Chance.)

_f._ _Tolageak._--A small old site. (S. Chance.)

_g._ _Emelik._--A small old site. (S. Chance.)

_h._ _Pingasoogarook._--Old village, still occupied. (S. Chance.)

182. _Umalik._ }
}
183. _Koochik._ }
} Trapping stations; igloos. (S. Chance.)
184. }
}
185. }

186. _Kokolik._--Eskimo settlement, at Point Lay, Arctic coast. (G. D. A.) Old but still partly occupied village. (S. Chance.) Kelik. (Jim Allen.)

187. _Napayochik._--Old camp, two igloos. (S. Chance.)

188. _Tolageak._--Old dead igloos. (S. Chance.)

189. _Utukok._--Old small settlement at northern mouth of Utukok River.

190. _Emelik._--Old deserted igloo. (S. Chance.)

191. _Kayakshulik._--A live village at Icy Cape. (Jim Allen, S. Chance.)

192. _Nokotlik_ (_?_).--Old igloo. (S. Chance.)

193. _Mitliktavik._--A dead moderate-sized village, about 5 miles below Kilik. (Jim Allen.)

194. _Kilimantavic._--Eskimo village, near Wainwright Inlet, Arctic coast. Tikhmenief, 1861, calls it Kilametagag-miut; Petrof, 1880, calls it Kolumakturook; Hydrographic Chart 68 calls it Kelamantowruk, while later charts omit it or call it Kilimantavic. According to Murdoch this name is Ke-lev-a-tow-tin (sling). (G. D. A.) A large dead village about 20 miles below Wainwright. (Jim Allen.) Kilamitavic. (S. Chance.)

195. Old abandoned camp. (S. Chance.)

196. _Wainwright._--A large living native village; some remains of old habitations on its eastern outskirts. (A. H.) About a mile south of present settlements are the remains of the old village once occupied by the Wainwright people. (Jim Allen.)

197. _Kululin._--Old site.

198. _Sedaru._--Old dead village.

199. _Atnik._--Old dead village. (S. Chance.) Possibly same with next.

200. _Itanik._--On maps Atanik. Old village, still partly occupied. (S. Chance, Jim Allen.) Called Ataniek in Tikhmenief, 1861. (G. D. A.)

201. _Pinoshuragin._--Petrof, 1880, shows a native village of this name (population 29) on the Seahorse Islands. On British Admiralty Chart 593 (ed. of 1882) it is called Pingoshugarun. (G. D. A.) Pingasoogarook: Old village, still occupied. (S. Chance.)

202. _Kokolak._--Two old igloos, still occupied. (S. Chance.)

203. _Sakamna._--Small camp.

204. _Sinaru._--Small camp about 22 miles from Barrow; visited by A. H.; small skeletal collection.

205. _Walakpa._--A small dead old settlement about 12 miles from Barrow.

206. _Nunava._--Small camp.

207. "_Old Igloos._"--A very important site archeologically. Explored partly by Van Valin. (See special section devoted to this site.)

208. _Barrow._--Known also as Utkiavik, Uglaamie, or the Cape Smyth village. Important white and Eskimo settlement. Old remains. Extensive burial grounds east of village. (A. H. collections.)

209. _Nunawa._--Remains of old camping site, about 4 miles from Barrow.

210. _Point Barrow._--The Eskimo Nuwuk. Good-sized living village. Remains of older habitations. Population in 1853, 309. (G.D.A.)

THE ST. LAWRENCE AND DIOMEDE ISLANDS

ST. LAWRENCE ISLAND

Ranking in archeological and anthropological importance with Wales and in some respects perhaps even exceeding the latter, is the large island of St. Lawrence, with the almost forgotten little Punuk group at its eastern extremity.

The main island was discovered by Bering on St. Lawrence Day, August 10, 1728, and it was found peopled by the Eskimo. In 1849 an excellent map of it was published by Tebenkof in Novo-Archangelsk, and on this map (fig. 26) are indicated about a dozen smaller or larger Eskimo settlements, some of which, however, are not named and may already have been "dead."

About 1878 there were still six settlements with somewhat less than 1,500 Eskimo inhabitants on the island. That winter (1878-79) not less than 1,000 of the population died of famine (Hooper), three of the villages becoming completely depopulated and a fourth nearly so. The Punuk Island village may have become extinct about the same time.

To-day there are on the St. Lawrence Island but two living settlements, the main one, now known as Gambell, at the old site of Chibukak on the northwestern cape, and the other, Savonga, about 40 miles east of it, near Cape North.

A number of the old sites on this island, and also that on one of the Punuks, indicate a long occupation, antedating by far the advent of the Russians. The accumulations rise in some places to imposing heaps or ridges. Their frozen contents yield quantities of fossil ivory, all of which shows the work of man, and among them occur specimens with fine curvilinear designs and of high scientific as well as artistic value.

Through Nelson in 1881 and R. D. Moore in 1912 the Smithsonian Institution has acquired a large quantity of human skeletal material from the main island, and there is now (1928) an expedition of the Institution under Collins on the Punuk as well as the St. Lawrence exploring some of the principal ruins.

THE DIOMEDE ISLANDS AND THE ASIATIC COAST

[FIGS. 27 AND 28]

The smaller or American Diomede, though a very inhospitable place, supports, and that evidently since long, a small Eskimo village of stone houses, below and about which there is a considerable accumulation of refuse. Doctor Jenness dug here for a short time in 1926.

The larger or Russian Diomede has two villages, each of which is larger than the one on the smaller island. There are also said to be some remains in a broad depression on the eastern side of the island, while skeletal remains are reported by the natives to exist among the rocks on the top. This island is in need of thorough attention. Its people are reputed to be skilled ivory workers. They come yearly to Nome, where they were visited and seen at their work by the writer. They bring each year some fossil ivory, said to come mainly from the Asiatic coast, and among this are occasionally articles of much interest.

Ruins of Eskimo villages are also present along the coasts of the Chukchee Peninsula, both those facing the Bering Sea and those along the Arctic. Very little is definitely known or can be found from the American Eskimo about these ruins, and some of them may not be Eskimo. Nelson in his book (p. 265) reports briefly on a few about Cape Wankarem. Interesting objects of the fossil ivory culture are said to occur in these old sites as far west as the Kolyma, but nothing is certain except that there are ruins, that a good number of them are probably Eskimo, and that fossil ivory, both worked (walrus) and unworked (mammoth), comes from these coasts. A noteworthy report is that of a large native cemetery on the Bering Sea side, with hundreds of burials in rough stone-slab graves. Information of this was given me by Joe Bernard, well known in connection with Bering Sea explorations, who had seen the site in person.

211. _Gambell_ (_or Chibukuk_).--Old Eskimo settlement on the northwest cape of St. Lawrence Island. United States National Museum expedition, 1912, by Riley D. Moore; anthropometric data; important collections.

212. Small sites, north bay, St. Lawrence Island, indicated on 1849 Russian map (q. v.).

213. _Savonga._--A small modern Eskimo village. A. H., 1926; some collections.

214. Ruins of an old site 4 miles northeast of Savonga. Important archeologically.

215. _Kukuliak._--Dead village.

216. Former summer site. Given on the 1849 Russian map.

217. Important old site with large accumulations on one of the two Punuk Islands. Explored 1928 by Collins; collections.

218. _Kialegak._--Dead village. Important archeologically. Partly explored by Collins, 1928; collections.

219. _Chitnak._--One of the dead villages of 1879. (Nelson, Hooper.)

220. _Puguviliak._--One of the dead villages of 1879. (Nelson, Hooper.)

221. Old site; no details available.

222. Living small village on the smaller (American) Diomede Island. Some old accumulations. A. H., 1926, collections; some excavations same year by D. Jenness.

223. _Nunarbuk._--Village still occupied, on greater (Russian) Diomede, located on an elevated slope around the southern cape of the island. Skeletal and other remains reported on top of mesa.

224. Village, still occupied, on an elevated saddle near middle of west coast of island.

225. Eskimo village, East Cape of Asia. Other villages indicated along the coast of Chukchee Peninsula. Others on north coast. (See Nelson, The Eskimo of Bering Strait, p. 265.)

PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

EARLIER DATA

The previously published data on the western Eskimo are few in number and mostly not as well documented as would be desirable. There are, however, a good number of references to the physical characteristics of the people by explorers. The main of these are given below. These references in general are not of much scientific value, yet in some instances they approach this closely and are of considerable interest collectively.

1784, Cook:[67]

The inlet which we had now quitted, was distinguished by Captain
Cook with the name of Prince William's Sound. * * * The natives
whom we saw were in general of a middling stature, though many of
them were under it. They were square or strong chested, with short
thick necks, and large broad visages which were for the most part
rather flat. The most disproportioned part of their body appeared
to be their heads, which were of great magnitude. Their teeth were
of a tolerable whiteness, broad, well set, and equal in size. Their
noses had full round points, turned up at the tip; and their eyes,
though not small, were scarcely proportioned to the largeness of
their faces. They had black hair which was strong, straight, and
thick. Their beards were in general thin or deficient, but the
hairs growing about the lips, of those who have them, were bristly
or stiff and often of a brownish color; and some of the elderly men
had large, thick straight beards. * * * The complexion of some of
the females, and of the children, is white without any mixture of
red. Many of the men, whom we saw naked, had rather a swarthy cast,
which was scarcely the effect of any stain, as it is not their
custom to paint their bodies.

Vol. 3, page 31: All the Americans we had seen since our arrival on
that coast (west coast of Alaska) had round, chubby faces, and high
cheek bones, and were rather low of stature.

Ibid., page 72: _Norton Sound._--The woman was short and squat and
her visage was plump and round. * * * Her husband was well made and
about 5 feet 2 inches in height. His hair was black and short, and
he had but little beard. His complexion was of a light copper cast.
* * * The teeth of both of them were black, and appeared as if they
had been filed down level with the gums.

1821, Kotzebue:[68]

_Kotzebue Sound._--The Americans [i. e., Eskimo] are of a middle
size, robust make, and healthy appearance; their countenances * * *
are characterized by small eyes and very high cheek bones.

1832, Beechey:[69]

The western Esquimaux appear to be intimately connected with the
tribes inhabiting the northern and northeastern shores of America,
in language, features, manners, and customs. They at the same time,
in many respects, resemble the Tschutschi, from whom they are
probably descended. * * *

They are taller in stature than the eastern Esquimaux, their
average height being about 5 feet 7½ inches. They are also a better
looking race, if I may judge from the natives I saw in Baffin's
Bay, and from the portraits of others that have been published. At
a comparatively early age, however, they (the women in particular)
soon lose this comeliness, and old age is attended with a haggard
and careworn countenance, rendered more unbecoming by sore eyes
and by teeth worn to the gums by frequent mastication of hard
substances.

1850, Latham:[70]

Physically the Eskimo is a Mongol and Asiatic.

The Eskimos of the Atlantic are not only easily distinguished from
the tribes of American aborigines which lie to the south or west
of them, and with which they come in contact, but they stand in
strong contrast and opposition to them--a contrast and opposition
exhibited equally in appearance, manners, language, and one which
has had full justice done to it by those who have written on the
subject.

It is not so with the Eskimos of Russian-America, and the parts
that look upon the Pacific. These are so far from being separated
by any broad and trenchant line of demarcation from the proper
Indians or the so-called red race, that they pass gradually
into it, and that in respect to their habits, manner, and
appearance, equally. So far is this the case that he would be a
bold man who should venture, in speaking of the southern tribes
of Russian-America, to say here the Eskimo area ends and here a
different area begins.

1853, Hooper:[71]

_Kotzebue Sound Esquimeaux._--The men generally were taller than
the average of Europeans, strongly built and well formed; some
had well-marked features * * *. The women, were generally short,
the visages of the younger ones tolerably good but * * * the
very reverse was the case with the dames of more advanced age.
Their figures inclined to the squat, their mien and expression
promised intelligence and good nature. Although both sexes had in
most instances the round flat face of the Mongolian cast, a few
individuals possessed well-defined, though petite features, and all
had fine eyes.

GRAVES AT NASH HARBOR, NUNIVAK ISLAND

(Photos by Collins and Stewart, 1927.)]

SCHOOL CHILDREN AT WALES]

_a_, Children, Nunivak Island. (Photo by Collins and Stewart, 1927)

_b_, Adults, Nunivak Island. (Photo by Collins and Stewart, 1927)]

KING ISLAND ESKIMO: A FAMILY GROUP]

KING ISLAND NATIVE]

_a_, Young Eskimo woman, northern Bering Sea region. (Photo by Lomen Bros.)

_b_, Eskimo, northern Bering Sea region. (Photo by F. H. Nowell.)

A FINE FULL-BLOOD ESKIMO PAIR, NORTHERN BERING SEA REGION]

TYPICAL FULL-BLOOD ESKIMO. NORTHERN BERING SEA REGION

(Photo by Lomen Bros.)]

ELDERLY MAN, ST. LAWRENCE ISLAND

(Photos by R. D. Moore, 1912. U.S.N.M.)]

1853, Seemann, vol. II, pages 49-51:[72]

_The Eskimos._--By comparing the accounts transmitted by different
writers we find that the various tribes, however widely separated
geographically, differ but slightly from each other in appearance,
manners, customs, or language. They are, however, by no means as
uniform in size as might have been expected. Those inhabiting the
vicinity of Norton and Kotzebue Sounds are by far the finest and
tallest, while those living between Cape Lisburne and Point Barrow
are, like the tribes of the eastern portions of America, much
shorter in stature, and bespeak the inferiority of the districts in
which they live.

Both sexes are well proportioned, stout, muscular, and active.
The hands and feet are small and beautifully formed, which is
ascribed by some writers to their sedentary habits, but this
cannot be the case, as probably no people take more exercise or
are more constantly employed. Their height varies. In the southern
parts some of the men are 6 feet; in the more northern there is a
perceptible diminution, though by no means to the extent generally
imagined.

Their faces are flat, their cheek bones projecting, and their eyes
small, deeply set, and, like the eyebrows, black. Their noses
are broad; their ears are large, and generally lengthened by the
appendage of weighty ornaments; their mouths are well formed, their
lips are thin. * * *

The teeth of the Eskimos are regular, but from the nature of
their food and from their practice of preparing hides by chewing,
are worn down almost to the gums at an early age. Their hair is
straight, black, and coarse; the men have it closely cut on the
crown, like that of a Capuchin friar, leaving a band about two
inches broad, which gradually increases in length towards the back
of the neck; the women merely part their hair in the middle, and,
if wealthy, ornament it with strings of beads. The possession of a
beard is very rare, but a slight moustache is not infrequent. Their
complexion, if divested of its usual covering of dirt, can hardly
be called dark; on the contrary, it displays a healthy, rosy tint,
and were it not for the custom of tattooing the chin some of the
girls might be called pretty, even in the European acceptation of
the term.

1861, Richardson:[73]

The Eskimos are remarkably uniform in physical appearance
throughout their far-stretching area, there being perhaps no other
nation in the world so unmixed in blood. Frobisher's people were
struck with their resemblance in features and general aspect to the
Samoyeds and their physiognomy has been held by all ethnologists
to be of the Mongolian or Tartar type. Doctor Latham calls the
Samoyeds Hyperborean Mongolidae, and the Eskimos he ranges among
the American Mongolidae, embracing in the latter group all the
native races of the New World. The Mongol type of countenance is,
however, more strongly reproduced in the Eskimos than in the red
Indians--the conterminous Tinné tribes differing greatly in their
features, and the more remote Indians still more.

Generally the Eskimos have broadly egg-shaped faces with
considerable prominence of the rounded cheeks caused by the arching
of the cheek bones, but few or no angular projections even in the
old people, whose features are always much weather beaten and
furrowed. The greatest breadth of the face is just below the eyes,
the forehead tapers upward, ending narrowly, but not acutely, and
in like manner the chin is a blunt cone; both the forehead and the
chin recede, the egg outline showing in profile, though not so
strongly, as in a front view. The nose is broad and depressed, but
not in all, some individuals having prominent noses, yet almost all
have wider nostrils than Europeans. The eyes have small and oblique
apertures like the Chinese, and from frequent attacks of ophthalmia
and the effect of lamp smoke in their winter habitations adults of
both sexes are disfigured by excoriated or ulcerated eyelids. The
sight of these people is, from its constant exercise, extremely
keen, and the habit of bringing the eyelids nearly together when
looking at distant objects has in all the grown males produced a
striking cluster of furrows radiating from the outer corners of
each eye over the temples.

The complexions of the Eskimos when relieved from smoke and dirt
are nearly white and show little of the copper color of the red
Indians. Infants have a good deal of red on the cheeks, and when
by chance their faces are tolerably clean are much like European
children, the national peculiarities of countenance being slighter
at an early age. Many of the young women appear even pretty from
the liveliness and good nature that beams in their countenances.
The old women are frightfully ugly * * *.

The young men have little beard, but some of the old ones have a
tolerable show of long gray hairs on the upper lip and chin. * * *
The Eskimo beard, however, is in no instance so dense as a European
one.

The hair of the head is black and coarse, the lips thickish, and
the teeth of the young people white and regular, but the sand that,
through want of cleanliness, mixes with their food, wears the teeth
down at an early age almost to the level of the gums, so that the
incisors often have broad crowns like the molars.

The average stature of the Eskimos is below the English standard,
but they can not be said to be a dwarfish race. The men vary in
height from about 5 feet to 5 feet 10 inches or even more. They
are a broad-shouldered race, and when seated in their kayaks look
tall and muscular, but when standing lose their apparent height by
a seemingly disproportionate shortness of the lower extremities.
This want of symmetry may arise from the dress, as the proportions
of various parts of the body have not been tested by accurate
measurements. The hands and feet are delicately small and well
formed. Mr. Simpson (Blue Book, 1855) observed an undue shortness
of the thumb in the western Eskimos, which, if it exists farther to
the east, was not noted by the members of the searching expeditions.

1870, Dall:[74]

Page 136: The Innuit, as they call themselves, belong to the same
family as the northern and western Eskimo. I have frequently
used the term Eskimo in referring to them, but they are in many
respects very different people. * * * It should be thoroughly and
definitely understood that they are not Indians nor have they any
known relation, physically * * * to the Indian tribes of North
America. Their grammar, appearance, habits, and even their anatomy,
especially in the form of the skull, separate them widely from the
Indian race. On the other hand, it is almost equally questionable
whether they are even distinctly [distantly?] related to the
Chukchees and other probably Mongolian races, of the eastern part
of Siberia.

The Innuit of Norton Sound and the vicinity are of three tribes,
each of which, while migrating at certain seasons, has its own
peculiar territory. The peninsula between Kotzebue and Norton
Sounds is inhabited by the Kaviaks or Kaviagemut Innuit. The neck
of this peninsula is occupied by the Mahlemut Innuit. The shore
of Norton Sound south of Cape Denbigh to Pastolik is the country
of the Unaleets or Unaligmut Innuit. The habits of these tribes
are essentially similar. They are in every respect superior to any
tribe of Indians with which I am acquainted.

Their complexion I have described as brunet. The effect of the
sun and wind, especially in summer, is to darken their hue, and
from observing those who lived in the fort, I am inclined to think
that a regular course of bathing would do much toward whitening
them. They are sometimes very tall; I have often seen both men and
women nearly 6 feet in height and have known several instances
where men were taller. Their average height equals that of most
civilized races. Their strength is often very great. I have seen a
Mahlemut take a 100-pound sack of flour under each arm and another
in his teeth and walk with them from the storehouse to the boat, a
distance of some 20 rods, without inconvenience.

Page 140: The women * * * are often of pleasing appearance,
sometimes quite pretty. They preserve their beauty much longer
than Indian women. Their clear complexion and high color, with
their good humor, make them agreeable companions, and they are
often very intelligent. A noticeable feature is their teeth. These
are always sound and white, but are almost cylindrical, and in
old people are worn down even with the gums, producing a singular
appearance. The eyes are not oblique as in the Mongolian races, but
are small, black, and almost even with the face. The nose is flat
and disproportionately small. Many of the Innuit have heavy beards
and mustaches, while some pull out the former.

Page 17: I * * * made the acquaintance of a fine-looking young
Mahlemut who * * * introduced me to his wife and child, the latter
about 2 years old. The former was not particularly ugly or pretty.
* * * The husband was a fine-looking, athletic fellow, standing
about 5 feet 5 inches, with a clear brunet complexion, fine color,
dark eyes, and finely arched eyebrows. The flat nose, common to
all the Eskimo tribes, was not very strongly marked in him, and a
pleasant smile, displaying two rows of very white teeth, conquered
any objection I might have felt to his large mouth. The baby looked
like any other baby. * * *

Page 376: It has been frequently remarked that the Tuski and
Innuit tribes have a Mongolian cast of countenance. This, upon an
actual comparison, will be found to be much less than is usually
supposed. The real points of resemblance are principally in the
complexion, which is somewhat similar, and in the eyes. But the
eyes of the Innuit are not oblique, as in the Chinese. They have
an apparent obliquity, which is due to the peculiar form of the
zygomatic arch, but the eyes themselves are perfectly horizontal.
The prominent characteristics of the Orarian[75] skull are the
strongly developed coronary ridge, the obliquity of the zygoma, and
its greater capacity compared with the Indian cranium. The former
is essentially pyramidal, while the latter more nearly approaches a
cubic shape.

The mean capacity (in cubic centimeters) of three Tuski skulls
from Plover Bay, according to Doctor Wyman, was 1,505; that of
20 crania of northern Eskimo, according to Doctor Davis, was
1,475, and that of 4 Innuit crania of Norton Sound was 1,320; thus
showing a wide variation. The mean capacity of 20 West American
Indian crania was only 1,284.06. The mean height of all the Orarian
skulls above referred to was 136.55 millimeters, against a breadth
of 134.47 millimeters, while the height of the Indian skulls was
120.14 millimeters, against a breadth of 100.025 millimeters. The
zygomatic diameter of the Orarian crania was 134.92 millimeters,
while that of 12 Indian skulls was 134.65 millimeters. The
Orarian skulls were most dolichocephalic, and the Indian most
brachycephalic. The latter averaged 378.71 cubic centimeters less
capacity than the former. The average height of the Orarians,
except among the stunted tribes of the extreme north, will average
as great as that of their Indian neighbors. The strength and
activity of the former far exceed that of any northern Indians with
whom I am acquainted.

Page 401: The Kaniagmuts are of middle stature and a complexion
more reddish than that of the Aleutians or more northern Innuit.
They are stoutly built, with large broad faces, and their hair is
coarse, black, and straight.

Page 407: The Magemuts * * * are tall, finely formed, and have very
fair complexions. Blue eyes are not unknown among them, but their
hair is black and their beards are very light.

The Ekogmuts. * * * A noticeable feature in many of them is the
extreme hairiness of their persons. Many have very strong black
beards and hairy bodies.

Page 410: The Point Barrow tribe are said by Richardson to be
called Nuwungmëun. * * * These northern Innuit are very few in
number. * * * Simpson mentions that their thumbs appeared to be
disproportionately short. The same may be true of the Norton Sound
Innuit; at all events, no white man can wear one of their mittens
comfortably until the thumb is lengthened.

Doctor Otis, of the United States Army Medical Museum, says that the skulls found in the northern mounds have the same peculiarities which distinguish all Orarian crania, and that both are instantly distinguishable from any Indian skulls.

1874, Bancroft (compilation):[76]

"The physical characteristics of the Eskimos are: A fair
complexion,[77] the skin, when free from dirt and paint, being
almost white; a medium stature, well proportioned, thickset,
muscular, robust, active,[78] with small and beautifully shaped
hands and feet;[79] a pyramidal head;[80] a broad egg-shaped face;
high rounded cheek bones; flat nose; small oblique eyes; large
mouth; teeth regular, but well worn;[81] coarse black hair closely
cut upon the crown, leaving a monk-like ring around the edge,[82]
and a paucity of beard."[83]

Simpson, 1875:[84]

These people are by no means the dwarfish race they were formerly
supposed to be. In stature they are not inferior to many other
races and are robust, muscular, and active, inclining rather to
spareness than corpulence. The tallest individual was found to be 5
feet 10½ inches, and the shortest 5 feet 1 inch. The heaviest man
weighed 195 pounds, and the lightest 125 pounds. The individuals
weighed and measured were taken indiscriminately as they visited
the ship, and were all supposed to have attained their full
stature. Their chief muscular strength is in the back, which is
best displayed in their games of wrestling. The shoulders are
square, or rather raised, making the neck appear shorter than it
really is, and the chest is deep; but in strength of arm they can
not compete with our sailors. The hand is small, short, broad,
and rather thick, and the thumb appears short, giving an air of
clumsiness in handling anything; and the power of grasping is not
great. The lower limbs are in good proportion to the body, and
the feet, like the hands, are short and broad with a high instep.
Considering their frequent occupations as hunters, they do not
excel in speed nor in jumping over a height or a level space,
but they display great agility in leaping to kick with both feet
together an object hanging as high as the chin, or even above the
head. In walking, their tread is firm and elastic, the step short
and quick; and the toes being turned outward and the knee at each
advance inclining in the same direction, give a certain peculiarity
to their gait difficult to describe.

The hair is sooty black, without gloss, and coarse, cut in an
even line across the forehead, but allowed to grow long at the
back of the head and about the ears, whilst the crown is cropped
close or shaven. The color of the skin is a light yellowish brown,
but variable in shade, and in a few instances was observed to be
very dark. In the young, the complexion is comparatively fair,
presenting a remarkably healthy sunburnt appearance, through which
the rosy hue of the cheeks is visible; before middle life, however,
this, from exposure, gives place to a weather-beaten appearance, so
that it is difficult to guess their ages.

The face is flat, broad, rounded, and commonly plump, the cheek
bones high, the forehead low, but broad across the eyebrows,
and narrowing upwards; the whole head becomes somewhat pointed
toward the crown. The nose is short and flat, giving an appearance
of considerable space between the eyes. The eyes are brown, of
different shades, usually dark, seldom if ever altogether black,
and generally have a soft expression; some have a peculiar glitter,
which we call gipsy-like. They slope slightly upwards from the
nose, and have a fold of skin stretching across the inner angle to
the upper eyelid, most perceptible in childhood, which gives to
some individuals a cast of countenance almost perfectly Chinese.
The eyelids seem tumid, opening to only a moderate extent, and the
slightly arched eyebrows scarcely project beyond them. The ears are
by no means large, but frequently stand out sideways. The mouth
is prominent and large, and the lips, especially the lower one,
rather thick and protruding. The jawbones are strong, supporting
remarkably firm and commonly regular teeth. In the youthful
these are in general white, but toward middle age they have lost
their enamel and become black or are worn down to the gums. The
incisors of the lower jaw do not pass behind those of the upper,
but meet edge to edge, so that by the time an individual arrives
at maturity, the opposing surfaces of the eye and front teeth are
perfectly flat, independently of the wear they are subjected to
in every possible way to assist the hands. The expression of the
countenance is one of habitual good humor in the great majority of
both sexes, but is a good deal marred in the men by wearing heavy
lip ornaments. * * *

While young the women are generally well formed and good looking,
having good eyes and teeth. To a few, who besides possessed
something of the Circassian cast of features, was attributed a
certain degree of brunette beauty. Their hands and feet are small,
and the former delicate in the young, but soon become rough and
coarse when the household cares devolve upon them. Their movements
are awkward and ungainly, and though capable of making long
journeys on foot, it is almost painful to see many of them walk.
Unlike the men, they shuffle along commonly a little sideways, with
the toes turned inwards, stooping slightly forward as if carrying
a burden, and their general appearance is not enhanced by the
coat being made large enough to accommodate a child on the back,
whilst the tight-fitting nether garment only serves to display the
deformity of their bow legs. * * *

The physical constitution of both sexes is strong, and they bear
exposure during the coldest weather for many hours together without
appearing inconvenienced, further than occasional frostbites on
the cheeks. They also show great endurance of fatigue during their
journeys in the summer, particularly that part in which they
require to drag the family boat, laden with their summer tent and
all their moveables, on a sledge over the ice.

Extreme longevity is probably not unknown among them; but as they
take no heed to number the years as they pass, they can form
no guess of their own ages, invariably stating "they have many
years." Judging altogether from appearance, a man whom we saw in
the neighborhood of Kotzebue Sound could not be less than 80 years
of age. He had long been confined to his bed and appeared quite
in his dotage. There was another at Point Barrow, whose wrinkled
face, silvery hair, toothless gums, and shrunk limbs indicated an
age nothing short of 75. This man died in the month of April, 1853,
and had paid a visit to the ship only a few days before, when his
intellect seemed unimpaired, and his vision wonderfully acute for
his time of life. There is another still alive, who is said to be a
few years older.

1877, Dall:[85]

Page 9: The Orarians are distinguished * * * by a light fresh
yellow complexion, fine color, broad build, scaphocephalic head,
great cranial capacity, and obliquity of the arch of the zygoma.

Page 17: The Ekogmut inhabit the Yukon delta from about Kipniuk to
Pastolik * * *. Their most noticeable personal peculiarity consists
in their hairy bodies and strong beards.

1884, Hooper:[86]

About 3,000 Innuits inhabit the northwest coast of America, from
the Colville River, on the east, to Bering Strait, including
the islands therein, on the west. Many of these came under my
observation while cruising in the Arctic Ocean in command of the
_Corwin_.

In appearance they are tall and muscular, many being 6 feet in
height, and some were seen that would exceed that even. Their
peculiar dress gives them a squat appearance, and their stature
seems less than it is in reality. The women are much shorter than
the men, but both sexes are strong and active, though not equal
in these respects to the Tchuktchis and other reindeer tribes of
Siberia.

The face of the Innuit is broad below the eyes, the forehead is
narrow and receding, the chin and lower jaw broad and heavy. The
nose is usually broad and flattened, but not always; occasionally
one is seen whose features are well formed and handsome. In the
young children this is the almost invariable rule; many of them
are really beautiful. The eyes are small and black, and appear to
be slightly oblique, and for this reason, perhaps more than any
other, they have been classed with the Mongolidae. They have large
mouths, thick, loosely hanging lips, and fine, strong teeth. These,
however, from eating raw food, are usually very much worn. The
labrets worn in the lips are hideous-looking things, made of bone,
glass, stone, ivory, or in fact anything within the reach of the
native which can be worked into the requisite shape.

They have rather light skin, very different from the Indians of the
plains; and in this also they differ from the Tchuktchis, being
much lighter, and when cleansed from the dirt which usually covers
them, and freed from the sunburn and tan due to long exposure, they
become quite fair. They have small, well-formed hands and feet,
much smaller in proportion than white men. This was particularly
noticeable when buying boots and mittens from them for our use;
only the largest sizes made by them could be used at all. They are
generally without beard, but as the men grow old, they sometimes
have a thin, straggling mustache and beard, but it is never full
and regular. The hair is coarse and black.

1885, Ray:[87]

Pages 37-38: The following table will show that physically the
Inyu of North American coast does not conform to the typical idea
of the Eskimo. They are robust, healthy people, fairer than the
North American Indian, with brown eyes and straight black hair.
The men are beardless until they attain the age of from 20 to 25
years, and even then it is very light and scattering, and is always
clipped close in the winter; at this season they also cut off
their eyebrows and tonsure their crown like a priest, with bangs
over their forehead. Their hands and feet are extremely small and
symmetrical; they are graceful in their movements when unincumbered
by heavy clothing.

Page 46: Physically both sexes are very strong and possess great
powers of endurance.

1888, Murdoch:[88]

In stature these people are of a medium height, robust, and
muscular, inclining rather to spareness than corpulence, though
the fullness of the face and the thick fur clothing often gives
the impression of the latter. There is, however, considerable
individual variation among them in this respect. The women are
as a rule shorter than the men, occasionally almost dwarfish,
though some women are taller than many of the men. The tallest
man observed measured 5 feet 9½ inches and the shortest 4 feet 11
inches. The tallest woman was 5 feet 3 inches in height and the
shortest 4 feet ½ inch. The heaviest man weighed 204 pounds and the
lightest 126 pounds. One woman weighed 192 pounds and the shortest
woman was also the lightest, weighing only 100 pounds. The hands
and feet are small and well shaped, though the former soon become
distorted and roughened by work. We did not observe the peculiar
breadth of hands noticed by Doctor Simpson, nor is the shortness of
the thumb which he mentions sufficient to attract attention. Their
feet are so small that only one of our party, who is much below
the ordinary size, was able to wear the boots made by the natives
for themselves. Small and delicate hands and feet appear to be a
universal characteristic of the Eskimo race and have been mentioned
by most observers from Greenland to Alaska.

The face is broad, flat, and round, with high cheek bones and
rather low forehead, broad across the brow and narrowing above,
while the head is somewhat pointed toward the crown. The peculiar
shape of the head is somewhat masked by the way of wearing the hair
and is best seen in the skull. The nose is short, with little or
no bridge--few Eskimo were able to wear our spring eyeglasses--and
broad, especially across the alæ nasæ, with a peculiar, rounded,
somewhat bulbous tip, and large nostrils. The eyes are horizontal,
with rather full lids and are but slightly sunken below the level
of the face.

The mouth is large and the lips full, especially the under
one. The teeth are naturally large, and in youth are white and
generally regular, but by middle age they are generally worn down
to flat-crowned stumps, as is usual among the Eskimo. The color of
the skin is a light yellowish brown, with often considerable ruddy
color on the cheeks and lips. There appears to be much natural
variation in the complexion, some women being nearly as fair as
Europeans, while other individuals seem to have naturally a coppery
color. In most cases the complexion appears darker than it really
is from the effects of exposure to the weather. All sunburn very
easily, especially in the spring, when there is a strong reflection
from the snow.

The old are much wrinkled, and they frequently suffer from
watery eyes, with large sacks under them, which begin to form at
a comparatively early age. There is considerable variation in
features, as well as complexion, among them, even in cases where
there seems to be no suspicion of mixed blood. There were several
men among them with decided aquiline noses and something of a
Hebrew cast of countenance. The eyes are of various shades of
dark brown--two pairs of light hazel eyes were observed--and are
often handsome. The hair is black, perfectly straight, and very
thick. With the men it is generally coarser than with the women,
who sometimes have very long and silky hair, though it generally
does not reach much below the shoulders. The eyebrows are thin and
the beard scanty, growing mostly upon the upper lip and chin and
seldom appearing under the age of 20. In this they resemble most
Eskimo. Back, however, speaks of the "luxuriant beards and flowing
mustaches" of the Eskimo of the Great Fish River. Some of the older
men have rather heavy black mustaches, but there is much variation
in this respect. The upper part of the body, as much as is commonly
exposed in the house, is remarkably free from hair. The general
expression is good humored and attractive.

The males, even when very young, are remarkable for their graceful
and dignified carriage. The body is held erect, with the shoulders
square and chest well thrown out, the knees straight, and the
feet firmly planted on the ground. In walking they move with long
swinging elastic strides, the toes well turned out and the arms
swinging. * * *

I should say that they walked like well-built athletic white men.
The women, on the other hand, although possessing good physiques,
are singularly ungraceful in their movements. They walk at a sort
of shuffling half trot, with the toes turned in, the body leaning
forward, and the arms hanging awkwardly.

A noticeable thing about the women is the remarkable flexibility of
the body and limbs and the great length of time they can stand in a
stooping posture. * * * Both men and women have a very fair share
of muscular strength. Some of the women especially showed a power
of carrying heavy loads superior to most white men. We were able to
make no other comparisons of their strength with ours. Their power
of endurance is very great, and both sexes are capable of making
long distances on foot. Two men sometimes spend 24 hours tramping
through the rough ice in search of seals, and we knew of instances
where small parties made journeys of 50 or 75 miles on foot without
stopping to sleep.

The women are not prolific. Although all the adults are or have
been married, many of them are childless, and few have more than
two children. One woman was known to have at least four, but
investigations of this sort were rendered extremely difficult by
the universal custom of adoption. Doctor Simpson heard of a "rare
case" where one woman had borne seven children. We heard of no
twins at either village, though we obtained the Eskimo word for
twins.

1890, Murdoch:[89]

The people who live on the extreme northwest corner of our
continent are far from being an ugly or an ill-made race. Though
they are not tall--a man of 5 feet 10 inches is a tall man among
them--they are well proportioned, broad shouldered, and deep
chested. The men, as a rule, are particularly well "set up," like
well-drilled soldiers and walk and stand with a great deal of grace
and dignity.

The women do not have such good figures, but are inclined to
slouchiness. They are seldom inclined to be fleshy, though their
plump, round faces, along with their thick fur clothing, often
give them the appearance of being fat. They generally have round,
full faces, with rather high cheek bones, small, rounded noses,
full lips, and small chins. Still, you now and then see a person
with an oval face and aquiline nose. Many of the men are very good
looking, and some of the young women are exceedingly pretty. Their
complexion is a dark brunet, often with a good deal of bright color
on the cheeks and especially on the lips. They sunburn very much,
especially in the spring, when the glare of the sun is reflected
from the snow. They have black or dark-brown eyes and abundant
black hair. The women's hair is often long and silky. When they are
young they have white and regular teeth, but these are worn down to
stumps before middle life is reached. Cheerful and merry faces are
the rule.

1890, Kelly:[90]

_Personal appearance._--There are three types observable among the
Arctic Eskimos of Alaska. The tall, cadaverous natives of Kangoot,
Seelawik, Koovuk, and Kikiktowruk, on Kotzebue Sound, who live on
fish, ptarmigans, and marmots. They always have a hungry look and
habitually wear a grin of fiendish glee at having circumvented an
adverse fate. There is a tendency among these people to migrate
north.

Then there is the tall, strongly knit type of the Nooatoks, a
gigantic race, of a splendid physique that would be remarkable in
any part of the world.

Rugged as the mountains among which they live, vigorous and
courageous, they stop at nothing but the impossible to accomplish
a desired end. Their food supply is the reindeer, mountain sheep,
ptarmigans, and fish. There are many of the coast natives of this
type, but they lack the healthy glow and the indomitable will of
the Nooatoks.

The third type is the short, stumpy one, probably that of the old
Eskimo before the admixture with southern tribes, now found on the
Arctic coast. * * *

The Eskimos have coarse, black hair, some with a tinge of brown.
Many of the coast people of both sexes are bald from scrofulous
eruptions. Males have the crown of the head closely cropped, so
that reindeer may not see the waving locks when the hunter creeps
behind bunch grass. They have black eyes and high cheek bones. The
bones of the face are better protected from the severity of the
climate by a thicker covering of flesh than southern races.

Among the coast people the nose is broad and flat, with very little
or no ridge between the eyes. The adult males have short mustaches,
and some of the elder ones--more noticeable in the interior--have
rough, scraggy beards. Generally their beard is very scant, and
most of them devote otherwise idle hours to pulling out the hairs.

1900, Nelson:[91]

The Eskimo from Bering Strait to the lower Yukon are fairly
well-built people, averaging among the men about 5 feet 2 or 3
inches in height. The Yukon Eskimo and those living southward
from that river to the Kuskokwim are, as a rule, shorter and more
squarely built. The Kuskokwim people are darker of complexion than
those to the northward, and have rounder features. The men commonly
have a considerable growth of hair on their faces, becoming at
times a thin beard 2 or 3 inches in length, with a well-developed
mustache. No such development of beard was seen elsewhere in the
territory visited.

The people in the coast region between the mouths of the Kuskokwim
and the Yukon have peculiarly high cheek bones and sharp chins,
which unite to give their faces a curiously pointed, triangular
appearance. At the village of Kaialigamut I was impressed by the
strong development of the superciliary ridge. From a point almost
directly over the pupil of the eye and extending thence inward to
the median line of the forehead is a strong bony ridge causing the
brow to stand out sharply. From the outer edge of this the skull
appears as though beveled away to the ears, giving the temporal
area a considerable enlargement beyond that usually shown. This
curious development of the skull is rendered still more striking by
the fact that the bridge of the nose is low, as usual among these
people, so that the shelf-like projection of the brow stands out in
strong relief. It is most strongly marked among the men and appears
to be characteristic at this place. Elsewhere in this district it
was noted only rarely here and there.

All of the people in the district about Capes Vancouver and
Romanzof, and thence to the Yukon mouth, are of unusually light
complexion. Some of the women have a pale, slightly yellowish
color, with pink cheeks, differing but little in complexion from
that of a sallow woman of Caucasian blood. This light complexion is
so exceptionally striking that wherever they travel these people
are readily distinguished from other Eskimo, and before I visited
their territory I had learned to know them by their complexion
whenever they came to St. Michael.

The people of the district just mentioned are all very short and
squarely built. Inland from Cape Vancouver lies the flat marshy
country about Big Lake, which is situated between the Kuskokwim
and the Yukon. It is a well-populated district and its inhabitants
differ from those near the coast at the capes referred to, in being
taller, more slender, and having more squarely cut features. They
also differ strikingly from any other Eskimo with whom I came in
contact, except those on Kowak River, in having the bridge of the
nose well developed and at times sufficiently prominent to suggest
the aquiline nose of our southern Indian tribes.

The Eskimo of the Diomede Islands in Bering Strait, as well as
those of East Cape and Mechigme and Plover Bays on the Siberian
coast, and of St. Lawrence Island are tall, strongly built people
and are generally similar in their physical features. These are
characterized by the unusual heaviness of the lower part of the
face due to the very square and massive lower jaw, which, combined
with broad, high cheek bones and flattened nose, produces a wide,
flat face. These features are frequently accompanied with a low
retreating forehead, producing a decidedly repulsive physiognomy.
The bridge of the nose is so low and the cheek bones so heavy that
a profile view will frequently show only the tip of the person's
nose, the eyes and upper portion of the nose being completely
hidden by the prominent outline of the cheek. Their eyes are less
oblique than is common among the people living southward from
the Yukon mouth. Among the people at the northwestern end of St.
Lawrence Island there is a greater range of physiognomy than was
noted at any other of the Asiatic localities.

The Point Hope people on the American coast have heavy jaws and
well-developed superciliary ridges. At Point Barrow the men are
remarkable for the irregularity of their features, amounting to
a positive degree of ugliness, which is increased and rendered
specially prominent by the expression produced by the short,
tightly drawn upper lip, the projecting lower lip, and the small
beady eyes. The women and children of this place are in curious
contrast, having rather pleasant features of the usual type.

The Eskimo from Upper Kowak and Noatak Rivers who were met at
the summer camp on Hotham Inlet are notable for the fact that a
considerable number of them have hook noses and nearly all have a
cast of countenance very similar to that of the Yukon Tienné. They
are a larger and more robustly built people than these Indians,
however, and speak the Eskimo language. They wear labrets, practice
the tonsure, and claim to be Eskimo. * * * Among them was seen one
man having a mop of coarse curly hair, almost negroid in character.
The same feature was observed in a number of men and women on the
Siberian coast between East Cape and Plover Bay. This latter is
undoubtedly the result of the Chukchi-Eskimo mixture, and in the
case of the man seen at Hotham Inlet the same result had been
brought about by the Eskimo-Indian combination. Among the Eskimo
south of Bering Strait on the American coast not a single instance
of this kind was observed. The age of the individuals having
this curly hair renders it quite improbable that it came from an
admixture of blood with foreign voyagers, since some of them must
have been born at a time when vessels were extremely rare along
these shores. As a further argument against this curly hair having
come from white men, I may add that I saw no trace of it among a
number of people having partly Caucasian blood. As a general thing,
the Eskimo of the region described, have small hands and feet and
the features are oval in outline, rather flat and with slightly
oblique eyes.

Children and young girls have round faces and often are
very pleasant and attractive in feature, the angular race
characteristics becoming prominent after the individuals approach
manhood. The women age rapidly, and only a very small proportion of
the people live to an advanced age.

The Malemut and the people of Kaviak Peninsula, including those of
the islands in Bering Strait are tall, active, and remarkably well
built. Among them it is common to see men from 5 feet 10 inches to
6 feet tall and of proportionate build. I should judge the average
among them to be nearly or quite equal in height to the whites.

Among the coast Eskimos, as a rule, the legs are short and poorly
developed, while the body is long with disproportionately developed
dorsal and lumbar muscles, due to so much of their life being
passed in the kaiak.