Chapter IX: Part 9

Of later and particularly American authors who gave attention to the location of the western Eskimo settlements, the foremost is E. W. Nelson. Beginning in 1877 with the St. Michael Island and ending with the cruise of the _Corwin_ in 1881, Nelson made trips down the coast to the Kuskokwim, up the Yukon to Anvik, over the Bering Sea, the St. Lawrence Island and parts of the Chukchee Peninsula, and finally, with the _Corwin_, along the northern coasts to Point Barrow. And these journeys were devoted largely to biological and ethnological observations and collections, the latter including the location of the western Eskimo habitations of that time. His locations are given on the accompanying map (fig. 15) taken from his classic memoir, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait," published in 1900 in the Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. This memoir contains a section of "Ruins" (pp. 263-266), a brief account of the recently dead villages on St. Lawrence Island (p. 269), and an instructive section on Eskimo burials (pp. 310-322). Nelson brought also the first more substantial collection of Eskimo crania.

The next deserving man in these connections is Ivan Petrof. Of Russian-American extraction, Petrof was charged in 1880 with the census enumeration of the natives in Alaska, and he later published[60] a valuable report on his work, together with detailed demographic data and a map on which are given all the living settlements of his time. Nelson's map is partly based on Petrof's data.

Since Nelson and Petrof but little has been done in this field. But the maps of these two observers have been utilized more or less by the map makers of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Geological Survey, and other Government agencies concerned with Alaska. The result is that some of these charts are exceptionally useful to the anthropological explorer in Alaska; nevertheless the data they carry are incomplete and the locations or names are not always exact, a good many of the villages shown are now dead, and old ruins, as usual, have received no attention.

A very valuable supplement to all the maps has in 1902 been published by the United States Geological Survey. It is the Geographic Dictionary of Alaska, by Marcus Baker. This volume, besides brief but serviceable historical data, gives in alphabetical order nearly all the then-known names of localities in Alaska, including those of the Eskimo and Indian settlements; and each name is accompanied by brief but in many instances most helpful information. This highly deserving volume, indispensable to every student of Alaska, has for many years been out of print, but it is understood that a new revised edition is slowly being prepared.

BILLINGS AND GALL'S MAP OF BERING STRAIT AND NEIGHBORING LANDS, 1811]

ESKIMO VILLAGES AND SITES. NORTON SOUND AND BAY AND SEWARD PENINSULA, AND THE KOTZEBUE SOUND, FROM ZAGOSKIN'S GENERAL MAP, 1847]

Other useful publications in these connections are the United States Coast Pilots of Alaska, the various accounts of travelers, explorers, and men in collateral branches of science (geology, biology, etc.), the publications of the Alaska Division of the United States Department of Education, the annual reports of the Governor of Alaska, and the decennial reports on Alaska of the United States Census.

The object of the following notes and data is some measure of usefulness to future anthropological and archeological workers in Alaska. They are surely incomplete and very imperfect, yet they may be of some service.

Archeological and anthropological research in the highly important western Eskimo region is bound to develop in a not far distant future; for this is the region through which in all probability America was peopled. It is this region that promises to solve the problem of the antiquity of the Eskimo and may throw much light upon the origin of these people, and one that, as shown, above, has begun to reveal highly interesting old cultural conditions. And it is a region in which destruction of the remains by nature, but most so recently by the natives themselves, proceeds at an alarming pace.

The information on which these notes and the accompanying charts are based has been obtained largely from the Russian and other maps, from local traders, teachers, missionaries, and natives, and from a few explorers.[61] Only in a minority of cases was it possible to visit the places in person; to have visited all would have been a task of pleasure, but would have required a staunch boat of my own and at least three full seasons.

Many of the sites to be given are now "dead" and there may be several old sites in the vicinity of a living village. Others combine ruins with present habitations. Still others are partly or even wholly abandoned a part of the year when the inhabitants go camping or hunting, and are partly or wholly occupied during the rest of the year. Finally, there are some new settlements, with modern dwellings and ways, and their number will increase, the Eskimo taking kindly to civilization and individual property.

The data to be given here are limited to the Eskimo territory in southwestern and western Alaska, leaving out those in Siberia where much is uncertain. Due to the uncertainties of the Prince William Sound region they will begin with Kodiak Island. There are also on hand, principally due to Dr. E. P. Walker, numerous locations of old sites and villages in the Indian parts of southern and southeastern Alaska, but these will best be reserved for another occasion.

The Eskimo area will be roughly seen from the accompanying map published on the basis of the enumeration by the Fourteenth United States Census of 1920. A very great part of the territory allotted to the Eskimo, as well as that of the Indian, is barren of any population or its traces; the divisions represent the hunting grounds or grounds claimed by each people, not an occupied territory. The data will be given in south-to-north order.

Nearly all the settlements in these regions are now, and have evidently always been, on the shores of the seas and bays, as close to the water as safety would permit. A few villages and sites occur also, however, on inland lakes and rivers. The favored locations have been an elevated flat near the mouth of a fresh-water stream or the outlet of a lagoon, a sufficiently elevated spit projecting into the sea, or an elevated bar between the sea and an inland lake. The essentials were an elevated flat, a supply of fresh drinking water, and a location favorable for fishing and hunting; if there was some natural protection, so much the better. There were no inland settlements except on the lakes and rivers. In a few cases, as at the Kings and the Little Diomede Islands, very difficult locations were occupied only because outweighed by other advantages.

Caves throughout the occupied region north of the Aleutian chain are absent, and there was therefore no cave habitation.

None of the settlements were very large, though a few were much larger than others. They ranged from one or two family camps or houses to villages of some hundreds of inhabitants. A large majority of the settlements had from but two or three to approximately a dozen families.

There were two main types of dwellings, the semisubterranean sod houses for the winter and the skin tents for summer. In some places the two were near each other; in others the summer dwellings were in another and at times fairly distant locality.

The "zimniki" (in Russian) or winter houses were throughout the region of one general type. They were fair-sized circular semisubterranean houses, made of driftwood and earth, and provided with a semisubterranean entrance vestibule. Their remains are characterized everywhere by a circular pit with a short straight trench depression, the same pot-and-handle type as found along the Yukon. Rarely for the construction of the houses, where driftwood did not suffice, recourse was had to whale ribs and mandibles. The "letniki," or summer houses, were constructed on the surface of wood, sod and skins, or of whale ribs and skins, approaching on one hand the summer huts of various continental tribes and on the other the "yurts" of the north Asiatic peoples. The "kashims," or communal houses, were built, much as on the Yukon, like the family dwellings, but occasionally quadrilateral and much larger. Smaller semisubterranean storage houses of driftwood and sod near the winter dwellings were seemingly general.

Ruins of stone dwellings, without mortar, are said to exist in places on Norton Sound and Bay and on a lagoon near the western end of the Seward Peninsula. The few houses on the Little Diomede are made of loose unhewn stone slabs. The dwellings of the King Islanders are built on the rocky slope of the island on platforms supported by poles, all of driftwood.

There is as a rule an absence of separate refuse heaps near the villages. The refuse apparently has been dumped about and between the houses rather than on separate piles.

Dead villages abound. On consulting the older Russian records, however, it is seen that nearly all were still "living" as late as the early forties of the last century. Yet there are sites that were "dead" already when the Russians came, and the accumulations in other cases denotes a long occupation.

The site of a dead village, in summer, is generally marked by richer and greener vegetation; same as on the Yukon. The site itself is usually pitted or humped in a line forming a more or less elevated ridge, or the pits may be disseminated without apparently much order. And there may be irregular mound-like heaps without external traces of any structure.

In the older sites no trace of wood is visible; in the later rotten posts, crosspieces, parts of the covering of the house or tunnel, or even a whole habitation may be present. In the old sites the wood is hewn with stone axes; in the later it is sawed, and there may be nails.

Older accumulations lie occasionally beneath more recent ones, though no interruption of continuity may be traceable. Of a superposition of villages no trace was observable.

FOOTNOTES:

[60] Tenth Census, VIII; reprinted in Compilation of Narratives of Explorations in Alaska. U. S. Senate Rept. 1023, Washington, 1900, 55-281.

[61] I am especially indebted to the two maps of Zagoskin (one prepared by himself, one from his data); to the 1849 Russian map of the St. Lawrence Island; to the various maps of the U. S. Geological Survey and the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey; to the maps and data of W. H. Dall, E. W. Nelson, and Ivan Petrof; to the various reports of the _Corwin_ and other voyages in the Bering Sea and the western Arctic; to the Geographic Dictionary of Alaska, by Marcus Baker, and to the U. S. Coast Pilots of Alaska; to the data of the Alaska Division, U. S. Department of Education; to Dr. E. P. Walker, of the Biological Survey; to Father La Fortune, the Reverend Baldwin, and to Mr. Carl J. Lomen at Nome; to Mr. Sylvester Chance, superintendent in 1926 of the schools of the Kotzebue district; to Messrs. James Allen at Wainwright and Charles Brower at Barrow; and to numerous other friends who aided me in this direction.

BURIAL GROUNDS

Due to the impossibility of digging sufficiently deep into the frozen ground the western Eskimo buried their dead near or on the surface or among rocks. Occasionally they utilized also, it seems, old dwellings for this purpose, and in more recent times at least the surface burials, wherever there was driftwood, would be protected by heavy rough-hewn planks put together in the form of boxes or by driftwood. They bear close fundamental resemblance to those of the Yukon. On the Nunivak Island occur graves made of rough stone slabs piled up without much order. (Pl. 31, _a_, _b_.)

Throughout the region the burials were located near the village, but the distance varied according to local conditions and habits. In some of the Eskimo villages of the lower Yukon, as at Old Hamilton, some burials were close to the houses of the living. In the Bering and Arctic regions the burial grounds, though sometimes of necessity not far from the houses, as at the Little Diomede, in other places, as at Point Hope and Barrow, were at a distance extending to beyond a mile and a half from the village.

As a rule the wood of burials older than about 80 years was found fully decayed with the bones secondarily buried. Of earlier burials there is generally no trace on the surface, but on excavation skeletal remains are found at various depths below the surface. These characteristic self-burials, or rather tundra burials, may prove of much importance to anthropology in the future. As outlined before (see Narrative, pp. 77, 79) the process is a decay of the wood; the sagging down of the bones, covered more or less by the decayed material; an encroachment of moss or other vegetation on the little mound thus produced; and gradual accumulation through wind or water carried materials of more covering over the bones, until the mound disappears and the remains, generally still in good condition, are buried as if intentionally inhumed.

The Eskimo everywhere were found to be exceedingly sensible about the older, and even recent, skeletal remains, and assisted readily in their collection, as well as in excavation, offering thus the best possible conditions for anthropological and archeological work in these regions.

The notes, charts, and a detailed list of the sites and villages follow. In numerous cases it was found impossible to say whether a site was completely "dead" or still occasionally partly occupied, so that distinctive markings had to be abandoned.

PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND, KODIAK ISLAND, ALASKA PENINSULA

Very largely still a terra incognita for anthropology and archeology. Partly occupied by Indians (Prince William Sound, Kodiak Island?), partly by mix-blood Aleut (parts of Peninsula, and of Kodiak), partly by Eskimo. There is but little skeletal or archeological material from the whole extensive territory.

KODIAK ISLAND AND NEIGHBORHOOD

[FIG. 17]

1. _Litnik_ (probably the Russian "Lietnik," the name for a summer village).--Indian village on Afognak Bay, Afognak Island. This name is found on a map made by the Fish Commission in 1889. Apparently it is the Afognak of other maps (G. D. A.).[62]

2. _Afognak._--On the southwestern part of Afognak Island. Village or row of scattered dwellings on shore of Afognak Bay, in southwestern part of Afognak Island. Population in 1890, 409. (G. D. A.) According to Walker, "an important, occupied native village which has probably been occupied for a long time. No doubt there are other native villages in this immediate vicinity."

3. _Spruce Island._--Ouzinkie, or Uzinki; an occupied native village and cannery. (E. P. W.).[63]

4. _Eagle Harbour or Ugak Bay._--Possibly the native village "Orlova" of the Russians. (G. D. A.)

5. _Kiliuda._--Native village, on the north shore of Kiliuda Bay, Kodiak. Has been generally written Killuda. (G. D. A.)

6. _Nunamiut._--Native village, on the shore of Three Saints Harbor, Kodiak. (G. D. A.) Better known locally as Three Saints Bay. There was formerly an old native and Russian settlement at this point and vicinity, and fishing operations are frequently now conducted here. (E. P. W.)

7. _Kaguyak._--Village, at Kaguyak Bay, on the southwestern shore of Kodiak. It may be identical with the Kaniag-miut of the Russian-American Co., in 1849. (G. D. A.) An old native village at present occupied by only one or two families. Possibly an old site. (E. P. W.)

8. _Aiaktalik._--Village on one of the goose islands, near Kodiak. Population in 1890, 106. (G. D. A.) An occupied native village consisting of about a dozen houses, but which has probably been occupied for a long time. (E. P. W.)

9. _Akhiok._--Native village on the northern shore of Alitak Bay, Kodiak. Native name from Petrof, 1880. Apparently identical with Oohaiack of Lisianski in 1805. (G. D. A.) An occupied native village consisting of about a couple of dozen houses. This or possibly other villages in the vicinity have undoubtedly been occupied for a long time. It is possible that there was a native settlement at Lazy Bay near this point, for Lazy Bay was formerly a native headquarters for sea otter hunting. (E. P. W.)

10. _Karluk._--Village at mouth of Karluk River, Kodiak. Native name from the Russians. (G. D. A.)

11. _Uyak._--Bay indenting the northwestern coast of Kodiak; also a village. Native name from the Russians. Lisianski, 1805, spells it Oohiack and the village Ooiatsk. Petrof, 1880, writes it Ooiak. Has also been written Uiak. (G. D. A.)

12. _Larsen Bay._--A cannery has been located at this point for a number of years, and there is an old native trail from Larsen Bay to Karluk River, so presumably natives have frequented this section and no doubt have at some time had settlements there. Definite information regarding this is not available. (E. P. W.)

13. _Uganik._--Native village at head of Uganik Bay. Shown by Lisianski, 1805, who spells it Oohanick. (G. D. A.) An occupied native village and one which has apparently been in use for a considerable period. (E. P. W.)

FOOTNOTES:

[62] G. D. A.: Geographic Dictionary of Alaska, by Marcus Baker, U. S. Geol. Surv., Washington, 1902.

[63] E. P. W.: Dr. E. P. Walker.

ALASKA PENINSULA

[FIGS. 18, 19]

Native settlements or old villages at one or more points in Kamishak Bay, Ursus Cove, or Iliamna Bay are reported, but there is nothing definite on the subject. (E. P. W.)

14. _Iliamna._--An occupied native village, and undoubtedly there are various village sites on Iliamna Lake regarding which information could be obtained from parties in Iliamna. (E. P. W.)

15. _Ashivak._--Native village (population 46 in 1880), near Cape Douglas, Cook Inlet. Native name reported by Petrof in 1880. (G. D. A.)

16. _Kayayak._--Village, on Svikshak Bay, Shelikof Strait, about 25 miles southwest of Cape Douglas. Tebenkof, 1849, has Kaiaiak settlement, which has on many charts appeared as Kayayak. (G. D. A.)

17. _Kukak._--Native village on Kukak Bay. Lütke, 1835, has Koukak Bay and village. (G. D. A.)

18. _Katmai._--Village, on Katmai Bay, Shelikof Strait, northwest of Kodiak. This is one of the most important of the native villages. Population in 1880, 218; in 1890, 132. (G. D. A.) A native village which was occupied up to the time of the Katmai eruption but was abandoned at that time. (E. P. W.)

19. _Cold Bay._--Small village.

20. _Kanatak._--A native village consisting of about half a dozen houses until in 1922, when oil activity in the vicinity caused a small white settlement to locate at this point. This, however, has since been almost entirely abandoned by whites. (E. P. W.)

21. _Kuiukuk._--Small village.

22. _Chignik._--Fishing station on Chignik Bay, Alaska Peninsula. Population in 1890, 193. (G. D. A.) There are three canneries in this immediate vicinity, a number of natives, and undoubtedly some native villages and probably old village sites. (E. P. W.)

23. _Kaluiak._--Native village, on the southern shore of Chignik Bay, Alaska Peninsula. So given by Petrof in 1880 and the Fish Commission in 1888. (G. D. A.)

24. _Mitrofania._--An old native village which has recently been abandoned or practically abandoned; was apparently a rather important village at one time. (E. P. W.)

25. _Perryville._--A recently established native village consisting of natives from various points along the Alaska Peninsula who were moved there primarily by the Bureau of Education since the Katmai eruption. (E. P. W.)

26. _Kujulik._--Walker has been informed that there is an old village site of that name either in this bay or on Kumlik.

27. Old village mentioned on this island; uncertain.

28. _Wosnesenski._--An old village site on this island reported. (E. P. W.)

29. _Pavlof._--Rev. D. Hotvoitzky, of Belkofski, informed Walker that there is a very old abandoned village site at the head of this bay.

30. _Belkofski._--Bay, cape, and village on south coast of Alaska Peninsula. Named, by the Russians as early as 1835 and probably earlier. (G. D. A.) The most important occupied native village on the Alaska Peninsula. Quite an old village and a former headquarters for sea-otter hunting. (E. P. W.)

31, 32. _Morzhovoi._--Native village at western end of Alaska Peninsula. Named Morzhovoi (Walrus) by the Russians. Variously spelled. There are or were two villages, one called Old Morzhovoi, the other New Morzhovoi, being about 12 miles apart. Old Morzhovoi was at the head of Morzhovoi Bay; New Morzhovoi is on Traders Cove, which opens into Isanotski Strait. The Greek church here is named Protassof, and Petrof, 1880, called the settlement Protassof. (G. D. A.) An occupied native village. The natives from this village also live during the canning season at the cannery in False Pass directly across the strait from Morzhovoi and at Ikatan a short way to the south. (E. P. W.)

33. _Herendeen._--Walker has been informed that there are some shell mounds or kitchen middens about this bay. Walter G. Culver, formerly an employee of the Bureau of Education, but who is at present in Anchorage in care of the Alaska Railway, can give information regarding this and can also give information regarding most of the other native villages along the Alaska Peninsula. (E. P. W.)

34. _Port Moller._--Eskimo site somewhere in this vicinity; name and exact location uncertain.

35. _Unangashik._--A native village, or portage, near Port Heiden.

36. _Meshik._--A village on Port Heiden.

37. _Ugashik._--A native village on the Ugashik River. Reported by Petrof, 1880.

38. _Igagik (or Egegik)._--A village at the mouth of the Egegik River.

39. _Kiniak (or Naknak, or Suvorof)._--A village (of "Aleuts," Sarichef) at mouth of Naknak River, Bristol Bay, south side.

40. _Pawik (or Pakwik)._--Eskimo village, at mouth of Naknak River, Bristol Bay, north side.

41. _Kogiunk._--Eskimo village at mouth of Kvichak River, Bristol Bay. Native name, reported in 1880 by Petrof, who spelled it Koggiung. (G. D. A.)

42. _Lockanok._--Small village.

43. _Kashanak._--Small old village.

44. _Kvichak._--Old Eskimo village on river of same name between Kvichak Bay and Iliamna Lake.

BRISTOL BAY TO CAPE ROMANZOF

From the northern part of Bristol Bay to Cape Romanzof a partial survey of the coast was made in 1927 by Collins and Stewart (U. S. National Museum Expedition). In these regions and on the Nunivak Island it was possible to locate a series of villages some of which are still "living," others in ruins. In the late seventies of the last century, as stated before, the coast between Kuskokwim Bay and St. Michael Island was visited and its villages recorded by Nelson. A detailed archeological survey of this coast remains for the future. Doctor Romig, formerly a medical missionary at Bethel, told me of a number of old sites on the river. Some notes of interest by T. D. Stewart are given in the details. Mr. F. W. Bundy, for a time my companion on the _Bear_, told of an old site on the Kuskokwim. In March, 1927, H. W. Averill, writing from Bethel, tells of a deep-lying old site on the southern coast of the Kuskokwim Bay. (See details.) And later the same year Father Philip I. Delon, of the Holy Cross Mission, sent in three skulls from Kashunuk, in the Yukon delta, with information of much additional material in that locality.

45. _Nushagak._--Old Russian post, "Alexandrovsk." Eskimo village, a few whites; a number of old native sites scattered about head of Nushagak Bay.

46. _Ekuk._--Eskimo settlement near the mouth of Nushagak River. Name from Lütke, 1928, who spelled it Ekouk. Has also been written Yekuk. (G. D. A.)

46a. Reported site of Eskimo village.

47. _Ualik._--Native village, on the western shore of Kulukak Bay, Bristol Bay, Bering Sea. Given by Petrof, 1880, as Ooallikh and by Spurr and Post as Oallígamut; i. e., Oallik people. (G. D. A.)

48. _Togiak._--Old Eskimo settlement.

49. _Ekilik._--Possibly the same as Togiakmute, reported in 1880 by Petrof. Eskimo village on the west bank of Togiak River, about 10 miles from its mouth. Eskimo name obtained by Spurr and Post, in 1898, who write it Ekilígamut; i. e., Ekilik people.

50. A small Eskimo village.

51. _Mumtrak._--Eskimo village at head of Goodnews Bays, Bering Sea. Population in 1890, 162. Name from Petrof, 1880, who spelled it Mumtrahamute. (G. D. A.) Visited 1927 by Collins and Stewart; collections.

52. Site of a village, at junction of Bessie Creek and Arolic River.

53. _Arolik._--A village. H. W. Averill of Bethel writes me under date of March 3, 1927, as follows: "I am sending you some old stone pieces that came from the Aralic River, a tributary of the lower Kuskokwim River, that were washed up by a bend in the river from an old village that is now 6 feet underground."

54. _Kwinak._--Eskimo village on the eastern shore of Kuskokwim Bay, at the mouth of the Kwinak or Kanektok River, Bering Sea. So given by Sarichef, 1826, and Tebenkof, 1849. Petrof, 1880, writes it Quinehahamute, or, omitting the termination _mute_, meaning _people_, it would be Quene-a-ak. (G. D. A.)

55. _Apokak._--Eskimo village on the eastern shore of Kuskokwim Bay, at the mouth of Apoka River. According to Nelson, 1878-79, its native name is Apokagamute; i. e., Apokak people. In the Eleventh Census, 1890, it is called Ahpokagamiut. (G. D. A.)

56. _Eek._--Eskimo village at mouth of Eek River.

57. _Akiak._--Eskimo village on the right bank of the Kuskokwim, about 30 miles above Bethel. Petrof, 1880, wrote its name Ackiagmute; i. e., Akiak people. Spurr and Post, 1898, write Akiagmut, following Missionary J. H. Kilbuck. (G. D. A.) Reindeer camps in vicinity.

58. _Bethel._--White and Eskimo settlement and mission at or near the old Eskimo village Mumtrelega.

59. _Napaiskak._--Eskimo village on the left bank of the Kuskokwim, about 4 miles below Bethel. According to Nelson, 1878-79, its native name is Napaskiagamute, and according to Missionary Kilbuck, 1898, it is Napaiskagamut; i. e., Napaiskak people.

60. _Old sites._--Mr. Bundy, my companion for a time on the _Bear_, gives the following details: "Specimens found about 12 miles below Bethel, Alaska, at the mouth of the Kuskokwim River, beneath about 10 or 12 feet of alluvial soil deposits of sand and clay.

"Mr. Jack Heron, of Bethel, first noted the presence of old implements, and upon returning with him about August 1, 1923, we found the river had cut into the bank quite a bit and had brought to view, after the high waters had receded, additional specimens.

"Those found included: A large copper kettle of perhaps 8 gallons capacity of early Russian pattern, several arrowheads of slate or dark gray flint, and two spearheads of bone with several broken knife blades of slate and one or two small ivory ornaments resembling birds."

61. _Napakiak._--Eskimo village on the right bank of the Kuskokwim, about 10 miles below Bethel. Nelson, 1878, reports the native name as Napahaiagamute. (G. D. A.)

62. _Kinak._--Eskimo village on right bank of the lower Kuskokwim. Visited by Nelson in January, 1879, who reported its native name to be Kinagamiut; i. e., Kinak people. Its population was at that time about 175. Population in 1880, 60; 1890, 257. (G. D. A.)

63. Village site (?).

64. _Kuskovak._--Eskimo village, on the right bank of the Kuskokwim River, near its mouth. Name from Nelson, who passed near it in January, 1879, and who writes it Kuskovakh. (G. D. A.)

65. _Popokak._--Native village.

66. _Kulvagavik._--Eskimo village, on the western side of Kuskokwim Bay, Bering Sea. Visited by Nelson in January, 1879, and its native name reported by him to be Koolvagavigamiut. (G. D. A.)

67. _Kongiganak._--Eskimo village (of about 175 people in 1878) on north shore of Kuskokwim Bay. Visited by Nelson in December, 1878. (G. D. A.)

68. _Anogok._--Eskimo village, on the mainland shore just west of Kuskokwim Bay, Bering Sea. Visited by Nelson in December, 1878. (G. D. A.)

69. _Chalit._--Eskimo village, of about 60 people in 1878, on left bank of the Kuguklik River, northwest of Kuskokwim Bay. Visited by Nelson in December, 1878. (G. D. A.)

70. _Chichinak._--Eskimo village on the mainland, east of Nunivak Island, Bering Sea. Visited by Nelson in December, 1878. (G. D. A.)

70a. Old village site.

71. _Sfaganuk._--Eskimo village, on the mainland, east of Nunivak Island, Bering Sea. Visited by Nelson in December, 1878. (G. D. A.)

72. _Agiukchuk._--Eskimo village, on the mainland, east of Nunivak Island, Bering Sea. Visited by Nelson in December, 1878. (G. D. A.)

73. _Kashigaluk._--Eskimo village, on Nelson Island, Bering Sea. Visited by Nelson in December, 1878. (G. D. A.)

74. _Kaliukluk._--Eskimo village, on Nelson Island, near Cape Vancouver, Bering Sea. Visited by Nelson in December, 1878. (G. D. A.)

74a. Old village site.

75. _Tanunak._--Eskimo village, at Cape Vancouver, Nelson Island, Bering Sea. Name from Nelson, who visited it in December, 1878. Visited 1927 by Collins and Stewart; collections.

75a. Village site.

76. _Ukak._--Eskimo village, in the Yukon Delta, on shore of Hazen Bay. Visited by Nelson in December, 1878, and its name reported by him as Ookagamiut; i. e., Ukak people. Petrof, 1880, calls it Ookagamute. (G. D. A.)

77. _Unakak._--Eskimo village, in the Yukon Delta, near Hazen Bay. Nelson, who visited it in December, 1878, reports its name to be Oonakagamute; i. e., Unakak people. Petrof, 1880, calls it Oonakagamute. (G. D. A.)

78. _Kvigatluk._--Eskimo village, in the Big Lake country, between the Yukon and Kuskokwim. Nelson in 1879 passed near it and reports its name to be Kvigathlogamute. (G. D. A.)

79. _Nunochok._--Eskimo village, in the Big Lake region. Visited by Nelson in January, 1879, who reports its native name to be Nunochogmute; i. e., Nunochok people.

80. _Nanvogaloklak._--Eskimo village, in the Big Lake country. Visited by Nelson in January, 1879. Population in 1880, 100; in 1890, 107. (G. D. A.)

81. _Nash Harbor._--Living village, Nunivak Island; school; Collins and Stewart, 1927, anthropometric data, collections (also from other parts of island).

82. _Koot._--Village, Nunivak Island, near Cape Etolin; partly occupied. Population in 1890, 117.

83. _Inger._--(In Eleventh Census: Ingeramiut.) Dead village, in southeast part of Nunivak Island. Population, 1890, 35.

84. _Kvigak_ (_or Kwik_).--Dead village, southern part of Nunivak Island.

85. _Tachikuga._--Dead village, Nunivak Island, below Cape Mohican.

86. _Kashunuk._--Eskimo village; some collections; skeletal material in vicinity reported 1927 by Father Delon, of the Holy Cross Mission, Yukon.

87. _Askinuk._--Eskimo village on the southern shore of Hooper Bay, Yukon Delta. Native name, from Nelson. Population 1878, 200. (G. D. A.)

87a. Village site.

88. _Agiak._--Eskimo village on promontory north of Hooper Bay.

88a. Village site.

89. _Igag._--Small village.

90. _Kut_ (_Kutmiut_).--Small village on Kut River, head of Scammon Bay.

CAPE ROMANZOF TO NORTHERN (APOON) PASS OF THE YUKON AND NORTHWARD

On this coast there is little information since the time of Nelson. There are a number of occupied villages as well as of old sites. The region is bleak and the Eskimo there are reported to live miserably.

The principal Eskimo villages and sites along the lowermost branch of the Yukon have been given previously. (Fig. 11.)

From the northernmost pass of the Yukon to St. Michael Island the coast is poor in Eskimo remains. A site of interest here is the old camping ground, with a few permanent houses, of Pastolik, and there are two small sites farther up the coast. Pastolik to the writer's visit was still occasionally occupied by a few Eskimo families. There are only three houses, but a relatively large and old cemetery speaks of a larger population, probably camping here in tents during the summer seasons of the past. The burial grounds were found to be rather extensive and give indications of containing human bones as well as artifacts below the present surface (buried by the tundra). The main part of the burial grounds may well repay an excavation.

ST. MICHAEL ISLAND.--Eskimo remains exist on the northeastern point of the island beyond the present white man's village, and also on the rock (Whale Island) opposite this point. During my visit the ground was so overgrown by high weeds that details were hidden. On this same northeastern point near the extension of the white settlement is a small living Eskimo village, most of the inhabitants of which are now of mixed blood. Across St. Michael Bay are said to be some old traces of Eskimo, and Nelson reported an old site in the southern part of the island. Finally at Cape Stephens, in the western extremity of the island, there is "Stebbins," another living village. Nothing could be learned of any human remains on the opposite Stuart Island.

NORTON SOUND.--North of St. Michael Island is Norton Sound and Norton Bay. Along the east coast of the Sound there are three villages still occupied, but with old accumulations. It is reported that in this region there are some ruined houses in which mammoth tusks had been used in the construction, but nothing definite could be learned as to the location of these houses and the whole may be but a story. The village of Unalaklik was of importance in the past and its older remains would probably repay excavation. Old sites are reported from the vicinity of Shaktolik and at Cape Denbigh.

The Norton Bay region (fig. 22), now almost depopulated, had in 1840 a whole series of moderate-sized living Eskimo settlements, both on the east and the west shore. These shallows are but little visited, and it is probable that the remains of the villages and some at least of the skeletal material of their burying grounds are well preserved. They call for early attention.

To the west of Norton Bay, on the southern coast of Seward Peninsula, is Golovnin[64] Bay. On the eastern shore of this bay are now, as there were in Russian times, two settlements, but the name of one has been misplaced. On Zagoskin's map it is clearly seen that the village Ching or Chinig corresponds in location to what now is the mission, while what is now called "Cheenik" was in 1840 Ikalik or Ikalikhaig. There will soon be seen another instance of such a misapplication of the original names.

To the west Golovnin Bay is bounded by a large promontory ending in Rocky Point. To the east of this point is a shallow bay, where I found a late Eskimo house and on the elevated shore a little to the left four fairly recent adult burials. Farther down the bay was an Eskimo camp, without signs of anything older; but Zagoskin's map gives a settlement, probably also a camp, at this place, named Knikhtak. From this a rocky point projects eastward into the bay. Behind this point is a shallow cove with elevated ground above the beach, and at the inland end of this bay I found the remains of a small old village. Traces of burials were seen on the elevated ground but skeletal remains were absent.

On the southwestern shore of the promontory that bounds Golovnin Bay on the west the Russians (Zagoskin) recorded two villages, the one near to Rocky Point being Chiukak, that on a point farther northwest being named Chaimiut. Later the name Chiukak became applied to the former Chaimiut, while Chiukak proper was dead and forgotten. On latest maps, such as Chart 9302 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, neither of the old names appears. The name Bluff denotes a small settlement in about the location of the former Chaimiut. Some Eskimo met in Golovnin Bay said that there are skeletal remains near the original Chiukak, but an attempt to reach the place failed through rough water.

FOOTNOTES:

[64] This is the correct orthography. See Russian maps.

SOUTH SHORE OF SEWARD PENINSULA WEST OF BLUFF

A number of dead villages are found along this coast. The first and largest is located a few miles west of Port Safety, 18 miles east of Nome. This was a large village extending for a considerable distance along the elevated beach separating an inland lagoon from the sea. The depressions of the dwellings, of the usual dipper-with-handle type, are very plain. Old settlers at Nome remember when the village was still occupied. Nearer the sea the beach is said to have been lined with burials, but the storm of 1913 took or covered everything. (See Narrative, p. 90.)

A small Eskimo settlement existed on a rocky elevation east of Cape Nome. There are some house sites, but the place gives little promise of archeological importance. We found evidence that the site must have been occupied until fairly recently. Among the bowlders were found two skeletons.

A larger dead village is located near the mouth of a little stream west of Cape Nome. It is doubtless the Azachagiag of the Zagoskin general map. It gives no great promise archeologically.

From Nome to Point Spencer there are several old sites, all "dead"; and there are one or two recently "dead" villages on Sledge (the old Aiak or Aziak) Island. Of the coast sites, the most important is reported to be that at Cape Woolley. It is said to have been the stopping point of the King Islanders and may have been their old mainland village.

A number of old sites and burial grounds have been seen or learned of in Port Clarence and Salt Lake. They are marked on the map, and those of the lake have been discussed in the Narrative (p. 117). Those on Salt Lake (Imuruk Basin) deserve attention.

Between Port Clarence and Cape Prince of Wales only one, and that evidently not a very large site, was learned of at Cape York.

The most important site of the peninsula region is doubtless that at the cape. Thanks to the able local teacher of that time, Mr. Clark M. Garber, I am able to present a detailed map of this locality. It is here that Doctor Jenness in 1926 conducted some excavations with interesting results. But the site has barely been touched. It is the nearest point to Asia. There are ample indications that it has been occupied for a long period and by relatively large numbers of people. Besides the ruined parts and old heaps there are still the skulls and bones of many burials among the rocks about the village, and there is evidence that more are in the ground. It is one of the chief sites of the far northwest for systematic thorough exploration, and such exploration is a growing necessity for all branches of anthropology interested in the problems of the Bering Sea and Asiatic-American connections.

SCAMMON BAY, NORTON SOUND, SOUTH COAST OF SEWARD PENINSULA, TO CAPE RODNEY

[FIG. 22]

91. _Melatolik._--A small coast village.

92. _Bimiut._--A small coast village.

93. _Kwikak._--Eskimo village on the outer coast in the Yukon Delta, a little south of the mouth of Black River. Native name, from the Coast Survey, 1898, which gives it as Kwikagamiut. (G. D. A.)

94. _Kipniak._--Eskimo village and Coast Survey tidal station at mouth of Black River in the Yukon Delta. Nelson, 1879, reports its name to be Kipniaguk and Dall writes it phonetically Kip-nai-ak. (G. D. A.)

95. _Kogomiut._--A small village.

96. _Waklarok._--A small village.

97. _Nunamekrok._--A small village.

97a. _Eleutak._--A small settlement.

98. _Nilak._--A small village.

99. _Kwikluak._--A small village near the mouth of the Kwikluak Pass of the Yukon, south bank.

100. _Alakanuk._--A small settlement.

101. _Kwiguk._--A village on Kwikluak Pass of the Yukon, north bank.

102. _Kwikpak._--Village near mouth north bank of pass of same name, Yukon River.

103. _Nakhliwak._--A small village, occupied part of time, about 2 miles from mouth of Apoon Pass, Yukon; visited by the writer; small skeletal collection.

104. _Kotlik Point._--A store and Eskimo camp (summer) at mouth of Apoon Pass, north bank. (A. H.)

105. _Pastolik._--Four Eskimo houses, occupied winter. Extensive burial ground near. Collections, A. Hrdlička. Good prospects for excavation in burial places.

106. _Pikmiktalik._--Eskimo village, near the mouth of Pikmiktalik River, about 30 miles to the south of St. Michael, western Alaska. (G. D. A.)

106a. _Pastoliak._--A site near mouth of next small stream to the north. A few houses. Some burials.

107. _St. Michael and Whale Island._--Old sites, northeast end of St. Michael and on Whale Island, opposite. A small living village near the point of the main island, mostly mix bloods. (A. H.)

107a. Dead village. Nelson reports it had been peopled by the Pastolik Eskimo ("Eskimo about Bering Strait," p. 263).

108. _Stebbins._--A living Eskimo village at Cape Stephens.

110. _Golsova._--A small camp at mouth of river of same name.

111. _Unalakleet_ (_or Unalaklik_).--Important old Eskimo village, Norton Sound; western end of portage to Yukon. Population in 1880, 100; in 1890, 175.

112. _Shaktolik._--Eskimo village, at mouth of Shaktolik River, Norton Sound. Population in 1880, 60; in 1890, 38. (G. D. A.) Old settlement; several old sites in this region.

113. _Nuklit._--Eskimo village, on the eastern shore of Norton Sound, immediately behind Cape Denbigh. (G. D. A.) Originally given on Zagoskin's general map. (A. H.)

113a. _Tapkhalik._--Old village on east shore of Norton Bay.

114. _Unakhtuglig or Unagtulig._--Originally given on Zagoskin's general map. (A. H.)

115. _Kviguk._--Eskimo village, on north shore of Norton Bay, at mouth of the Kviguk River. Eskimo name, from the Russians. Tikhmenief, 1861, has Kviegmiut and Kvieguk-miut; i. e., Kviguk people. (G. D. A.) Originally on Zagoskin's general map.

116. _Kvig-miut._--Old village, above the preceding; originally on Zagoskin's general map.

117. _Kvinkhak_ (_now Inglestat_).--Old village at head of Norton Bay. Originally on Zagoskin's general map.

118. _Tulukhtulig_ (_at or near Elim_).--Old village on west coast of Norton Bay.

119. _Atnik._--Old village below the preceding.

120. _Camp_ (_Reindeer_).

121. _Chinig._--Old village at or near the site of present mission; name now erroneously applied to village at Point Golovnin.

122. _Ikalikhvig._--Present Cheenik, at Point Golovnin.

123. Old site; located 1926 (A. H.); a moderate-sized village; not promising for excavation.

124. _Knikhtak._--Originally on Zagoskin's general map; now a camp, no old remains in evidence; a house and four burials on same shore, 2 miles farther south; collection (A. H.).

125. _Chiukak._--Dead village; on Zagoskin's general map; some skeletal material remaining; name now applied to a village farther up the coast.

126. _Chaimiut._--Dead village; originally on Zagoskin's general map; name belonged to village nearer the point.

127. _Ukvikhtulig._--Dead village at Topkok Head; originally on Zagoskin's general map.

128. Dead village, 18 miles east of Nome, near Port Safety. (A. H.)

129. _Azachagiag._--Dead village, west of Cape Nome; originally on Zagoskin's general map.

130. _Nome._--Probably small native village at this site in the past. Now principal white settlement in western Alaska. King Island, Diomede, and some Wales natives reside on the outskirts during summer.

131. _Aziak Island_ (_Sledge Island_).--Two dead villages; the principal one at the northern point of the island. Visited by Collins, 1928. Collections.

132. _Sinuk._--Small old site.

133. _King Island_ (_Ukiook_).--Old village, still occupied in winter; in summer inhabitants live at Nome.

133a. A village site at Cape Woolley; said to be the stopping place of the King Islanders.

134. Dead sites.

135. Burials.

136. _Siniak._--Now a Lutheran Mission for the Eskimo.

·LEGEND·
1 U·S· PUBLIC SCHOOL·
2 PRESBY MISSION·
3 SITE OF ANCIENT VILLAGES·
I UMIAKS OR SKIN BOATS·
X FOOD AND SKIN CACHES·
✛ NATIVE CEMETERIES·
O IGLOOS OR INNIES·
⬛ FRAME BUILDINGS·
·1927·

FIGURE 23.--Eskimo villages and sites, Wales. (By Clark M. Garber, 1927)]

137. _Teller._--Old Eskimo site; some still live here with, a few whites. A few Eskimo camps along Tuksuk Channel.

138. _Salt Lake_ (_Imuruk Basin_).--Ruins seen on north shore. (A. H.)

139. Old sites near eastern end of lake; a Chukchee-Eskimo battlefield in vicinity. (A. H.)

140. Old village site on the St. Marys River.

141. Burials reported.

142. _Wales._--Old Nykhta, Zagoskin's maps; see special description; collections.

THE NORTHERN SHORE OF THE SEWARD PENINSULA

This shore is but little known to science. It is dangerous of approach to any except small boats. The only place that could be visited by me was Shishmaref, a good-sized thriving Eskimo village, on both sides of which along the sea are remains of old sites with burials. The more important old settlement was that to the east of the village. Here are found large and extensive heaps, the tops of which have recently been leveled for fox cages, the whole site belonging, regrettably, to a newly established fox farm. It is an old site, though probably occupied up to white man's times, and is doubtless of some importance. Excavations would still be possible, as the bulk of the remains is intact; and though the surface skeletal material has been removed (part saved for our collections), there are indications of surface burials (assimilations by the tundra) in the ground.

Between Wales and Shishmaref are several dead sites, as shown on the map, and some of them, judging from the information obtained, are of promise. One of these settlements, "Tapkhaig," was evidently still a living village at the time of Zagoskin (1840).

Northeast and east of Shishmaref the coast is known even less than that to the west. A few miles off Shishmaref I saw from a distance--the boat could not approach nearer--what to all appearances was a large ridge of ruins, and from various maps and other sources information was obtained of several other sites, all of which represent former villages. From one of these sites on the Bucknell River Mr. Carl Lomen secured a fine piece of fossil ivory carving, and the site is said to be of much promise. The whole coast is a virgin field for archeology.

143. _Mitletukeruk._--Old village site. Visited by Collins, 1928; collections.

144. _Tapkhaig or Ekpik._--Old village site, originally shown in Zagoskin's general map.

145. _Sinrazat._--Old site.

146. _Karatuk or Shishmaref._--Living village, with ruins on both sides. Visited by A. H.; collections.

147. _Kividlow._--Old site.

148. Old site reported.

148a. _Siuk._--Old site.

149. Old site (?).

150. _Paapkuk._--Old site.

151. _Deering._--Recent settlement, but old sites probable in vicinity.

151a. _Kualing._--Old village, now long dead, shown by Zagoskin. (General map.)

152. _Kiwalik._--A village at mouth of river of same name.

153. Dead villages reported on the two promontories; promising archeologically. On Elephant Point Nelson saw the site of an old village "with about 15 pits marking the locations of the houses." (Eskimo of Bering Strait, 264.)

153a. Buckland River. Camp sites.

153b. Old village site.

154. Old whaling place, occupied summers only. (S. Chance.)

155. _Selawik._--Old village. Old igloos and camps at various places in the Selawik Basin. (S. Chance.)

156. Camps. (S. Chance.)

156a. _Chilivik._--A village, now long dead, shown on the general map of Zagoskin.

157. Fish camps. (A. H.)

KOTZEBUE SOUND, ITS RIVERS AND ITS COAST NORTHWARD TO KEVALINA

Figure 24 shows the village sites that it was possible to locate in these regions. Nearly all these are now "dead villages," though some Eskimo may still occasionally camp in their vicinity. A large present settlement of the Eskimo, well advanced toward civilization, is found at Kotzebue, and fish camps extend from here along the shore in the direction of Cape Blossom. Another important recent living village and school center is Noorvik on the lower Kobuk River.

Inquiries as to old sites in this region were greatly assisted by Mr. Sylvester Chance, at the time of my visit the supervisor of the Government schools of the district. At my request and with the aid of the natives Mr. Chance has compiled a list of such sites and settlements as could still be remembered, and the information has been incorporated into these records.

Among the more important ruins of this vicinity are apparently those at and near Cape Krusenstern, and again those near Kevalina farther to the northward. Archeological specimens of considerable interest were seen and partly secured from both localities. The old Kevalina especially should receive early attention, for it is being excavated by the Eskimo of the present village, though fortunately this is at some distance.

SEWARD PENINSULA, KOTZEBUE SOUND, AND NORTHWARD

158. _Kotzebue._--Old name: Kikikhtagiuk. (Zagoskin, general map.) A small white with a large Eskimo settlement. Old burials in ground (assimilated). A. H. collections.

159. _Noorvik._--White and native village; school center.

160. _Oksik._--Old camp, still occupied. (S. Chance.)

161. _Kiana._--Old village, still occupied. (S. Chance.)

162. _Shesoalik._--Old camp, still occupied in summer. (S. Chance.)

162a. _Kubok._--Old village shown on general map of Zagoskin.

163. _Aniyak._--Old camp, still occupied. (S. Chance.)

164. Old site reported here; said to be promising archeologically.

165. _Tikizat._--Eskimo village, at Cape Krusenstern, Arctic Ocean. Eskimo name, from Petrof, 1880, who reported a population in that year of 75.

166. _Kiligmak._--Old camp, still occupied.

167. _Noatak._--A living village.

168. Old camp, exact location not certain. (S. Chance.)

169. _Matthew or Aniyak._--Old camp.

170. _Ottala._--Camp, occupied. (S. Chance.)

171. Old site reported; exact location (?).

172. Old site, rich archeologically, exact location undetermined; small collection. (A. H.)

173. _Kevalina._--Living Eskimo village.

174. _Pingo._--Old dead village. (S. Chance, Jim Allen.)

KEVALINA--POINT BARROW

POINT HOPE (TIGARA)

This is the most important ruin as well as living Eskimo village in Arctic Alaska. It is unanimously declared by the Eskimo of the coast to be one of the oldest settlements and has always been the largest native center on the coast. The point was called Golovnin Point by the early Russians; it was called Point Hope by Beechey in 1826 in honor of Sir William Johnston Hope. At the time of its visit by the revenue cutter _Corwin_, 1884, there are said to have been two villages;[65] the second being possibly at the site of the old whaling station. Rasmussen, who visited the village about 1924, speaks of it in part as follows:[66] "Point Hope or Tikeraq, 'the pointing finger,' is one of the most interesting Eskimo settlements on the whole coast of Alaska, and has doubtless the largest collection of ruins. The old village, now deserted, consists of 122 very large houses, but as the sea is constantly washing away parts of the land and carrying off more houses, it is impossible to say what may have been the original number. Probably the village here and its immediate neighborhood had at one time something like 2,000 souls, or as many as are now to be found throughout the whole of the Northwest Passage between the Magnetic Pole and Herschel Island."

The ruins are to the northwest and west of the present village. Those to the northwest consist of imposing heaps, which together form an elevated ridge facing the sea. It is said that this old settlement was abandoned because of the encroachments upon it by the sea, particularly during storms.

The ruins of this main compound have been for several years assiduously excavated inch by inch by the local Eskimo, and thousands of articles of great variety, of stone, bone, ivory, and wood, with here and there in the uppermost layers an object of metal, are being gathered and sold to all comers. With these are found a few human skulls and bones, but especially the skulls and bones of various animals, all of which unfortunately have hitherto been left behind in the mud. But the probably most valuable central and lower portions of the piles remain. The locality calls loudly for proper exploration, which will well repay any museum by the quantity and value of the specimens that are sure to be recovered.

FOOTNOTES:

[65] Healy, M. A. Cruise of the _Corwin_ in the Arctic Ocean 1884. Washington, 1889, p. 27.

[66] Rasmussen, Knud, Across Arctic America. New York, London, 1927, 329-330.

POINT HOPE TO POINT BARROW

Information about this part of the northwesternmost coast of Alaska was obtained principally from Jim Allen, the trader at Wainwright, and Charles Brower, the trader at Barrow; but parts of the coast were also examined in person. The number of old sites is rather large, but it appears that there is not much of special promise until we reach near Barrow.

Old "igloos" southwest of Barrow: From 5 to 8 miles southwest of Barrow and at some distance (up to about 400 yards) from the shore there existed, and in part still exist, a series of elevations which the natives of Barrow always regarded as natural. On excavation the larger of these elevations proved to be old structures with numerous burials and cultural objects, and the remains, as shown elsewhere, are exceptional for this coast. Six of these "mounds" have been excavated by the University of Pennsylvania Expedition (Van Valin), while several are still remaining. It is very important that these should be carefully excavated before they are attacked by the natives of Barrow for mercenary purposes.

BARROW AND POINT BARROW

Two large living villages, with old sites and inhumed (natural) burials in their vicinity, and with some old remains between them. Barrow is the most important present mixed settlement and center of civilization in the Arctic. Besides the school, it contains a mission hospital and recently a meteorological observatory and wireless station. The tundras to the east of the village for about 1½ miles show patches of burials, particularly in the more distant parts of this region on the elevations to both sides of a small stream.

Much archeological work remains to be done about Barrow, particularly in the remainder of the old "igloos." East of Point Barrow the population is very sparse and no ruins of any note or settlements are reported before those of the Barter Island and the mouth of the Colville River.

175. _Pingishuguruk._--A small old site.

176. _Ketchemeluk._--A small old site.

176a. _Ipnot._--Eskimo village on the Arctic coast, near Cape Thomson, a little south of Point Hope. Name from Petrof, who wrote it Ip-Not and Ipnot, and reported a population of 40 in 1880.

177. Old whaling station.