Anthropological Survey in Alaska

The hand.—The hand of the Eskimo is small, both absolutely and relatively to stature. But it is rather broad relative to its length, giving a high index. The index is higher than that of any of the groups available for comparison, white or Indian, excepting a few groups of immigrant whites, laborers.

The foot.—The foot of the western Eskimo, like his hand, is both absolutely and relatively to stature rather short, but it is broad, giving a high breadth-length index. Its actual breadth perceptibly exceeds that of the much taller old American whites, though not reaching that of any of the immigrant laborers.

Contrary to what was seen in the case of the hand, the relative proportions of the Eskimo foot, as expressed by the index, are almost identical with those of the southwestern and Mexican Indians. The Sioux foot is relatively longer, and so is that of whites except southern Italians, who, though their foot as a whole is larger, give the same index as the Eskimo.

Girth of the calf.—The western Eskimo, like the American Indians, are characterized by a rather slender calf. The size of the calf correlates in a large measure with stature. Reducing our measurements to calf girth-stature ratios, these are seen to be much alike in the three racial groups used for comparison, namely the Eskimo, the Indian, and the old American white. But this is deceptive. The correlation of size of calf with stature is not uniform (see "Old Americans," p. 348) for all stature groups; as the scale in stature descends the calf is relatively stouter. If we take white Americans of approximately the same stature with the Eskimo here considered, there appears a higher ratio, showing that stature for stature the girth of the calf of the Eskimo is smaller, notwithstanding his generally more ample supply of adipose tissue. Once more his relation is closer with the Indian. The Eskimo and the Indian women are especially much alike, while the white women make a marked exception—their calfs (as well as thighs) have more fat than is found in those of their Eskimo and Indian sisters.

Physiological Observations

Due to various difficulties which do not exist to that extent elsewhere, the physiological observations on the Eskimo are neither as numerous or extended as would be desirable; yet there are some data of value. They extend to the pulse, respiration, temperature, and dynamometric tests of hand pressure. They were made mainly on St. Lawrence and Nunivak Islands, by Moore, Collins, and Stewart. They quite agree, especially after elimination of some records that are clearly erroneous or abnormal. The tests should be extended with even more rigid precautions in future work among the Eskimo.

The results are given below. They were all made in the summer season and on healthy subjects, yet there were numerous indications of temporary disorders, pathological or functional. Even after a careful elimination of the obvious cases of such disorders not a few minor irregularities have doubtless remained, so that the data can not be taken for more than fairly close approximations to the normal.

The data show remarkably low pulse, respiration rate and temperature close to those of whites, with a submedium hand pressure. (For comparative data see "Old Americans.") The low pulse is also characteristic in the Indian, as I have repeatedly pointed out before (see especially my "Physiological and Medical Observations among the Indians," etc., Bull. 34, Bur. Amer. Ethn., Washington, 1908).

The dynamometric tests agree also better with those on the Indians than with those on whites; they are valid only as to the hands, and they embody not only the strength of the muscles but also that of the conscious impulse behind them. The age factor, of importance, does not here enter materially into the case.

The details of these six records were:

In connection with the pressure tests in the two hands, some interesting comparisons are possible between the Eskimo here dealt with and the old white Americans. As all the tests were made with the same instrument and method the results inspire confidence. It is in details of this nature that the anthropologist finds again and again the most striking proofs of the basal unity of the living races and their necessarily common origin somewhere in the past.

Summary of Observations on the Living Western Eskimo[136]

These Eskimo are generally of submedium stature, occasionally reaching medium. The distal parts of their extremities are relatively short. Walk in adult males somewhat awkward.

In head form they are highly mesocephalic to moderately brachycephalic; the height of the head averages about medium. The head is of good size, especially when taken in relation to stature. The forehead is above medium in both height and breadth.

The face is large in all dimensions, generally full and rather flat. In men it not seldom approaches a square form. The lower jaw region is largely developed, the angles of the lower jaw are broad to protruding.

The nose is of fair breadth, with bridge somewhat narrow above and on the whole only moderately high. The mouth is large, lips medium to somewhat above. The ears are long. Beard spare on sides of face, mostly sparse on chin; mustache sparse and often limited to tufts above the corners of the mouth. Expression generally good-natured, smiling.

The chest is large, in females broad, in males especially deep. There is but a mild lumbar curve and no steatopygy. The lower limbs in females are less stout and shapely than they are in whites. The hands and feet are small, but, particularly the foot, relatively broad.

Temperature and respiration approach those in normal whites, though they appear frequently to be slightly higher; pulse normally is slow.

Dynamometric tests of strength (pressure, both hands) give somewhat lower records than in whites.

Remarks

The most noteworthy and important result of these studies on the living western Eskimo is the evidence, coming to light again and again, of their fundamental somatic relations to the Indian. These relations are too numerous and weighty to be accidental. Nor can they be ascribed to mixture with the Indian in such far-away groups as the St. Lawrence Islanders, who so long as known have never had any direct or even indirect contact with Indians. These relations in dimensions and relative proportions of the body, and in physiological characteristics such as the slow normal pulse, are supplemented by many phases of behavior, and often by a more or less Indianlike physiognomy. They inevitably lead to the conclusion that the Eskimo and the Indian are in the root members of the same family. They are two digits of the same hand, separate and diverging, yet at base joined to and derived from the same source. And this source, according to many indications, is the paleo-asiatic, "mongoloid," stem of northern Asia. The western Eskimo shows to be nearer this source than his more northern and northeastern relatives, indicating either that he is a later comer, or, which is more probable, that he has changed less in the south than in the north. It may be possible to say something more on this subject after the skeletal remains have been considered.

Present Data on the Skull and other Skeletal Remains of the Western Eskimo

THE SKULL

Until recently collections of skeletal remains of the western Eskimo were confined largely to skulls. The material in our own institutions comprised a small collection of Mahlemut (St. Michael Island) and "Chukchee" (Asiatic Eskimo) crania made in the early sixties by W. H. Dall; a larger series of crania gathered in 1881 on St. Michael and St. Lawrence Islands by E. W. Nelson; 28 skulls with 3 skeletons brought in 1898 by E. A. McIlheny from Point Barrow; a valuable lot of skulls from Indian Point, Siberia, with a few from St. Lawrence Island, collected by W. Bogoras; and some scattered specimens by other explorers. To this were added in 1912 an important collection of skulls, with a few skeletons, made by Riley D. Moore, at that time my aide, on St. Lawrence Island; an important lot of crania gathered a few years later by V. Stefánsson at Point Barrow; and a third large and highly interesting lot, this time of both skulls and skeletons, collected near Barrow for the University Museum at Philadelphia in 1917-1919 by W. B. Van Valin. But none of the later material was described excepting the McIlheny collection which, in 1916, was reported upon by E. W. Hawkes.[142]

During the survey which is the subject of this report a special effort was made to collect all the older skeletal material along the Bering Sea and Arctic coasts that could be reached, and the result was the bringing back of some 450 crania, nearly 50 with skeletons, and many separate parts of the skeleton; nearly all of the specimens proceeding from localities thus far not represented in the collections. To which were added in 1927 nearly 200 skulls with a good number of skeletons gathered by H. B. Collins, jr., assistant curator in the Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum, and my aide, T. D. Stewart, on Nunivak Island and along the west coast of Alaska from Bristol Bay to near the Yukon delta.[143]

We thus have now a relatively vast amount of skeletal material on the western Eskimo; it is essentially a virginal material; it is well identified as to locality; and the specimens are mostly in very good condition.

Aside from Hawkes's thesis, nothing of note had been published on these collections until 1924, when the first number of my Catalogue of Human Crania in the United States National Museum Collections appeared, which includes the principal measurements on 290 skulls of the western Eskimo. Since then, in view of the growing importance of the subject, I have remeasured every specimen reported before; have measured personally all the new collections; and thanks to the kindness of those in charge have been enabled to extend the measurements to all the collections of Eskimo crania, both from Alaska and elsewhere, that were preserved up to the spring of 1928 at the National Museum at Ottawa, the American Museum of Natural History of New York, and the Wistar Institute of Philadelphia, which now contains the University Museum collections. The total records reach now to 1,283 adult skulls from practically all important parts of the total Eskimo area, besides a considerable quantity of other bones of the skeleton. The main results of the work will be given here, the detailed measurements being reserved for another number of the Catalogue.

To save repetitions and possible confusion and to show more clearly the status of the southwestern and midwestern Eskimo, the entire cranial material will be dealt with in this section, and previous records on the northeastern and a few other groups of the Eskimo will not be drawn upon to preserve the advantage of dealing with data obtained by the same methods, instruments, and observer.

In presenting the records it is found expedient, both on geographical and anthropological grounds, to make but three groupings. The first of these comprises the Eskimo from their southernmost limit to Norton Sound and the Bering Sea islands; the second group takes in Seward Peninsula (or the larger part of it) and the Arctic coast to Point Barrow; while the third embraces all the Eskimo east of Point Barrow. The first of these three groups is remarkably homogeneous, the second and third show each some exceptional units. It may be said at once that the dialectic subdivisions of Dall, Nelson, and others, in a large majority of cases are not found to be accompanied by corresponding physical differences, so that in a somatological classification they become submerged.