Part 22

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.

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.