Part 43

A comparison of the Igloo and Greenland series shows striking similarities; hardly any two geographically separate groups originating from a single source could reasonably be expected to come nearer. The Igloo skulls are even narrower in the vault than the Greenlanders, which means so much farther away from the southwestern, midwestern, and Asiatic Eskimo; and offer a few other differences, but all these are of small moment, not affecting the essential relations of the two groups.

A comparison of the Igloo and Greenland series with the material from Golovnin Bay and Sledge Island shows also numerous similarities but with them some rather material differences. The differences are especially marked in the females, whose characteristics approach more those of the midwestern Eskimo, which suggests that an important proportion of them may have been derived from the latter. However, even the males tend to differ. Both sexes show absolutely a somewhat broader skull than that of the northerners; in both sexes the skull, as seen from the cranial module, is slightly larger in the Seward Peninsula series than in either of the other groups; but the principal differences are seen in the face, which in the Seward Peninsula group is perceptibly larger and especially higher than it is in either the Igloo or the Greenland series. The orbits also in the southerners are larger and the nose is slightly higher.

On the whole it may be said that the resemblance of the Igloo crania to those of Greenland is closer than that to either or both of the series of Golovnin Bay and Sledge Island. This suggests the possibility that a similar though not quite the same differentiation in the skull may have taken place both in the Seward Peninsula and in the far north; though the possibility of a derivation of any one of the three groups from any of the others can not be discarded. So far as the skull is concerned a definite solution of the identity of the Igloo material would have to be, it would seem, postponed to the future.

The used data on the Greenland Eskimo skulls agree closely with those of Fürst and Hansen (Crania Groenlandica, fol., 1915), and also with the much fewer and scattered records of Virchow, Davis, Duckworth, Oetteking, Pittard, etc.,[201] on Eskimo skulls from Labrador.

_Stature and strength._--The bones of the skeleton of the Igloo series show the people to have been of good height and of above medium Eskimo robustness. The principal measurements are given below, together with the corresponding ones on the western and the Yukon Eskimo. The material is not all that could be wished for, either in numbers or representation, but it will suffice for rough comparisons. Regrettably nothing for comparison is available as yet from Greenland or other parts of the far northeast where we meet with long, narrow, and high skulls.

THE LONG BONES OF THE IGLOO PEOPLE AND OTHER ESKIMO BONES OF THE TWO SIDES TOGETHER

Column headings: A: B: C:

+---------------------------+--------------------------- | Males | Females -----------+---------------------------+--------------------------- | Igloo| Seward| Yukon|Igloo | Seward| Yukon | | Peninsula|Eskimo| | Peninsula|Eskimo | | and| | | and| | |northwestern| | |northwestern| | | Eskimo| | | Eskimo| | | | | | | Humerus: | (35)| (100)| (16)| (27) | (83)| (16) | | | | | | Length- | 31.17| 31.17| 32.10| 28.41| 28.82| 28.31 maximum | | | | | | | | | | | | At middle: | | | | | | | | | | | | Diameter, | 2.47| 2.46| 2.33| 2.11| 2.15| 2.07 major | | | | | | | | | | | | Diameter, | 1.86| 1.85| 1.80| 1.60| 1.62| 1.51 minor | | | | | | | | | | | | Index | _75.2_| _75.1_|_78.2_| _76.1_| _75.1_|_73.2_ | | | | | | Radius: | (31)| (37)| (16)| (17) | (24)| (16) Length, | | | | | | | | | | | | maximum | 23.53| 23.50| 23.44| 20.98| 21.35| 20.18 | | | | | | Radio- | _75.5_| _75.4_| _73_| _73.8_| _74_|_71.3_ humeral | | | | | | index | | | | | | | | | | | | Femur: | (33)| (60)| (22)| (25) | (31)| (27) Length, | | | | | | | | | | | | bicondylar | 43.86| 43.46| 43.78| 40.31| 40.44| 41.11 | | | | | | Humero- | _71.1_| _71.7_| _73_| _70.5_| _71.3_| _69_ femoral | | | | | | index | | | | | | | | | | | | At middle: | | | | | | | | | | | | Diameter, | | | | | | antero- | 3.37| 3.21| 3.05| 2.88| 2.88| 2.74 posterior | | | | | | | | | | | | Diameter, | 2.90| 2.72| 2.67| 2.51| 2.56| 2.44 lateral | | | | | | | | | | | | Index | _86.1_| _84.8_|_87.6_| _87.3_| _88.9_ | | | | | | |_88.8_ At upper | | | | | | flattening:| | | | | | | | | | | | Diameter, | 3.51| 3.32| 3.31| 3.09| 3.06| 3.02 maximum | | | | | | | | | | | | Diameter, | 2.71| 2.59| 2.57| 2.30| 2.40| 2.27 minimum | | | | | | | | | | | | Index | _77.2_| _78.1_|_77.4_| _74.4_| _78.4_|_75.4_ | | | | | | Tibia: | (29)| (79)| (22)| (24) | (36)| (27) Length in | | | | | | | | | | | | position | 35.60| 35.52| 35.14| 31.94| 32.50| 32.01 | | | | | | Tibio- | _81.2_| _81.7_|_80.3_| _79.2_| _80.4_|_79.8_ femoral | | | | | | index | | | | | | | | | | | | At middle: | | | | | | | | | | | | Diameter, | | | | | | antero- | 3.26| 3.19| 3.16| 2.80| 2.75| 2.61 posterior | | | | | | | | | | | | Diameter, | 2.20| 2.16| 2.15| 1.87| 1.92| 1.90 lateral | | | | | | | | | | | | Index | _67.5_| _67.8_|_68.3_| _66.7_| _70_|_72.8_

The above table shows some remarkable and interesting conditions.

The first of the most apparent facts is that the type of the Yukon Eskimo stands well apart from both of the other series in a number of essentials, showing that it is not very nearly related and that it may be left out of consideration.

On the other hand the long bones from the Seward Peninsula and the northwest coast, especially those of the males, show very closely to those of the Igloo group. The male bones of the two series are almost identical, except that the Igloo bones are somewhat stronger.

Such close resemblances can hardly be fortuitous. They speak strongly for the basic identity of the old Igloo people with those of at least parts of the Seward Peninsula and parts of the northwest coast. If we take the bones from the Seward Peninsula alone (see p. 314) it is found that these resemblances still hold.

The evidence thus shown constitutes a strong indication that the old Igloo group may be inherently related to that part of the Eskimo population of Seward Peninsula which shows the long and narrow skull; but the data offer no light on the questions as to whether the Igloo group may have been derived from that of the Seward Peninsula or vice versa, and on the true relation of either or both of these to the Eskimo of Baffin Land, Greenland, and Labrador.

To definitely decide the problem of the Igloo group there are needed data on the long bones of the northeasterners; in the second place it is highly desirable to know how large and how ancient was the group of the narrow-headed people on the Seward Peninsula and Sledge Island; and in the third place it is important that the cultural history of the two groups be known as thoroughly as possible. All of which are tasks for the future.

The possibility of a development of the Igloo cranial type on the northwest coast itself can not be denied, in view of the facts that all its characteristics are within the ranges of normal individual variations on that coast, and that similar developments have evidently been realized elsewhere. But in such a case it would be logical to expect, locally or not far away, some ancestry of the group, and the group would not probably be limited to a little spot and a few scores of persons. Had the group developed incidentally from a physically exceptional family, it could not be expected to have been anywhere nearly as uniform as the group under consideration. The high degree of uniformity of the Igloo contingent speaks for a well accomplished differentiation; and as there is no other trace of this in the conditions near Barrow, and there are no ruins denoting a long occupation, the evidence is against a local development and for an immigration of the group. A coming of a small-sized contingent from the Seward Peninsula would be easy; its coming from Greenland or Labrador or Baffin Land would surely be difficult, but not impossible to the Eskimo, who is known to have been a traveler.

Whatever may be the eventual solution of the Igloo problem, it is plain that the presence of that group near Barrow, together with the presence of evidently closely related groups in a part of the Seward Peninsula and again in the far east of the Eskimo region, offers much food for thought and investigation. The most plausible possibility would seem to be a relatively late (within the present millennium) coming of a physically already well differentiated small group, from either the south or the east, with a relatively short settlement at the Barrow site, some local multiplication in numbers, and then extinction partly through disease, partly perhaps through absorption into a stronger and newer contingent derived from the western people.

FOOTNOTES:

[200] The measurements of this series have been published by the writer in the first part of the Catalogue of Human Crania in the U. S. National Museum (Proc. U.S.N.M., 1924, LXIII, art. 12, p. 26), but as a few errors crept in, the whole series was remeasured by the writer.

[201] For more exact references see writer's Contribution to the Anthropology of Central and Smith Sound Eskimo, Anthrop. Papers Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., N. Y., 1910, V, pt. 2; and the bibliography at the end of this volume.

ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF THE ESKIMO

All anthropological research on the Eskimo has naturally one ultimate object, which is the clearing up of the problems of the origin and antiquity of this highly interesting human strain; and it may well be asked what further light on these problems has been shed by the studies here dealt with. To show this with a proper perspective it will be requisite to briefly review the previous ideas on these problems.

ORIGIN OF THE NAME "ESKIMO"

According to Charlevoix (Nouv. France, III, 178), the term "Eskimo" is a corruption of the Abenaki Indian Esquimantsic or the Ojibway Ashkimeg, both terms meaning "those who eat raw flesh." In the words of Captain Hooper,[202] "Neither the origin nor meaning of the name 'Esquimaux,' or Eskimo, as it is now spelled, is known. According to Doctor Rink, the name 'Esquimaux' was first given to the inhabitants of Southern Labrador as a term of derision by the inhabitants of Northern Labrador, and means raw-fish eater. Dall says the appellation 'Eskimo' is derived from a word indicating a sorcerer or shaman in the language of the northern tribes."

For Brinton,[203] as for Charlevoix, the term "Eskimo" is derived from the Algonkin "Eskimantick," "eaters of raw flesh." According to Chamberlain,[204] Sir John Richardson (Arctic Searching Exp., p. 203) attempts to derive it from the French words ceux qui miaux (miaulent), referring to their clamorous outcries on the approach of a ship. Petitot (Chambers Encyc., Ed. 1880, IV, p. 165, article Esquimaux) says that at the present day the Crees, of Lake Athabasca, call them Wis-Kimowok (from Wiyas flesh, aski raw, and mowew to eat), and also Ayiskimiwok (i. e., those who act in secret). In Labrador the English sometimes call the Eskimo "Huskies" (loc. cit., p. ix. 7. Chambers Encyc., article Esquimaux. See Hind. Trav. in Int. of Labr., loc. cit., and Petitot loc. cit., p. ix.) and Suckemos (Richardson, Arctic Searching Expedition, p. 202) and Dall (Proc. Am. Ass. Adv. Sci., 1869, p. 266) says that in Alaska the Tinneh Indians call them "Uskeeme" (sorcerers).

The Eskimo call themselves "Innuit," said to be the plural of in-nu, the man, hence "the people"; the same being as a rule the meaning of the name by which the various tribes of the Indian call themselves.

On the Asiatic coast the Eskimo is known as the "Yuit," "Onkilon," "Chouklouks," or "Namollo"; while in the east appears the name "Karalit."

None of this has thrown any light on the origin of the Eskimo.

FOOTNOTES:

[202] Hooper, C. L., Cruise of the U. S. revenue steamer _Corwin_, 1881. Washington, 1884, p. 99.

[203] Brinton, D. C., Myths of the New World, 1868, p. 23. New York.

[204] Chamberlain, A. F., The Eskimo race and language. Proc. Canadian Inst., 3d ser., vol. VI, pp. 267-268. Toronto, 1889.

OPINIONS BY FORMER AND LIVING STUDENTS

_Origin in Asia._--Many opinions on the origin of the Eskimo have been expressed by different authors. Among the earliest of these were those of missionaries, such as Crantz (1779), and of the early explorers, such as Steller, v. Wrangell, Lütke and others. They were based on the general aspect of the Eskimo, particularly that of his physiognomy; and seeing that in many features he resembled most the mongoloid peoples of Asia they attached him to these, which meant the conclusion that he was of Asiatic derivation. Quite soon, however, there began to appear also the opinions of students of man. The first of these was that of Blumenbach, as expressed in his Inaugural Thesis of 1781. In this thesis, more particularly its second edition, he classifies the Eskimo expressly as a part of the Caucasian or white race. But after obtaining an Eskimo skull and an Eskimo body he changes his opinion and in 1795-1806 he comes out with a definite classification of the Eskimo as a member of the Mongolians; and a similar conclusion, with its implied or expressed consequence of a migration from Asia to America, has been reached since, mainly on somatological but also in part on linguistic and cultural bases, by a large number of authors, including Lawrence, Morton, Pickering, Latham, Flower, Peschel, Topinard, Brinton, Virchow (1877), Quatrefages and Hamy (1882), Thalbitzer, Bogoras and numerous others. With all of this, the conception of the Asiatic origin of the Eskimo has not passed the status of a strong probability, lacking a final conclusive demonstration.

A chronological list of the more noteworthy individual statements is given at the end of this section.

_Origin in America._--Since the earlier parts of the nineteenth century the opinion began to be expressed that the Eskimo is not of Asiatic but of American origin. Already in 1847 Prichard tells us that there are those who "consider them as belonging to the American family," and he plainly favors this conception.

Between 1873 and 1890 the American origin of the Eskimo is repeatedly asserted by Rink, who for 16 winters and 22 summers lived with the eastern Eskimo, first as a scientific explorer and later as royal inspector or governor of the southern Danish settlements in Greenland (preface by R. Brown to Rink's Tales and Traditions, 1875). In this opinion, briefly, the Eskimo were derived from the inland Indian tribes of Alaska; without referring to the origin of the Indian.

Rink's authoritative opinion was followed or paralleled by Daniel Wilson (1876), Grote, Krause, Ray, Keane, Brown, and others. In 1887 Chamberlain expresses the somewhat startling additional theory that it was not the Eskimo who was derived from the Mongolians but the Mongolians from the Eskimo or their American ancestors. And in 1901-1910 Boas comes to the conclusion that the Eskimo probably originated from the inland tribes (Indian?) in the Hudson Bay region.

An interesting case in these connections is that of Rudolf Virchow. In 1877 (see details at the end of this section) he expresses the belief in the Eskimo coming from Asia; in 1878 he seems to be uncertain; and in 1885 he comes out in support of the opinion that the original home of the Eskimo may have been in the western part of the Hudson Bay region. Among later students of the problem, Steensby[205] and Birket-Smith[206] incline on cultural grounds to this hypothesis.

Wissler, not explicit as to the Eskimo in 1917 (The American Indian), in 1918 (Archæology of the Polar Eskimo) finds, after Steensby, the most acceptable theory of the Eskimo origin to be that "they expanded from a parent group in the Arctic Archipelago"; but in 1922, in the second edition of his The American Indian, he repeats word for word his opinion of 1917, which appears to favor an Asiatic derivation.

_Origin in Europe--Identity with Upper Palaeolithic man._--About the sixties of last century growing discoveries in France of implements, etc., of later palaeolithic man brought about a realization that not a few of these implements and other objects, particularly those of the Magdalenian period, resembled like implements and objects of the Eskimo; from which, together with the considerations of the similarities of fauna (reindeer, musk-ox, etc.), and of climate, there was but a step to a more or less definite identification of the Magdalenians and Solutreans with the Eskimo. In 1870 Pruner-Bey[207] claims a similarity between Solutrean and Eskimo skulls. In 1883 these views received the influential support of De Mortillet (see details). In 1889 the theory receives strong support from the characteristics of the Chancelade (Magdalenian) skeleton which Testut declares are in many respects almost identical with those of the Eskimo. And within the next few years the notion is upheld by Hamy and Hervé. It remains sympathetic as late as 1913 to Marcellin Boule, and finds most recent champions in Morin and Sollas.

However, there were also many who opposed the effort at a direct connection of the upper palaeolithic man of Europe and the Eskimo. Among these were Geikie, Flower, Rae, Daniel Wilson, Robert Brown, Déchelette, Laloy. At present the theory is supported mainly by Morin and Sollas, opposed by Steensby, Burkitt, Keith, MacCurdy, and others; while most students of the Eskimo ignore the question.

_Other hypotheses._--Besides the preceding ideas which attribute the origin of the Eskimo to Asia, or America, or old Europe, there were also others that failed to receive a wider support; and there were authors and students who remained undecided or were too cautious to definitely formulate their beliefs. Some of the former as well as the latter deserve brief mention.

Gallatin, in 1836, mainly on linguistic grounds, recognizes the fundamental relation of the Eskimo and the Indian and seems inclined to the American origin of the former, but makes no clear statement to that effect. For Meigs (1857), who probably followed an earlier opinion, the Eskimo came "from the islands of the Polar Sea." C. C. Abbott (1876) saw Eskimo in the early inhabitants of the Delaware Valley. To Grote (1875, 1877), the Eskimo were "the existing representatives of the man of the American glacial epoch"; they were modified Pliocene men. Nordenskiöld (1885) follows closely Meigs and Grote; the Eskimo may be "the true autochthones of the Polar regions," having inhabited them from before the glacial age, during more genial climate. Keane (1886) believed the Eskimo developed from the Aleuts. For De Quatrefages (1887), man originated in the Tertiary in northern Asia, spread from there, and some of his contingents may have reached America and been the ancestors of the Eskimo; the western tribes of the latter being a mixture of the Eskimo with Asiatic brachycephals. Nansen (1893) avoids a discussion of the origin of the Eskimo; and the same caution is observable more or less in most modern writers.

The following chart of the more noteworthy opinions regarding the origin of the Eskimo will show at a glance the diversity of the views and their lack of conclusiveness.

FOOTNOTES:

[205] Contr. Ethn. and Anthropogeog. Polar Eskimos, Med. om Grönl., XXXIV, Copenhagen, 1910; also, Origin of the Eskimo culture, _ibid._, 1916, 204-218.

[206] Internat. Congr. Americanists, New York, 1928.

[207] In Ferry, H. de, Le Maconnais préhistorique, etc., 1 vol, Macon, 1870, with a section by Pruner-Bey.

THEORIES AS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE ESKIMO