Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-02-02
THE EsQUIMAUx.
The Story of DIR. Nansen Before the Brit
ish Association.

From the Leeds Mercury
At the last meeting of the British Asso-
citation (anthropological section) DIR. Nan
sen gave an interesting account of the
Esquimaux. Explaining that he was not
an anthropologist himself, he disclaimed
any pretensions to deal with the scientific
aspect of the question. Where the Esqui-
maux originally came from authorities are
not yet agreed, nor was it exactly known
when they had gone to Greenland; but he
believed they came to Greenland from
American, and that there existed there a
tribe of Esquimaux who had not vet been
seen, and who had never seen Europeans
the most isolated people in the world.
The wandering habits of the Esquimaux
and the enormous extent of country that
was open to them would, he thought, save
them from extinction.
When they went shopping, the Journey
backward and forward sometimes occupied
four years, and they would do their bust
ness in half an hour, giving the European
traders articles of great value in exchange
for comparative trifes. He described their
dress; and exhibited several specimens of
beautiful workmanship. He gave an ac-
count of their boats and their daring sea-
manship and of their industry. Their
first law was to help others; in respect of
helpfulness, they were the best people he
had ever known. The head of the family
was the best catcher of seals. No indi-
yidual property was recognized except
weapons and boats; all food was divided;
if it were not, a man who had been speci-
ally successful one day would eat as long
as he could open his mouth; and, as mat
ter of fact, many of their diseases originate
from excessive eating. They thought
themselves very good and kind, Europeans
very bad; and though they sometimes
stole from Europeans and sometimes killed
each other in the heat of quarrel, they
were, on the whole, honest and trust
worthy.
When young man falls in love with
a young woman he takes her by the hair
and drags her to the hut. OF course the
women there as elsewhere pretend not to
like it. They run away generally two or
three times-if they are well educated
If they run away more than three times
the men do not like it, and cut the soles
of their feet, thus compelling them to
stay at home, when they become happy,
good and industrious wives. If, however,
the men and wives find they do not suit
each other, more especially when there
are no children, they separate without
ceremony; and cases have been known
of men and women having been married
six or eight times. But when children
are born more solid relations are estab-
lished. They are very fond of their
children, whom they never punish, to
whom they never say a rude word, and
who, nevertheless, are generally quiet and
well-behaved. Little veneration, however,
is shown to old age, although sons gener-
ally care for their parents; but, if the
people are deficient in veneration, they
are extremely hospitable.
Their power of fasting, of eating. is re-
markable, and they love raw meat, fish
entrails, rotten flesh, but most of all the
contents of the stomach of the reindeer,
evidently because it consists largely of
vegetable matter, of which they get very
little. He could not say that the civiliza-
ton and Christianity introduced by the
Danes had done the Esquimaux any good.
On the contrary, he feared they tended
toward the degradation of the Esquimaux,
and he thought the time was coming when
the civilized Esquimau would disappear
from the coasts, and the Europeans, who
were at present mere parasites on the ma
tive people, would be obliged to withdraw
from Greenland.