Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1896-05-29
NoRTHERNMosT esKIMoa.



the Stone Age.
The characteristics of the northern.
most Eslimos have provided Henry G
Bryant with material for a strikinely
interesting lecture, which was deliv-
cred before the Archaeological society
in the university museum. The Is
ldmos, Mr.. Bryant said, have attracted
more attention from scientific men
than any other similar race in the
world. He visited them three times
in 1881, when he went to the Grand
fails of Labrador, and in 1899 and 1894
III north and south Greenland, when on
the Peary expeditions. The Labrador
EslSimos he regarded as a somewhat de
generate race. They have been in con-
tact with the Danish missionaries for
175 years and afford evidence of the
admixture of European blood. The
women alone retain their dress. This
Mr.. Bryant illustrated by a native doll.
which showed among other peculiari-
ties the method of wearing the hair.
The color of the hair ribbon distin-
guishes the condition of the woman,
whether maid, wife or widow.
',fske use of tea and coffee and the
changed mode of life" he observed,
"have untitled the men for the ia
tigues Of seal-hunting and pulmonary
diseases are frequent. DR.. hansen,
who is cruising somewhere near the
pole, has given most favorable ae-
count of the Eslkimos of the west
coast of Greenland. While great in
justice has been done to the Eskimos
In the past, their racial peculiari-
ties cannot be preserved through any
intervention of civilized people. The
northernmost Esldmos were encoun-
tered in 1918, when the mem
bers of Sir John Ross expedi-
ton spent several days in the
neighborhood of Cape York. They are
a primitive tribe. just emerging from
the stone age. As the vessel ap-
preached Cape York, the explorers saw
crowds of skin-clad men and women. |
with their hair streaming down their |
backs. They showed no signs of alien /
blood or physical decay. The men /
average five feet five inches and some
are even five feet ten inches, while the
women conform more nearly to the
popular idea of Eskimo stature.
"The nOrthernmost Eski1los meet
the Eskimo inhabitants of the west
coast of Bafiin's bay, whom they call
the 'tattOoed men, and fierce fights oc-
cur between them. Few living mem
bers of the tribe had seen a white man
up to the time of Lieut.. Peary's visit
in 1891. In 1918 Sir John Ross noted
they were not familiar with bows and
arrows nor did they know the kyack.
Lieut.. Peary found bows and arrows
and the kyack in use among them, and
it would appear they had acquired a
knowledge of these objects since they
were first visited.
"They are very reticent about their
beliefs. They have notions \
Of future state and a spirit Of good
and an evil spirit of the ice and wa
ters. There are no rulers or chiefs
among them and no formal govern {
nent. Family life is very happy and |
hey are distinguished by their regard
Tor children and their care for the S
weak and sickly. The barbarous Gus T
ON OF strangling infants when the ia S
her dies, however, still survives. Po- S
ygamy and divorce are not popular. v
tut the custom of exchanging wives is b
quite common and often effected by b
orce. The exchange lasts from two 2
months to year. philadelphia Tel t
graph. s.