The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1899-07-27
BIG AMONG EsKIMOs.
KOR-KO-YA IS PLUTOCRAT OF
GREENLAND.
&c Ownes Ten Wives Who Keep His
Clothes In Good Repair-RecentIy Put
q New window In His House Caused
Great Excitement. a

When the Arctic whaling feet re-
turned from the north last season it
brought word that Kor-ko-ya had
placed a new window in his house. AS
a matter of news in ordinary building
circles this would pass %unnoticed, but
to those who have travelled where the
u shines at midnight the intelligence
Is extremely interesting. For a de-
cade of years the growing opulence OF
Kor-ko-ya, otherwise known as the
Eskimo millionaire" has been
watched with great curiosity by the
whalers and the occasional explorer
He has long been known as a thrifty
man, as thrift goes in the Arctic re-
gions, but it is only of late that his
fortune has assumed really wonderful
proportions. 1t is said that he now
owns no fewer than seven kayaks and
a full two-score Of bone-tipped, double
bladed paddles. His stock of blubber
for the winter of 1878 consisted of
over sixty parcels" weighing 100
pounds each. In addition to this he
sold to traders half as many, receiving
in part payment the new window al
ready mentioned. His thirty dogs are
all crossed with the Newfoundland
breed, which makes them especially
valuable for hauling purposes, and a
better flavor as an article of diet in
time of famine. OF sealskins, foxskins,
bearskins, raw eiderdown feathers,
w~halebone, narwhal ivory and reindeer
hides he has enough to keep him in
(. plenty for some years. But it is in
wives that he is considered richest. In
his home igloo up on the western
shore of Baft1n bay he has ten, all par
ticularly strong of jaw, and able to
keep Kor-ko-ya's stock of clothing
ever soft and pliable. The Importance
of this will be understood when the
Eskimo custom of chewing skins is I'M
derstood. Kor-ko-ya was born in
1S41, at a small native settlement a
short distance north of what is now
the Danish town of Julianehaab, in
Greenland. He left his home at an
early age and crossed Bafin bay, max
ing his igloo with another tribe famous
as hunters of seal. He was known to
some of the early explorers and acted
as head guide and chief teamsman tt
them. He attracted notice even in his
teens as a thrifty youth, and from thai
time became prominent among the Els
kimo. Saving is an unknown art to the
Indians of the Arctic regions, and it Is
seldom they accumulate enough to las
them throughout the long winter.
Kor-ko-ya became an exception. He
was a skillful hunter and a shrewG
trader, and before he was 20, his mair
igloo became the center Of the village
in regard to fittings and attractive.
ness. The tribe to which he had at,
tached himself was n of the larges'
and most influential of that part of the
country, and by his twenty-ffth year
Kor-ko-ya wal recognized as the head
1t is said that men came ECO miles tt
consult him in affairs of the chase ant
trade. He became well known to the
hardy whalers, and today his doings
form a subject of comment and inter
est in more than one country. AnG
that is why the news that he haC
placed another window in his house
was carried over 1000 miles of ice anC
water, to be discussed over pipes anC
ale in a dozen civilized seaports.