The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-10-13
LIFE OF THE ESQUIMAUX.
LXTERITNI TION THE INEVYTABLE
END or TJIEIR WAY or LYING.

gions Has DyyIndled Causes of the
Very High Death Rate-Effocts of the
White MANS Coming.
There is imminent danger of the to-
tai determination Of the Esquimaux OF
Indians who inhabit the western coast
of Alaska Hardy people thought they
are, according to the region and able to
Withstand it's severest cold, they are
succumbing by the hundreds to. la
grippe, measles and pneumonia this
season. Many villages have been de-
serted by them, as, becoming terror
stricken at the fearful death rate in
their midmst, they have in several in
stances fled precipltately, leaving their
Sick and dead to be cared for and bur-
led by the whites.
Measles seems to be their most fatal
enemy. While suffering with the dis
ease the patients will not remain in
places Of warmth, but almost inVaria-
bly, seek the cool places, sleeping out Of
doors in the rain or on the cold, damp
ground, and pneumonia ensues. When
one of their number becomes sick the
sothers naturally shun him and leave
! him to shift for himself. He takes this
as a matter of course, and usually does
not wait for Others to leave him, but
takes his blanket and repairs to poin
some distance from them and makes his
bed
Hundreds have died during the pres
ent season from the Aleutian Islands
to Point Barrow the most northerly
point of the territory Out of a native
population of three hundred on ST.
Lawrence Island thirty-six have died
within a month, and the ratio has been
much the same around Cape Prince of
Wales, King Island, the Diomedes. Sim
= rock, Nome, Golovin Bay, ST. Michaels
yand, in fact, every settlement. The
same is true of the Siberian coast and
at the present death rate another year
or two will see the last of the peculiar
race
4 The books of the old school referred
Il to the Esquinaux as people who built
t'and lived in snow and ice houses and
tsubsisted on the fat Of seal and walrus-
es during the winter months when
sdarkness reigned. They We're described
aas dressed in furs and driving dog
cteams. This description was partly
8 correct and partly wrong. The natives
y here drive dog teams, live largely on
. other animals, and wear furs, but they
live in "dugouts," or underground
houses, rather than in houses built of
snow or ice, in winter In summer they
:, live in tents of hides or canvas, and
;, their habits at this season are much
= like those of the American Indian, ex-
! cept that they are more industrious.
) Their winter houses are formed by
Ydigging circular pits to the depth of five
.sor six feet, with concave walls, the pit
-Hibeing perhaps two feet across at the
top and ten feet at the bottom. A flap
is spread over the top SO that portion
of it may be removed to allow smoke to
= pass out and to let the fresh air enter
when the weather Is particularly warm.
The entrance IS by means OF another
similar pit several feet away from
Awhich tunnel is run, coming up
d,through the floor of the main or living
groom. Here the winters provisions are
lestored, and here the entire family,
d,sometimes eight or ten people live eat
a and sleep. When the weather is excess
a, sively cold the flap at the top is drawn
vtdown tightly and the air in the pit is
cfbreathed over and over again while the
r sanitation often assumes frightful
a condition, causing people to marvel
ri that any of the natives survive.
- They get their fire by burning oil in a
e. basin around the sides of which tiny
Nffbits of twisted string are arranged in
lieu of wieks.
mass of walrus fat is always hung
sApver this lamp, and the heat is contin
Tally trying out the oil. Nermin flour
igh in such circumstances and many of
these old houses that have been ADAM
tt doned for years contain lice in such
p.numbers that 1t is dangerous for trav-
s elers to make their camping ground
tlWithin hailing distance over night.
m While shut up in these little pits the
b natives occupy themselves by manu-
ttfacturing spears, clothing and boats
stfor use when the season opens and by
hcarving odd knick-knacks from the
u ivory Of the waIrus, to be sold to the
ctwhite curio gatherer. Many Of them
W are very adept in this line and make
r handsome smoking pipes, pipe stems,
IL cigar holders, watch guards sleeve
buttons and other articles of ivory.
carving designs Of walruses, Indians,
fish and various objects on them re-
!, markably true to life. The writer has
e in his possession pipe manufactured
from a single walrus tusk that is over
IA loot long and all in one piece, the /
:. bowl and stem being thus curiously
!. adorned. A favorite bit of work for
~ them Is to make watch guard from |
- twelve to fifteen inches long out of one |
- piece of ivory, the links being tiny seals /
70 or walruses alternating with human /
!. hands or fishes or polar bears The I
AZ ivory obtained from the walrus is put /
~ to numerous uses From it they make
spears, knives and runners for sledges
Frequently sledges are seen with run
ners ten feet long made Of ivory and
r, so skifuly put together that it is diff
S,iicult to see the joints.
IL The advent of the white man in the
ri region has taken from the natives sew
b, eral of their main supports, and is in
s1large measure responsible for the cruel
b defamation of their numbers by disease
and want The whites have traded the
natives out of their furs, and having /
contributed largely to the extermina-
ton of the fuf-bearing animals, have
compelled the Indians to wear clothing /
of a different character, consequently
( rendering them unable to Withstand the
4 rigors of the latitude in winter. 1t is
NO lOlGUI an teLSN matter ion them ia /