New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-01-21
A LOST TRIBE OF EsQUIMAUS
In L oN AN ISLAND IN HUDSON BAY.
AND BUILD THEIR HOMES OF
WHALES Skulls
WHALES SKULLS.

Transcript Ne boston
=; Inc strangest anthropological find, racor5a7
oHS last decade OF the nineteenth cenfur,1 iii
soon De announced by the American NnsaI " -
NdtuIal history 1t is nothing less than tba
= 49, Try; on lionel y island in Hudson Bay. o1
lost tribe of Esquimaus-a communitx1 49, u,
mas oeen without intercourse with Other rc.-
senI1tlEes OF the human species for cent1,riac
min rs 9' IneIhbers never saw a white man
So d Le" months ago. They are stin in the
S3tohe age, knowing metals; thew grow no
wbaies anu 'ielr houses are built of the skulls of
The home of this strange tribe. which soor,.
80 "a Oeeh cut on in some unknown manner
~, ~ - OF me world ever so long ago is
~ SOUTHAMPTON Island, a piece of watoT-eirt
terra nrna nearly big as the STATE of No.
situated al the north end of Hudson Raw A.
P1Ienlly the people have dwelt there over si,,1.
e,-T.5. lines. and to-day they live and
SehSlSt IN exactly the same wav as 81 49,
- III having Deen isolated for SO long a n.rioI
~ - natural that they should exhihf+ M, -
pecullarlues most interesting TO the stud
elnhoIogy. and these are illustrated nv \ e,Irt
CclIecuon OF utensils, weapons of tho 'cl9os1 - :
TslleI OBJECTS, " lIch, through the agency Of m
+ Lahz Boas, has been fetched to NeU-Yorl, j.,
e ~Idllhs vessel ard deposited in the Museum
OF Natural History. - -9 I'LL
The houses Of skulls above rr7an+ioro7 -
t1opeILS uescfibed as huts, are built by putfing
tCSetAer the great jaws of right whales Whit
ar covered with skins. In the middle of ~
primitive dwelling is an elevated place on [,tiI
sSl-oS me lhe,itable stone lamp-cfief essantiai
u every Esqulmdu household Indeed +ba -
life of the family NAV be said n ,,c,I " , iiols
TINS lamp, the inmates depending 11nop i So
lIlelf very existence. Without it they wouId h
IlStple 10 occupy so frigid and otherwise min
haoltabie region. It is EMPLOYED for Iiebtin
AedbnSr COOKING, melting snow. driving cIotbsg
80 Il.u IN certain arts. Yet it is nothing more
Iaau an open dish Of whale oil or seal oil yvitt7
WICK Of dry moss soaked in fat WIN
Inc whale IS the chief means of subsistarcs
/ u tIIS strange people, who hunt rhe r7iel,+,-
cetacean in skin beats much like those ,,ssS - -
othef ESqulmaus- II is from the right 1-L,J5
that the whaebone of conn7erc. is ~ Il1L .
4 Ter rhlZ-11 in,
ways, making even their cups and buckets of =
ny bthdlng II into rounded shapes and sewing on
me pQtlohs Many Of their implements are of
"HalepoIle' ana rom the same stuff they manu-
tacture toboggan-like sleds They make sIe14-r1s
OF pairs OF walrus tusks for runners and deer
T dHGeTS LOT cross pieces. It would be hard -
md more daring hunters than they are rbc
SEA- lhe WaIrus and the wary caribou contrbut-
/ ing 10 their game bags
The tribe comprises only fftv-eiebr ir,Ijv.i7,,I-
about equally divided as 20 sexes Its n1er7Tars
speak dialect peculiar to themselves and Cui+a
unllke that employed by other Esquimaus 4
lIdII d3OuL thirty miles broad separates South
4 ampton Island from the western shore of HUd-
son Bay. where there IS colony of EsouirT1a ne
/ ana once IN a very long while il freezes cIaar
across. This happened. it is said seventv-fT-a
4 years ago, and then few hunters came over
from the island to the mainland where they
were much surprised TO encounter other h11D7an
! beings Ike themselves. having doubtless imag-
med that they were the only people in existence
/ This IS now tradition with the natives on me
I mainland. who say that the strangers brought
/ TWO sleCses with them. but went away again
+ ana never returned. Neither before nor since has
any news come from the lost tribe
! on Southampton Island there is no soapstone
which among the Esquimaus elsewhere is the
taForlte material for pots and kettles hence the
people Of the lost tribe are obliged to make
such reccptacleS in rectangular shares 0ut Of
slabs OF limestone glued together with mixture
OF grease and deer blood. In the same way they
manufacture their lamps and this fact is an
. other evidence Of the prolonged isolation of the
community described inaSmuch as Esduinlaus
when they can obtain no soapstoue in their own
. nelghoorhood viii pay any price TO get il from
some other more fortunate tribe Sometimes
they VIII make trips lasting several years in
quest Of this material which is of rare occur
. renee. and not often discovered in pieces large
enough for lamps pots
! The hunters of Southampton Island arm their
harpoOns with flint points and their arrows like
. wise They make these points by chipping the
flint with bone instruments. In their hunting
pouches they always carry a number Of fresh
arrOWheads and spearheaCs 10 provide for en1-r-
man until recently. and having been cut off for
tribes Of their own people. they are not &C
. EsGUimaus IL general are exceedingly fond
! Neither do they possess any article whatever
that has been introduced into America since the
/ landing Of Columbus. Fire they obtain by
means Of the familiar bow drill. which is such
an old continuance that it was commonly used
in ancient Egypt Both sexes wear jackets Of
/ deerskin and combina ton boots and trousers
+ OF beaTSkin.