Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-11-29
REUNITED TO THE WORLD.
EAST GREENLANDERs HAVE A
UNIQUE INTEREST BECAUSE
OF ISOLATION. .

EAST GREENLANDER HAVE A
UNIQUE INTEREST BECAUSE
OF ISOLATION.
The Danish Supply Ship Godthaah
Pays an Annual Visit to Recently
Discovered sEsquimaux Tribe Of
Mysterious Origin.
The Danish supply steamer God
thaab has returned to Copenhagen
from her annual visit to Angina gsalik,
on the east coast of Greenland, tho
only station of Denmark ON that
coast. 1t has been maintained by the
Danish Government for ten years for
the purpose of. improving the condi-
ton of the Esquimaux living there,
and developing a little trade with
them 1t is an interesting enterprise
because Denmark's dealings with
aborigines are humanizing and phil.
anthropic, and the material it had TO
deal with here was in its natural con-
dition.
AS far as we know, the natives of
this coast had never come into con
tact with lie white race until twenty
years ago, when they were discovered
by Captain Holm, a Danish explorer.
1t was six years later before anything
but fragmentary information about
them was given out, and then Den
mark published a sumptuous work in
three volumes devoted to the people
and their habitat. Probably no other
book so exhaustive and costly has
ever been printed about a handful of
primitive people. They numbered
only 54S souls when they were discov-
cred. The first volume described
Holms Journey, with description of
the bleak coast between 65 degrees
and sc degrees north latitude, where
the Esquimaux hunted and where they
had built their huts in two fiords. The
second volume was devoted to a study
of the tribe and the third contained
no letterpress excepting brief expla-
nations of the nurS erous photographs
of the people, their homes and rude
arts.
TIE g-gl5. steamer reports &.
Copenhagen that the East Greenland
station is in thriving condition. 1t
has simply transformed the life OF
the natives. They have knives, tim
har natal ,o;,,fo fNr thoir barnOnuc
and a. hundred comforts and conven-
fences they never knew before The
Danish Government buys their oil,
furs, skins and feathers The station
takes everything they have to sell in
exchange for the commodities they re-
quire. The missionary and his wife
teach them not only Bible texts and
hymns, but also how to oe more COM
Portable in their homes.
A way has been found around the
glaciers jutting out into the sea which
so long barred attempts to travel
around the south end of Greenland.
A few parties have made sledge
journeys to the Esquimau settlements
on the west coast and some indivi-
duals have settled there. They have
never heard of spirituous liquors, and
the influence of the whites has been
wholly helpful. The Christian church
which was started in 1898, with seven
native members, now numbers over
fifty converts; and as far as ghe in
fuence of the whites is helpful to
them they are probably better off
than any other group of their race,
excepting in southwest Greenland and
Labrador.
They are pure blood Esquimaux, the
only unmiXed natives in Greenland,
excepting in the Smith Sound region;
but though they are of the pure race,
their features are thinner and longer
than those of other Esquimaux, and
they are a little taller than the ma
tives of the west coast. They have
the dimmest tradition that their
fathers came from the north, and con-
siderable evidence has accumulated
pointing to the probability that they
are the descendants of natives who
reached northwest Greenland from
the archipelago north of our continent,
and then skirted the north and east
coasts of Greenland to their present
abode.
The natives. say that several SUM
mers before Holm discovered them
number of families started north
to find new hunting grounds, and moth
ing was ever heard from them.
Hunters had gone to search for their
friends, but no trace of them could
be found. The mystery has been
partly solved by the explorer Amdrup,
who found in one hut thirty skeletons
of natives at the most northern point
he reached, about ninety miles north
of the chie< settlement at Angmag-
salik.
The bones of bears, seals and other
animals scattered around the hut
seemed to show that they had not
persisted of starvation. New imple-
ments of the chase and many that
were partly completed indicated that
the unfortunate people had been lead
ing a very active life The skeletons
of the dogs showed that they had met
the fate of their masters. No expla-
nation of the mystery has been found.
but it has been suggested that ali
might have died of poisoning after
eating diseased meat or fish. Other
remains of natives have been found
further NORTH, but of more ancient
date.
The East Greenlanders have a
unique interest because of their re-
cent complete isolation and the re
markable manner in which they were
suddenly linked again with the out
side world. after having forgotten,
perhaps for many generations, the
little they ever knew of it.-Sun.
A Subtle -fot.
4.