The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-10-29
'l9TlHc HlHM ZIE. SUfYNER/

with acclaim. New space has
been added to the worlds
mapped areas. Civilization
Will march on. All nations join in re-
Ioicing-all except one, the most vi
ALLY interested.
The Eskimo, native Of the land of
snow and ice, does not welcome the
white mans coming. Beside his igloo
be sits and listens to the tribal ru-
nors of the coming events. He hears
the weird, garbled tale of how a civ
llized man." a "kabhena," has reached
the north pole. He hears that other
white men will come after him. And
be sits and grieves for his people; for
the advance of the white man means
to hi monty what 1t has meant to all
the primitive people who thus have
been Observation-Disclosures.
Civilization of your kind we do not
want" says the Eskimo to the explor-
er or missionary. 1T Is good, per-
haps. for you and for your countries.
It is not good here in the north. We
cannot live under 1t. AS we live now
so must we live If we are to exist.
It is our life; and life is good here
among these ice cliffs when 1t is lived
In u own way. We are content. So
have our forefathers lived from time
lmmemorial. And SO will we live as
long as we remain on earth. Force
us to live as you live. make us accept
your civilization, and we perish. We
have seer 1t. We know what 1t does
to us. It kills the Eskimo. Leave us
to our ways, leave us to our country,
or the Eskimo will be wiped off the
face of the earth"
Such is the Eskimo's reception of
the great news. 1t Is something like
a shock to our dissatisfaction and
opinion that our civilization is best
for all people, whether they like it or
not. How a those poor people up
there in the frozen north spurn the
benefits that civilization holds forth
to them? How al they fail to realize
that civilization will make their harsh
life easier, more pleasant, more hap
py? The questions come naturally at
the idea. It seems preposterous. But
when n comes to examine the mode
of living of the winter bound Eskimo,
along with the conditions under which
he is forced to exist, it seems not so
astonishing that the Eskimos should
say: 1--WE were a happy people until
the explorers came. The explorers
brought their civilization, and that is
not WELL"
Living In a land so barren and
harsh that nowhere else on earth is
its duplicate to be found inhabited,
the Eskimo through centuries of
struggle has adopted the only mode of
living that makes his existence pos
sible. The land which other people
despise, the conditions under which
no other people could live, he has
learned to love. They are his world,
and without them he could not live.
Resources such as the world looks
upon as necessary to the maintenance
Of life the country has none. 1t is a
barren of never changing ice and
snow. Stones, pieces of driftwood,
reindeer, birds, dogs, fishes, and most
of all, seals-these are the things that
are given the Eskimo to live on. The
stones, sticks and bones furnish him
with weapons. The weapons furnish
him with meat. For his house there
fs the stone, the ice, and snow, moth
ing more. For six months of the year
his world is In darkness. Yet he lives
and is happy until the explorers come.
In the winter hut so excessive Is
the heat that the thick fur garments
of outdoor use are discarded upon en-
trance. Among some tribes men, wo-
men and children dwell together in a
complete state Of nudity, in others a
small loin cloth Is used for indoor
wear. Night and day the stone lamps
filled with train oil burn in the huts.
The Eskimo is superstitious Of all
things. The long arctic night has driv.
en- the fear of darkness into his soul,
and he will not even sleep without a
hight burning before his eyes.
The lamps are SO constructed as to
burn brightly all night. When they
begin to grow dim the Eskimo wo-
man knows that 1t is morning and
time to get up. Cherries as such a
home may seem, it is declared to be
quite the opposite. The woman who
wakes first in the morning calls out
to her neighbor a challenge for a race
in dressing and going out after the
morning meal of fish. which is cached
In the ice outside. The challenge is
accepted. The women dress and rush
out laughing. break OF great armfuls
of the frozen p%rovender and come
back laughing to their still sleeping
companions. The fish are thrown on