Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1912-10-10
The new PEOPLE
Interesting Facts Regarding the PEG
pie Discovered by Dr.. stefansson
in the Far North
Everything Points to Conclusion Tha
They are Descendants Of Early
Norsemen

Prof. Vilhjalmar Stefansson, of the
American Museum of Natural His
tory, on his arrival the other day at
Seattle, after a long exploring trip in
the far north, reported the discovery
on Victoria Island, 80 degrees east Of
the Mackenzie River, of tribe of
white people who have been lost, it ia
believed for several centuries, and are
living as did the people Of the stone
age. There are about two thousand
of them, and they are thought to be
direct descendants of Lief Erickson,
who went from Iceland to Greenland,
and probably discovered the north
coast of North America Professor
Stefansson left New York for the arc.
tic regions in 1908, and made many
chronological discoveries in addition tc
the strange tribe. We read in the New
York Sun:
In his trips around the region at
the top of the world Stefansson dis
covered thirteen new tribes Ten of
these tribes had never seen nor heard
| of white men. Two other tribes had
| seen the members of the Franklin ex.
| ploring expedition.
The tribe of white people, whom
| Stefansson declares are purely of
| Norwegian origin, never had seen
| other people of their own color. Their
number is about 2,000 More than half
of them have red hair, blue eyes, fair
skins, and light eyebrows and boards.
They live on both shores of Corona
ton Gulf, on the mainland of North
America and Victoria Island, which
formerly was known as Prince Ed
ward Island.
It was for this people that Road
Amundsen, discoverer of the south
pole, searched while making his trip
through the northwest passage
Amundsen, it will be remembered,
said natives had told him of race
OF white people living to the north
ward. He sent an expedition along
the shore of the island, but saw moth
ing of the tribe, nor did they see any
thing of him.
Many other arctic explorers have
brought down from the north stories
of this tribe of lost white people, but
the tale came to be regarded as an
Indian legend
Ethnologically, the newly discover
ed tribe is entirely different from the
Fskimos, not only in the shape of the
skull but in general features, color of
eyes, and texture of hair They have
not single trace of the Monaghan
type.
While they retain some of the Gus
toms of the Norsemen who were lost
from Iceland in the twelfth century,
their method Of living is entirely diff
ferent The conditions under which
they live are of the most primitive
sort. No vegetation except moss and
a few stunted willows, grows in their
habitat.
They are meat and fish eaters. The
island abounds with caribou and the
sea with seal and other fauna They
use bows made of willow bound to- !
gether with sinews, and their arrows
are tipped with flint and native cop
per, which is pried out of lodges or
found in stream beds on the main
land. Their knives are made of cop
per, with horn handles, and made in
much the same manner as implements
were made by the early Norsemen
who inhabited Greenland
Like nearly every other tribe they
have a legend of a flood which a long
time ago devastated the world. This
legend, anthropolog say, is univer-
sal among these tribes and therefore
can not be regarded as proof that this
particular tribe is descended from
Christian forefathers
Professor Stefansson accounts for
their existence by the fact that in the !!
year 9s2 Greenland was discovered
and settled BY 5000 Icelanders. One
thousand OF these people sailed from
Norway and missed Greenland. but 4
landed on the. coast, Of New6o.in dland,
where they established a colony, built
fourteen churc hes, two rnonasteries,
a nunnery, and other structures, the