Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-09-13
LOST TRIBE DISCOVERED.

1000 White People Living In the Frozen
North Are Descendants Of Norweeians
Who Landed In Newfoundland 1000
Years Ago.
Ranking next in Importance from an
ethnologist standpoint to the discovery
of the lost tribes Of Israel is the dis
covery made by Prof. vilhjalmar Stef-
ansson of the American Museum of
Natural History Of a lost tribe Of 1000
white people who are believed to be d.
rect descendants of the following of
Lief Erickson Gief the Lucky, who
went to Greenland from Iceland about
the year 1000 and later discovered the
north coast Of America.
The people living on Victoria Island,
80 degrees east Of the mouth Of the
Mackenzie river, more than 1000 miles
by the coast line, are still in the stone
age. While the civilization of nearly
1000 years has grown they have stood
still.
Prof. Stefansson arrived in Seattle
Monday morning. One OF the remark
able incidents of his five years Of explo-
ration is the fact that he left his winter
headquarters near Banksland four years
ago with only sufficient -four and other
cereals to sustain himself and his Es-
kimo associates for two weeks and
II.
this scant supply of food he lived four
years on the bleak, inhosptable shore
OF the polar sea, caribou, seal and beav-
er furnishing his only meat and clothes.
In 1910 Stefansson returned to the
mouth of the Mackenzie river where he
was Joined by Dr. r. Anderson, a for
mer classmate from the University of
Iowa.
In his trips around the region at the
top of the world Stefansson discovered
IL new tribes. Ten of these tribes had
never seen nor heard of white men
TWO other tribes had seen the members
of the Franklin exploring expedition.
The tribe Of white people, whom
Stefansson declares are purely of Nor
wegian origin, never had seen other
people of their own color. Their number
is about 1000. More than half of them
nave red hair, blue eyes, fair skins and
light eyebrows and boards. They live
on both shores of Coronation gulf on
the mainland of North America and Vic
toria island, which formerly was known
as Prince Edward island.
1t was for this people that Road
Amundsen, discoverer of the south pole,
searched while making his trip through
the northwest passage.
Amundsen, II will be remembered.
said natives had told him OF a race of
white people living to the northward.
OF the island, but saw nothing of the
tribe. nor did they see anything 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 discovered
tribe is entirely different from the Es-
kimo, not only in the shape of the skull
out In general features, color of eyes
and texture of hair. They have not a
single trace of the Monaghan type
While they retain few Of the customs
OF the Norsemen who were lost from
Iceland In the twelfth century, their
method OF living is entirely different.
The conditions under which they live are
OF the most primitive sort. No vegeta-
uon, except moss and a few stunted
WILLOWS, grows In their habitat.
They are meat and fish eaters The
Island abounds with caribou ana the
sea with seal and other fauna. They
use bows made of willow bound no,
gether with siaews and their arrows are
tipped with flint and native conner
which is pried out OF lodges or foun5 in
stream beds on the mainlsnd. Their
knives are made Of copper with horn
hanoies' and made in much the same
way as implements were made by the
land.
Like nearly every savage tribe they
nave legend OF flood which a long
,lme ago devastated the world. This
legend, anthropologists say. is universal
among savage tribes and therefore cam
no. De regarded as proof that this par
tieular tribe is descended from Christian
forefathers
Prof. Stefansson accounts for their ex-
lstence by the fact that in the year ss2
Greenland was discovered and settled
py 5000 Icelanders, One thousand OF
these people sailed from Norway and
missed Greenland but landed on the
coast of Newfoundland, where they es-
tablished colony, built fourteen
churches, two monasteries, nunnery
and other structures, the ruins of
which are still standing.