New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-16
IN NORTH CANADA
Some Comments on Report Oh
Discovery of White Esauimau.

The report that Mr.. Stefannsen, who has
| been exploring in North Canada FOR the
Museum OF Natural History, OF New YORK.
has discovered a race OF white Esquimaus
Is already exciting all schools OF ethnolo-
gists. 40 Engllshman has been In the
Arctic regions. where the discovery Is SAID
ia have been made so recently as MT
Cosmo d Melviu +. Il. G. s, who has
communicated some experiences bearing
unon Mr.. Stefannsen's report to The Lon
don standard" In the autumn Of 1910
when Mr. Melyil and John Horribly were
hunting caribou between the Great Bear
Lake and the CoppermIne River In North
Canada, they fell I'm with hunting party
OF Europeanizcd Esqulmaus. and campeu
with them for two DAYS. They also met
Mr.. Stefannscn. who had followed up IL
rectlons they had placed in a cache on the
/ Coppermnc River. and exchanged notes
upon their discoveries.
Mr.. Stefannsen is one Of the toughest or
explorers" said Mr.. Melvill He can prac-
tically equal the endurance OF the native
Two winters ago caribou, and, Indeed all
game was exceedingly scarce, but his party
could not move on because one member
was III. We'll, Mr. Stefannsen and Dr'
Anderson are out making biological as well
MS chronological researches, and had col
lccted n number OF natural history spcci-
mems In this scarcity they actually boiled
these speclmens in seal oil and ate them.
When | last saw him. in May, 1910, he had
not reached any definite opinion with re-
card IN the North Canadian Esqumaus."
Mr. Melvill states that there is large
i,,b
tered bands. the Canadian mainland. They
are to be found between the Great FISH
River on the east, and the Dolphin and
Union straits, on the northwest and even
I'm Victoria Land and other northern ISL
ands They have no communication with
the Western Esquimaus. nor with their
Southern nclghbors, the Slave and Dog
rib Indians. These Indians, indeed. are
their hereditary foes-they call them the
lousy people"-as Indians practically AL
WAYS are TO ESqumaus. whether there has
been contact between the two races or not.
1--WE were the first white men the Copper
mine River Esquimaus had ever seen.
said Mr. Mevill, land certainly In the
present generation there has been no COM
munica ton between them and Europeans.
Nevertheless, they have quite remarkably
Euronean features and, according to
Stefannsen. the Esquimaus OF Victoria Land
are really a very fair people. Further
north too. he had heard that there were
other similar groups. In habits and speech,
tools and weapons, and even In folklore
they are ordinary Esquimaus."
Whence. then, does the European trait
come TO them? Mr.. Melvill found that the
lively Victorian Eslumau. whom he photo
graphed with a bow In his hand, did not
believe that there were such people as
white men" He and his wife supposed
that stories OF people living to the south
were fairy tales. All these Esquimaus whom
he saw had the coarse, straight hair of the
mongoloid and fair skins, IN spite Of sun
burn and weather stain. So fair were they
hat when Stefannsen's Esquimau servants,
natives OF Herschel Island, Mackenzie
River first saw some OF the same type In
Victoria Land they cried out: why, they
90 Tho foc'sle men, This meant that they
thought them to be the European sailors of
the Whaling ships at their home.
! Mr.. Melville prefers to reject, until
further evidence two scientific theories
the European type among these properly
Monaghan tribes one or these theories
hnIds that Arctic Canada was once quite
,snnarate but that, with the changing of
~ rsarth's axis races which had previ-
o one been able TO inhabit 1t were forced
~ r;israte, though few isolated commune
ties remained. These fair E;sqqimaus would,
according to this hypothesis. be among the
neoDies Who lived through the change. The
pp,bar theory supposes that they are de-
scendants OF the old Morse colony In Green
land which disappeared about A. d. 1850
having, TRADITION says oeeh eAlerHlnatcu
pSy.Naithcr theory can hold" says Mr.. Mel
viii unless the whole group Of these new
70 n gtnsa .kA.
h Snev sOm that oHy few SHf families
ars found 10 have marked European feat
az :, can be attributed to recent causes
a. their history. / know how European