The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1912-09-19

~ ANKING next in Importance
from an ethnologist standpoint
~ to the discovery of the lost
tribes Of Israel is the discov-
cry made by Professor Vilhjalmar
Stefansson of the American Museum
of Natural History Of lost tribe of
1900 white people who are believed
TO be direct descendants Of the fol-
lowing of Lief Erickson Oief 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,
thirty 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.
One of the remarkable incidents Of
Professor Stefansson's five years Of
exploration is the fact that he left
his winter headquarters near Banks
land four years ago with only suffi-
Gent flour and other cereals to sus-
tain himself and his Eskimo associates
for two weeks and enough salt and
tea to last for month. On this scant
supply Of food he lived for four years
on the bleak, inhospitable shore of the
polar sea, caribou, seal and beaver
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
former classmate from the University
of Iowa.
In his trips round the region at the
top Of the world Stefansson discovered
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 explor-
ing expedition.
The tribe Of white people. whom
Stefansson declares are purely of
Norwegian origin, never had seen
number is about 1000. More than
half of them have 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 Victoria island.
which formerly was known as Prince
Edward Island.
Different From the Eskimo.
1t was for this people that Roald
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 a race
of white people living to the north
ward. He sent an expedition along the
shore 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-
i1imo, 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 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 copper,
which is pried out of lodges or found in
stream beds on the mainland. Their
knives are made of copper, with horn
handles, and made in much the same
manner as implements were made by
the early Norsemen who inhabited
Greenland.
Legend of a Flood.
Like nearly every savage tribe they
have legend Of food which long
time ago devastated the world. This
legend, anthropologists say, is uni
versal among savage tribes and there.
fore cannot be regarded as proof tina:
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
landed on the coast Of Newfoundland,