Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-01-08
WHERE EXPLORER GOT cLEW.
Stefansson Tells of Meeting Strange
People of the North. StrttaA

plorer tells dramatically of his meet
ling with the strange people OF the
North who gave him the first elew to
the now famous blond Eskimos
"A broad but three months I'M
Travelled trail led north from this viii
llage site at Cape Bexley across the
ice toward Victoria island. My in
tentions were to continue east along
the mainland into Coronation gulf,
bur | decided, nevertheless, to stop
here long enough to make an at
tempt to find the people at whose vii
lage we had camped. We would
ileave most of our gear on shore with
IPannigabluk to take care of ii, while
the two men and myself took the
| trail across the ice. This was ac
| cording to Eskimo etiquet-on APP
Iproach to the country of strange or
distrusted people noncombatants are
| left behind. and only the able men Of
the party advance to a cautious par
Hey. In this case the Mackenzie
| river man, Tannaumirk, was fright
ened enough to let his pride go by
the board and to ask that he, too,
might stay on shore at the camp.
told him he might, and Natkusiak and
prepared " start dibHe Win al llSHl
sled, but at the last moment Tan
naumirl decided he preferred to go
with us. as the Nagyuktogmiut We're
likely in our absence to discover our
camp. to surprise it by night, and to
kill him while he slept 1t would be
safer, he thought, to go with us.
Panniga bluk was much the coolest of
the three Eskimes; if she was afraid
to be left alone on shore she did not
show it; she merely said that she
might get lonesome If we were gone
more than three or four days. We
left her cheerfully engaged in the
mending of our worn footgear, ana
at 2.30 p. NJ, May 10, 1910, we took
the old, but nevertheless plain trail
northward into the rough sea ice.
We made about six miles per
holtr, and inside of two hours we ar
rived at another deserted village,
about month more recent than the
one found at Cape Bexley. We were,
therefore,. on the trail, not of tray
cling party, but of a migratory com
munity.
IF you are following such a trail
and come TO village about four
months old, you will expect TO find
he people who made it not more
han 40 miles off.
In the present case our task was
iimplified by the fact that the group
We were following had not moved
straight ahead north, but had made
heir fourth camp west of the sec
md. Standing on the roofs of the
euses of the second camp, we could
see three seal hunters a few miles TO
he west, each sitting on his block of
NOW by a seal-hole waiting for the.
animal to rise.
THE seal hunters and their camp
were UP the wind, and our dogs scent
I'd them. AS we bore swiftly down
upon the nearest of the sealers the
logs showed enthusiasm and antici-
patton as keen as mine, keener by a
great deal than did my Eskimos. AS
he hunter was separated from each
of his fellow huntsmen by full
lalf- mile, l thought he would prob
bly, be frightened if all of us were
rush up to him at the top speed of
ur dogs. We therefore stopped our
led several hundred yards away.
'annaumirk had become Drawer now,
or the lone stranger did not look
formidable, sitting stopped forward
Is he was on his block of snow be-
side the seal hole; he accordingly
Volunteered to act as our ambassador.
saying that the Mackenzie dialect (hiS
own) was probably nearer the strang-
er's tongue than Natkusak's. This
eemed likely, so l told him to go
ahead.
:Aftnr what baua
hing from to 10 minutes of talk
ng and expostulation by Tan
,aumirk, the man finally began to
isen and then to answer. The dia-
ects proved to differ about as much
rs Norwegian does from Swedish. or
Spanish does from Portuguese. Af-
er Tannaumirk had made him UNI
ierstand the assurance that we were
Of good intent and character and had
showed by lifting his own coat that
lie had no knife the sealer APP
preached him cautiously and felt of
himself Gas he told us later to as
sure himself that he was not a spirit
md partly to see II there We're not a
Snife hidden somewhere under his
clothes. After a careful examina-
ion and some further parley he told
rannaumirk to tell us that they two
would proceed HON to the village, and
Satkusiak and ! might follow as far
behind as we We're now; when they
'ot to the village we were TO re-
main outside it till the people could
l De informed that we were visitors
With friendly intentions.
When we approached the village
very man, woman and child was out
ioors waiting for us excitedly, for
hey could tell from afar that we
we're no ordinary visitors. The man
l whom we had first approached
/ hat day acquired local prominence
| which still distinguishes him above
| lis fellows explained to an eagerly
/ silent crowd that we We're friends
/ rom a distance who had come with
l tut evil intent. and Immediately the
l whole crowd about 400 came running
oward us. AS each came up he
l would say: I am So-and-so | am
\ veil disposed. / have no knife. Who
i re your After being told our names
| return, and being assured that We
we're friendly and that our knives
| we're packed away in the sled and not
| hidden under our clothing, each
would express his satisfaction and