The Cordova daily times., 1918-12-31
Stefansson's "Blond Eskimos'

Stefansson's "Biond Eskimos"
 Since 1900 Shannon has been pros. pecting in Alaska. Never before had he struck as far north as Victoria L8nd, where the new tribe, called by Stefansson the blond Eskimos." is To- cated.
 "Nictoria Land is 1000 miles north east of the Barter islands, and about 2,O00 miles north of Nome. It Is in latitude 73, and is under the jurisdiC- ton of the Canadian government, s2 i'd shannon.
 "It Is a primitive, untaught but in tellgent people. who live on this bar ren island. where for more than six months of the year 1t is perpetual night Never before had they seen white people; but they were neither afraid nor hostile They wore no clothes but skins and ate no food but fish. bear meat. seal and deer.
 "They seem strange mixture of Mongolian and Indian. They have all the honesty of the Chinese and the rcsourcefulness of the highest type of Indian. They have been called the blond Eskimo. but I never saw any light haired or farskinned ma tivcs among them. Their COlOring is no different from that of other Alas kans"
 With these people. unspOiled by civ ilization. the white men walled in by the ice lived for two years. The Roc mOlHks. as their tribe is called taught the visitors new ways Of trapping and fishing. They gave them food, but they would eat no modern fare in eX- change shannon continued:
 They wander about from one ice foe to another. They have no boats, but they are like Arabs in their rest lessness. The one great diversion is their assembly in the fall as soon as 'h' 't hdi u'ilN. htH th' lH'H women and children of the tribe gather for an annual celebration and foasting They dance, sing and revel for days. They part for the winter seal hunting
 Money they do not know. There is no upper class ;;mong the Kocmo- lGks. They need no government. Such Their organization is communistic If one man has meat and his neiEhbor' s hut is bare. they sit down together and eat
 "A man has no exclusive property rights. He can not even keep his wife if another man is strong enough to take her from him. At any time a husband is in danger Of losing his spouse, for there are not enough women to go around.
 Primitive Love-Making
 If native sees q woman to his liking he goes to the hut where she lives. grabs her and carries her to his igl0o. Should the rightful husband protest a tug of war with the pros peCtive bride as a human rope cnsues
 Many d time have l seen women carried off without the slightest con Cern for their wishes But often the girl has preference, and when she struggles against one of the suitOrs he Is almost sure to lose Once she is carried into the hut she is acknowl- edged the lawful wife of the victor Many of the children are left to die at birth, but those that are raised are tenderly cared for"
 Shannon was silent when the bitter struggles of the white men that ended often in death were mentioned.
 We had enough to eat We had plenty of work to hunt the meat we needed. But the monOtony and the loneliness struck some of the men crazy, There was no escape for them Sometimes they turned on each other and sometimes on themselves"
 The face that won instant trust from the Eskimo trapper-the eyes that little Eriszcnia looks to with laughter, show the marks of their prison. Tony shannon has known the tragedies of the North, but he can not resist its lure.
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