Evening star., 1933-10-22

up on the general health of the Esk mos Of
the Arctic.
He set out on one of these trips across Balm
Island from Pangnirtung to Ponds Inlet with
an Eskimo and 10 dogs. 1t was toward the
end of April. There were half dozen settle
ments to visit the way, in each OF which
every native had to be examined, while the fur
traders and trappers could also have medical
attention.
It cold, hard going the snow having
been extra heavy that year, and the winds blew
steadily from the North They passed the ma
tive settlements of Padle, Kivitoo and Home
Bay, and pushed on, now over the sea ice, now
along the rocky shore
The dogs worked hard in the heavy drifts.
pulling heavy sled, while the Eskimo beat the
trail ahead. The animals found the going
too hard One after another the dogs died
from exhaustion.
Days passed into weeks, and now the doctor
had been more than a month under way. At
the few small fishing settlements fresh dogs
not available but each native was exam
ined On went the small party. April passed
into May. and May gave way to June. Just
half the dogs were left.
Still Ponds Inlet was beyond the horizon.
Not till June was the 1OOO-mile trip finished,
AZ days after starting, with less than half the
original team of dogs. That is one of the
routine jobs of the Northern doctor
The Eskimos are healthy in the Eastern
Arctic In fact they are so healthy that a
nurse who to attend an Eskimo mother
in delivering baby found she came too
late by hour. The woman had helped her
self and when the nurse came was busy with
her houshold chores
CONTACT with the white man, the adop-
~ ton of his clothing and food have meant
colds and epidemics of influenza for the natives,
who formerly did not know the meaning of
common cold To stem these sicknesses, be-
cause the Eskimo is necessary to the develop
ment of the Arctic, the doctors and hospitals
have been established.
Probably the worlds most Northern doctor is
at Aklavik, in the Western Arctic 200 miles
north of the Arctic Circle DR.. J. A. Urquhart,
graduate of McGin University can claim the
title of the most Northern medico.
His beat is approximately 10000 square miles
in area, in the more populated region of the
Northland. where fur traders more numer-
Gus, where mining operations increase annually,
and more ESkimOs as we'll as Indians live Dr.
Urquhart travels annually $500 miles by dog
team, 1900 miles by motor boat, and makes
emergency journeys by airplanes His motor
boat Medico is hospital ship. with hunks
for carrying a number of patients.
There two hospitals at Aklavik,
operated by the Anglican Church, the other
Dy tne roman Catn0llc Cnurcn, and Dr. Urqu-
hart's cases keep the nurses at these hospitals
busy. Eskimos and Indians come from far
and near to be treated by the white doctor.
One Indian with a fractured skull
brought by friends to the doctor, the last part
OF the trip being made during freeze-up which
was difficult work by canoe. A white trader
seriously i'll, started alone in a canoe from far
down the Mackenzie River, to be treated at
the Aklavik Hospital. Halfway along he
could not go on, so he hired motor boat and
a police constable piloted him to medical aid.
Eskimo mothers now come to Aklavik when
babies to be born and the youngsters in
the Aklavik territory receive special attention
from the white doctor.
"A /HERE there are no doctors the airplane
w steps in. Mercy flights are becoming
more numerous every month, as the popula-
ton of the Northland grows and more air.
planes fly in the unsettled regions. Planes are
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