Alaska -- Antiquities; Eskimos; Eskimos -- Anthropometry; Indians of North America -- Alaska; Indians of North America -- Yukon
_Juneau--Seward._--June 8, leave Juneau. It has been raining every day,
with one exception, and is misting now, depriving us of a view of most
of the coast. Wherever there is a glimpse of it, however, it is seen to
be mountainous, wooded below, snowy and icy higher up, inhospitable,
forbidding.
June 10, arrive at Cordova, a former native and Russian settlement
of some importance. Will stay here large part of the day and go
to see about Indians, old sites, burials, and specimens, the main
hotel keeper, the assistant superintendent of the local railway, the
postmaster, the supervisor of the forests, and Dr. William Chase, who
has been connected with the work of the Biological Survey in these
regions. Mr. W. J. McDonald, the forester, takes me out some miles
into the very rugged country, where there are still plenty of bear and
mountain goat. After which Doctor Chase takes me to the old Russian
and Indian cemetery. There are many graves, mostly Indian, but also a
few whites, and even a Chinaman. Russian crosses are still common. The
older Indian part could be easily excavated. Learn of skulls and bones
on "mummy" island in Prince William Sound.
_Indians._--See quite a few. Nearly all appear more or less mixed;
color in these more or less pronounced tan with red in cheeks and
some tendency to paleness. Heads still all brachycephalic and of only
moderate height; faces broad, noses not prominent, in males tend to
large.
Two adult men, evidently full-bloods--pure Indian type of the
brachycephalic form, head moderate in size, medium short, face not
very large, nose slightly or moderately convex, not prominent, but
all Indian. Color of skin submedium to near medium brown, no trace of
whitish or pink. Stature and build medium; feet rather small; hair
typical Indian, black, straight; beard sparse and short; mustache
sparse, no hair on sides of the face.
The boat makes two or three more commercial and passenger stops
before reaching Seward, the main one at Valdez, the terminal of the
Richardson Trail to the interior. These stops permit us to see some
fish canneries, which are of both general and anthropological interest.
These establishments employ Japanese, Philippine, and Chinese labor,
and it was found to be quite a task to distinguish these, and to tell
them from the coast Indians. The Chinamen can be distinguished most
often, though not always, the Japanese less so, while the Filipino
usually can not be told from the Indian, even by an expert. Here was a
striking practical lesson in relationships.
_Seward--Anchorage._--Seward found to be a fine little town, full of
the same good brand of people that one finds everywhere in Alaska and
who go so far to restore one's faith in humanity. It is the terminus of
the Government railroad to Fairbanks and a port of some importance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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