Alaska -- Antiquities; Eskimos; Eskimos -- Anthropometry; Indians of North America -- Alaska; Indians of North America -- Yukon
The Eskimo of the Big Lake district, south of the Yukon, and from
the Kaviak Peninsula, as well as the Malemut about the head of
Kotzebue Sound, are on the contrary very finely proportioned and
athletic men who can not be equaled among the Indians of the Yukon
region. * * * There were a number of half-blood children among the
Eskimo, resulting from the intercourse with people from vessels and
others, who generally show their Caucasian blood by large, finely
shaped, and often remarkably beautiful brown eyes. The number of
these mixed bloods was not very great.
1905, Jackson:[92]
The Eskimos of Alaska are a much finer race physically than their
kindred of Greenland and Labrador. In the extreme north, at Point
Barrow, and along the coast of Bering Sea they are of medium size.
At Point Barrow the average height of the males is 5 feet 3 inches
and average weight 153 pounds; of the women, 4 feet 11 inches and
weight 135 pounds. On the Nushagak River the average weight of the
men is from 150 to 167 pounds. From Cape Prince of Wales to Icy
Cape along the Arctic Coast and on the great inland rivers emptying
into the Arctic Ocean they are a large race, many of them being 6
feet and over in height.[93] They are lighter in color and fairer
than the North American Indian, have black and brown eyes, black
hair, some with a tinge of brown, high cheek bones, fleshy faces,
small hands and feet, and good teeth. The men have thin beards.
1916, Hawkes:[94]
The Alaskan Eskimo are a taller and more symmetrical people than
their brethren of the central and eastern districts. They lack
that appearance of stoutness and squatness inherent in the eastern
stock, and for proportion and development of the various parts of
the body they do not compare unfavorably with Indians and whites.
It is not unusual to find in an Alaskan Eskimo village several
men who are 6 feet tall, with magnificent shoulders and arms and
bodily strength in proportion. The usual height, however, is about
168 centimeters for men, which is some 10 centimeters above the
height of the eastern Eskimo. * * * The average for women among the
western Eskimo is 158 centimeters, which approximates the height
of the men in the Hudson Bay region, 158 centimeters (Boas). The
female type in Alaska is taller and slimmer than in the east, and
the width of the face is considerably less. Eskimo women of large
stature are often seen in the northern section of Alaska. The
individual variation here is more conspicuous than in Labrador or
Hudson Bay.
1923, Jenness:[95]
In his report on the Copper Eskimos, D. Jenness gives excellent
descriptive notes on this group with references to others. These
notes, too voluminous to be transcribed, may well be consulted in
these connections.
FOOTNOTES:
[67] Cook, Capt. James, and Capt. James King. A Voyage to the Pacific
Ocean. London, 1784, II, vol. 2, p. 300.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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