In Alaska the Eskimo stock is broken into several tribes speaking
diverse dialects. Of these, two main subgroups are distinguished,
namely, Innuits and Aleuts or Aleutians. The former includes several
tribes living on the margin of the mainland, from near Mount St. Elias
northward to the Arctic Ocean, and the latter consists of but two
tribes, now intermingled, which at the time of the discovery of
the Alaskan region by the Russians inhabited the western portion of the
Alaskan peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. A detailed account of these
peoples should have united with it a study of the so-called Tuski of
northeastern Siberia, who are of the same stock, and, as seems probable,
are the descendants of Eskimos who migrated from America to Asia.
_The Innuits._--This name, as is stated by W. H. Dall, is applied to
themselves by all the tribes of the Eskimo stock, except the Aleuts and
the eastern Siberian natives. It is in use at the present time from
Greenland to Bering Strait, and thence southward to the vicinity of
Mount St. Elias.
In Alaska the Innuits are divided into at least fourteen tribes,
speaking as many different dialects, and distinguished by such names as
Ugalakmuts, Kaniagmuts, etc. The termination _mut_, in a substantive
sense, means a village at the place or on the river to the name of which
it is added (Dall). In common with all other Eskimo tribes the Innuits
are a sturdy, well-built people, having lighter-coloured skins than the
Indians, and more nearly approaching the yellow of the Asiatics, but
distinct from it, and in many instances having a decided reddish tinge
to the cheeks. The prevalent idea that the Eskimo is of decidedly short
stature is not borne out by the various tribes in Alaska, who are not
much, if any, below the average height of Europeans. Their rotund bodies
and full, round faces, in which the organ answering to a nose is
depressed until between the eyes it is scarcely distinguishable, suggest
that the severity of the climate has led to a development of fat for
protection against cold in the same manner as among the seals and
walruses. Such a generalization is perhaps misleading, as great
individual variations occur as among all peoples, but the typical Innuit
whose figure remains in one's memory when the bony hags, the cadaverous
individuals, and the aged are forgotten or but dimly recalled, favours
the conventional pictures of Santa Claus, with a face resembling the
full moon, small black eyes with a suggestion of obliquity in their
alignment, and nearly complete absence of a beard on the ruddy cheeks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account