24 Alaskan Science Conference 



sidering the language difficulties it is perhaps remarkable that 

 so much accurate information was obtained. Certainly abstract 

 ideas and subtle nuances of belief and custom would be im- 

 possible to impart by such means. 



Almost without exception exploring expeditions included 

 specially trained men such as naturalists, geographers, cartog- 

 raphers, artists and sketchers, in addition to officers and crew 

 primarily concerned with operating the ships. Most Spanish 

 expeditions included priests. Each kept a journal or diary of 

 discoveries and observations in his field. One or more men 

 were also charged with noting everything that did not fall 

 within the domain of a specialist, but that might be of value 

 or interest in establishing trading and possessory rights of the 

 sponsors. Until the beginning of the twentieth century there 

 were no specialists trained in the science of studying people. 

 Therefore, descriptions of native tribes, their customs and 

 manufactures were made by men trained in other fields. Many 

 of them applied the same objective criteria to descriptions of 

 people as they did to recording mountains or plants. Others 

 distorted the cultures and misinterpreted the peoples they 

 encountered in terms of personal attitudes, prejudices and 

 preconceived ideas, and their accounts must be read critically. 



In addition to commerce in furs, the search for the North- 

 west Passage attracted explorers to the area. After 1 800 whalers, 

 particularly American, invaded the north Pacific and Bering 

 sea to the Arctic. Exploration was also stimulated by the de- 

 veloping struggle for overseas possessions. 



Piecing together many accounts from the eighteenth and 

 early nineteenth centuries it is possible to get a fairly adequate 

 idea of material culture but only a superficial knowledge of 

 non-material aspects of northwest coast Indian life. 



By 1820 the herds of otter and seal had been seriously de- 

 pleted and fewer ships visited the coast each year. The Hud- 

 son's Bay Company, pushing westward to share in the take of 

 furs, reached the coast in the early 1830's and built Fort Simp- 

 son in 1834, the first permanent fort on the coast. To protect 

 their interests the Russian American Company constructed 



