Anthropology of Southeastern Alaska— Laugh lin 71 



human biology owing to the fact that they occupy perhaps the 

 greatest linear expanse of any people in the world, ranging 

 from Attu Island in the west, and Cordova in the south, along 

 the coastline of North America and over into Greenland. Each 

 breeding isolate has, with few exceptions, remained in contact 

 with neighboring Eskimos and has exchanged genes with them 

 rather than with Indian groups living inland. This means that 

 each population or isolate of Eskimos, identified as such by 

 dialectical, cultural and geographical factors, may be expected 

 to differ from others genetically as manifested in such things 

 as the morphology and blood groups. The various groups of 

 Eskimos therefore provide ideal opportunities for the study of 

 population genetics, as well as for the movement of the various 

 populations in the past. 



The population size of these Eskimos is of primary im- 

 portance and possesses many implications for the culture as 

 well as for the morphology. Thus, the large population size of 

 these southern Eskimos, viz.: 16,000 Aleuts, 6-8,000 Koniags, 

 means that these populations were genetically more stable than 

 the smaller populations. Small groups can change more rapidly 

 than large populations, as a result of drift and of mixture. 

 Change due to genetic drift takes place more rapidly in small 

 breeding isolates, as neatly demonstrated by the loss or reduc- 

 tion of blood groups A and B among the Polar Eskimos. Co- 

 incident with this is the fact that the effects of racial mixture 

 are more manifest in a small population, due solely to the rela- 

 tive proportions of the traits being introduced. The significance 

 of these considerations for southern Alaska lies in the old alle- 

 gation that the Eskimos of southern Alaska are mixed with 

 Indians and do not represent, therefore, pure Eskimos when 

 compared with various isolates of eastern or Greenland Eskimos. 

 It is obvious that a population of 8,000 could not be as easily 

 mixed to any appreciable degree as could the much smaller 

 groups of eastern Eskimos, as for example, the Caribou Eskimos. 

 The differences between southern Alaskan Eskimos and eastern 

 Eskimos are not primarily due to mixture with Indians but to 

 the fact that the Eskimos represent a polymorphic stock. This 



