80 Alaskan Science Conference 



were originally human beings. In addition the Aleuts possessed 

 an enormous body of information and practices concerning 

 health and physical education, how to develop a "strong man" 

 and how to treat diseases. Most pertinent to this development, 

 they autopsied the dead in an effort to find out why they died, 

 and they sometimes dissected those killed in warfare. Mummi- 

 fication appears to have developed in southern Alaska from 

 this orientation toward human anatomy and then to have 

 contributed to its further elaboration. Certain features of the 

 ethnology of the Aleuts form an intelligible picture only when 

 it is realized that they had a belief in a supernatural power 

 which resided in the human body. This power was maximized 

 at certain critical periods such as puberty and widowhood, and 

 could be strengthened by observing the pertinent practices. 

 Thus, the joint binding of pubescent girls and of widows or 

 widowers, and the dismemberment of enemies killed in combat 

 can only be understood when it is realized that this power in 

 the body must be regulated and can only be removed from an 

 individual by dismemberment. Conversely, the most powerful 

 amulet known to the Aleuts was a "piece of dead man," a piece 

 taken from a mummy. The mummy retained its potency pre- 

 cisely because it was preserved as a whole body, and Avas thus 

 useful for many purposes. 



The western distribution of this anatomical orientation can 

 perhaps be deduced from existing data, but specific inquiries 

 are necessary to find its extent in the southern and eastern 

 portions of southern Alaska. Similarly, the basic problems con- 

 cerning the cultural adaptation to the ecological situation need 

 analysis. It is evident that the Aleut people of the mainland 

 and Unimak Island used bow and arrow for hunting land 

 animals, and that out in the chain the throwing board and 

 spears were almost exclusively used. To what extent was inland 

 hunting an alternative method of securing game for a maritime 

 people, and to what extent did it provide a means for the people 

 to leave the sea and move inland permanently? The distribu- 

 tion of games is another one of those many areas for which in- 

 formation may be secured from living informants. Hand games 



