558 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



kimo, "the live birth rate per 1,000 of the Eskimo population in 1928 

 was 47.1 as based on returns from 12 representative villages. The 

 birth rate per 1,000 in the registration area in the United States for 

 the same year was 19.7." 



One of the regions in which there are large numbers of pure-blood 

 Eskimo in good condition is that of the Kuskokwim River and the 

 neighboring area. Here live about 4,000 of these people, partly civil- 

 ized, partly still following the old Eskimo ways. In this region an 

 investigation on 27 full-blood Eskimo women at the end of the 

 childbearing age showed that the average number of children born 

 alive per woman was 6.2; or, eliminating two women who bore but 

 two children each, 6.6. Among the American Indians the number of 

 children borne by women during their childbearing period averages 

 about 7. 



There is, therefore, no dearth of babies among the Eskimo. As a 

 matter of fact, since receiving more effective medical assistance the 

 people are increasing in numbers, notwithstanding the periodic deadly 

 epidemics of influenza, frequent tuberculosis, and other diseases of 

 white man's introduction. 



In rare instances an Eskimo woman will give birth to twins. At 

 present such children would probably be brought up, but in the more 

 strenuous past such an occurrence might have meant too much of a 

 burden, leading to the elimination of the weaker infant. Nothing 

 definite, however, is known on this subject among the Eskimo. The 

 old people would doubtless still remember, and it would be worth 

 while for someone who has their confidence to inquire into the matter. 

 As to triplets or other multiple births, nothing could be learned. 



The Eskimo baby comes generally without any expert assistance 

 and, as is usual with people of simple life and good resistance, acci- 

 dents are uncommon. There are still practiced various old customs 

 relating to both the mother and child which ought to be recorded 

 and published, but the Eskimo have a lot of good common sense and 

 have learned no small amount from both the Russians and the Ameri- 

 cans, so that in many details they now behave at birth and there- 

 after much as would our own poorer people under similar conditions. 



The babies as a rule are chubby and, when healthy, more quiet and 

 patient than ours. They look very much like Indian children and, 

 were it not for their more or less brownish color and the fold at the 

 inner corner of each eye (epicanthus) , would look but little different 

 from equally chubby white infants. At first they seldom cry, and 

 spend most of their time in sleeping or feeding. They are carried 

 along by the mother wherever she goes, and at home they lie on skins 

 or blankets. They apparently commence to smile, creep, walk, and 



