212 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 
“TURNING KOGMOLLIK’’ FOR SCIENCE 
EXPERIENCES OF THE Museum’s Arctic EXPEDITION 
HERE could be no more simply told story of hardship, of high hopes 
made futile by storm and illness than that recorded in the latest 
letters from the Museum’s Arctic Expedition. The past winter will 
long be remembered as the “hard times” winter by the two expedition 
leaders, Messrs. V. Stefansson and R. M. Anderson, “turned Kogmollik ”’ 
in the cause of science — “to turn Kogmollik”’ meaning to join forces with 
the Kogmollik Eskimos of the Mackenzie delta and eastward, dressing as 
they do and wandering with them to get a living from the country. 
Any man who goes into the Arcties expects the possibility of having 
to face starvation, unless he takes a ship. It is impossible to carry with 
dog team or small boat enough to serve for more than a short journey; and 
if at the end of the journey, game proves scarce or wandering bands of 
Eskimos cannot be located, retreat from the difficult situation becomes 
problematic. In such straits Eskimos sometimes have to sacrifice their 
dogs; but unless worst comes to worst, they take such an adventure as a 
matter for joking and with whetted courage push on, perhaps in the face 
of a blizzard and through deep snows. The explanation of the Eskimo’s 
cheerful view of the matter lies largely in his trust in the hospitality of his 
fellow Eskimos. For in Eskimo character there has evolved great unselfish- 
ness and in Eskimo tribal life a rare communism, passing strange and con- 
tradictory as it may seem that this should have taken place in a land of 
cold and privation, opposed to the selfishness and cruelty of most peoples 
of southern countries where there are physical comfort and plenty. A 
chief in the Arctics is not appointed or chosen, nor does he inherit his 
title. He attains it from a reputation for hospitality. 
The Stefansson-Anderson Expedition differs essentially from ordinary 
Aretiec ventures in that whereas it is usual to carry along everything that 
the party is expected to need during its stay in the field, in this instance, 
little in the way of food, clothing or house materials was taken. This was 
the original plan, since the primary aim of the expedition is ethnological. 
How can a white man become familiar with the real life of primitive peoples, 
with their language, folk lore and songs, customs, beliefs and ambitions, 
except by living with them in their houses and as they do? Therefore, 
the leaders of the Arctic Expedition dress in Eskimo clothes, which weigh 
no more than a spring suit yet “allow one to sit comfortably on a block of 
snow, with back to the wind, fishing through a hole in the ice, the tem- 
