An Anthropogeographical Study of the Origin of the Eskimo Culture. 49 
these similarities one without further ado established the cultural 
unity of all Eskimo groups in the Subarctic form of culture, inasmuch 
as the extremes were known and not much heed was paid to the 
interjacent Arctic distriets, where it was taken for granted that the 
same culture would be found in a poorer and more straitened form. 
One started with the understanding that the Eskimo were typical 
inhabitants of the coast, who in a pronounced degree sought their 
living on the open sea, and, for the rest, this has been the prevailing 
conception until the present day. One of the objects of this work 
is, however, to show that this conception is greatly deficient and 
one-sided: the cultural conditions with the Arctic Eskimo tribes 
must be elicited for further elucidation. 
Of all problems, that of the origin of the Eskimo culture cannot 
be solved without paying necessary regard to the Eskimo culture in 
its purely Arctic form. 
Hitherto, most of the investigations in the origin of the Eskimo 
culture have rather aimed at finding out the descent and relationship 
of the Eskimo population proper, inasmuch as one has relied on 
conditions of race or on the linguistic conditions, or on some cultural 
feature bearing a distinct stamp, as, for instance, the kayak, 
throwing-board, etc. It has been taken for granted that a proving 
of the descent of the population also explained the origin of its 
culture, which is, however, by no means the case. 
It has been directly inviting to start with the race-type, as the 
Mongolian race-type is so unmistakably present amongst the Eskimo. 
To deduce, without more ado, an Asiatic origin from this fact will not 
however be possible, as the Mongol-type is not decidedly predominant 
amongst the Eskimo; certain groups, namely in the central districts, 
remind us much more of the Indians than of the Mongols. Finally, 
beside with the Eskimo the Mongol-type occurs also with Indian 
inhabitants in the North-western parts of North America. This 
distribution seems, then, to speak mostly in favour of the Mongol- 
type having at a secondary stage, come to North America, and 
having been spread in some way or another, either by joint immi- 
gration or by infusion of small driblets. 
Nor has a consideration of the linguistic conditions given any 
standpoint for deciding how the Eskimo came about, because, as 
already mentioned, the Eskimo language stands isolated. Some have 
maintained that this Eskimo family of languages, according to its 
structure, must be placed together with the American family of 
languages, or go into a larger group together with these. This was the 
view even of PRICHARD and GALLATIN, and later Rink, О. С. Brinton 
and several others. Some, on the other hand, separated the family 
of languages from North America and associated it with North-east 
Asia, inasmuch as they have placed it together with the language 
LI. 4 
