384 



Greenland, is almost one of surprise. For it seems indeed to 

 be quite a different race. In West Greenland we are accustomed 

 to regard the Eskimos' racial character as distinctly "Mongolian", 

 and up here the Mongolian type is little in evidence in com- 

 parison with another type , which may provisionally be called 

 "Indian", in spite of the fact, that it also occurs in North-Asia 

 and that it is not so marked as in the traditional , extreme 

 Indian type. It is a type which is much less separated from 

 the European than the Mongolian is, and I have a very strong 

 impression that the reason why the existence of this type in 

 West Greenland is almost entirely overlooked is, not only that 

 the Mongolian type is perhaps predominant, but also that these 

 non-Mongolian individuals have been unintentionally considered 

 as mixed-European more than they really are. 



The Polar Eskimos resemble more the Central Eskimo tribes 

 on the mainland, for example, the Netchillik Eskimos ^, than the 

 West Greenlanders to the south. Probably the natives in the 

 Upernivik district form a transition, however, as is pointed out 

 by Søren Hansen^. The same author-^ also shows, that the 

 so-called Mongolian racial characters, namely, the low nose, 

 oblique eyes, flat face, broad and big cheek-bones etc., are 

 more prominent in the women than in the men of West Green- 

 land. Exactly the same condition is found among the Polar 

 Eskimos. 



The colour of the skin is not so variable individually as 

 is the case in West Greenland. This applies for the rest to 

 practically all characters and is evidence, that the tribe is un- 

 mixed or at least only in very little degree mixed with European 

 elements. Even in the generation which is growing up, there are 

 but few exceptions to this rule. The skin has always a yellowish 

 ground-colour, but this may appear in various modifications in 



* cf. Roald Amundsen, Nordvest-Passagen. Kristiania 1907. 



^ Bidrag til Vestgrønlandenes Antropologi. Meddel, om Grønland. Vol. 7. 



3 1. c. 



