﻿148 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 78 



It seems that there is no protection for such sites and nobody cares 

 sufficiently to save them, and so, in this case at least, what is probably 

 one of the most interesting sites of that coast is lost to science. And 

 there are others. 



From Shismareff, the " Bear " proceeded to Cape Blossom, and 

 the Kotzebue Sound, where, with the valued help of ]Mr. Sylvester 

 Chance, Superintendent of Education for the North-West district, 

 valuable information was obtained concerning a large number of dead 

 villages in this region. Some of these are old and some fairly recent, 

 but all deserve to be explored. Along the Buckland River there is also 

 apparently much archeological as well as paleontological material. 



The Kotzebue Sound is an especially important region to anthro- 

 pology because, as long as either natives or whites remember, here 

 have congregated every year natives from all parts of this region — 

 from the Diomedes, from the East Cape in Asia, from the villages 

 of the Seward Peninsula, and from those of the Arctic coast as far 

 north as Barrow, as well as from the inland rivers. Here doubtless 

 is much to be found and learned, though even here much has already 

 been obliterated or scattered. 



From Kotzebue the journey led along the coast to Point Hope. 

 This coast is barren and unoccupied, or almost so ; and, except at 

 Cape Krusenstern there is apparently but little in the way of older 

 remains. One of the most important and interesting points however of 

 all these coasts, is Point Hope itself. There we meet with a dead 

 village which was occupied up to 30 years ago but whose beginnings 

 are very old. The people have abandoned the village because, it is 

 said, of the encroachment of the sea. They are now occupying a site 

 a little back of it, and are assiduously excavating the old remains and 

 selling the proceeds to whoever comes along. We were there twice — 

 going north and coming back, and had some interesting experiences. 

 Going north the writer bought a good number of old implements, 

 etc., from the natives, especially from one young- woman. When they 

 found that skeletal material also was desired, they brought willingly 

 what they could find from the old village — three human skulls, skulls 

 of dogs and a fox, and other specimens. When the " Bear " came 

 back, the young woman from whom a skull was obtained before, came 

 against all expectation to the boat with a bag on her back containing 

 five very good skulls, which she had excavated from the old burial 

 grounds with her own hands. It was an illustration of the helpful 

 and matter-of-course nature of these natives, who in general are 

 progressing rapidly in civilization. 



