﻿NO. lO SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATJONS, T923 99 



ETHNOLOGICAL STUDIES IN ALMNE. CANADA, AND LABRADOR 



Dr. Truman Alichelson, ethnologist in the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology, left Washington towards the close of iNIay for a recon- 

 naissance trip among the Algonquian trihes of northeastern United 

 States and the adjacent parts of Canada including the Lahrador 

 peninsula. The Penohscot Indians of Maine rememl)er their ethnology 

 and folk-lore very well ; hut their language is dying. Practically none 

 of the younger generation speak it ; so it is only a matter of time hefore 

 it is extinct. The native arts and industries are still kept up. In sharp 

 contrast with them are the Malecites of " Indian Village," about 

 14 miles from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Everyone, even 

 small children, speak the language ; yet English is understood and 

 spoken also. In their own homes, however, the Indian language is 

 practically the only one in use. Their native arts and industries are 

 still practiced. It was a rare treat to see them pound ash and then draw 

 out the long splints which are used in basketry. The folk-lore is still 

 remembered. Init their ethnology properly speaking is nearly gone. 

 It should be noted that as Penobscot, Malecite, and ^Nlicmac have a 

 partially developed dual, in contrast to the Central Algonquian lan- 

 guages, it is plausible to consider this grammatical feature as due to 

 Esquimauan influence. 



Dr. Michelson left Sydney, Nova Scotia. June 19, and arrived at 

 Port-aux-Basques. Newfoundland, the next day. Erom there he went 

 to St. Johns liy rail. While in St. Johns he took the cranial measure- 

 ments of four Beothuk skulls in the local museum. These, of course, 

 are too few in number to guide us regarding the racial affinities of 

 the Beothuks, beyond their general American Indian one. Yet it 

 may be worth noting that three of the skulls were mesocephalic (two 

 nearly dolichocephalic) and one (a female) brachycephalic. It may be 

 further noted that one skull (that of a male) had an unusually heavy 

 supra-orbital ridge. Dr. Michelson left St. Johns on June 2~, for 

 Rigolet, Labrador, on the S. S. Sagona. The passage was rather severe 

 for the season of the year, but this was more than recompensed for by 

 the sight of so many ice-bergs. At Wesleyville the trip was livened by 

 the ship striking rocks, fortunately without damage. It will ht remem- 

 bered that the Portia earlier in the season was fast on the rocks. And 

 at Lord Arm. Dr. Michelson's steamer found the Ranger standing by 

 Seal, whose propeller had been broken off by ice. The Sagona arrived 

 at Rigolet. Labrador, July 3. The next day Dr. ^iichelson left in a 

 motor boat for the Northwest River. The weather was rough and 



