208 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 18, 1916 



The walrus, still abundant in Alaskan waters, have largely forsaken 

 the eastern coast. Whales are more frequent in Arctic Alaska, 

 although rapidly growing less, than in Hudson bay as the number of 

 whaling ships might testify. There is no such tremendous competi 

 tion by white sealers and fishers in the west as obtains on the 

 Labrador coast. Although the eastern region has the advantage 

 in wild reindeer, the Alaskan Eskimo has drawn on the tame herds 

 of his cousin, the Chukchi, since early times, for warm clothing, 

 and now, thanks to the American government, has herds of his 

 own. The general outlook of the Eskimo ,in the west appears 

 more favorable, and his condition an improvement over the old 

 home region of Hudson bay. Consequently, we might expect 

 increased stature without taking into account a possible intermixture 

 with the Indians of the west, which is difficult of proof. 



The author does not see why the possibilities of intermixture 

 with Indian tribes are any greater in the west than the east. So 

 far as we know, the Eskimo have been in contact with the Indians 

 in the east as long as in the west. In both regions there has been 

 constant warfare and a deep-seated and ancient racial antipathy. 

 No cases of intermixture have been recorded, although there is a 

 bare possibility of an intermixture previous to historical times. It 

 is true that the Alaskan Eskimo, from the Yukon south, have bor 

 rowed much of Indian customs and mythology, but even here the 

 racial type is well preserved and the boundary sharply marked. 

 The northern Alaskan Eskimo have more intercourse with Siberia 

 through the Diomede islands than with the interior Athapascan. 

 A very ancient trade has been followed by a considerable inter 

 mixture of blood in the Bering strait region. The inhabitants of 

 the Diomedes take their descent in about equal proportions from 

 the American and Asiatic sides of the strait. Those Eskimo who 

 have penetrated to the Asiatic side (the Asiatic Eskimo) are now 

 bi-lingual and have adopted the dress and habitations of the Chukchi. 

 The amalgamation of these peoples is now nearly complete, the 

 Eskimo only occupying a few remaining villages on the Siberian 

 shore. Long before the advent of the white man in these parts, 

 they made visits in company to the American side, first hostile, and 



