60 REPORT ON THE INTRODUCTION OF 



a deer was sick and had been brought to the station for treatment, 

 especially if taken inside the building, a catastrophe was certain to 

 happen, either to the reindeer, most of which were certain to die, or 

 else to one of the Siberians. 



On one occasion I returned to the station after going a few miles on 

 my way to Cape Prince of Wales with deer, on account of a storm. I 

 put my team in the frame building, intending to make another start 

 the next morning, if the storm cleared away. It continued to blow 

 furiously for three days, however, when a number of natives came to 

 me, with the Siberians, and asked to have the deer turned out, giving 

 as a reason that the storm would not cease until the deer were out of 

 the house, and there were some natives at the village from a distance 

 who were anxious to return home. The deer were not sent to the herd 

 and the storm cleared off beautifully the following day. 



Tbe Siberians wear ermine skins suspended from their necks. These 

 skins are regarded as charms against sickness. One of them, in remov- 

 ing his skin coat one day, accidentally dropped it. When he missed it 

 he was in a violent state of despondency for fear he would not be able 

 to find it again, in which event he would die. He never found the skin, 

 and he yet lives. 



On another occasion we had two deer brought to the station and 

 confined in a pen in order to teach them to eat corn meal. It was a 

 matter that worried the Siberians a great deal, and they insisted that 

 if they were not turned out a great many deer would die. They were 

 kept in the inclosure over two weeks and not one died. 



These are but a few of the superstitions that worried them and they 

 were always poured into our ears. We found it did no good to ridicule 

 them and finally listened to them without comment. 



While there is perhaps no marked difference between the Siberians 

 in their features or the color of their skin, they speak a different dialect, 

 and in this there is a wide difference. With the Siberians the use ot 

 the aspirate is frequent, but rarely does it occur among the Alaskans. 



The Arctic Eskimo wear their hair shaved close to the scalp on the 

 crown of the head, the rest being allowed to grow low down on the 

 forehead and neck, while the Siberians wear the crown closely shaven, 

 and usually two narrow fringes are worn, with rings shaved all around 

 their heads. The Siberians have their ears pierced a little above the 

 tips, from which one or two single strings of beads are allowed to 

 dangle. The practice of wearing beads among the Alaskan natives is 

 confined to the women. 



The Siberians are of a nervous temperament, or at least they can not 

 sit still any length of time. I have thought it was caused by their 

 having to change their position so much when with the deer, being 

 obliged to move about more or less to keep up the circulation. 



Soon after the arrival of the deer we found that any innovation we 

 proposed to introduce would be resisted by them vigorously. If a deer 



