RESEARCH IN ESKIMO CULTURE 185 



in point of culture between tribes in the Vancouver and Amur regions 

 carry the problem farther beyond the actual Eskimo territory. Kam- 

 chatka would here be a good field of investigation, and we might 

 also point to the north coast of Siberia, at the spot where the Swedish 

 Vega expedition discovered the so-called Onkilon ruins, the finds 

 from which are now in the museum at Stockholm. 



The position of the Aleuts in relation to Eskimo culture also calls 

 for further study. In this question, too, archeological methods have 

 already proved fruitful and, in the hands of experts, will continue 

 to yield valuable results. These methods should be accompanied by 

 the requisite observations as to geological and other features of in- 

 terest. Where a deposit left by previous occupation is of such thick- 

 ness as to indicate considerable length of time it is most essential 

 that the investigation should be carried out by strata. To determine 

 the exact chronological sequence of the types found, from the lowest 

 layers to those above, is very necessary indeed. 



Nor should we here omit to note that archeological investigations 

 on what is now Indian territory might help to throw light on the 

 question as to the previous southern limit of Eskimo occupation. 



Among the Eskimos of the present day accurate investigations 

 are needed in several quarters, as for instance, on the west, among 

 the tribes of the Yukon and Bristol Bay and, on the east, of the east 

 coast of Hudson Bay and the shores of Hudson Strait. Both in Alaska 

 and Labrador there is also a lack of anthropological measurements 

 and physiological investigations. 



So much, then, for archeology, which from its very nature is 

 and must be the main source of the information we are seeking as 

 to the Eskimos and their past in fields associated with the origin of 

 their culture, their life, and the route followed in their migrations. 



Importance of Folklore Studies 



An altogether different field of work, which, however, likewise 

 offers most valuable information, is that of folklore — the unwritten 

 history of the Eskimos, handed down by oral tradition from genera- 

 tion to generation throughout centuries. I am aware that some caution 

 is always needed when dealing with material procured in this way; 

 on the other hand, when we have proofs of the reliability with which 

 a tradition has been preserved for a thousand years, so that one 

 finds the same story told word for word in Greenland precisely as 

 in Alaska, it is hardly too much to say that folklore also may be 

 regarded as a source of the very greatest importance. 



Folk tales from all regions should be written down, with carefully 

 formulated specimens of the language and dialect. As regards the 

 Greenland Eskimos, there are already most exhaustive collections. 



