1 86 POLAR PROBLEMS 



On the Fifth Thule Expedition I endeavored, wherever I went, to 

 procure as much material as possible, writing it all down in the 

 original; and, despite the great amount of time occupied in journeying 

 from place to place, I managed nevertheless to obtain exhaustive 

 collections from the Hudson Bay regions, the Barren Grounds, King 

 William Island, Bathurst Inlet, the Mackenzie delta, and the Colville 

 River, Alaska. Obviously, however, much still remains to be done 

 in this field of work. 



The Eskimo folk tales are altogether unique and unlike the folk- 

 lore of other primitive peoples. We find here graphic imagination 

 and simple narrative skill combined with the greatest respect for 

 historical fact, and endless information may be gleaned from these 

 stories as to the relations of one tribe with another, their life, and 

 their religious ideas. 



It would be highly desirable to obtain collections from East Cape, 

 Siberia, and the Yukon region with Bristol Bay, as the material at 

 present available from these important localities — and also, by the 

 way, from the islands in Bering Strait — is still very inadequate. And 

 it is a matter which will not admit of delay. There is still a wealth 

 of varied material waiting for those who take up the work now; but, 

 before many years have passed, the advance of civilization will 

 have introduced white men's ways and customs everywhere, and it 

 will then be too late. The material will be lost beyond recall. 



Ethnographical Collections in Museums 



The same applies to the collection of ordinary ethnographical, 

 as distinct from archeological, objects throwing light on the present- 

 day culture of the Eskimos as regards their implements, now disap- 

 pearing. Here also white men's gear has almost everywhere ousted 

 the simple yet most ingenious inventions of the Eskimos themselves. 

 It is still possible, however, to make collections in the more isolated 

 districts. 



It is fortunate, then, that various museums already possess rich 

 and instructive collections. As regards the Old World, by far the 

 greater part of Eskimo material is found in Northern Europe. The 

 most comprehensive collection is that of the National Museum in 

 Copenhagen; and as regards Greenland and the Central Eskimos it 

 is doubtless the most important. The Western Eskimos, who are 

 less thoroughly represented here, will be found together with the 

 Northwest Indians in a rich collection in the Ethnographical Museum 

 in Berlin, mainly acquired from the travels of Adrian Jacobsen. 



Copenhagen is a leading center of Eskimo archeology; the archeol- 

 ogy of Greenland is also well represented in Stockholm. At Oslo 

 there is the rich collection brought home by the Gjoa expedition from 



