l86 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I28 



older Eskimo skills, but most of them are content to let the future 

 take care of itself. 



In contrast to the Indians, who are wards of the Government, the 

 Eskimos are citizens and as such are subject to all laws governing 

 citizenship. However, they are still allowed to hunt and kill game 

 at will. In most places they not only kill to supply their own needs, 

 but for food for their dog teams as well. The situation is fast becom- 

 ing a problem difficult of solution. 



Although the marine invertebrates of the Point Barrow region are 

 not a source of food for the natives, they are nevertheless of great 

 importance for they furnish food for the marine mammals that are 

 eaten by the Eskimos. 



The whales (mainly bowhead) are of first importance as a source 

 of food for the Eskimos, several being taken in the spring of each 

 year and the flesh stored underground in cellars, where it remains 

 edible for three or four years. They feed on euphausiids ("krill" of 

 the whalers) mysids, pteropods, and copepods of which there is an 

 unlimited supply. This food is so abundant that the great blue whale 

 can attain a weight of 60 tons in two years. Baleen whales probably 

 lead the easiest life of any mammal. These enormous creatures have 

 only to swim slowly through water which has about the same specific 

 gravity as themselves, opening and closing their mouths and swallow- 

 ing food. 



To an Eskimo the most delectable food is whale muktuk, which 

 consists of whale skin with about an inch of the underlying blubber. 

 After freezing, the muktuk is cut into small squares and eaten raw. 

 It has a nutty flavor and is really quite good. 



Perhaps next in importance in the native economy is the bearded 

 seal. This marine mammal, which reaches a weight of 500 to 600 

 pounds, feeds almost exclusively on amphipods, using its whiskers for 

 sweeping them from the underside of the ice. The teeth are very small 

 and are of little use for holding or masticating food. In winter these 

 seals are hunted in offshore leads ; they float when shot, so can be taken 

 easily. In summer they are hunted in boats ; they sink when shot, and 

 if not immediately harpooned, are lost. I accompanied my two boat- 

 men on a summer hunt and although 1 1 seals were shot, 7 were lost. 



The little harbor seals are abundant and have habits much the 

 same as those of the bearded seal, but they seldom if ever weigh over 

 50 pounds. 



According to generally reliable information, the walrus is not nearly 

 so abundant as formerly ; seldom more than 25 walruses a year are 

 killed at Barrow, and in those summers when the ice goes far offshore 



