iikdliCKA] ORIGIN* AXI1 AXTIQI'ITY OF THE ESKIMO 341 



Captain Pirn also expressed his belief that " (he Eskimo were pure 

 American aborigines, and not of Asiatic descent." 



Rink, 1875 : 74 "If we suppose the physical conditions and the 

 climate of the Eskimo regions not to have altered in any remarkable 

 way since they were first inhabited, their inhabitants of course must 

 originally have come from more southern latitudes, * * * it ap- 

 peals evident on many grounds that such a southern tribe has not been 

 a roast people migrating along the seashore, and turning into Eskimo 

 on passing beyond a certain latitude, but that they have more prob- 

 ably emerged from some interior country, following the river banks 

 toward the shores of the polar sea, having reached which they be- 

 came a coast people, and, moreover, a polar-coast people. The Eskimo 

 most evidently representing the polar-coast people of North America, 

 the first question which arises seems to be whether their development 

 can be conjectured with any probability to have taken place in that 

 part of the world. Other geographical conditions appear greatly to 

 favor such a supposition * * *. The rivers taking their course to 

 the sea between Alaska and the Coppermine River, seem well adapted 

 to lead such a migrating people onward to the polar sea. * * 



" The probable identity of the ' inlanders ' with the Indians has al- 

 ready been remarked on. When the new coast people began to spread 

 along the Arctic shores, some bands of them may very probably have 

 crossed Bering Strait and settled on the opposite shore, which is 

 perhaps identical with the fabulous country of Akilinek. On the 

 other hand, there is very little probability that a people can have 

 moved from interior Asia to settle on its polar seashore, at the same 

 time turning Eskimo, and afterwards almost wholly emigrated to 

 America. 



" On comparing the Eskimo with the neighboring nations, their 

 physical complexion certainly seems to point at an Asiatic origin ; 

 but, as far as we know, the latest investigations have also shown a 

 transitional link to exist between the Eskimo and the other American 

 nations, which would sufficiently indicate the possibility of a common 

 origin from the same continent.'' 



Rink, 1875 : 75 " The author, who has traveled and resided in Green- 

 land for 20 years, and has studied the native traditions, of which 

 he has preserved a collection, considers the Eskimo as deserving 

 particular attention in regard to the question how America has been 

 originally peopled. He desires to draw the attention of ethnologists 

 to the necessity of explaining, by means of the mysterious early 



" Rink, H., Tales and traditions of the Eskimo, pp. 70, 71, 72, 73. Edinburgh and 

 London, 1875. 



15 Rink, II.. On the descent of the Eskimo. In a Selection of Papers on Arctic Geog- 



ruphy and Ethnology, Roy. Geog. Soc, pp 230, 232. London, 1875. 



