THE 



AMERICAN NATURALIST. 



Vol. IX. — AUGUST, 1875. — Wo. 8. 



ALASKAN MUMMIES. 



For nearly a hundred years it has been known, through the 

 quaint accounts of the early voyagers, that certain tribes of 

 southern Alaska preserved the bodies of their dead. Up to a 

 very recent period, however, no examples of this practice had 

 reached any ethnological museum, or fallen under the observation 

 of any scientific observer. When the territory was purchased, 

 had it continued as accessible as during 1868, it might have rea- 

 sonably been expected to attraet many investigators in Natural 

 History and Ethnology, whose chief difficulty would have been an 

 embarras de rickesse. But private interest and public indifference 

 united to seal it up from inspection. Naturalists generally are 

 less easily muzzled than poorly paid political appointees, and 

 hence the obstacles thrown in the way of exploration have been 

 so great that we can hardly wonder that so few have been able to 

 enter this rich and interesting field. 



During the last four or five years, the investigations of M. 

 Alphonse Pinart, and of the writer, have spread among the resi- 

 dents of the territory some knowledge of the value attached to 

 the ethnological material which surrounds them, and to this fact 

 we owe the collection and preservation of much that is of interest. 

 Among other things which have come to hand in this manner are 

 the only specimens of Alaskan mummies extant. 



