THE ESQUIMAUX

Evening Star, Issue 20109, 25 February 1929, Page 14

THE ESQUIMAUX

THEORY OF ORIGIN RESULT OF BLOOD TESTS, Interesting conclusions regarding' the early movements of Indians and Esquimaux, whoso descendants inhabit the frozen wastes in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of the Mackenzie Hirer basin in Canada, have bee.n tentatively arrived at (says tho ‘ Morning Post ’) by Professor R. Buggies Gates, of King’s College, London, who has returned from an expedition there. He left London in -lime and (ravelled down tho Mackenzie River in latitude 70 degrees north. Here, in an area much of which lies within the Arctic Circle, ho performed blood tests on Indians ami Esquimaux in order to establish if any rclationMiip existed between them “ 1 found,” ho stated, " that tho Indians were suffering from (ho most serious epidemic of influenza they have ever had. This might haye complicated matters had 1 not been able to turn it to good account. The method of blood testing consists in taking a drop of blood from tho ear, and as the Indians seemed to think that the test was in the nature of a euro for influenza, I had littlo difficulty in performing it. In fact, many of them confessed that they feit much better for it. I was made the more welcome because in the whole of the lower Mackenzie basin there is only one doctor. They want more —three, for instance, arc required on the Arctic coast —and an excellent opportunity is open here for young men, who would like, tin experience for a year or two.’ ‘‘Among tho Indians I tested,” ho said, ‘‘were men and children from half a dozen different tribes, wilji sncli_ picturesque names as Dogribs, Acllow Knives, liairskins, and Loucheux. Some ot the children travelled 1,000 miles for tho lest. The results were unexpected. ■ The Indian tribes gave results similar to those that -have been recorded for other Indian tribes of North America, while those of the Lsqnimanx resembled results that have been obtained from Manchurians and Chinese, ‘‘From these one could draw the tentative conclusion that the Esquimaux could not have descended, as has been bold by some anthropologists, from Indian ancestors, but came independently across the Behring Strait.” Professor Gales, part of whose object was to obtain botanical spociments, gathered a rich harvest of Arctic flora-winch has been sent lo Kow for dotenmnat.onfrom tho waste tundra of the north. Not all was waste, however, for he found potatoes growing in latitude 69 degrees. On his way back he learnt of the discovery ot cold about halfway down the Mackenzie, a discovery which is leading tho Hudson Bay Company •to consider whether they should provide facilities for a gold uteh next spring.