Alaska and the opposite parts of Asia hold, in all probability, the key
to the problem of the peopling of America. It is here, and here alone,
where a land of another continent approaches so near to America that a
passage of man with primitive means of navigation and provisioning was
possible. All the affinities of the American native point toward the
more eastern parts of Asia. In Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet, Manchuria,
Formosa, and in some of the islands off southeastern Asia, living
remnants of the same type of man as the American aborigines are to this
day encountered, and it is here in the farthest northwest where actual
passings of parties of natives between the Asiatic coast and the Bering
Sea islands and between the latter and the American coasts have always,
since these parts were known, been observed and are still of common
occurrence.
With these facts before them, the students of the peopling of this
continent were always drawn strongly to Alaska and the opposite parts
of Asia; but the distances, the difficulties of communication, and
the high costs of exploration in these far-off regions have proven a
serious hindrance to actual investigation. As a result, but little
direct, systematic, archeological or anthropological (somatological)
research has ever been carried out in these regions; though since
Bering's, Cook's, and Vancouver's opening voyages to these parts a
large amount of general, cultural, and linguistic observations on the
natives has accumulated.
For these observations, which are much in need of a compilation and
critical analysis, science is indebted to the above-named captains;
to the subsequent Russian explorers, and especially to the Russian
clerics who were sent to Alaska as missionaries or priests to the
natives; to various captains, traders, agents, miners, soldiers,
and men in collateral branches of science, who came in contact with
the aborigines; to special United States Government exploratory
expeditions, with an occasional participation of the Biological Survey
and the Smithsonian Institution, such as resulted in the fine "Corwin"
reports and the highly valuable accounts of Leffingwell, Dall, Nelson,
and Murdoch; to the separate pieces of scientific work by men such as
Gordon and Jennes; and to Jochelson and Bogoras of the Jesup exploring
expedition of the American Museum.
As a result of all these contributions, it may be said that there
has been established a fair cultural and linguistic knowledge of the
Aleut, the Eskimo, and the Chukchee, not to speak of the Tlingit,
consideration of which seems more naturally to fall with that of the
Indians of the northwest coast.
There are also numerous though often very imperfect and occasionally
rather contradictory notes on the physical status of these peoples,
and some valuable cultural and even skeletal collections were made.
Since 1912 we possess also a good series of measurements on the St.
Lawrence Island natives, together with valuable cranial material from
that locality, made, under the direction of the writer, by Riley D.
Moore, at that time aide in the Division of Physical Anthropology in
the United States National Museum.
The need of a further systematic archeological and somatological
research in this important part of the world was long since felt,
and several propositions were made in this line to the National
Research Council (Hrdlička) and to the Smithsonian Institution (Hough,
Hrdlička); but nothing came of these until the early part of 1926,
when, a little money becoming available, the writer was intrusted
by the Bureau of American Ethnology with the making of an extensive
preliminary survey of Alaska. The objects of the trip were, in brief,
to ascertain as much as possible about the surviving Indians and
Eskimos; to trace all indications of old settlements and migrations;
and to collect such skeletal and archeological material as might be of
importance.
The trip occupied approximately four months, from the latter part
of May to the latter part of September, affording a full season in
Alaska. It began with the inside trip from Vancouver to Juneau, where
at several of the stopping places groups of the northwest coast
Indians were observed. At Juneau examination was made of the valuable
archeological collections in the local museum. After this followed a
trip with several stops along the gulf, a railroad trip with some stops
to Fairbanks, a return trip to Nenana, a boat trip on the Tanana to the
Yukon, and then, with little boats of various sorts, a trip with many
stops for about 900 miles down the Yukon. This in turn was followed by
a side trip in Norton Sound, after which transportation was secured
to the island of St. Michael and to Nome. From Nome, after some work
in the vicinity, the revenue cutter _Bear_ took the writer to the St.
Lawrence and Diomede Islands, to Cape Wales, and thence from place to
place of scientific interest up to Barrow. On the return a number of
the more important places, besides some new ones, were touched upon,
while the visit to others was prevented by the increasing storms, and
the trip ended at Unalaska.
Throughout the journey, the writer received help from the Governor,
officials, missionaries, traders, and people of Alaska; from the
captain, officers, and crew of the _Bear_; and from many individuals;
for all of which cordial thanks are hereby once more rendered. Grateful
acknowledgments are especially due to the following gentlemen: Governor
George A. Parks, of Alaska; Mr. Harry G. Watson, his secretary; Mr.
Karl Thiele, Secretary for Alaska; Judge James Wickersham, formerly
Delegate from Alaska; Father A. P. Kashevaroff, curator of the
Territorial Museum and Library of Juneau; Dr. William Chase, of
Cordova; Mr. Noel W. Smith, general manager Government railroad of
Alaska; Mr. B. B. Mozee, Indian supervisor, and Dr. J. A. Romig, of
Anchorage; Prof. C. E. Bunnell, president Alaska Agriculture College,
at Fairbanks; Mr. and Mrs. Fullerton, missionaries, at Tanana; Rev.
J. W. Chapman and Mr. Harry Lawrence, at Anvik; Father Jetté and
Jim Walker, at Holy Cross; Mr. C. Betsch, at the Russian Mission;
Messrs. Frank Tucker and E. C. Gurtler, near the mission; Mr. Frank P.
Williams, of St. Michael; Judge G. J. Lomen and his sons and daughter,
at Nome; Rev. Dr. Baldwin, Fathers La Fortune and Post, Captain Ross,
United States Coast Guard, and Mr. Elmer Rydeem, merchant, at Nome;
C. S. Cochran, captain of the _Bear_, and his officers, particularly
Mr. H. Berg, the boatswain; Rev. F. W. Goodman and Mr. LaVoy, at Point
Hope; the American teachers at Wales, Shishmareff, Kotzebue, Point
Hope, and elsewhere; Messrs. Tom Berryman, Jim Allen; and Charles
Brower, traders, respectively, at Kotzebue, Wainright, and Barrow; Mr.
Sylvester Chance, superintendent of education, Kotzebue, Alaska; the
United States marshals, deputy marshals, and postmasters along the
route; and the numerous traders, miners, settlers, and others who were
helpful with specimens, advice, guidance, and in other matters.