In stature these people are of a medium height, robust, and
muscular, inclining rather to spareness than corpulence, though
the fullness of the face and the thick fur clothing often gives
the impression of the latter. There is, however, considerable
individual variation among them in this respect. The women are
as a rule shorter than the men, occasionally almost dwarfish,
though some women are taller than many of the men. The tallest
man observed measured 5 feet 9½ inches and the shortest 4 feet 11
inches. The tallest woman was 5 feet 3 inches in height and the
shortest 4 feet ½ inch. The heaviest man weighed 204 pounds and the
lightest 126 pounds. One woman weighed 192 pounds and the shortest
woman was also the lightest, weighing only 100 pounds. The hands
and feet are small and well shaped, though the former soon become
distorted and roughened by work. We did not observe the peculiar
breadth of hands noticed by Doctor Simpson, nor is the shortness of
the thumb which he mentions sufficient to attract attention. Their
feet are so small that only one of our party, who is much below
the ordinary size, was able to wear the boots made by the natives
for themselves. Small and delicate hands and feet appear to be a
universal characteristic of the Eskimo race and have been mentioned
by most observers from Greenland to Alaska.
The face is broad, flat, and round, with high cheek bones and
rather low forehead, broad across the brow and narrowing above,
while the head is somewhat pointed toward the crown. The peculiar
shape of the head is somewhat masked by the way of wearing the hair
and is best seen in the skull. The nose is short, with little or
no bridge--few Eskimo were able to wear our spring eyeglasses--and
broad, especially across the alæ nasæ, with a peculiar, rounded,
somewhat bulbous tip, and large nostrils. The eyes are horizontal,
with rather full lids and are but slightly sunken below the level
of the face.
The mouth is large and the lips full, especially the under
one. The teeth are naturally large, and in youth are white and
generally regular, but by middle age they are generally worn down
to flat-crowned stumps, as is usual among the Eskimo. The color of
the skin is a light yellowish brown, with often considerable ruddy
color on the cheeks and lips. There appears to be much natural
variation in the complexion, some women being nearly as fair as
Europeans, while other individuals seem to have naturally a coppery
color. In most cases the complexion appears darker than it really
is from the effects of exposure to the weather. All sunburn very
easily, especially in the spring, when there is a strong reflection
from the snow.
The old are much wrinkled, and they frequently suffer from
watery eyes, with large sacks under them, which begin to form at
a comparatively early age. There is considerable variation in
features, as well as complexion, among them, even in cases where
there seems to be no suspicion of mixed blood. There were several
men among them with decided aquiline noses and something of a
Hebrew cast of countenance. The eyes are of various shades of
dark brown--two pairs of light hazel eyes were observed--and are
often handsome. The hair is black, perfectly straight, and very
thick. With the men it is generally coarser than with the women,
who sometimes have very long and silky hair, though it generally
does not reach much below the shoulders. The eyebrows are thin and
the beard scanty, growing mostly upon the upper lip and chin and
seldom appearing under the age of 20. In this they resemble most
Eskimo. Back, however, speaks of the "luxuriant beards and flowing
mustaches" of the Eskimo of the Great Fish River. Some of the older
men have rather heavy black mustaches, but there is much variation
in this respect. The upper part of the body, as much as is commonly
exposed in the house, is remarkably free from hair. The general
expression is good humored and attractive.
The males, even when very young, are remarkable for their graceful
and dignified carriage. The body is held erect, with the shoulders
square and chest well thrown out, the knees straight, and the
feet firmly planted on the ground. In walking they move with long
swinging elastic strides, the toes well turned out and the arms
swinging. * * *
I should say that they walked like well-built athletic white men.
The women, on the other hand, although possessing good physiques,
are singularly ungraceful in their movements. They walk at a sort
of shuffling half trot, with the toes turned in, the body leaning
forward, and the arms hanging awkwardly.
A noticeable thing about the women is the remarkable flexibility of
the body and limbs and the great length of time they can stand in a
stooping posture. * * * Both men and women have a very fair share
of muscular strength. Some of the women especially showed a power
of carrying heavy loads superior to most white men. We were able to
make no other comparisons of their strength with ours. Their power
of endurance is very great, and both sexes are capable of making
long distances on foot. Two men sometimes spend 24 hours tramping
through the rough ice in search of seals, and we knew of instances
where small parties made journeys of 50 or 75 miles on foot without
stopping to sleep.
The women are not prolific. Although all the adults are or have
been married, many of them are childless, and few have more than
two children. One woman was known to have at least four, but
investigations of this sort were rendered extremely difficult by
the universal custom of adoption. Doctor Simpson heard of a "rare
case" where one woman had borne seven children. We heard of no
twins at either village, though we obtained the Eskimo word for
twins.