The Living Indian
Notes on the living Indians of the Yukon have already been given in the Narrative. They will be briefly summarized in this place. Measurements of the living were impracticable during the journey.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 13
Tanana Indian Woman
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 14
Chief San Joseph, near Tanana Village, on the Yukon
(A. H., 1926.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 15
a. Jacob and Andrew, Yukon Indians at Kokrines. Jacob probably has a trace of white blood.
(A. H., 1926.)
b, Yukon Indians at Kokrines. (A. H., 1926.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 16
a, Marguerite Johnny Yatlen, Koyukuk village. (A. H., 1926)
b, Lucy John, Koyukuk, daughter of a former chief. (A. H., 1926)
Yukon Indians
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 17
a, George Halfway, Nulato, on the Yukon. (A. H., 1926)
b, Jack Curry, of Nulato, 41 years old. (Now at Ruby, Middle Yukon; Eskimoid physiognomy)
c, Arthur Malamvot, of Nulato
Yukon Indians
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 18
a, Indian children, Mission School at Anvik, Lower Middle Yukon
b, Indian children, Mission School at Anvik, Lower Middle Yukon
c, Two women of Anvik, on the Yukon, somewhat Eskimoid
Pure bloods.—The Yukon Indians are a sparse and largely mixed population. The mixture is especially evident in the children and the younger generation. It is mainly that with whites, but in the lower settlements there is also a good deal of older mixture with the Eskimo. There is fortunately as yet no Negro admixture.
General type.—The full bloods are typically Indian, though not of the pronounced plains type. The type is fairly uniform, but there is not seldom, even up the river, as elsewhere in Alaska, a suggestion of something Eskimoid in the physiognomy.
Color.—The color in general is near medium brown, ranging to lighter rather than darker. The hair is the usual full black of the Indian.
Stature and strength.—- The stature and build are generally near medium, rather slightly below than above.
Head form.—The head is generally moderately rounded high meso- to moderately brachycephalic. The face is medium Indian.
Body.—The body proportions seldom impress one with unusual strength, yet some of the men are by no means weaklings. The most fitting term by which to characterize conditions in this respect is again "medium," with an occasional deviation one way or the other.
Photographs.—The accompanying photographs, taken by the writer from Tanana to Anvik, show a few of the physiognomies. Some of the girls and women, as well as boys and men, are quite good looking. (Pls. 13-18.)
From Anvik downward along the river the type of the people becomes plainly more Eskimoid and on the whole more robust. But as one can frequently meet farther up the river individuals who remind one more or less of the Eskimo, so here it is frequent to see faces that look like Indian. Whether due to old mixture or to other reason, the fact is that there is no line of somatological demarcation in the living populations of the river, and the same applies, as will be seen later, to the skulls.