The Eskimos of Alaska are a much finer race physically than their kindred of Greenland and Labrador. In the extreme north, at Point Barrow, and along the coast of Bering Sea they are of medium size. At Point Barrow the average height of the males is 5 feet 3 inches and average weight 153 pounds; of the women, 4 feet 11 inches and weight 135 pounds. On the Nushagak River the average weight of the men is from 150 to 167 pounds. From Cape Prince of Wales to Icy Cape along the Arctic Coast and on the great inland rivers emptying into the Arctic Ocean they are a large race, many of them being 6 feet and over in height.[93] They are lighter in color and fairer than the North American Indian, have black and brown eyes, black hair, some with a tinge of brown, high cheek bones, fleshy faces, small hands and feet, and good teeth. The men have thin beards.
1916, Hawkes:[94]
The Alaskan Eskimo are a taller and more symmetrical people than their brethren of the central and eastern districts. They lack that appearance of stoutness and squatness inherent in the eastern stock, and for proportion and development of the various parts of the body they do not compare unfavorably with Indians and whites. It is not unusual to find in an Alaskan Eskimo village several men who are 6 feet tall, with magnificent shoulders and arms and bodily strength in proportion. The usual height, however, is about 168 centimeters for men, which is some 10 centimeters above the height of the eastern Eskimo. * * * The average for women among the western Eskimo is 158 centimeters, which approximates the height of the men in the Hudson Bay region, 158 centimeters (Boas). The female type in Alaska is taller and slimmer than in the east, and the width of the face is considerably less. Eskimo women of large stature are often seen in the northern section of Alaska. The individual variation here is more conspicuous than in Labrador or Hudson Bay.
1923, Jenness:[95]
In his report on the Copper Eskimos, D. Jenness gives excellent descriptive notes on this group with references to others. These notes, too voluminous to be transcribed, may well be consulted in these connections.
FOOTNOTES:
[67] Cook, Capt. James, and Capt. James King. A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. London, 1784, II, vol. 2, p. 300.
[68] Kotzebue, Otto von, A voyage of discovery into the South Sea and Bering Strait, 1815-1818, vol. 1, p. 209. London, 1821.
[69] Beechey, F. W., Narrative of a voyage to the Pacific and Bering Strait. Philadelphia, 1832, pp. 474-476.
[70] Latham, Robert G., The varieties of man. London, 1850, pp. 290-292.