The great size of the Eskimo face is especially apparent in the relations of the mean diameter of the face to stature; it is in this respect no less than 12 per cent in excess of that of the whites in the males and 12.5 per cent in the females.[130]
Lower facial breadth.—Due to the great development of the masseter muscles and the consequent frequent lesser or greater eversion of the angles of the lower jaw, the bigonial diameter in the Eskimo is very large, particularly when taken in relation to stature, and in such relation it looms especially large in the females. Compared with the old American whites, the bigonial breadth in its relation to stature is higher in the Eskimo males by 15.5 per cent, in the Eskimo females by 17.7 per cent. And measurements of Eskimo lower jaws in general show that this breadth in the western contingents is not exceptional.
| Western Eskimo (St. Lawrence Island) | Old Americans | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | Females | Males | Females | |
| Diameter bigonial | 11.78 | 11.18 | 10.63 | 9.84 |
| Female vs. male | 94.9 | 92.6 | ||
| Percentage relation to stature | 7.21 | 7.39 | 6.09 | 6.08 |
| Percentage relation to breadth of face | 80 | 79.5 | 76.7 | 75.8 |
The nose.—The nose of the western Eskimo promises to be of much importance in the study of Eskimo origins in general. Nowhere in this region is it like the nose of the northern or northeastern groups. It is decidedly broader. Its breadth is intermediary between that of the Alaska and other Indians and that of the northern and northeastern Eskimo, connecting with both, and these characteristics are so generalized throughout western Alaska and the Bering Sea islands that they can not possibly be attributed to Indian or other admixture. Nor can this relatively broad nose of the western Eskimo be well attributed to environmental effects, i. e., to a broadening of a formerly narrow nose through climatic conditions. There do not appear to be any such conditions. The only rational explanation seems to be that this is the more original condition of the Eskimo nose, and that the northern and northeastern narrowness is a later derivation. More may be said on this point when we come to consider the skeletal remains.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 39
The Wales People
(Photo by Lomen Bros.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 40