3. Except where there has been more contact with whites, a large percentage of these Eskimo are still full bloods. They are a sturdy, cheerful, and liberal yet shrewd lot. They intermarry and mix not inconsiderably among themselves (between villages). Some of the white traders have married Eskimo women and raised promising families. Where larger numbers of whites were or are in proximity clandestine mixture is apparent. The better educated show often decidedly good mental, mechanical, business, and artistic abilities. In the isolated localities, such as St. Lawrence Island, the people have apparently escaped the period of demoralization that so often attends the passing from the old to new conditions.
Tuberculosis and venereal diseases are present but not prevalent; rachitis seems absent. The people show much endurance, but longevity as yet is not much in evidence. Alcoholism is almost nonexistent except on occasions when drink is provided by whites.
4. The region of the western Eskimo shows a former larger population of the same people. This is attested by many "dead" villages and old sites. And this population evidently goes back some centuries at least, for some of the remains are extensive and both their depth and their contents give the impression of prolonged duration; though seemingly all thus far seen could be comprised within the Christian era.
5. No habitations or remains belonging to a distinct people (Indians) have thus far come to light anywhere within the territory of the western Eskimo; and no trace has as yet been found of anything human that could be attributed to greater antiquity than that of the Eskimo. But the older beaches and banks where such remains might have existed have either been covered with storm-driven sands and are now perpetually frozen, or they have been "cut" away and lost; and there seems no hope for finding such remains in the interior away from the sea or streams, for such parts were never under recent geological conditions favorable for human habitation.
6. The now known remains consist of the ruins of dwellings and of accumulated refuse, the two together forming occasionally marked elevated heaps or ridges. Some of these ridges are over 18 feet deep. They contain many archeological specimens of stone, ivory, wood, and bone. The ivory in the older layers is more or less "fossilized." The upper layers of such remains usually contain some articles of white man's manufacture (copper, iron, beads); lower layers are wholly aboriginal. Indian artifacts occur in Eskimo sites only in the proximity of the Indian on the rivers.
7. The prevalent or later culture shown by the remains is fairly rich, of good to relatively rather high grade, and of considerable uniformity. There are numerous indications of extensive trade in various articles, particularly those of the Kobuk "jade."
8. On the Asiatic coast, in the northern parts of the Bering Sea, on the Seward Peninsula, in the Kotzebue region and at Point Hope, the deeper portions of the remains give examples of the higher and richer "fossil ivory culture." This is distinguished by many objects of high-class workmanship, and by curvilinear to scroll designs. The art appears to have distinct affinities with, on one hand, deeper Asia, and on the other with the northwest coast of America and even farther south. It is not clearly separated from either the contemporaneous or the later Eskimo art, yet it is of a higher grade and delicacy and much distinctiveness. It is not yet known where this art begins geographically, what preceded it, whence it was derived, just how far it reached along the coasts, or even what was its main center. It seems best for the present to reserve to it the name of the "fossil ivory art" (rather than Jenness's too limiting "Bering Sea culture"), and to defer all conclusions concerning it to the future.
9. It seems justifiable, however, to point to the significance of what is already known. This "fossil ivory art" especially, but also the general culture of the western Eskimo, are highly developed and differentiated cultures, denoting considerable cultural background, extended duration, and conditions generally favorable to industrial and artistic developments. It has, it is already ascertained, certain affinities in Asia. If this art and the attending culture were advancing toward America, as seems most probable, then the question of cultural influences and introductions from Asia to America will have to be reopened.
10. Due to the perpetually frozen ground and the consequent necessity of surface burials, the area of the western Eskimo was, until recently, relatively rich in skeletal remains lying on the surface. It is no more so now, due to storms, beasts, missionaries, teachers, and scientific collectors. But while only a scattering remains of the surface material, there is much and that of special importance lying in the ground, mostly self-buried or assimilated by the tundra. This material, which now and then is accompanied by interesting archeological specimens, calls for prompt attention; it will help greatly in clearing local and other problems.