Article April 12, 1900 Issue

Strange Tribe of Eskimo

Just Discovered on Island in Hudson's Bay.

Boston Herald

On a big island in Hudson's Bay a hitherto unknown tribe of Eskimo has been found. Whalers discovered them, and the authorities at the American Museum of Natural History, hearing the news, sent Captain C. Cromer to investigate them. How well his work has been done is evidenced by the glass cases now at the Museum in New York City, filled with the strangest exhibit that ever came even from the strange north land.

Until the last few months these people had never seen a white man. They inhabit Southampton Island, which is almost as large as the state of Maine. It is at the northwestern end of Hudson's Bay. For centuries this tribe has not had the slightest communication with other Eskimo. When discovered they were still living in the stone age, and know no metals until they were introduced within a year by visiting whalers, and to-day they live just as they did when they first emigrated—from no one knows where. Their residence probably antedates the discovery of America by Columbus.

They speak a dialect different from that of any other known tribe. Their huts are built of the skulls and jaws of whales, covered with skins of animals. Snow huts are the fashion among other Eskimo.

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