Volume 11, 1958 - The Arctic Circle - Home

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THE ARCTIC CIRCULAR
I
VOL. XI No.2 Fublished by The Arctic Circle 1958
Ottawa, Ontario
The Eskimos. By Graham W. Rowley
People have a number of strange ideas about the Eskimos.
One of the strangest is that they are a little-known people. Nothing
could be further from the truth. Ever since the Eskimos were
discovered people have been writing about them. There are a number
of detailed scholaTly accounts covering almost every aspect of the life
of several Eskimo tribes. There arc some general accounts and a
fair number of novels. Then there is a constant flow of books by people
who have visited the north and have spent varying lengths of time there.
These books are an interesting mixture of fact and fiction, of understanding
and mis understanding. With the increased number of people going north
these days this flow has recently become a flood.
With so much being written about the Eskimos it is difficult to
retain a sense of proportion. In fact there are only about 50,000 Eskimos
in the whole world - and only Some 10,000 of these are in Canada. The
population of the world is increasing by about 100.000 every day - each day
the number of people in the wo:rld increasesby twice the whole population of
Eskimos.
,
Though there are 0:11y about 50,000 Es;cimos I they cover an
enormous area, and archaeology and early accounts show that at some
time they have extended still further (Map 1). They are the only native
people who live in both Asia and America. They live on both sides of the
Iron Curtain, and form part of fouT nations, Russia, the United States,
Canada, and Denmark.
Most Eskimos call themselves "Inuit", which simply means
"Men". The word "Eskimo" tv describe a member of this race appears