Show c I. I f.- f. Ilsk Are Urged to So G Native gain as Civilization Takes Toll of f White White- WhiteMan's Manst Mans Man's t Ways Proves s Qa Bad for qan Can ii d s 's First Citizens Citizens' 1 I T 1 C i I By NE NEA ServI Service e. e f i VIK Northwest Territories N The 20 The march marcho o of civilization into the frozen north L is threatening to change to chanie the Eskimos from the 1 healthiest and happiest of peoples to 1 arace race s subject to the ravages of all aU the the diseases which trouble h white brothers krothe s. s Adoption n of the white mans man's food I And d tho white mans man's clothing has has' cre- cre at cf this problem and the he Canadian n nJ J government v has decided to try to combat It st by an effort to Induce induce- the Eskimo to go native again Here Herc Is the picture 20 or so years ago the Eskimo led In his native huts wOre caribou Min clothing and his principal foods were fish seal meat and caribou aUrl nil all rl Jn h the oils which the eight months of biting cold in that region d demands mands The Eskimo knew few diseases an and was aS perhaps the healthiest man alive aUve B THEN N CIVILIZATION CIVILIZATION Then 1 the white m man n stepped in with Jus woolen clothing his radios his r musical instruments and his canned food Natives are employed by him himas himas as as guides and laborers where they have ample opportunity to see how li he lives t J Natives immediately want woolen cothes radios and the other modern fm Implements to which they have bave been introduced They s seem em to have an ano o obsession b for for- all kinds of ot musical instruments and a traveler passing an an Eskimo hut in in- inthe the dead of winter may hear the strains of ot Red Hot Mamma or some other azz jazz tune from rom the moaning saxophone of ot Rudy VaUces native counterpart The Esk Eskimos Es Es- k kimos inos hear the latest tunes over their radios S and many runny are so musically in inclined in in- dined cUned that they can play them after bearing hearing them a single time To o get these things they must sell furs to traders They take tak so much of Qt their time trapping g and shooting fur-bearing fur animals that they have little lime time left to lay in their winter food L LIVE HAND RAND TO TO MOUTH l I The Th result Is that they are forced t to live from ha hand d to mouth during the colder colder- months months- buying canned food from the trading posts posta Canned soup may be fine in warmer wanner warm warm- er climates but it is not recommended b by th the best dietitians for the pol polar regions The Eskimos s have become susceptIble susceptible ible to influenza pneumonia and other white mans man's diseases but since they have never had these diseases before they have not built up a re re- re to them as the white man has Whole villages have been wiped out It is hard to obtain the natives necessary to carry on enterprises al already already al al- ready started v As an answer to this problem the thel Canadian government has sent four young physicians into this region region- one oneat at Chesterfield Inlet Hudson bay another at Pangnirtung Baffin Baum island I a third at the mouth of ot the Coppermine Coppermine Copper Copper- opper- opper mine river in ill the western the western arctic arctic- and the fourth here In Aklavik at the tho mouth of the Mackenzie river TRY PERSUASION They They are trying to persuade their r i native charges to return ri to their theli theirs s seal meat fish ish and caribou and to discard tea canned so soups ps and pork and beans They will also show just why caribou skin is better is-better better p protection against life polar blizzards than a B woolen sweater Canada has recognized that the Es Es- kimo is essential l to progress in the northwest To provide more animals for the meat and clothing needed the gov government has Imported some 1500 reindeer from Alaska and will place them on a game preserve until they have pave reached sufficient lent numbers to allow hunting They will replace the tho caribou both for tor food and for clothing Canada is also carefully guarding the Eskimo ag against exploitation by unscrupulous traders but the native I is rapidly becoming able to take care carel I of ot himself in in this respect But it is in the industrialization o of the Eskimo that most authorities believe believe be be- lieve the greatest t surety of his survival survival sur sur- vival lies Hes I If he can be taught tomake to tomake tomake make a a finished product Instead of ot sending out the raw materials they I believe he can look took after himself in these days of ot changing times in the northland And then perhaps the Eskimo will again show a smiling face and a readiness readiness readi readi- ness to joke with his good friend the white man |