Northwest History. Alaska. Science. United States.

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1937
• Subjects: Alaska; Schools; Teachers; Northwest; Pacific > History > 20th Century; Arctic; Baffin Island; Herschel Island; Northwest Territories; Pacific; Stefansson; Baffin; eskimo*
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/101561

Started Schools for Eskimos in Arctic Just 25 Years Ago Started Schools for Eskimos in Arctic Just 25 Years Ago-- Just a quarter-century ago the Eskimos of the central Canadian arctic region were first coming in contact with the white man. Vil- hjalmur Stefansson was landing an expedition there for the Canadian government, and a mounted police patrol was looking for two Eskimos who had killed two roaming missionaries. Today there are few Eskimos who have not seen a white man, and few who have not adapted their mode of living to his. While there is still no public school system in the Canadian Northwest Territories, government- aided boarding schools are maintained by both the Roman Catholic and the Anglican churches, from Herschel island, at the tip of the western arctic, to Baffin island in the eastern arctic. Adults as well as children are educated in reading and writing the syllabic, a special alphabet devised by missionaries for the Eskimos and Indians. The schools also teach the Eskimos hygiene, elementary nursing, manual training, household science and sewing, showing them how to adapt the new life of civilization to their old arctic life; what store clothes to use and what native clothes to continue wearing for health's sake, and how to combat sickness and take care of their teeth. Most of the 6000 Eskimos in Canada's arctic travel a large part of the year to hunt seal and other fur-bearing animals for food and trade. This means that Eskimo children are at school only at limited periods, when their parents are near mission school centers and trading posts. Many of the priests, missionaries and nuns travel to Eskimo villages to round out the education of the new generation as well as to attend to religious education. They use dog teams, motor-powered schooners, native schooners and airplanes. They face hardships on the trail, are frequently lost in bad weather, and sometimes disappear never to be found again.