JFK+50: Volume 7, No. 2422
ESKIMOS LIKE RAGTIME & OUSTING AUTOCRATIC LEADERS BY HARPOONNew York City (JFK+50) 100 years ago today, September 4, 1917, Donald B. MacMillan*, head of the Crocker Land Expedition** to the Arctic, reported here in New York that Eskimos*** were "amusing themselves with phonographs" that had been supplied to them by the expedition.
The natives of the Arctic, who seemed to prefer ragtime recordings, oppose war but have a quick solution for any of their leaders who become too autocratic, "they oust them with a harpoon."
Eskimos also choose the future marriage partners of their children who are 8 years old. The marriage takes place when "the girl (can) chew the sealskin sole of a shoe."
*Donald Baxter MacMillan (1874-1970) made over 30 expeditions to the Arctic where he pioneered the use of radios, airplanes & electricity. DBM was born in Provincetown, Massachusetts & graduated with a degree in geology at Bowdoin College. He served in the US Naval Reserve & was often addressed as Commander.
**Crocker Land Expedition (1913-1917) investigated Crocker Island, a huge island first sighted in 1906 by Robert Perry. The expedition was sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History, American Geographical Society & the University of Illinois Museum of Natural History.
***Eskimos are the indigenous peoples of eastern Siberia, Alaska, Canada & Greenland.
SOURCE
"No Kaisers For Eskimos; They Harpoon 'Em'", Chicago Daily Tribune, September 5, 1917.
Commander Donald B. MacMillan
The White House
March 30, 1925
Photo by Herbert French
Library of Congress Image
