The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.1964, Side 51

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
49
LIVES WITH ESKIMOS FOR A YEAR
John Matthiasson
John Matthiasson, son of Jona, now
Mrs. W. Kristjanson of Winnipeg, and
the late Dr. M. J. Matthiasson, has
just returned after spending a year
in an Eskimo community of about
200 at Pond Inlet on the northeast tip
of Baffin Island.
Mr. Matthiasson has been studying
for a doctorate at Cornell University,
and is doing some of his studies in a
most practical and realistic way. He
decided to spend a year in the far
north among the Eskimos.
While in Winnipeg he was inter-
viewed by a staff reporter of The Win-
nipeg Tribune, Bert Bruser. The fol-
lowing is a part of the report.
He lived with an Eskimo family
and became part of the community.
He ate their food, which was usually
seal or caribou meat, often raw, and
he slept beside them in ‘their huts and
igloos. When the men went hunting,
John went with them.
Fie adapted well, and the Eskimos
began calling him “Inoongwah,” which
he says means “like an Eskimo.” Even-
tually they shortened the name to In-
ook, or Eskimo.
All of the Eskimos in the commun-
ity are Anglicans. They make their
living by hunting.
Aside from religion, the other vis-
ible influences from the white man’s
world are motor boats and rifles,
which have taken the place of kayaks
and harpoons.
And when an Eskimo gets money he
invariably buys a transistor radio, Mr.
Matthiasson said. Although they can’t
understand the words, they like listen-
ing to the music.
The biggest problems were the cold,
the food and his inability to com-
municate.
The Eskimos spoke only about 100
words of English, and he spoke even
less of the Eskimo language. He was
forced to use sign language.
In February he developed pneu-
monia and was unable to make the 12-
hour dog sled trip for first aid at the
Hudson’s Bay post because of storms.