Thule

Peter Freuchen and Knud Rasmussen take part in a food orgy where fermented narwhale skin kept in a meat cache for several years is shared. This is called rotten mattack and tastes like walnuts and roquefort cheese.

I was early acquainted with the magnificent hospitality of the Polar Eskimos. Knud Rasmussen and I even skipped unloading the little ship Motor in which we went to Thule together in order to take part in a food orgy which he got started by announcing that he had been longing to taste the good things the place had to offer. We were invited to Uvdluriak's and there for the first time I tasted rotten mattak. This dish, which is a great delicacy for the Eskimos, consists of huge flakes of narwhale skin that have been kept in meat caches for several years. In the low temperature they do not become rancid, they just ferment, so that the skin tastes very much like walnuts while the blubber, turned quite green, tastes sharp—almost like roquefort cheese. Next we went to the house of Tornge, who served caribou meat with tallow. Knud let it be known that he would consider it an offense not to visit all the other tents, where people no doubt were expecting us with such specialties as they had in store. At last, we were so gorged that we both lay down on the bunk where we happened to be and fell asleep. We were awakened by a message from the irate captain of Motor, who asked us if we had any intentions of further activity in this place.

The role of women at feasts of the Hudson Bay Eskimos is described while the men share boiled meat.

Among the Hudson Bay Eskimos, the women are not allowed to take part in these feasts. It is thought that boiled meat is man's food, too good for women to have, and a man would make himself ridiculous if he ate it in the company of his family. No, he goes outside his house and announces loudly that there is boiled meat. This is an invitation for all the other men in the village to come to a feast. With serious faces, they form a single file and enter the house of their host. They have their big knives in their hands and hold them up in front of themselves like sabres. Inside the house, they take position in a circle without saying a word.

The host begins the proceedings by making a little speech that is always approximately the same: "Alas, I have waited so long before inviting you because I was embarrassed on account of my bad house. I do not know how to build houses as big and handsome as yours. Moreover, I have nothing decent to offer you. The rest of you, you are used to catching young, fresh, and good-tasting animals; I must be content with half-dead carrions that are an insult to the palate. And finally I have only the miserable wife who sits here. She is unfit for any work, and she is particularly impossible at cooking meat, so this meal is going to be a terrible scandal for my house."

Whereupon the men sit down, and the wife starts serving the meat. This is her only function at the meal. She has a kind of fork made from a caribou antler or a walrus rib, with which she lifts a lump of meat from the pot. She then licks it carefully so that soup and blood won't drip too much over her husband's fingers.

The husband takes the meat and puts it in his mouth—or at least, as much as he has room for. He then cuts off the rest and hands it to his neighbor, who cuts off a mouthful and passes it on to the next man in the circle. The lump of meat keeps circling like this until it is eaten up, and the host receives a new lump from his wife. It is desirable to have a little fat with the meat from time to time, so the host cuts off a piece of blubber and sends it around the circle in the same manner. The men rub the various pieces around on their faces so that the blood and smear often cover even the foreheads. If a piece is lost on the floor, the man who picks it up is expected to lick it clean. Water to drink with the food is provided in a basin made of walrus skin or seal skin. The water is from melted snow, but it is far from crystal clear, for it has been melted in the same pots the meat is cooked in. And these pots never get washed, only wiped off with a piece of skin at every new moon. The water is therefore brown like thin coffee, and on its surface caribou hairs, matches, and other little things are afloat. On these occasions my beard was very useful, as I let it sift the water for me. Afterward, when I wiped the beard with my hand and saw the amount of dirt and slime it contained, I was ever so happy that I had avoided using the razor.

As you may easily understand, I much preferred life with the Thule Eskimos. There, the fair sex were allowed to enliven the parties with their charm, the pots were kept fairly clean without any consideration of the position of the moon, there was always freshly melted water, and each man got his individual piece of food untouched by others except, perhaps, the hostess, who handed it to him only to press him to eat more.

Eskimos prefer to choose fat wives as it shows they are well fed

But a good hunter has additional considerations when he is choosing a bride. To an Eskimo, a wife is more or less an advertisement. The degree of ease and comfort in which she seems to be living is the measure of his ability as a hunter and provider. Although she has a thousand tasks to perform, she is never required to do any heavy or dirty chores. Her value to him lies in how neat, gentle, and loving she can be; hard work would only weaken her for lovetime, Chewing skins and sewing is the woman's job, but flensing the animal is the man's job; cooking the meat for the guests is the woman's task, but taking it down from the meat rack, chopping it up, and bringing it into the house is the man's. The wife's composure and attractiveness tell the guests of the husband's wealth. It follows that a girl who shows industry and talent, and who keeps herself neat, is much desired for a mate.

On the other hand, the busier a hunter keeps his wife sewing, entertaining guests, and bearing children, the prouder she is of him. Coquettishly, she calls him "the terrible one" because he keeps her in such slavery, and it is every girl's dream sometime to be able to shout: "Oh, a poor woman does not have the ability to prepare all the skins that a man can bring home. How I envy those women whose husbands give them only a few skins to prepare!"

With such a speech, she can make the other wives green with jealousy.

If such a neat and clever girl should also happen to be fat, then she is really the village belle. An Eskimo cannot give his wife jewelry, new hats, or other things that will demonstrate his wealth, nor can wealth be demonstrated in clothing: all the women's apparel is pretty much alike. It is therefore essential that she appear well fed! As a result, there must always be lots of food--and fattening foods, too--at his house, and his family will enjoy respect and a good reputation. A fat girl is always popular because, as a wife, she will be easier to keep in style, and stoutness is identical with beauty among the Eskimos.

This reminds me of Inuiyak who was one of my Eskimo helpers during the Fifth Thule Expedition and whom, when I was about to return to Denmark, I paid with such gear as I was not going to use any more. He got sled and dogs, axes, knives, and a gun. All of a sudden he became a tycoon among his people, and his first thought was to get a wife. In Repulse Bay he asked for a few days off, and came back with a bride. Being so rich, he had of course no difficulty in getting the fattest one in the place. When Inuiyak came driving up with her on his sled, he made a big to-do out of puffing and panting so that we all could see how hard he had to push. We gave them a real celebration, but the next day we regretted it. We had counted on Inuiyak to take a load on his sled for us on the month-long journey we still had left. But he was no longer the same man!

"My wife is so fat," he bragged. "No dogs can drag this heavy burden. She is too big to run, so others will have to take those boxes!"

This was shouted in a loud voice so everybody could hear it. The intention was to flatter the beauteous lady; being in love has strange effects on people. So Inuiyak wasn't very useful to us any more.

The Nunamiuts thrive on this almost exclusively meat diet; scurvy or other diseases due to shortages of vitamins do not exist. They are, in fact, thoroughly healthy and full of vitality. They live to be quite old. I lived only on meat for nearly five years.

I am writing at the beginning of October. Now the women are going for trips up the hillsides in small parties and enjoying themselves picking berries and gossiping. They find a fair number of cranberries and whortleberries, but no great quantities. Cloudberries are scarce in the Anaktuvak Pass; there are said to be more farther north, on the tundra.

The berries are stored raw, sometimes in a washed-out caribou's stomach, and mixed with melted fat or lard. This dish is called asiun and is considered a special delicacy.

They also dig up some roots. The most sought after are maso, qunguliq (mountain sorrel), and airaq. What is collected is consumed before winter sets in. No new green food is to be had till May; then roots and the fresh shoots and inner bark of the willow are eaten. Thus, for about seven months the Nunamiuts live on an exclusively meat diet, and for the rest of the year their vegetable nourishment is very scanty.

The caribou is dealt with traditionally. Every single part of the animal is eaten except the bones and hooves. The coarse meat, which in civilization is used for joints and steaks, is the least popular. In autumn and spring it is used to a certain extent for dried meat; otherwise it is given to the dogs. The heart, liver, kidneys, stomach and its contents, small intestines with contents (if they are fat), the fat round the bowels, marrow fat from the back, the meat which is near the legs, etc., are eatn. Both adults and children are very fond of the large white tendons on the caribou's legbones; they maintain that food of this kind gives one good digestion. The head is regarded as a special delicacy; the meat, the fat behind the eyes, nerves, muzzle, palate, etc., are eaten. Finally, there are the spring delicacies--the soft, newly grown horns and the large yellowish-white grubs on the inside of the hide(those of the gadfly) and in the nostrils. The grubs are eaten alive.

The meat is often cooked, but to a large extent it is also eaten raw. The children often sit on a freshly killed caribou, cut off pieces of meat, and make a good meal. It is also common practice to serve a dish of large bones to which the innermost raw meat adheres. Dried meat and fat are always eaten raw. 

The Nunamiuts' cuisine also offers several choice delicacies. First and foremost is akutaq. To prepare this dish, fat and marrow are melted in a cooking-pot, which must not get t oo warm, meat cut fine is dropped in on the top, and then the woman uses her fist and arm as a ladle to stir it about. The result is strong and tastes very good. Akutuq has since ancient times been used on journeys as an easily made and nourishing food and is fairly often mentioned in the old legends. 

Then there is qaqisalik, caribou's brains stirred up with melted fat. A favourite dish is nirupkaq, a caribou's stomach with its contents which is left in the animal for a night and then has melted fat added to it. It has a sweetish taste which reminds one of apples. Finally, there is knuckle fat. The knuckles are crushed with a stone hammer to which a willow handle has been lashed. Then the mass is boiled til the fat flies up. The Eskimos attach great importance to the boiling's not being too hard; delicate taste. Sometimes it is mixed with blood, and then becomes a special dish called urjutilik. 

The Nunamiuts like chewing boiled resin and a kind of white clay which is found in certain rivers. Salt is hardly used at all. If an Eskimo family has acquired a little, it is used very occasionally, with roast meat. The small amount of sugar, flour, etc., which is flown in in autumn is of little significance and has, generally speaking, disappeared before the winter comes. Some Eskimos do not like sugar.

For a while coffee or tea is drunk, but these are quickly finished. Then the Eskimos fall back on their old drink, the gravy of the cooked meat.

The Nunamiuts thrive on this almost exclusively meat diet; scurvy or other diseases due to shortages of vitamins do not exist. They are, in fact, thoroughly healthy and full of vitality, so long as sicknesses are not imported by aircraft. They live to be quite old, and it is remarkable how young and active men and women remain at a considerable age. Hunters of fifty have hardly a trace of grey hair, and no one is bald. All have shining white teeth with not a single cavity. The mothers nurse their children for two or three years.

It is an interesting question whether cancer occurs among the Nunamiuts or among primitive peoples at all. On this point I dare not as a layman express an opinion, but I heard little of stomach troubles. During my stay among the Apache Indians in Arizona (1936) a doctor in the reservation told me that cancer had not been observed among the people. According to a Danish doctor, Dr. Aage Gilberg (Eskimo Doctor, George Allen and Unwin, London, 1948), cancer is never sene among the Thule Eskimos in northwestern Greenland. The matter deserves more detailed investigation; it may possibbly give certain results of assistance to cancer research.

The Indian caribou hunters I once lived with in Arctic Canada had a similar meat diet and good health. As for myself, my fare was the same as the Indians' and the Eskimos'--practically speaking, I lived only on meat for nearly five years. I felt well and in good spirits, provided I got enough fat. My digestion was good and my teeth in an excellent state. After my stay with the Nunamiuts I had not a single hole in my teeth and no tartar.

No doubt the hunters of the Ice Age, in Norway and elsewhere, lived in a similar way many thousand years ago. We are probably in the presence of what is most ancient among the traditions of primitive peoples. Taught by experience, they have arrived at a manner of living which, despite its onesideness, fully satisifies the body's requirements. The principle is to transfer almost everything that is found in the caribou to the human organism. 

It is interesting to note that the stomach and liver of animals are regular features in the diet of primitive peoples, whereas modern science has only quite recently established that these contain elements of special value to human beings. The remedy for the previously deadly pernicious anemia is obtained from them. The contents of the caribou's stomach and the newly grown horns merit a closer examination by modern methods. It is a question, for example, whether the cellulose of the moss decomposed in the caribou's stomach and thereby becomes available to the human organism. With regard to the horns, it is of interest that certain deer's horns from northeastern Manchuria have from time immemorial been a regular article of commerce in China, where they have been used as a cure for impaired virility.

Typed up by Travis Statham from physical book. This is the best quote in the entire book. 

Note: Helge Ingstad lived to be 101 (1899-2001).

When comparing the Eskimo men with white men of corresponding age, it is observed that both the systolic and diastolic blood pressures are lower in Eskimos than in Whites. It appears to be the impression of most physicians who have had occasion to examine large numbers of Eskimos, that the blood pressure in Eskimos is lower than in normal Whites of corresponding age.

It appears to be the impression of most physicians who have had occasion to examine large numbers of Eskimos, that the blood pressure in Eskimos is lower than in normal Whites of corresponding age (P. B. Haggland, M. D. , E. S. Rabeau, M. D. , and E. Albrecht, M. D. , personal communications). Abnormally elevated blood pressures (systolic blood pressure in the order of 170 mm or higher) are apparently quite rare. Thus, in the 213 Eskimo patients who were subject to medical examination by the author during a two-year period in Alaska, the blood pressure was measured in 1 17 cases, and only one of the patients had systolic blood pressure above 145 mm. 

In contrast to this, Saxtorph (quoted by A. Bertelsen, 1940) reported in 1926 that he had seen a considerable number of cases of hypertensio arterial is, both in old and middle-aged Greenland Eskimos. In 12 cases he measured blood pressures between 200 and 240 mm. 

Thomas ( 1927) on the other hand examined 142 Greenland Eskimos, 40-60 years of age, and found the average blood pressure to be 129/76 mm, with a single case of 170/ 1 00. He concluded that hypertension with associated complications is extremely rare among Eskimos. 

Holbeck (quoted by Bertelsen, 1940) has reported that the average systolic blood pressure in Greenland Eskimos, between 40 and 55 years uf age, was 141 in men and 131 in women. According to Bertelsen ( 1940) Svendsen examined, in 1930, the blood pressure of 106 Eskimos taken at random, some of whom had active pulmonary tuberculosis. He made the following findings: 15-30 years of age: 120/70 mm; 30-50 years ()f age: 137/77 mm; 50 years of age or over: 167/82 mm. Bertelsen (1940) concludes, on the basis of his experiences in Greenland, that the average blood pressure does not appear to deviate from that of Whites of corresponding age. 

Probably the most extensive study of Eskimo blood pressure has been reported by Hoygaard (1941). He measured the blood pressure systematically of 283 Angmagssalik Eskimos, South East Greenland, of both sexes, living on their primitive diet, using the standard technique in lying or sitting position at least one hour after exercise. He found no material difference between males and females. Twelve persons out of 283 (4%) had a systolic blood pressure of 150 or higher; only two subjects had as much as 168 mm Hg. (Table 1). He concludes that hypertonia is not common. 

According to MacMillan ( 1951) Or. E. Morse found no instance of high blood pressure among the Thule Eskimos during the Bowdoin's voyage to Greenland in 1950. 

In the case of Canadian Eskimos, Brown (1 951) states with regard to the Southampton Island and the Igloolik Eskimos: "Arterial hypertension has also been found both in the group at Southampton Island and in the group at Igloolik." However, in the 63 Eskimos living in the vicinity of Chesterfield Inlet (30 males and 33 females) examined by Crile and Quiring ( 1939) the average blood pressure in the males (average age 38 years) was: systolic pressure 1 19 mm, diastolic pressure 75. In the females (average age 31 years) the figures were 1 12 and 72 respectively. The average pulse rate was 62-69 in the males and 79-82 in the females. These authors conclude that "the blood pressure for both the males and the females is lower than that of Whites of corresponding age, the pulse rate corresponds rather closely to that of White individuals". 

Heinbecker (193 1) reports an average pulse rate of 64 in 5 Eskimos (4 females and 1 male, 15-50 years of age) from Baffin Island. Bollerud, et at. ( 1950) report an average pulse rate of 58 in their 23 male St. Lawrence Island Eskimos, 17--41 years old. 

In connection with extensive studies on the patho-physiology of Eskimos which were in progress at the Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory as part of a survey of human adaptation to cold, we had an opportunity of recording various physical and physiological measurements during a two-year period 1950-1952. In this paper we are only concerned with blood pressure. pulse rate and age. 

4. Results and Discussion. 

The results from all 104 Eskimo subjects of both sexes are presented in Table 2. The average age is just over 29 years, but the ages vary widely from 3 to 75. However, of the 104 subjects, 73 were between 15 and 40 years old and only 13 were below 15 years. 

From this table it is observed that the pulse rate at rest, when considering the mean figure for all observations in each subject, is 71 beats per minute, but the figures show considerable individual variations. If only the final reading is considered, the mean value is 67 beats per minute, ranging from 44 to 120. The average systolic and diastolic blood pressures in Eskimos of both sexes, when considering the mean values of all readings in each subject, were 110 and 71 respectively. The mean values of the final blood pressure readings obtained when the lower level was established after several repeated examinations, were slightly less, the systolic pressure being 107 and the diastolic pressure 69. The range of these measurements is considerable. 

Thus the resting systolic blood pressure varies from a minimum value of 84 to a maximum value of 140; the diastolic blood pressure varies from 56 to 100. Only one subject, a 14-year old boy, showed as high an average value for the systolic blood pressure as 140. No systolic blood pressure higher than 162 mm was recorded in this series. 80.76 o/c of the recorded systolic blood pressures were below 116 mm. 

Table 3 shows the results of similar measurements in 40 normal white men examined in Alaska by the same investigator. In this material the average age is 23 years. It appears that the figures for pulse rate are very similar to the corresponding figures for Eskimos. The mean figures for blood pressure are higher than in the Eskimos, both in the case of systolic and diastolic pressure, and in the case of both the mean values of all observations as well as in the case of the final values, recorded when the lower level had been established as the result of repeated examinations. It is observed that the figures, both for pulse rate and blood pressure in these White subjects, are lower than the figures published by McKiniay and Walker (1935) for 566 normal white men with a mean age of 23.2 years. The difference is over 5 times the standard error, both in the case of pulse rate and blood pressure. 

The wide range of "normal" variations in blood pressure in Whites, has been emphasized by McKinlay and Walker (1935). According to American sources the average values for systolic pressure in healthy males, as measured in the brachial artery with the individual at rest, vary from 100 to 120 in early manhood, from 125 to 136 in the middle years of adult life, and from 145 to 150 above the age of sixty years. 

The range of individual measurements. however, may show much wider variations. Alvarez, quoted by McKinlay and Walker (1935), found that the systolic blood pressure in 6,000 University students and graduates between the ages of 16 and 40 years may be as low as 85 mm or as high as 190 mm. He concludes that 22 per cent of men have a systolic blood pressure exceeding 140 mm and that one man in every forty has Cl systolic blood pressure higher than 160 ml. According to Diehl and Sutherland (1925), nine per cent of male students, 16-40 years of age, at the University of Minnesota had blood pressures over 140 mm. None of our Eskimo men, 15-40 years old. had mean blood pressures over 140 ml. 

As a rule, the lowest blood pressure readings were obtained at the fourth examination in Whites, but ne,t until the fifth examination in Eskimos. 

McKinlay and Walker (1935) had examined the variability and interrelationship of heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure and age in healthy men of ages ranging from 16 to 40. They conclude that within the period of life studied, age is not of great importance in determining the level of any of these factors. They find definitely significant, positive relationship between age and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. but in such a degree as to form anything like a reasonably accurate basis for prediction. They find positive, but not very intimate, association between heart rate and blood pressure. 

In Tables 4, 5 and 6 our data are separated into three age groups: 15-25 years, 26-40 years, and over 40 years old. 

Twenty-five of the male Eskimos were between 15 and 25 years old. the average age being slightly over 21 years in this group. The same number of male Eskimos fell in the second age group: 26-40 years, the average age in this group being 33 years. Only twelve of the male Eskimo subjects were over 40 years old. 

There is no difference in the mean value of all readings in each subject for the 15-25-year-old group as compared with the 26-40- year-old group, but the mean value for the group over 40 years old is higher than the first two groups. The difference is 4 times the standard error, and is therefore probably statistically significant. 

The data for the 29 Eskimo women, divided into the three age groups: 15-25 years old (12 subjects), 26-40 years old (11 subjects), and over 40 years old (6 subjects), are given in Table 5. On the basis of this limited material it appears that the average blood pressure in Eskimo women is somewhat higher than in Eskimo men, but this difference is not statistically significant. There is also a tendency towards increased blood pressure with increasing age in Eskimo women. 

Of the 40 white men, 34 fell into the first age group (15-25 years) and 5 in the second age group (26-40 years) while only one subject was over 40 years old. If we compare these white men with Eskimo men of corresponding age, it is observed that the average blood pressure is slightly higher in Whites than in Eskimos but the difference is too small to be significant statistically (less than 3 times the standard error). The mean of the lowest measured blood pressure in each subject in the first age group is considerably lower in Eskimos than in Whites, however. The difference is about 4 times the standard error, and may be statistically significant. The number of subjects is too small, nevertheless, to allow any definite conclusion to be drawn from this material. 

It should also be noted that a larger proportion of the blood pressure measurements were recorded in the lying position in the Eskimos (70 C,c) than is the case in the Whites (25 o/c) and since the blood pressure tends to be lower in the lying position (Tables 7 and 8), this may partly account for the difference, although the difference between sitting and lying blood pressure in Whites in this material is not significant statistically. Thus, in Whites 15-25 years old, the difference between the means for sitting and lying systolic blood pressure is 5 mm, which is less than twice the standard error, as is also the case when comparing the diastolic blood pressure in the sitting and lying position. However, out of the 24 lowest measured blood pressures in Whites 15-25 years old, 76.47 per cent were measured in the lying pOSitIOn, and of the highest measured blood pressures in the same subjects, 97.06 per cent were measured in the sitting position. It may be noted however that in Eskimos the difference between sitting and lying blood pressure is about 3 times the standard error. 

In Whites 15-25 years old, the mean pulse rate is 72 measured sitting, and only 58 when measured lying. The difference is 4 times the standard error, and may therefore be considered significant in a statistical sense, although the number of observations is very small. The range of the pulse rate measured sitting is 68-86, against 51-67 measured lying.

From Table 10 it appears that the Kotzebue and Gambell Eskimos in the age group 26-40 years have a lower mean blood pressure than the corresponding age groups from Anaktuvuk Pass and Barter Island. The difference between the Gambell and the Anaktuvuk Pass groups (the groups showing the most pronounced difference), as regards the means of the lowest measured blood pressures, is 12 mm, and the standard error is 3.20. Thus, the difference is over three times the standard error. However, the material is too small to allow any conclusion. No significant difference was detected in the blood pressure in Eskimos 15 -25 years old from the 4 different settlements (Table 9). 

5. Summary and Conclusion. 

735 blood pressure and pulse rate measurements were made in a consecutive series of 104 Eskimos (75 males and 29 females) from 4 different Eskimo settlements in Alaska. Similar measurements were made in 40 normal white men for comparison. 

In Eskimos the mean resting systolic blood pressure varied from a minimum value of 84 to a maximum value of 140. No systolic blood pressure higher than 162 mm was ever recorded in our Eskimo subjects. 80 o/c of the recorded systolic blood pressures were below 1 16 mm. The mean diastolic blood pressures varied from 56 to 100. In Eskimos the mean blood pressure is somewhat higher in women than in men of corresponding age although the difference is not statistically significant, and there is a tendency towards increased blood pressure with increasing age. 

In Eskimo men the mean blood pressure was 108/69 at ages 15-40 years, and 119/77 above 40 years of age. In Eskimo women the figures were 111/71 and 122 /74 respectively. When comparing the Eskimo men with white men of corresponding age, it is observed that both the systolic and diastolic blood pressures are lower in Eskimos than in Whites. This difference appears to be statistically significant in the case of the lowest measured blood pressure in each subject in the two groups. The mean pulse rates in Eskimos at rest were not materially different from the corresponding figures for Whites.