Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition

Abstract

Murdoch presents the results of the 1881 International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska. As it was for many early ethnographers in the arctic, the collection of artifacts and cultural observations was for Murdoch a "side project" to the work of collecting other scientific data. He writes, "Though the main object of the expedition was the prosecution of the observations in terrestrial magnetism and meteorology, it was possible to obtain a large collection of articles illustrating the arts and industries of the Eskimo of the region"(19). In the mode of collecting scientific data and specimens typical of this time period, Murdoch's ethnographic work was primarily oriented towards material culture, with ethnographic observations used to provide information on the manufacture and use of objects. Most of the collection of "articles" proceeded through trade by barter. The manuscript is filled with illustrations of these artifacts, and "culture" is defined primarily in reference to their use. This implicitly reflects assumptions about the role of the arctic environment as a determining factor, which would have heavily influenced culture through the mechanism of adaptive material technology. Chapters: Introduction Situation and Surroundings Climate People (Physical characteristics) Natural resources Culture (means of subsistence, habitations, household utensils, clothing, adornment, implements, weapons, tools for snow and ice working, making and working fiber, means of locomotion, games and pastimes, Music, Art, Rights and Wrongs, Government, Religion) statement sub-section(s): late 19th century monographs material culture environmental determinism region: Inupiaq