Search

Eighteen men: six Alaskan Eskimos, six Arctic Athapascan Indians, and six Caucasian U. S. soldiers were immersed serially in a bath calorimeter where the rates of heat production and loss were measured during whole-body exposure to water temperatures of 35, 33, and 30.5 C. At each of these temperatures the Eskimos exhibited the highest rates of heat production and loss, followed by the Indians and Caucasians in decreasing order. Duplicate basal metabolic rate measurements averaged 46 kcal/hr m2 in the Eskimos, 42.5 kcal/hr m2 in the Indians, and about 37 kcal/hr m2 in the Caucasians. Body fat percentages calculated by the skin-fold method were: Eskimos, 6.6%; Indians, 12.3%; and Caucasians, 15.6%. Calculations showed the Eskimos had the lowest tissue insulation followed, respectively, by the Indians and Caucasians. Calculations showed the lower insulation in the Eskimos was independent of their lack of body fat and probably reflected a greater peripheral blood flow. Since the rectal temperature decrements during immersion were the same in all three groups, it was concluded that the surface temperature gradients extended more deeply in the Eskimos than in the other two groups. Hence, they could be described as having smaller “cores” and larger “shells” than either the Indians or the Caucasians. Submitted on August 27, 1962d

The paper reports the results of measurements of metabolism and body temperatures taken during 14 nights of comfortably warm sleep in six male Eskimos from the village of Wainwright on the arctic coast of Alaska. The mean age of these subjects was 20.8 (plus or minus 1.26) years, mean height 169.1 (plus or minus 5.08) cm, mean weight 66.6 (plus or minus 2.0) kg and mean value for percent body fat 9.1 (plus or minus 1.08)%. These data show the effects of the sleep cycle on metabolism and body temperature. The sleeping metabolic rate declined from 50 (plus or minus 7.35) kcal/sq m/hr at 2230 hours to 39 (plus or minus 5.22) kcal/sq m/hr at 0600 hours. Concomitantly, rectal temperature, which was negatively correlated with time ( r = - .965393), fell from 37.0 (plus or minus .386) C at 2230 hours to 35.4 (plus or minus .386) C by 0600 hours. Calculated mean body temperature was directly related to the level of metabolic activity. These coastal Eskimos had essentially normal values for early morning basal metabolic rates in contrast to Anaktuvuk Pass Eskimos from the interior of Alaska who are hypermetabolic. (Author)

Information from archival and census data shows that Alaskan natives, mainly Athapascans, started to move into Fairbanks over fifty years ago. During the Second World War, jobs available on construction projects attracted both Eskimos and Athapascans in family units. It appears from recent data that those now moving into the city are unmarried and younger than earlier migrants, that women outnumber men, and marriages between native and non-native Alaskans are becoming more common. Forty-four per cent of a sample of 1,029 persons lived in inter-racial households in 1972.

Describes a five-yr program beginning 1968 as part of the International Biological Programme. Multi-disciplinary teams from Canada, Denmark, France and the US are to study Eskimo citizens at Wainwright in Alaska, Igloolik in Canada, and Upernavik and Angmagssalik in Greenland. The US program is mainly concerned with the mechanisms of human adaptation to environmental extremes and to urbanization. General research categories set up by planning conferences in 1967 are: general health and performance, child growth, genetics, behavior, ecology and prehistory. Financial and logistic support and personnel for the American, Canadian and Danish programs are noted.

Presents data on the 308 Eskimos of Wainwright obtained in July-Aug 1968 by a team under auspices of the US International Biological Programme. The geneological data and reproductive histories taken from 47 women informants reveal high fecundity, twin-birth rate and infant mortality, also a marked differential survival of children: 20% were responsible for 47% of the living offspring. The group median age was 16.1 yr; 67 were hybrids. Mortality rates have declined with improved health care and hygenic measures. Recent introduction of birth control will make the birth rate, rather than survival, the determinant of genetic content of succeeding generations.

Thermal and metabolic responses of eight male subjects exposed nude for 2 hr to a standard cold stress (17 α 1.0 C air temperature) were examined in the austral fall, winter, and spring at Little America in the Antarctic. Mean body, average skin and foot temperatures increased significantly after 3 months. Neither rectal nor finger temperatures were changed over the year. Although basal metabolic rates were unchanged, there was a significant decrease in the metabolic responses to the standard cold stress after 3 months in the Antarctic. It is suggested that these changes represent physiological adaptations to chronic cold. Submitted on November 14, 1960

The results of Project Cold Case, an investigation of the cold land survival capabilities of Air Force pilots wearing the Full Pressure High Altitude Flying Outfit (A/P22S-2 and A/P 22S-3) are presented in this report. Six subjects wearing these garments were placed under simulated survival conditions in a wooded area of interior Alaska near Fairbanks. Ambient air temperatures reached -30 F and were below -27 F for at least 50% of the time. On the third day air temperatures rose and remained at -10 F until the conclusion of the test. The test lasted for 72 hours. Two subjects wearing the Full Pressure Suit without additional clothing survived for 11 and 30 hours. At the end of this time they were fatigued and moderately hypothermic. Two subjects with the Full Pressure Suit plus a nine-piece down-filled survival outfit (Clothing Outfit, arctic survival) survived for 52 and 72 hours. The 52-hour survivor suffered a noncold injury which necessitated his removal. Two Subjects with the Full Pressure Suit plus an experimental ADC Walk-Around Sleeping Bag survived for 72 hours each.

Data on cerumen types were collected from two separate samples of Alaskan Eskimos. The observed frequency of the recessive dry allele further documents the existence of a genetic cline for earwax types in this region and world populations.