Steffanson and Eskimo longevity

[Guest guest]

Hey All:

I found one of Steffanson's books at the library called Cancer: Disease of

Civilization? Chapter 14 is a short chapter entitled The Longevity of

" Primitive " Eskimos. Apparently, there has been a conflicting view as to

how long the Eskimos lived. Steffanson quotes Dr. Ancel Keys as saying that

" a primitive Eskimo above the age of 50 is a great rarity. " Steffanson also

quotes Dr. Henry Greist from Seventeen Years Among the Eskimos as stating

that " the Eskimo of the far North was healthy . . . He lived to a very great

age. " So, Steffanson checked records from the Moravian Church in Labrador

and the Russian Church in Alaska. He was able to get statistics for the

Unalaska district of the Aleutians for the period of 1822-36 inclusive. The

following numbers died:

92 for ages 1 to 4; 17 for ages 4 to 7; 41 for ages 7 to 15; 41 for ages

15 to 25; 103 for ages 25 to 45; 66 for ages 45 to 55; 29 for ages 55 to

60; 22 for ages 50 to 65; 24 for ages 65 to 70; 23 for ages 70 to 75; 11

for ages 75 to 80; 20 for ages 80 to 90; 2 for ages 90 to 100.

The statistics from the Moravian Mission, Labrador showed the following

deaths for the Labrador Eskimos:

29 died before reaching the age of 10 years; 9 died between the ages of 11

and 15; 4 between the ages of 16 and 20; 6 between 21 and 25; 7 between 26

and 30; 10 between 46 and 50; 10 between 51 and 55; 4 between 56 and 60;

4 between 61 and 65; 8 between 66 and 70; 4 between 71 and 75; 1 reached

79.

From 1860 to 1879 there were 150 birhts in the same district, of which

number 79 died before they were 5 years old, and a further 10 before they

were 10 years old. Another 30 died before they were 60 years old; 30 died

between the ages of 61 and 82. One was still living at the age of 81.

At the most northerly station (Cape Chidley), now closed, births were first

recorded in 1902. Between 1902 and 1922, inclusive, there were 41 births.

Still living, at ages between 48 and 58, were 21.

Steffanson writes, " Thus the most nearly " primitive " sample group I was able

to obtain does not support Dr. Keys very strongly in his contention that " a

primitive Eskimo over the age of 50 is a great rarity. " Nor does it quite

confirm Dr. Greist's statement that " the Eskimo of the North . . . lived to

a very great age. "

BTW, I was told that after Steffanson married later in life, he *did* revert

to a more refined diet which may have been the reason he suffered his

stroke. I was told I could find references to that in the writings of

others regarding Steffanson's life. Haven't had a chance to check that out

yet.

Marla