The Changing Nature of Man's Quest for Food and Water As Related to Snow,Ice, and Permafrost in the American Arctic

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The Changing Nature of Man's Quest for Food and Water As Related to Snow,Ice, and Permafrost in the American Arctic Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1960 The hC anging Nature of Man's Quest for Food and Water as Related to Snow,ice, and Permafrost in the American Arctic. Harley Jesse Walker Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Walker, Harley Jesse, "The hC anging Nature of Man's Quest for Food and Water as Related to Snow,ice, and Permafrost in the American Arctic." (1960). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 604. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/604 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE CHANGING NATURE OP MAN’S QUEST FOR FOOD AND WATER AS RE­ LATED TO SNOW, ICE, AND PERMAFROST IN THE AMERICAN ARCTIC. A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Harley Jesse Walker M.A., University of California, Berkeley, 19I?4 June,. I960 ACKNOWLEDGMENT Numerous people, either as individuals or as representatives of institutions, have contributed freely of their time and knowledge to the research leading to and in the preparation of this paper. With­ out these contributions this study would have been impossible. I wish to express try thanks to Professor Fred B. Kniffen for the knowledge and good counsel he offered throughout the entire study; indeed, from the time of its conception, for the idea was the direct result of participation in his seminar on "North American Exploration," The research conducted was made possible by the U. S. Air Force through an Air University Research Grant which provided financial support and use of the facilities of the Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. This grant also made possible con­ tacts with numerous individuals knowledgeable about the Arctic. To Dr. Paul Nesbitt, Chief of the Arctic, Desert, Tropic Information Center, Research Studies Institute, and to the members of his staff, I express my appreciation for the many hours of assistance they accorded me. In addition, acknowledgment is made to the following individ­ uals and institutions for important contributions they have made: Vilhjalmur Stefansson; the Stefansson Library; the Western Electric Corporation; the staff at each of the DEW Line stations visited; Father Van de Velde, Pelly Bay, Canada; and Iwo, who introduced me to some of the techniques needed in winter living in the Arctic. Last, my gratitude is extended to a patient and understanding family, the members of which have contributed in more ways than they realize to the preparation of this paper. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT ............................................ ii TABLE OF C O N T E N T S ............................. iii LIST OF F I G U R E S ............................................ v NOTE TO READER................................................ vii ABSTRACT.................................................... ix INTRODUCTION ................................................ 1 I. THE PHYSICAL AND CULTURAL B A S E ....................... 4- A. The Areal Limits ..... ..... 4- B. The Physical B a s e .............................. 5 1. Structure and Landforms ..... 5 2. Climate ................................ 7 3. Snow, Ice, and Permafrost...................... 11 C. The Cultural B a s e ................................. 46 1. The E s k i m o s ................................... 46 2. The E x p l o r e r s ................................. 46 3. The Settlers.................. 58 4-. Recent Scientific and Military Developments .... 60 II. WATER SUPPLY IN THE ARCTIC.......................... 6l A. Water Requirements and Uses in the A r c t i c ........ 62 B. Sources of Water in the Arctic . .................. 70 1. Summer Sources................................. 71 2. Winter Sources ................... 75 C. Water Production, Processing, and Storage in the Arctic 97 1. The E s k i m o s ................................... 97 2. The E x p l o r e r s ................................... 110 3. Today's O c c u p a n t s ................................ 124- III. FOOD SUPPLY IN THE A R C T I C ...................... 165 A. Food Requirements and Sources in the American Arctic . 167 1. Food Requirements................................ 167 2. Food Sources........................ 169 B. Food Production; Eskimo Hunters and Sea Mammals .... 185 1. Seals; Ice Conditioned Hunting ...... ........ 186 2. Other Sea M a m m a l s .................. 205 C. Food Production; Eskimo Hunters and other Food Sources . 210 1. C a r i b o u ......................................... 211 2. Other Land Animals ......... 217 3. Bird Hunting..................................... 223 iii k. F i s h i n g ........................ ................. 22$ 5. Vegetable F o o d s ..................................... 233 D. Food Productionj Non-Eskimos in the Arctic................. 236 1 . The E x p l o r e r s ....................................... 236 2. Settlers in the Arctic .............................. 239 3. Survival...................... 2U0 E. Snow, Ice, and Permafrost and Food Storage................. 2h0 1. The Eskimos ............... 2U0 2. Explorers and Food Storage .......................... 2U5 3. Present Day Storage .................. 2!+6 IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS............................ 2$0 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................256 APPENDIX A. LIST OF ESKIMO G R O U P S .................................. 27^ APPENDIX B. PER CAPITA WATER REQUIREMENTS . ................... 275 iv LIST OF FIGURES 1. Physiographic regions in the American Arctic.............. 6 2. Duration of snow and ice in the American A r c t i c ........... 17 3. Average snow and ice conditions on 1 M a r c h ......... 19 1+. Lake ice from -which the snow has been partially cleared by the wind . ............................................ 21 5* Snowdrift after snowslide, illustrating wind compaction . 21 6 . Smooth surface of snow-covered lagoon being used as a road . 33 7. Rough shore ice in Frobisher B a y .......................... 33 8 . Sea ice types in the American Arctic....... ............. 36 9. Permafrost distribution in North America.................. 1+3 10. Approximate distribution of permafrost across Alaska ....... 1+U 11. Pingo near Tuktuyaktok, Mackenzie River D e l t a ............. 1+7 12. Breached crater of p i n g o ................................. 1+7 13- Eskimo distribution............................... 1+9 ll+. Ships in winter quarters.............. 56 15. Man-hauled sled with s a i l ............................... 56 16. Sources of fresh water during the warm s e a s o n ............. 72 17. Ground water as related to p e r m a f r o s t.................... 9U 18. Blocks of lake ice to be melted for drinking w a t e r ........... 101 19. Snow melter at Anoatok..................................... 101 20. Primary and secondary sources of water among the Eskimos during winter ........................................ 102 21. Melting snow and’ cooking in the house in which Barents wintered on Novaya Zembla........... 115 22. Snow melter on board, s h i p ................................. 115 23. Cooking apparatus developed by K a n e ........................ 119 2l+. Payer's special cooker inside t e n t .......................... 119 25. Snow and ice melters............................. 121 26. Water supply for a Barrow restaurant........................ 132 27- Family water supply, Barrow, A l a s k a ........................ 132 28. Ice storage for water supply at nurse's home, Tuktuyaktok, C a n a d a ................................................ 138 29. Pumphouse on the ice of a thirty-foot-deep lake near the Air Base and settlement at Frobisher Bay, C a n a d a ............. 138 30. Pumphouse and Eskimo water-truck driver4 at lake source, Frobisher Bay, Canada................................... 139 31. Heated pumphouse on small lake in the central sector of the DEW L i n e .............................................. 139 32. Unheated water truck, Frobisher Air B a s e .................... ll+l 33. Space-heated water wanigan, Baffin I s l a n d .................. ll+l 3l+. Unheated water wanigan being emptied into module............. ll+3 35* Eskimo laborers sawing lake ice and scraping off the "ice d u s t . " ........................................ 11+3 v I 36. Loosening ice blocks with jackhammers........................ 1J4I4. 37- Scooping up ice blocks for loading on s l e d .................. li+l* 38. Dumping ice blocks onto sled .................. l!+5 39. The Fox Water W o r k s ......................................... ll*5 I4.O. Water being transferred from gasoline drums to the kitchen . ll*7 1+1. A cook at one of the DEW Line construction camps getting two 1 buckets of snow in order to wash dishes..................... 11+7 i+2. Transferring water to washhouse, where it is pumped to a storage t a n k ............................................ lU8 1+3. Water-supply arrangement at a DEW Line s i t e .................. ll*8 1*1*. Water barrels in a
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