Word: aleut
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...write," says Author Wheaton in this light, gay record of her year-long (1935) honeymoon in the bleak Aleutians, "can possibly . . . show [me] to be a woman of strength and initiative." As wife of the local prekaska (storekeeper), and the only white woman on Atka, Helen regarded her Aleut neighbors with amazement streaked with alarm. The black haired, giggling, almond-eyed Aleuts, smelling strongly and permanently of fish, regarded Helen in turn with open admiration...
...Much Fun. One of Helen's first tasks was to hang out an accumulation of family wash. As the intimate objects sailed out one by one along the pulley line stretching from her kitchen window, Helen heard a spirited commentary from dozens of Aleut women, who had assembled on the square below. "Is funny pants," shouted one when Husband Thornie's pajamas appeared. "What is?" When Helen's blue net dressing gown sailed out, it drew a tremendous round of applause. "Is pretty!" shouted the gallery. "To dance...
Discouraged with laundry, Helen advertised for help. Three women promptly appeared. After a long day, Helen asked what she owed. "No moneys at all," they answered happily. "Is much fun come wash in house of Prekaska's wife. . . . We like tell other Aleut womens about your house...
...Aleut males shared their wives and money with equal unconcern. Every member of the community received an equal share from the sale (to Husband Thornie's company) of the island's blue-fox pelts, whether or not he had helped in the trapping. Chief Dirks, who invariably retreated to his bed when any trouble loomed, explained the system: "Mike Creveden very lazy, no catch foxes, only two or three. We say shouldn't do that but he say he lazy and can't help...
...natives greeted the three Washington specialists (a nose-&-throat man, an internist, a dentist). They had arrived in the Pribilof Islands, north of the Aleutians, for a quick checkup on the health of the seal hunters, who are wards of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The doctors found the Aleuts in generally excellent health. But they were shocked when Aleut children opened their mouths. Their teeth were bad (the dentist promptly took samples of their drinking water for analysis). Their tonsils were worse...