Guide to the Photos of Eskimo at Kingegan, Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, Photograph Album
ca. 1901-1906

Susan Bernardi teaching geography, ca. 1906. Special Collections, UW Libraries, UW23520z

Biographical Note

Susan R. Bernardi went to Kingegan, Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, in October 1901 to teach at the U.S. Government School. She joined William T. and Ellen Lopp, the original missionaries who established the school in 1890. Bernardi lived in rooms off the back of the Lopps' house and taught the upper grades while Ellen Lopp taught the lower grades. It is unclear when she stopped teaching at Kingegan. Bernardi was raised in Indiana, and later held teaching positions in Alabama and other southern states.

Historical Background

Cape Prince of Wales has long been inhabited by Kinugmiut Eskimo whalers. Kingegan is translated as "a high place," used in reference to the tall hill near the beach-front villages. It is the western-most inhabited location in North America, only 55 miles from Siberia across the Bering Straights and 111 miles northwest of Nome, Alaska. During Susan Bernardi's tenure there, 364 natives lived at Kingegan.

The U.S. Government School was opened with the efforts of the American Missionary Association's Harrison Robert Thornton and William T. Lopp in 1890, under the direction of Rev. Doctor Sheldon Jackson, the first General Agent for Education for Alaska. Jackson also guided the establishment of domesticated reindeer herds on Seward Peninsula, imported from Siberia as a means of assistance for Eskimos starving from game shortage. When a reindeer station was established at Wales in 1894, Lopp shared education and reindeer management duties. By 1901 ten missions/schools had herds and the total reindeer population on the peninsula was approximately 4,000. Eskimos apprenticed with Siberians and Lapps, and then were given herds. Reindeer herds grew as a form of industry and source of food and clothing for several decades. By 1908 the Alaska Reindeer Service officially operated within the Bureau of Education and W.T. Lopp had replaced Sheldon Jackson as Superintendant of Education.

Scope and Content

The collection is comprised of one album of photographs taken by Susan R. Bernardi. The photographs document many aspects of Eskimo life at Kingegan, and Bernardi's handwritten notes serve as informative captions. Hunting and fishing activities, which include whaling and sealing, feature prominently in the album, as well as the caches used to store meat, boats, and other valuable objects safely. The reindeer herds imported from Siberia are also documented. Bernardi's pupils at the U.S. Government School were captured in class portraits. Portraits of Eskimo men, women, and children are also included. Bernardi is photographed inside of the classroom with pupils, as well as in the outdoors with reindeer and sleds.

General Notes

Handwritten on verso of front album cover: "The most westernly point of land on the American continent; separated from Siberia by the Bering Strait; a distance of 50 miles, crossed by natives in skin boats in summer and often over the ice in winter."

Handwritten on verso of back album cover: "This book is the property of Dr. E.M. Rininger. Duplicates of these photos may be had from S.R. Bernardi. New Decatur. Alabama."

Alternate Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format

Restrictions on Access

Open to all users.

Bibliography

See: Kathleen Lopp Smith and Verbeek Smith, eds., Ice Window: Letters from a Bering Strait Village, 1892-1902, University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, Alaska, 2001. The book presents Ellen Lopp's experiences at Kingegan and includes Susan Bernardi's time spent with the Lopps.

Inventory

Page	Item															Date
1	1		Susan R. Bernardi teaching pupils in U.S. Government School
					Handwritten on album page: "U.S. Government School, C.P. of W. [Cape Prince of Wales], Mrs. S.R. Bernardi, Teacher, 147 pupils."
2	2		Nora Oo-teen' a
3	3		Nora and her sister Ongnoluk Oo-teen' a
4	4a		Nora and Ongnoluk Oo-teen' a
	4b		Eskimo boy posing with cat and five dogs
					Handwritten on album page: "Teacher's Pets."
5	5a		Eskimo children posing on beach
	5b		Five Eskimo people posing on beach overlooked by small white house
					Handwritten on album page: "The House in which the first teacher H. Thornton was killed by Eskimos in 1893."
6	6		Eskimo cache and house
					Handwritten on album page: "Eskimo cache and 'Innie' or house built of drifted beach wood. Half below the ground level." [House plan drawn below text.]
7	7		Cache of sled and boat frame
					Handwritten on album page: "All sleds and boat frames are cached to keep the wolf dogs from chewing the seal thong with which it is bound."
8	8		Home of Oo took tok
9	9		Eskimo on structure built to tan and bleach seal skin
					Handwritten on album page: "Tanning and Bleaching Skin of Hair seal for making Kumoks on Boots. The word Kumok is one of many used by Eskimos from Greenland to Siberia meaning footwear."
10	10		Drying racks used to dry seal meat
11	11		House partially covered by snow
12	12		Scene of drying racks and cache
					Handwritten on album page: "Looking Over Frozen Bering Sea."
13	13		Cache with Eskimo in background
					Handwritten on album page: "Bones of Polar Bear on Cache Poles to Keep Away Evil Spirits."
14	14		Eskimo man pulling a seal carcass with other Eskimo men in background
					Handwritten on album page: "Oogs-rook or Big Seal - Required 3 men and 5 dogs to drag him in. This animal is rather scarce. Its tough hide is used all along the coast of Alaska by natives for soles of all kind of footwear."
15	15		Cache built to hold a walrus skin boat
					Handwritten on album page: "Ok-ba-ok's Oo' me ak or walrus skin boat cached on the beach for winter."
16	16		Eskimo with snow shoes
					Handwritten on album page: "Going Out to Shoot Seal, that come to the surface to blow through holes in winter ice. On his back he carries his snow shoes, gun, walking stick, claws of a seal which he uses to imitate the scratching of a seal to decoy others."
17	17		Eskimo man with hair seal carcass
					Handwritten on album page: "A Hair Seal Plentiful all the year in Bering Straits. As many as 75 are caught in 1 day. The small boys and men's hunting trousers are made of the skin with hair on. Without the hair waterproof boots and suits are made."
18	18		Two Eskimo men and five dogs posing next to cache of boat
					Handwritten on album page: "Boat Decorated with Whaling Harpoons etc."
19	19		Tunneled entrance to room with a pole in the middle
					Handwritten on album page: "Snow Tunneled Entrance to Kozga or Club House of the Tribe of Kingetmeets named for the mountain at Cape Prince of Wales which natives call Kingegan A High Place."
20	20		Two Eskimo boys dancing with three boys watching
					Handwritten on album page: "Boy's Dance."
21	21		Two Eskimo men dancing with other men in background holding drums
					Handwritten on album page: "Dancing in Kozga."
22	22		Beach scene with houses and structures built inland from coast
					Handwritten on album page: "Eskimo Village of Underground Houses. Only 2 families live here, the missionary and school teacher with 364 natives. Siberia is 50 miles west and Nome 125 miles east."
23	23		Whaling ship caught in ice													ca. 1905-1906
					Handwritten on album page: "Steam Whaler Alexander. One of the vessels imprisoned in the ice at Herschel Island far to the east of Point Barrow."
24	24		Eskimo men dancing around whaling boat
					Handwritten on album page: "Dancing around Boat. Charm of Wolf Head Skull Suspended over the Boat. Only During the Month of May do the Bow Head Whale pass through Bering Straits. This month is inaugurated with many ancient superstitions, customs."
25	25a		Group of Eskimo people standing and packing up a whaling boat
					Handwritten on album page: "The Woman Has Sprinkled Ashes, Made from Shavings of new Paddles, along the path to keep Devils from Hoodooing the hunting."
	25b		Eskimo people paddling in whale boat
					Handwritten on album page: "A mile of Ice fast to shore proves good camping ground and during the 24 hour days one or more boats patrol the Straits Looking for whale."
26	26		Large group of Eskimo people in a line pulling a whale carcass onto shore
					Handwritten on album page: "All Hands Pulling a Whale as far as possible on to the Ice Pack."
27	27		Whaling boat tools and oars arranged on shore
					Handwritten on album page: "After Harpooning a Whale all Implements are taken from boat & no one touches them till whale is cut up."
28	28		Eskimo men cutting up whale carcass
					Handwritten on album page: "Four Men Put on Waterproof 1 piece Suits, get into a hole, cut in the whale's stomach and then proceed to carve throwing the meat on to ice where the woman haul it on dog sleds to the village."
29	29		Eskimo man posing while standing within a whale carcass
					Handwritten on album page: "An Eskimo Jonah."
30	30		Whale carcass with Eskimo men working around it
					Handwritten on album page: "A Pup Whale 30 ft long."
31	31		Whale bones on ground with group of Eskimo people in background
					Handwritten on album page: "This Bone, Bow Shaped is the upper jaw bone in which grows the slabs of whalebone. This whale bone is of commercial value. It is used by the whale to strain the water in which he finds his food - A tiny jelly fish no larger than a finger nail."
32	32		Whale carcass floating in water with Eskimo person nearby in a boat
					Handwritten on album page: "Commercial Whale bone. Native is cutting out the tongue. The whale is buoyed in the water by seal skins filled with air."
33	33		Whale bone on land
					Handwritten on album page: "Whale Bone inside mouth. Whales breathe between these Bow Shaped bones through the top of their heads. This is called spouting - steam from their breath and not water."
34	34		Eskimo man sitting and smiling with buckets hanging behind him
					Handwritten on album page: "Wearing a Labret in his chin, and his best gloves on he is receiving his neighbors giving each a piece of whale liver buried a year ago in his ice cold cellar underground."
35	35		Group of Eskimo men and children outside
					Handwritten on album page: "Telling Whale Stories."
36	36		Eskimo woman taking walrus blubber from hide
					Handwritten on album page: "During the month of June only, the Walrus in herds of thousands pass northward through Bering Straits. Natives Kill as Many as 300 during this month."
37	37		Two Eskimo people and four dogs with sled
					Handwritten on album page: "Hauling Walrus Meat Home. Skins are used for boat covers."
38	38		Group of Eskimo people standing beneath large cache
					Handwritten on album page: "Every Cache in the Village in June is used to stretch Walrus Skins on."
39	39		Dead walrus and Eskimo next to stretching and drying racks
					Handwritten on album page: "Seal Skin filled with Walrus oil. Entrails drying to make rain coats of."
40	40		Siberian summer house made of walrus skins
41	41		Eskimo boy with bow and arrow
					Handwritten on album page: "Shooting Ptarmigan."
42	42		Salmon hung on drying racks
43	43		Tom cod fish hung on drying racks
44	44		Reindeer herder with wife and child
45	45		Herd of reindeer walking by
					Handwritten on album page: "A Herd of Domesticated Reindeer numbering more than 2000 at Cape Prince of Wales."
46	46		Eskimo men lassoing a wild deer
47	47		Photograph of a reindeer
					Handwritten on album page: "Old Gillamook - (Hurry Up)."
48	48		Susan R. Bernardi with four reindeer
49	49		Susan R. Bernardi standing behind sleds and reindeer
					Handwritten on album page: "Getting Ready to go Shopping to Nome - 125 miles over the Ice."
50	50		Reindeer trainers named Keok and Iyotungok sitting on sled with three reindeer
51	51		Reindeer wearing a Lapland harness
52	52		Reindeer fawn sleeping on the ground
53	53		Two adult reindeer with three reindeer fawns in April
54	54		Group of reindeer adults and fawns
55	55		Reindeer fawns lying on moss with adult reindeer in background
					Handwritten on album page: "3 Weeks Later - We can almost eat moss. 'Papa lost his horns before we came but mamma dropped hers 6 weeks later.'"
56	56		Reindeer fawn with herd in background
57	57		Reindeer fawns drinking milk from reindeer adults
58	58		Reindeer with small horns in May
59	59		Reindeer with medium horns in September
60	60		Reindeer with large horns
61	61		Eskimo girl named Ob-le-uk
62	62		Eskimo man (named Immi ung' nuk) with baby on back ice fishing for Tom Cod fish
63	63		Eskimo woman, a celebrated basket maker named Enu quén uh', with baby on back
64	64		Eskimo woman dressed in furs
65	65		Eskimo child dressed in furs
66	66		Eskimo girl carrying her little brother on back
67	67		Norwadluk with hair down
					Handwritten on album page: "All of woman of this tribe with few exceptions have beautiful well kept hair, very long and glossy black."
68	68		Norwadluk with hair in braids
69	69		Nora
70	70		Norwadluk and Nora
71	71		Eskimo woman with baby on back
					Handwritten on album page: "Elãn e mook' - Eskimo for Good Bye. Literal Translation - I am sorry that you go."
72	72		Eskimo person cooking outdoors in summer
73	73		Three Eskimo girls ice-fishing
					Handwritten on album page: "Girls Build Protections of Snow around their fishing Holes in the Ice in winter to protect their eyes from wind."
74	74		Three Eskimo girls play-acting
					Handwritten on album page: "3 Girls playing at Being Dressed up with White People's clothing sent to mission."
75	75		Norwadluk and her baby sitting indoors
76	76		Group of Kobuk Eskimo people
77	77		Person kneeling on ground
					Handwritten on album page: "Married by the Missionary this shy bride of 14 runs away from her husband in the dark and slept here all night."
78	78		Reindeer herder with wife and first child
79	79		Eskimo men with child holding mask inside building to trade curios
80	80		Landscape photograph of village shadowed by large hill
					Handwritten on album page: "This Bold Head Line is the most westernly point of land on the American Continent made famous by Eugene Sue in The Wandering Jew."
81	81		Cape Mountains
					Handwritten on album page: "Cape Mountains where tunneling has been done for 3 years for tin quartz. Tin City is at the foot on Bering Sea."
82	82		Eskimo boys standing in pits on rocky terrain
					Handwritten on album page: "For several miles Cape Prince of Wales is keeper of prehistoric secrets. Underground chambers, pits made of huge granite boulders hewn and placed in pits - 12 feet apart with [continued on next page] remarkable engineering feats. Old pottery thousands of years old, jade, petrified ivory and 2 skeletons have been found. Most of these relics are possessed by the Museum of Ethnology, Penn. University."
83	83		Eskimo boys posing in a pit 8 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, and 3 ft. deep
84	84		Three Eskimo boys standing in pit
					Handwritten on album page: "In Every Pit the Stone Facing the Sea is a single large stone."
85	85		Prehistoric granite pit
86	86		Group of Eskimo school children leaving school
87	87a		Bernardi in Eskimo clothing with reindeer
	87b		Susan R. Bernardi teaching geography with globe to two Eskimo boys named To quont' nuk and Menadéluk
88	88		Eskimo children in schoolroom posing in front of net and black board
					Handwritten on album page: "Between Lessons Nets hung convenient to keep hands busy."
89	89		Eskimo schoolchild making a shirt with a sewing machine
90	90		Eskimo schoolboys sitting at desks learning vertical writing
91	91		Group of Eskimo adults and children
92	92		Eskimo children watching a boy named Kituk dance outside
93	93		Eskimo people sliding down a building's roof on seal skins
94	94		Four Eskimo boys
95	95		Five Eskimo girls
96	96		Class portrait with Kuzrina, Natongok, Anouruk, and Keotkona in front row
97	97		Class portrait with Keotkona, Weyana, Tooktook, and Nukahana in front row
98	98		Group of Eskimo men and boys in store-bought clothes
99	99		Sunday School students posing in group outside
100	100a		Skull from ancient pits resting on ground
	100b		Eskimo children standing on rocky terrain
					Handwritten on album page: "White Fox Trap."
Subject Terms
	Personal Names:
		Bernardi, Susan R.
	Geographic Names:
		Prince of Wales, Cape (Alaska)--Photographs.
	Subjects:
		Eskimo children--Alaska--Photographs.
		Eskimos--Alaska--Photographs.
		Eskimos--Boats--Alaska--Photographs.
		Eskimos--Education--Alaska--Photographs.
		Eskimos--Hunting--Alaska--Photographs.
		Eskimos--Social life and customs--Photographs.
		Reindeer--Alaska--Photographs.
		School children--Alaska--Photographs.
		Whaling--Alaska--Photographs.
	Genre Headings:
		Photograph albums.