The author writes in the introduction, "... Our sources for learning the history and culture of Mackenzie Eskimos are now extremely limited ; the memories of a few old-timers who recall 19th century life; several casual descriptions by early explorers and traders ; the works of Father Emile Petitot who apparently based his descriptions on very superficial knowledge of the people ; and the random ethnographic notes of Stephenson, Jenness, and Rasmussen, all made several years after the Alaskan Eskimo immigration and the subsequent changes in local culture. Archaeological work was until recently limited to a few short surveys and random collecting by amateurs.
None of the sources give us a comprehensive picture of pre-European life in the Delta area. Part I (Ch. 1, 2, and 3) of the present work attempts to assemble such a picture from the few and diverse published and archival sources. The resulting description of 19th century Mackenzie Eskimo history and culture, although admittedly sketchy and incomplete, is the first such description attempted and serves as a background for the interpretation of archaeological evidence presented in Part II (Ch. 4 and 5). The archaeological excavations which I undertook during the summers of 1969 and 1970 concentrated on the large prehistoric site Kittigazuit and smaller related site along the lower course of the East Channel. Part III (Ch. 6 and 7) presents an interpretation of Mackenzie Eskimo prehistory based upon the archaeological evidence, with particular reference to the development of the economic adaptation and distinctive cultural characteristics of the Kittegaryumiut group over the past five centuries.
This report will serve its purpose if it stimulates further and large-scale archaeological studies in the area, and the recording of local knowledge which supports or contradicts the thin historical framework presented here."
