Tuberculosis was the major cause of death among Alaska Native peoples during the first half of the twentieth century, with a crude death rate estimated at 810 per 100,000. Apart from a few medical articles, not much is known of the impact of the disease on the people. This paper reviews published articles, unpublished reports by government teachers, hospital records and other materials for several Native villages in western Alaska from the period 1900–50. These archival sources suggest that tuberculosis was prevalent at the start of the century, that tuberculosis morbidity and mortality increased until the public health efforts of the 1950s and '60s, and that highest mortality rates were found among women between the ages of 15 and 35. Traditional cultural practices that brought people together for fatiguing activities in confined areas may have contributed to the spread of the disease. Public health efforts of federal teachers aimed to improve personal hygiene, household cleanliness and ventilation. Their efforts were thwarted by environmental and economic factors, primarily the limited amount of wood. Ultimately, the comments of these public officials may have reflected more their own moral beliefs than the actual etiology of the disease.

Petty Officer Evans was the first member of Captain Scott's party to die during the return journey from the South Pole in January-March 1912. His death has been ascribed to a combination of scurvy and exhaustion. This paper re-examines the evidence provided by Scott's and Wilson's diaries, and concludes that the primary cause of his death was anthrax, contracted from contact with the expedition ponies or their equipment.

Political development in the north (and elsewhere) often occurs in a context of confrontation and conflict between values of community and stability on one hand and economic growth and change on the other. Indigenous peoples of the north may not be able to resist strong tides of social and economic change—‘development’ toward forms of the dominant social, economic and political institutions—but they can substantially affect the terms of their integration into dominant societies. Alaska Natives seek both autonomy through tribal governments and access to the benefits of dominant institutions. Their ability to achieve and reconcile these purposes is a basic measure of their political development.

During his voyage to the North American Arctic in 1829–933 John Ross was twice on the verge of discovering Bellot Strait, once in August 1829 and again in June 1832. The discovery would have done much to redeem his reputation, shattered in his earlier Arctic voyage of 1818, and might have helped him to delineate, or even sail through, a northwest passage. Using previously unpublished material, this article examines the circumstances in which Ross failed to recognize the strait, and suggests that, for reasons of personal rather than physical constraint, he did not take advantage of the two opportunities presented

Declination, or the difference between true and magnetic north, is one of the earliest parameters to have been measured systematically over the earth's surface. Values are available for South Georgia and the surrounding area from 1700 to the present. Observations were made from ship by Edmond Halley in 1700, by James Cook in 1775 and thereafter more frequently. Land-based observations were made during the First Polar Year in 1882–3, more recently by the British Antarctic Survey 1975–82. Declination has diminished from 23°E in 1700 to about 9°W in 1980, approximately 0.1° per annum. The modern observations suggest that the rate of change has slowed in recent years.

The archaeological remains associated with a Netsilik Inuit camp, illustrated by John Ross at Sheriff Harbour, Boothia Peninsula, NWT in 1831, are described. The site, consisting of four tent rings and two external hearths, was originally occupied by 23 Inuit over a four-day period. Associated with a first-contact between Inuit and Europeans, and relating to a recorded historical event, the remains are of unique archaeological and historic interest, and an aid to the study of various site formation processes.