Immunoglobulin Allotypes in Several North American Eskimo Populations

Genetic data consisting of immunoglobulin testing (GM and KM) from 631 Eskimos from 5 populations are reported. These populations are Savoonga, Gambell (St. Lawrence Island), Wales, King Island, and Mckenzie Delta, Baffin Island. The GM and KM haplotypes are analyzed and compared to those occurring in Greenland, Canadian, Alaskan, and Siberian Eskimos and to other Siberian indigenous populations. These analyses suggest that during the peopling of the New World, four separate migrant groups crossed Beringia at various times. The complex haplotypes of the GM system have proven to be valuable tools in the investigation of human populations, tracing population affini- ties and demonstrating variation within populations (Schanfield 1980). Previous studies on the immunoglobulin allotypes of Eskimo populations have been limited to the relatively recent reports on the Yupik-speaking St. Lawrence Island Eskimos (Ferrell et al. 1981) and on unidentified In- upik Eskimos from northern Alaska (Matsumoto et al. 1982), and a pub- lication on Inupik-speaking Central Eskimos from Igloolik (McAlpine et al. 1974), with the majority of studies on Eskimos focused on Green- land populations (Nielsen et al. 1971; Persson et al. 1972; Steinberg et al. 1974). This is the first report on the immunoglobulin allotypes of central Alaskan Inupik-speaking Eskimos, Mckenzie Delta Eskimos, and central Eskimos from the Baffin Island area, with additional studies on the Yupik-speaking Eskimos from St. Lawrence Island.