By Dorthea CalverleyFurther to the phenomenon of the “white” Indian, Wabi Calazon, mentioned elsewhere. In the summer of 1974 I met and interviewed a young man, a Cree-Beaver Indian, whose anglicized name suggested that he might know something about blonde Indians like “Wabi”. Although reluctant at first, and obviously shy about speaking of his people for fear of ridicule, he later confirmed that in his family there had been a number of blonde-headed, blue-eyed relatives, who, as far as he knew, were full-blooded Indians. He himself knew no English when he started at mission school in Grouard.
Since blue eyes are carried by a less dominant genes than brown, it is evident that in this family, at least, the recessive genes carrying the fair-hair and blue-eyes are strong enough to dominate the black-haired, brown-eyed norm for Indians. If there had been any early white admixture in the family’s ancestry, the young man did not know of it.
The “Ermine Skin” band of Indians in Alberta took its name from Chief Ermine Skin, whose Indian name was Ko-se-ko-se-wu-ya-new, “because he was uncommonly fair-skinned.” (Voices of the Plain’s Cree by E. Ahenahew.)
Reuters Press, Summer 1974 Blue-Eyed Tribe found on Amazon
Rio DeJaneiro – A tribe of naked, white-skinned and blue-eyed persons has been spotted by an explorer in the northwestern Amazonian jungles of Brazil, a report by the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) said Friday. FUNAI ordered the urgent dispatch of an expedition to the area and also arranged for as aircraft to fly over the region where veteran Amazon explorer Raimundo Alves made his discovery, FUNAI sources said.
Alves found eight of the tribe bathing in a tributary of the Amazon after scouring the area for a month. He had received hints from other tribes of their existence. Alves reported that the newly found group has chestnut brown hair and most go about completely naked. The white-skinned tribe has been estimated by Alves to number about 100. He said their customs are primitive.
