The region from the Bering Strait northward and east to the Mackenzie River was untouched by Russians, but after the mid-19th century it was visited by great numbers of European and Euro-American whalers, who imported both disease and alcohol; the Indigenous population declined by two-thirds or more between 1850 and 1910. In far northern Canada the impact was lessened somewhat, for contact was limited and the thinly distributed populations more easily avoided the spread of disease. Nevertheless, European whalers active in Hudson Bay and elsewhere were a source of disease and disruption that resulted in a significant decline in Indigenous ...(100 of 37874 words)