National Republican., 1882-12-22
"POTLATCu OR DIE.o
Efforts Mt Civil Service Reform i'm
Alaska,

hIushhs
The collector of customs at Alaska has
written an interesting letter to the secretary
of the treasury, and the secretary of the
treasury sent it to congress yesterday. 1t
came in reply to demand made two weeks
ago by Mr.. Abram S. Hewitt, of New York.
Mr.. Hewitt had heard that tho United States
revenue cutter Corwin had been engaged in
the shelling and utter annihilation of
village of Hoochenoo Indians in
Alaska, and, not being particularly busy
with the tariff on that day, Mr.. Hewitt
turned on his sympathy for the Hoochenoo
Indians, and resolved to inquire. So the
house asked Secretary Folger how it was that
he permitted his revenue cutters to blow up
IIoochenoo villages, and the secretary wrote
to the collector of customs at Sitka to know
why he permitted our outlying population to
be cuffed around in that way.
1t appears from the letter that it was all
done in the interest of civil service reform.
The collector explains that the Hoochenoos
are a rich and powerful tribe, and this eX-
PLANTATION helps to explain why Mr.. Hewitt
synpathized so deeply with them. The let
Ter further describes them as warlike, and
inclined to look upon United States attempts
to assert authority as "a blun," to use the
term the collector applies to their lack
of respect for authority. The, Corwin
steamed up to their village one day last winter,
and Capt. Merriam told them that if they did
not give up two white prisoners they had and
"come down" with some of their potlatch
| (which is their word for money! he would
| break up their canoes and destroy their vii
lage. They thought Capt. Merriam was bluff
ing, and so called him. 1t is needless to say
that Merriam raised them out of their boots
raised the roofs oil their houses, and raked In
| their potatch.
The trouble grew out of an assessment. 1t
appears from the letter of the collector that
these wealthy and warlike Hoochenoos have
a law that forces the Indian who kills an
other Indian to pay his relatives; and the law,
enactment clause and ALL is short" Potlatch
or die" The payment was generally made
in blankets, though it is difficult to under
stand how they can have blankets SO plenti-
full as to use them for bills OF payment. Per-
haps they were free traders before this cOllec-
tor of customs went out among them. How
ever this may have been the collector says
that our representatives in Alaska had tried
| in vain to break up this system of pot
latch assessments in murder cases. 1t was
considered outrageous. Some of the wealth.
est of the HoOchenoOs would assess poor women
| and underpaid clerks who eked out a bare
footed existence by killing the relatives OF
these wealthy bosses. Of course if there were
no blankets for potlatch they were killed. The
executive committee made short work of
them. They would not listen to a good church
Indian, Mr.. Geo. William kerChenoo, but
killed him, and carried every election for the
s.alwart Siwashes.
Matters ran along in this way until one day
last October, when a Hoochonoo Indian went
out to chop down a tree for trading COM
pany. He chopped away all alone there in
the snow thinking of the potlatch he would
get out of the company of white men, when
suddenly, in fit of absent mindedness
he hit tho tree powerful cut
and it fell upon him and mashed
him rs fiat as an empty sealskin. His
relatives waited in vain for him to come home
with his pockets full of pOtlatch, and finally
tree. Their grief gave way to scheme fol
the heaviest assessment of potlatch the family
had ever undertaken. They levied upon the
company for two hundred blankets and
swore they would have them or fire the de-
linquents. Tho company refused to pay, and
called some whalers up from the bay to helT
them whale the executive committee of the
bereaved family. The whalers hada bOmbshell
somewhere among their tackle for whale kill
ing, and to further muddle tho political situa
tiOn, the thing burst with report as loud a'
that from New York on election night, and
killed another HoochcnQor. Another asse s.
ment was made under flag of truce, anC
again it was refused and two whalers were
grabbed for the purpose of carrying out tn,
IlOOchenOo potlntch -ordio rule.
} just then the brave revenue cutter COrwir
steamed up into the bay, aud sent some mel
+ on shore to snatch the whalers from the ma
chine bosses and collect potlatch to pay the eX
pcnses of reform association. They Managed
to get the whalers, and distributed tract
setting forth that in order to pu
stop to extortion and cruelty Il
clerks they would return in the morning
: clean out the town, and smash up fort!
! canoes. The performance proceeded accord
4 ing to programme, tho village went up ant
the canoes went down. This reformed the civi
service in Alaska. Even Judge Benedict, ofNeN
e York, couldn't find man TO fine, if he wer
= to hunt from Sitka to Wrangel Land. The
Corwin and officers are justified in Smelling
> the village and the Indians, and no more shel
T. ling out OF potlatch will be required. Ih
= Hoocheuoos have funded their blankets, takeI
t their potato whisky out of bond, revisct
Z the tariff, and taken recess until after thu
y holidays.