Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-12-31
ALASKA.


II his oIC3A4 Iepc3A, We SO--A 60 -
trace. there being no record OF events
kept among them Their laaguage
abounds in Legends, bni none oil
these gave any data By which We
could Judge hsw long these shores
have been inhabited. Tia: TIE an
cestors Of the people aAve made II
their home for ages u shown oy TIE
ruins Of ancient villages and winter
huis along the se.-sh re snd II toe
interior. On the pom; where the
station Wa established were nound-
marking the sites Of three huts. dat
ing back 10 the time when they had
70 iron and men talked ike dogs
At Periggick s group Of mounds
mark the site Of al ancient village
Il stands in the midst Of marsh, 8
sinking Of the land causing j, 10 be
flooded. and consequently soaud-
oned, a. il Is their custom 10 select
the high and dry points Of land a.ons
seashores for their permanent viii
ages. The fact of our finding 8 pair
Of wooden goggles twenty-six feet
below the surface OF the earth points
conclusiyeiy to the great lapse OF
time since these shores were first
peopled by the race OF man.
They are 8 robust, healthy people,
fairer than the North American In
dian, with brown eyes and straight
black hair. The men are beard ess
until they attain the age of from
twenty 10 TWENTY-FIVE years, and even
then it is very light and scattering,
and is always clipped close IN the
winter; al that season they also cut
off their eyebrows and tonsure their
crown like 4 priest, with bags over
their forehead. Their hands and
feet sre extremely small and sym
metrical. They are graceful IN their
movements when uuencumbered by
heavy clothing. They are kind and
gentle 10 disposition and extremely
nospitable 10 strangers; though they
may rob stranger of every means
of obtaining a subsistence one mo.
ment they will divide with hin
their last piece Of meat the next
They have no form of government
and live in q condition of anarchy.
Though given to a petty pilfering
they rarely, if ever, break into a
cache or enter a ten. or q hut for
that purpose. During the first win
ter We had stoves, of which they
were in great need, 10 a Sibley tent,
and they all knew they were there;
and although the tent was only tied,
with no regular guard over it,
nothing was ever disturbed, though
if anything was carelessly left out
il would be stolen at once. They
never made the slightest resistance to
our retaining property when dis
covered, and would laugh about it
as though it were a good joke.
A more obedient or better lot OF
children cannot be found in al
ChIistendom. never saw one OF
any age do vicious or mean act,
and while they were always
around the station during the fall
and winter. they did no mischief, but,
on the contrary. wsuld busy them
selves in shoveling the snow out of
the tunnels and running on errancs
and doing any work they could for a
little food each day. The children
would wait round the door for mem
bers of the party to come out to
take their daily exercise, and would
accompany each member, and every
few moments they would say nan.
nitanity' now let me see); they
would scan the travellers face for
frost bites, and were ever ready with
handful of snow to be applied
should they detect the slightest sign
of freezing. Their games were very
much like what We see played among
children Of our own race, and, III
imitation of the pursuits of elders,
We often saw them with playhouses
cut into the hard snow, with snow
images set up and the little fur-clad
mites of humanity busting around
playing keeping house and making
calls, with the thermometer at AZ
degrees below zero.
There is no marriage ceremony
among them, bu; children are often
betrothed by their parents at ar
early age, but this promise is very
faithfully kept. and they enter upor
their marriage relations at the age o.
twelve to fifteen years. Where ther'
has been no childhood engagement
the mother makes selection of th'
wife for her son. and the girl selected
is invited to the house. where sh'
takes the place of servant for q
short time, doing the housewors
and cooking, generally returning K
her fathers iglee to sleep. The,
often have family disagreemenis, th'
husband resorting to blows wher
the wife is sulky and disobedient
sometimes with the result OF he
running away. We know of one In
stance, where, owing 10 slight mis-
take the husband had made in hi
estimate of his wife's character, b,
obtained results not anticipated
While out on deer hunt he attempt
ed TO chastise her She retsliatet
and gave him a severe thrashing ant
then fed to o village seventy-fiv,
miles away. At the time We landed
al L glaamie, this same woman car
ried on her back box of lead weigh
ing 2S0 pounds distance of over 20
yards
| When q man of matured year
looses his wife either by death o.
incompstibility of temper he select
one for himself and sometimes use
force. A native from 8 village to th
westward, whose wife had left him
can up to Uglssmie to obtai
smother One day we were attracte,
by loud outcries frem q woman VIII
had teen waiting around the STATIC
for food. We found our ffend iron
Sidaru vigorously cutting her ear;
and il was some time before W
could make him desist. He e,
planned hat he wanted her for
wife aud was persusding her.
Their dead are carried out and laif
on the tundra withou, any ceremou,
other than the near relatives follow
ing the body to its last resting place
1t is usually wrapped in deer skins
il q man, his sled and hunting ges
are broken and laid over the body
Il q