Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-19

Il
| the fishing Laps. but they never combine the
two pursuits. knowing it would Be imprscd.
cable.
AMONG TEE eHUKcHH OF SIERRA
also We find two dietinct ciasses--the whaling
and fishing coast people Of Berins sea and the
arctic oeean-hving in haed villages; ard the
| reindeer Cbukche, who roam over the limitless
| moora and tundra and erect their tents where
ever their Hocks are feeding During the sum
mer . general movement toward the sea is in
| augurated. in order to communicates ard trade
! with their brethren on the coast Here also,
the people do not attempt to combine the two
pursuits or to change from one to the other.
though they naturally become familiar with
each others advantages and mode Of life.
DIFFICULT UNDERTAKING.
| To induce our arctic and Bering sea Eskimo
to discontinue their present III ode Of life, based
| upon traditions and experience Of ages, and TO
| adopt another totally different in its every re-
| qulreinent would, In my opinion. be the work
OF several generations. if it can be accomplished
| AZ ALL The change would involve the evolution
OF . nomadic, pastoral people from a settled
| whaling, seal-hunting and fishing people-a
| process the difficulties Of which must be patent
to o.! who have had opportunities to observe
savage tribes 1t would nave been less imprac-
| tlcable, whom the buffalo becams extinct, to
settle our plains Indians upon islands in the
ocean 70 make their living at deep-sea fishing
| RADICAL CHANGE.
The whole social life and domestic economy
OF the Eskimo srx intimately connected With
tha hunting Of marine animals and OF sea birds
| ana with fishing, They are gregarious ic their
| habits and social in their disposition They
uks 10 gather at certain coast villages during
| the long winter nights to pass days and weeks
| In feasting, dancing and masked performances.
As reindeer men they would lie scattered over
| the interior in small solitary groups They
| are without tribal organizations; they know not
| the meaning of obedience to any person or to
| laws or regulations. How then may they be
| induced to wait for the natural increase of an
| animal which they have been in the habit Of
shooting at sight. as representing 50 much
meat and a skin OF a certain value2
The fact that the wild reindeer or cariboo 10
by no means extinct does not facilitate the
| solution Of the problem. The animals would
mingle. and there can be question as to whether
the domestic or tbs savage instinct would pre-
| vail
An AUTHORITY on THE ESKIMO AND TIE REIN
DEER
Mr.. Henry D. Wolfe, whose residence in arc
tic Alaska extends over period Of ten years,
writes as follows on this subject:
THE reindeer in the primitive times of hunt
Ing was secured with bows and arrows; with
rawhids snares set among the dwarf willows
that line the creeks, in great brushwood cor
rails in the timbered country. into which herds
were driven to be slaughtered; by chasing
them In canoes and spearng them while cross
ing lakes or lagoons, latterly by chasing herds
OF deer with dogs after the lawns are dropped
driving them into tho rivers and rushing tor
rents, where the fawns are drowned.
Nearly every male Eskimo owns q rife and
sometimes two. think 5000 to be a fair esti-
mate OF the number of deer killed annually by
the natives north Of Boring straits, but the
the season. The Eskimo spare neither young
nor old when a herd is found, and little suck.
ling fawns as we'll as does carrying young, fall
victims to their guns.
From July to September the instincts Of the
deer induce them to come from the interior to
the seacoast to obtain rest and partial freedom
from the swarms Of mosquitoes that infest the in
land swamps, and also to get saline matter from
the heritage and moss growing i'll proximity to
the ocean. In September they commence their
Inland migration, and from July to the middle of
october they are ruthlessly pursued by the ma
tives. Some rest is afforded to the animals
during the dark days that prevail in the arctic
zone from November to January, but in Feb
ruary the hunter again takes the field, and as
the does have their young in April, number
able to run.
when it is considered that a deer weighing
I'D pounds Is consumed at a single sitting by
hve or Elk natives it may be readily perceived
that the average returns of successful hunt
ing party must be large to feed village"
REVENUE MARINE OFFICERS OPINION.
Lieut.. 2. c. Cantwell OF the United States
revenue marine, who has conducted several
explorations in arctic Alaska writes: THE
reindeer furnishes the principal article Of food
for the natives OF the interior for six months of
the year. They drive the deer to a
lake or river, and into it the whole herd
plunges to seek escape by swimming to the
other shore. The hunters follow in canoes, and
often hundreds are killed in this manner An
WA Sf onr1in 6aar l.. L.,
to drive herd into narrow gorge which is
filled with snow drifts. When the animals at
tempt to cross these drifts they break through
the thin upper crust and thus fall an easy prev
to their enemies"
TO ENFORCE PROTECTIVE RULES
among our Eskimo is altogether impractcable
unless We have very large police force of
white men, and this. again, would involve the
employment OF numerous individualsin regions
where they would be beyond the control of
superiors. In fact one Of the most objection
able features OF the project is that, in order to
give even faint promise of success it necessi-
tates the employment of large numbers of men
In inaccessible regions and in positions which
able, reliable and respectable men would
scarcely covet or be induced to accept
ANOTHER IMPEDIMENr
in the way of.propagating the tame reindeer in
Alaska is found in the Eskimo dog, who now
fills very important post in his masters house.
hold. He occupies the position of draught sni-
NAL and occasionally OF pack animal during The
winter. and Wills thus employed he is fed.
During the summer he is allowed to support
himself, and thus he has acquired the habit of
hunting in packs which would be extremely
unpleasant for the tame reindeer aud their
young. The transition from dog driving to
reindeer driving would also require a process
extending over years Of time, and in the mean
time the Eskimo could not do without his faith
full canine companion.
RELIABLE GUARDIANS NECESSARY
1t may be safely asserted that should the pro-
ject find favor with Congress it would be neces-
sary to place it during all its experimental
stages into the hands OF reliable white men
who, first of ALL should gain experience in the
management OF deer on some Of the large un-
inhabited islands of Alaska. Tho cost Of this,
the transportation OF the deer and their subse-
quaint distribution would be large and much
time would elapse before the final stage of
educating the Eskimo to the change could be
reached; and, though it 10 undesirable to make
dependents upon public bounty of a people
hitherto self-snpportiug. il they must be fed
the object could probably be realized in some
other manner at much less expense.
IVAN PKTRoFF
Special agent in charge Of the Alaska census
A Negroes stratagem.
From tie Atlanta Constitution.
The real "befo' -de-wah" negro wit il seldom
seen now but this incident will show that he ia
not entirely gone. Sam, a very lazy gar
L. L