Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1896-10-22
Saint Maru's Beacon
How the xndlans Handle Their Canoes-A
Perwfsfeuk Dnw.


H@w tine Indians Handle Their Canoee-A
Persistent Dog.
The Indians at Yakutat, Alaska,
were getting ready TO go to Olsen.
chantment bay to hunt seals and get
the oil for winter consumption.
Everybody was going, big and little.
and the village would be deserted
until the hnnt was over, with only
the disconsolate dogs to watch IT.
The canoes which had been lying
high on the beach out of the way OF
possible harm from tide or swell
were showed out into the water.
They are heavy, ungainly things,
dug out of logs. Sometimes they are
80 feet long. 1t will puzzle a white
man q good deal to navigate one Of
them, but the Indians are as much
at homo as IL they were in their
houses. An Indian baby learns to
paddle almost as soon as he learns
to walk. That method of locomotion
has been the general one for SO long
that the whole race Is developed ire.
mendously in the arms and chest,
but has short, rather weak legs.
When the canoes were in the wa
ter, the work of loading them be-
gam The members of each family
gathered up their traps and piled
them in-bundles of blankets and
skins, household utensils, pots, ket-
ties and pans. dried salmon, provi-
sions from the store. oil in tin cans
and bark pans to hold it. Every fell
low took hand at loading, little or
big, and every fellow seemed to
chuck his load into the canoe, hit or
miss, without regard to trim. It was
q wild, indiscriminate higglety pig
gletyness. but somehow it rode all
right.
A decent, self respecting whale
boat would have got angry and tip
ped over, but not dugout resented
its treatment. After all the duffle
had been chucked in the big Indians
put in the little ones. Then the
squaws climbed in. After that the
men got ready to shove out. The
dogs stood around by the dozen,
whining and begging to be taken
along. Once in awhile q man would
grab dog by tho nape of the neck
and throw him on top of the pile Of
baggage. 1t was q marvel that the
scrambling dogs didn't upset the
whole thing.
One man had two dogs and not
much room. He chucked one in and
paid no attention to the pleading of
the other. The dog was persistent,
but his only reward was a cuff on
the ear. The man went back up the
beach to his house to get a last some
thing, and the <dog waded out and
climbed into the canoe. The Indian
ran back, grabbed him by the scruff
of the neck and threw him out on
the beach. The dog waited a minute
and then waded out and climbed in
again. This time the Indian threw
him out harder, but the dog wasn't
discouraged. He shook the water
out of his fur and wagged his tail.
When he thought he had q good
chance, he waded ont and climbed
into the canoe the third time. The
Indian swore by his totem and drag
ged the dog up the beach. Before
no could get back to push the canoe
off the dog had run out into the wa
ter again and climbed up into the
canoe. The Indian hit him a clout
on the nose with his fist, and the
dog lay down and shivered. Then
the Indian pushed off, everybody
got to work Mt the paddles, and the
whole crowd went off peacearly and
marvelously upright. The dog had
won.-New York Sun.