Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-03-07
LAST SLAVE IN THIS COUNTRY.
nm Indian I'm Alaska, Who
Died I'm Slavery Last Summer.

! From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
| United States District Attorney Burton +.
| Bennett, formerly Of Seattle, but now sta
| toned at Sitka, has been writing some very
! interesting letters to friends here on The
| novel scenes by which he is surrounded. In
| a letter dated February he relates an in
cident which is of more than usual interest.
1t is the story of probably the last slave held
on United States territory
Last week." he writes, 'Klan-tach, one
of the subcnefs of the Stka tribe, came to
my Office with an interpreter, and said that
the killisnoo Indians owed him 100 blankets
(worth $50 or STD, and wanted me to give
him letter ordering them to pay the debt
as he and his warriors in canoes We're going
TO start for there the next morning, early
refused to give him a letter till had fur
Their investigated the matter l thareupon
sent for George Kostrometinoff, the official
court reporter, a Russian by birth, a native
of Sitka, and son of "A Russian naval Off
GER who speaks the Indian language. AT
my request he made thorough iaveStiSa-
ton of the matter, with some interesting
results.
About forty years ago, 1t seems, at Hoorz-
noo-oo Drown Bears Fort), a large Indian
village, one and one-half miles from Kills
moo little fort in the bayD. a fight took place
between two clans, and during the fight an
Indian woman was killed. Her name was
kah-Shtet-Shik. She was an aunt of Khan
tach one of the subchiefs of the Sitka tribe
According TO the Indian custom or law the
man who killed her had to pay a great n,any
D!ankets or lose his life. Who it was who
Killed TINS woman was, of course unknown
as 1t occurred during A general fight Hence
the deot fell upon the Killisnoo tribe, which
was Obliged to pay or have one of its men
Killed. Not having enough blankets to pay
Tor the death of the woman, the tribe gave
save to klan-tach to settle it. Slaves at
inns time were very valuable. The slave
gwen was named Ea-kow, and was about
fxr-ny pfyvr- la
ne was stolen from the Hydah tribe who
i've IN the southern part of Prince Ed
wards Island. At this time slaves were
obtained by stealing children from other
tribes and from prisoners taken in war.
A chief who had ten slaves was considered
a very rich man. klan-tach returned 10
Sitka, ard kept Ea-how as a slave until
last summer. when he died. The Kah-wdn-
tan tribe the war tribe. of which klan-
tach is che of the principal chiefs, after
the death of Ea-how. concluded that il had
nothing t. show that it had ever been paid
for the death of klan-tach's aunt and also
concluded that it ought to have at least
100 blankets to settle the n AFTER
Last week klan-tach came to NV office
with his interpreter and, after explaining
matters, asked for letter to the Killisnoo
indians, ordering them to pay 100 blankets
or course he was refused and told that
the kilisnoo Indians owed him nothing
and that, moreover, he had no right to own
slaves in this country. He explained by
saving that he had freed this slave years
ago. but he would not leave. 1t seems that
in 1879. when Capt. Glass of the James
town was here. the Stka tribe, as well as
all other Alaska tribes had q great many
slaves, and he freed them all, but this man
Ea-how concluded to stay with Klan-tach
klan-tach went away, but it seems that he
and his warriors are determined to get nav
for the SqCaw that was killed forty wears
ago, as the next morning after leaving my
office, he, with five canoes, started for Kill
isnoo to enforce his claim. / do not know,
the result yet. This is the last Sitka slave
and probably the last instance OF slave
holding in the United States"