Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-06-19
USE OF THE REINDEER
MILK, CHEESE AND FLESH FOR THE
ALAsKANs.
Besides the Animals Afford the best
Means of Transporting Goods
in the Far North.

city awaiting the departure of the next
steamer for the north, says the Seattle
| Post-1ntelligencer. He first went to
Alaska in 1877 as superintendent of the
Presbyterian MISSIONS and was in that
Office when he received his present APP
| pointment from the government in 1885.
Since 1891 Mr.. Jackson has been engaged
| In what seems to be a novel mission for
| superintendent of schools. He is in
| Producing Siberian reindeer into Alaska.
| When he goes north he will meet the
| revenue cutter Bear at Unalaska, and in
| that vessel will visit the coast of ST.
| IBERIA, travelling along from point about
$50 miles south of Boring straits to
point about $50 miles north, according
to the condition of the ice and surf.
/ Within the small harbors in this stretch
of coast line the cutter will drop anchor,
and Mr.. Jackson will go prospecting for
| reindeer. By inquiries among the natives
| he finds out where there are RENDERS to
| be purchased and then negotiates the
| sale. He generally selects females be-
tween the ages of and 3 years. and pays
| on the Siberian side about So head.
81 do not know whether the cutter
| will transport the lot this year or not"
| he said to the reporter. "They may be
pressed for time, and if SO shall charter
a whaler or trading vessel. l will have
between $50 and 200. We have now about
800 reindeer in Alaska. Procreation has
| been rather slow so far, but the herd
was increased by the birth of 2S6 last
year"
But what has this to do with the pub
lie schools and education in general?'
| was asked.
why everything" responded the sup
erntendent, with a smile. I'm Alaska
We do not make such point of mere
mental training as we do of giving the
native a means whereby he can max.
more money to support high mode of
| living. Our pupils are really apprentices,
to whom we teach a trade. AS scholar
of the Indian schools in the states are
taught the care of horses and cattle, We
teach the care and use of the reindeer
1t would be empty cruelty to give the ma
tive an education that would make the
surroundings of civilization necessary to
him, without giving him the means by
which to support the surroundings. When
the native Is civilized, it means that more
money must be expended in his support.
In their wild, uncivilized state they can
live on very little. l do not imagine the
store bill of an Indian for year woulo
amount to more than $40 or $12. OF course
a great deal of their food is obtained by
hunting and fishing. We have to teach
them industries, and the breeding OF
reindeer is one of the great avenues OF
wealth in the Arctic.
THE school is located at Point Clar.
ence, the first harbor on the Americas
side of Boring straits. and We have Ii
| Pdplio' INdCl JIG SlNth LNO iGlHuSSi
a year to keep, and after each has served
five years he has 10 head, or, if there
have been any births, he may have II
or Is. We have seven Lapmen from Lap
land, who are skilled herders, to teach
The Is young Eskimos. They also act a.
herders. The herd is not placed in ali
enclosure, but is allowed to roam at will
on the broad prairie, attended by a Lap
and his dog. These dogs are from Lap
land, and are of peculiar breed, re
sembling collie. They are shaggy, and
some have absolutely no tails This does
not worry them, however, as there are
no flies in that country. No provisions
are necessary for the reindeer. When
turned out they find plenty of sustenance
IN the moss and short grasses of the
plains. When a small number of our APP
| prenticeS have been in the school Suf-
ficient length of time to have come into
possession of good-sized herds, we tell
them to club together, take themselves
off and live by themselves.
Such a band of natives can make
their living off the animals. The reindeer
furnishes milk, cheese and flesh as food,
| and from it's skin can be made clothing
and shoes. Money is made from them
by charges for the transportation OF
goods, and the owners are put to no ex-
pense in their keeping.
| 1.-The reindeer is the animal provided by
nature and God for that region. The
| Introduction of the animals was orig
inally started by the government as an
| act of humanity to aid the natives, who
were in many cases starving. But 1t
| was soon found useful to miners. Mining
is all important in central and Arctic
Alaska, and the question of transporta-
| ton has assumed very large proportions.
OF the mines in the Yukon basin none are
nearer than rs miles to the river The
| small steamers take goods to the banks
and then the question is to carry them to
| the mines. What could be better for this
| purpose than the reindeer. The distress
in the mining camps last winter was ter
| rible. The price of dogs, common ordin-
airy ours, went up to $500 each. reindeer
is as good as six dogs. In travelling be-
| tween points lying long distance apart
two dog teams are required. one to pack
| the regular outfit and the other to pack
provisions for the two teams
| There is pasturage in Alaska for $780,,
| 600 head. and the stocking of those frozen
plains would be worth millions to the
| country from a commercial point of view.
In Lapland and the northern part of Nor
way there are 100000 head of tame rein
deer Last year $1,000 carcasses were ship
ped from there to Europe, together with
| thousands of reindeer hams and tongues.
In addition, there is cannery in Norway
which puts up reindeer meat just as they
do beef in this country. The introduction
| of reindeer is of vastly more Importance
to Alaska than the preservation of the
| thousands of dollars each year in main
tanning a fleet to keep out poaching seal
ers and only allows $500 year for the
introduction and support of the reindeer
and the school at Point Clarence. The
latter is of such practical consequence
that it would seem more attention would
be paid to it by the government.
There are now about 30 schools in
Alaska. Juneau and Sitka have two
EACH one for whites and one for the ma
tives. Schools are located also at Fort
| Wrangel, Douglas island, Unalaska, and
various other points. A new school will
be established at Circle City this year,
right under the Arctic zone. The miners
had meeting there last winter and rails
n ed $110O to build a school house, and then
applied to the government for a teacher.
Two entertainments were given, one by
the white women and the other by native
women, to raise funds. Every white wo-
man in the town was elected a school
trustee. I have selected young lady
from Indiana to go as teacher. She is a
sister of the present superintendent of
the state normal schools. / suppose our
young lady teachers will get married as
fast as we can send them up there, and
there will be a new teacher each year."
|