The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1897-08-26
ALASKAN NATIVES.
Brief Sketch of the Character
istic Peoples of the Terri
tory.

me Kind Of Folks Our New Argonauts
win Meet-Eskimos, Thlingits and Atha-
pascan Tribes Principal Vacations OF
Each-some are Adopts I'm Certain Arts.
~3HE NATIVE RACES OF ALASKA
are divided into large number of
small tribes, but consist really OF
- only five linguistic families; and
three of these are so small numerl-
cally as to be of little consequence. Com
paratively few of the natives belong to the
race properly called North American Indians,
and these occupy the vast interior regions, and
by the ethnologists are styled Athapascans.
They are similar in race and characteristics IN
language to the natives of the interior OF
British America, and have no connection with
the numerous family of Eskimos, which
cuts them off from contact with the sea coast
all the wav around from the point where
the International boundary line touches the
Arctic Ocean on the north to the mouth o.
Copper River in southern Alaska This In
dian race numbers according to the last census
about ], 200 souls, although the enumeration
does not profess absolute accuracy.
The most important race in point of num-
bers belongs TO the widely-differing Eskimo
family, including the Aleutians, who inhabit
the chain of islands stretching across from
the point to the Alaska Peninsula to the
Siberian Coast, and separating the Siberian
Sea from the North Pacific Ocean. These
Aleutians differ so widely from the other
tribes of this linguistic group that their
language has become very different, and IN
appearance the individuals of this tribe bear
a striking resemblance to the japanese in
form feature, and stature. The Eskimo fam
ily, including the Aleutians, number over
}afo tot lott offs
l6,500 for the entire territory. The third
family, and next in numerical strength, to the
Eskimo groups are the Thlingits, which
occupy the coast of southeastern Alaska
from the mouth OF the Copper River to British
Columbia. These people number between
1000 and 5000. The other two linguistic
stocks are unimportant, numbering 800 OF
400 each one family being the Haidas, who
inhabit Prince of Wales Island. and the other
q recent immigration from British Columbia,
numbering a few hundreds and settled at
Metlakhatla
Of these various races the Thlingits are the
best known to the whites and are an industri-
Gus people, who have shown great willingness
to adopt civilized customs When they first
came in contact with the whites they We're
essentially wood-carvers, having reduced this
art to great perfection in the construction of
large cedar canoes capable OF carrying as
many as 80 men, building comfortable houses,
and manufacturing domestic utensils appli-
cable in their methods Of life. Their habits
were maritime, and their chief article of food
was fish. They also subsisted largely upon
various berries, such as strawberries, rasp-
berries, and currants, which they dried or
preserved in oil for Winter use
One of their principal staples was fish oil,
which they extracted by boiling water with
heated stones in their wooden canoes, and
skimming the oil from the surface of the
liquor Having no utensils of metal, their
one means of cooking was by boiling in this
way, using sometimes, instead of wooden YES
Bels, baskets Of closely-woven roots of the
cedar or spruce. They also collected the roe
of the herring. by placing cedar branches in
the shallow bays where the fish resorted to
deposit their spawn.
They were also sl1illful hunters, but seemed
not to have possessed the art of curing meat
which had to be consumed fresh, as the eli
mate did not permit drying it. Since their
connection with the white traders, they have
also adopted the use of -four as an important
article of diet and this they consume pre-
pared as boiled mush or paste mixed with
fish oil They also, in their original state,
understood the art of weaving, and they man.
ufactured blankets, the warp Of which was
made from fibers of cedar bark or roots. into
which was woven thread twisted by hand
from the wool of the mountain goat Of late