The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-16
H.P. Wasson&Co. II. P. Wasson& Co. II. P. Wasson&Co

1t weighed practically nothing and was as
much better than the macintosh of COM
merce as an India shawl is better than a
government blanket. salmon net made
of deer sineW took a long time to weave,
but when done it lasted for many years,
while the stronger Whalebone net was prac-
tically indeStructibe.
The cleverness of these northern tribes in
wrestling from the bare world around them
life exciteS the admiration of all ethnolo-
gistS. The whale, the walrus, the bear and
the deer were their gold mines, and fur
nished them with nearly everything they
used. The great cup-like vertebrae of the
whale were filled with burning oil to heat
their homes. From the warus hide they
made an armor which would turn not only
the blows and thrusts of their own weap-
ons but even the white mans bullets. The
fine furs Of the north and the wool of the
mountain sheep made clothing perfectly
adapted to their needs, and if the various
Alaska tribes lacked any comforts or lux
urieS they were entirely unconscious of the
deprivation. They WERE to use the New
England idiom, very well fixed"
l spent several hours the other day talk
ing with a prominent Alaska trader about
the changes which have taken place in this
far-oH corner of the country. The Alaskan
Indian. he told me, is still rich, because
Alaska furs are the finest in the world.
Moreover, the native hunters have become
shrewd, and the white man can no longer
get any commercial advantage in a trans
action with them. THE day has gone by
said the trader, when you can go up to
Alaska with lot of calico and beads and
The most profitable articles to use now. in
the Alaska trade are high-grade sewing
machines, piano lamps and hundred-dollar
music books. The Indian knows the market
to a dot. How much tobacco2 Will be-
asked, If tobacco is the commodity under
consideration. A difference of 10 cents from
the San Francisco price will bring about
a deadlock, in which the trader must yield
If he wants the furs. At my trading post
] actually sell Winchester rifle for lit
tie less than the retail price in Chicago"
Although the Alaskan can earn plenty OF
money and few of them are thu fifty enough
to accumulate wealth. they are no longer
rich in beautiful things, as they were twen-
ty or more years ago Then they were not
only clever artisans. but skilled artists. The
beautiful textile ever woven by savage
people. 1t was made from the wool of the
mountain sheep, dyed with the soft. per-
manent native colors and decorated with q
design which represented the structure of
whale or bear, or whatever figured prom
inently in the totem of the owner. An old
Chilkat blanket Is now worth anywhere
from fifty to several hundred dollars. and is
difficult 10 get at that. The new ones are
woven of Germantown yarn, and are worth
nothing. With baskets the case IS equally
deplora Bile. dozen years ago the traders
had their warehouses stacked high with tho
fine old baskets, dyed in vegetable dyes or
decorated only in the natural tints of the
roots and grasses To-day il Is hard 10
get enough baskets in the old dives TO I'LL
museum ord rs. TIE baskets made In Alaska
now are colored with aniline dyes and are
Fl only fer the counters of the cheap bazaar.
''But why is it, / asked. III the indian IS
so shrewd commercially that he does not
prefer to sell vegetable-dyed basket for
$40 TO a mineral-dyed one for dolarg'
because" said the trader. che does not
have 10 sell baskets at all. The same labor
expended in other ways will buy him our
factory made utensils for his own use. The
Alaska arts were too laborious to practice
for expectation. The knowledge of them
survives only with the old squaws; the
young ones are too lazy for the tntermina-
BILE tasks OF their grandmothers. These old
women treasure the aTd-made heirlooms
they have Kept so long. and the only way
to get hold OF old baskets and blankets is
to watch for the moment when improvi-
dence has exhausted the family treasury
and something must be pledged for food.
The tourist has no longer any chance to
buy Alaska curlos. and in a few years more
II win be impossible TO get them anyWhers
or at any price,