The National tribune., 1899-08-10
Free 10 Every Eaayried Lady
ALASKA'S FOOD RESOURCES.
How the Natives Lived Before the White Men W
There.

With the prospect of another rush to the
frozen North in consequence of the reported
bleak and barren shore of Norton Sound.
comes renewed interest in the food ques-
ton in Alaska No man in the State of
Washington, or, indeed, in the United
States, probably, has devoted more atten-
tion to the subject than DR.. j. P. Sweeney,
of Seattle, says the Post t-Intelligencer.
When, in 1897, the rush to the Klondike
began, DR.. Sweeney began collecting infor-
nation regarding the foods suitable to sus-
tain human life in the sub-arctic regions.
Coming in contact as he did with numerous
gold seekers on the way to the North, here
had abundant opportunity to make inquir-
les of them concerning their food supplies,
and later of talking over with returning
Kloldikers and pioneers of the Yukon coun-
try the food question, then Of greatest in
tereSt on account OF the threatened famine
in the Yukon.
One of the pioneer gold seekers DR.
Sweeney was fortunate in meeting was
George w. Caranack, the discoverer of the
Klo ld;ke, and from him he gathered much
ltere sting information concerning the haD-
its of the Indian tribes on the Yukon and
the white men who long before the dlscov-
cry os the treasure hidden beneath the
frozen moss and gravel of the klondike
valley lived with them and shared the hard
$ lips of their daily life.
".Sone Of the things that Carmack told
ne, said DR. Swee ley, were entirely new
to me. and all very interesting. One Of
the things / have always been anxious
to know was how the white men lived who
nunted and trapped along the Yukon i'll
the days when it was thousands of miles
t.. the trading posts and civilization. Car
mack explained TO me
ave were compelled he said, TO do
jIISt as the Indians did In the Summer
ii ne, besi les game and fish, we ate ber-
- for A lc ,ly i.t a hp If oil cnriC of
berries. And besides these we obtained
o5Ier substitutes for the vegetables of civ
iiization The pri lcipal of these were grass
roots, certain small bulbs or tubers, and
the inside bark of various trees.
an the Winter we ate fish, meat and
berries. which the squaws dried in the Sum
ner and stored away. Then also the little
bulbs have MENTIONED came in very hand
lily ! have forgotten now what they were
called, but they, as all old Alaska men
know. form the principal food of the tim
br squirrels of that country during the
Winter
ait was by rifling the boards Of these
little animals that we obtained our supply
of the bulbs in the Winter. Their boards
are always to be found in solitary spruce
tree in thicket of stunted pines: That
was the way in which We located them.
The reason for this | never knew
"AS a substitute for bread-of course,
the Indians then had no fiour-we ate a
species of pudding made of the blood of
the game we killed, boiled with dried ber
ries and sometimes with the little bulbs
from the squirrel boards
81 asked Carmack how the Indians in
those days obtained salt for their meat
Everyone knows that, to a white man at
least, salt is a necessity, and not mere
fiavoring matter. In answer Carmack told
ne something that was entirely new to me.
de said that the Indians made it a prac-
..t.
they boiled their meat but allowed it to re-
main in the kettle. In the course of a short
time, he told me, the water or broth would
become extremely salty, and could then be
maintained at whatever degree OF saline
ness was deemed desirable by the addition
of fresh water to replace some Of the salt
broth dipped out and thrown away.
"A little thought will make it plain that
Carnack's story is perfectly plausible. The
blood contains small quantities of salts,
aln)ag them the salt we call common salt,
chloride of sodium. By evaporation these
plentiful to flavor the meat
b1iled in the solution, and then the desired
end was attained.
"Of course, the practice of leaving the
sane water in the meat kettle for days
wolid not appeal to a white man on the |
gro nd of cleanliness. Still if one had no |
salt the Indian plan would not be one to |
scorn. | would recommend any ore who |
i te ldS goi lg into unciyiliZed countries to |
bear the process in mind 1t might prove |
valuable in case of emergency.
another novel practice OF the Indians |
related to me by Carmack was their plan |
of boiling meat without a kettle 1t was
their custom, he said, when without a
proper vessel for cooking, to take the stom-
ach Of the animal killed-deer, moose, or
bear, whatever it might be-and, dividing |
it into halves, sink one of the halves in
hollow dug i'll the ground deep enough to
it
"A withe Of willow bent in a circle and |
placed inside the rim Of the hemisphere
served to keep it from collapsing. Then
water was placed in the sunken half and |
fire built In the fire small stones were
heated redhot and dropped into the water,
it to boil Then the meat was
placed in the vessel and kept boiling until
properly cooked by the addition OF more
heated stones from time to time.
The other half of the stomach, by the
aid of couple Of withes, was fashioned
into a pail in which to carry water for
cooking purposes, one of the withes being
taste led inside the rim and another attach
ed as bail
"Jack' Dalton, who was one Of the pio-
neers of Alaska, and the discoverer of the
trail which bears his name" continued DR. |
Sweeney, gave me some interesting data
the habits OF the Indians and |
days Of the territory. Dried fish, he told |
me, he bad found to he the most satisfac-
tory food when game and fresh fish were
not to be obtained The Indians he said,
were accustomed to pound the dried fish |
uD into a paste with dried berries, and |
used it to the exclusion Of nearly all other
foods in the Winter"