The representative., 1900-12-06
KEEN EsQulMAU
NATIVES OF alaska sHREWD AT
MAKING A, BARGAIN.

1Aey nave E'ufS ana Ivory to EX.
change for Supplies of Great Value
to Them-rhe Trade Very Pronta-
BILE to the white Men-Bu.ine..
Done of the One-Prfce Plan.
Port Clarence, Alaska.-Through increas-
ing contact with white men from the states,
who visit the far north every summer, the
Esquimaux of the Arctic and sub Arctic
Alaska have become traders Of great shrewd-
ness and ability 1t can never be said that
an EsQuimau ever got more in trade than
he gave he usually gets much less. The
law of supply and demand is UNIVERSAL how
ever. and the native is glad to give articles
which are of great value in the markets of
the United States in exchange for cheap
things which to him are rare and useful
| and therefore, valuable.
The EsQuimau is not to be regarded as
savage, for he is far from it. A trader
might bring shipload Of looking glasses
and glittering beads to this coast, and at
the end OF the short summer season he
would have no bear SKINS no fox skins, no
ivory, but he would know more about the
Esquimau character. Articles more useful
are demanded. Not a few men who have
failed in the gold fields this year have
conceived the idea that there is money to
be made in trading with the natives, and at
fitted out this year and others are prom
ised for next season. They will probably
make another failure. The slender popu-
lation on these coasts is every year be-
coming smaller and the supply Of furs and
other articles formerly brought out for
trade by the natives is decreasing.
Nevertheless, to return to the statement
made at the beginning, the natives become
more adept in trading as years 60 by. They
are the Yankees Of the far north, even if
and many of the chief characteristics of
the Japanese. Only in comparatively re-
cent years have whaling ships penetrated
to any extent into the waters Of Arctic
Alaska. Owing to the wholesale slaughter
Of whales in the north Pacific the catch
became smaller and smaller each year until
ships entered Behring sea every year in con-
siderable numbers. The slaughter of whales
being transferred to these waters and re-
sulting in depletion, the whaling ships en-
tered the Arctic ocean in search of the bow
head.
The whaling men are the great traders of
the region north and west of this port.
Whales are sometimes scarce and the
whalers are glad to add to the precarious
profits of seasons catch by trading for furs
and other products of the country. There
are native settlements on the coast of north
ern Alaska and ON the islands of Behring
sea where not more than one ship is seen
in the course of year. At other places
three or four vessels call during the short
season of navigation. The Bear, the steam
barkentne employed for years in the reve-
nue. cutter service on the Arctic cruise, is
usually one of these vessels.
Sickness among the. natives throughout
this coast last summer was distinctly injur-
iOus to what the whalers call trade. At
some settlements the natives were to sick
to come out to the ships in their boats and
in some cases they were poor that they
had nothing to barter During a visit to
Cape York, Cape Prince OF Wales, Icy Cape,
Point Barrow King Island, st. Lawrence
Island and several points on the Siberian
coast this summer the best possible oppor-
tunity was had to see how the native trades
as compared with the methods of a few years
ago. There was sickness on the islands, but
above Behring strait on the mainland the
health of the Esquimaux was good.
Every whaling vessei, carries it's stock
of trade goods on a northern cruise and
even the officers of the Bear, though in the
service of the government, are allowed to
take along limited quantity In the case
of government officers, the trading is not
carried on for profit, but for the purpose of
obtaining relics of the country and articles
of personal use.
The trade goods of whaling ship consist
of a pretty definite list of articles, and
change little from year to year. The ES-
quimaux' wants are few and he knows little
of the luxures of civilization. The list in
cludes -four in bags, cloth, tea, sugar, to-
baccO, hard bread sea biscuits, cartridges
or needles and thread. The native has to
offer in exchange mukloks, or walrus hide
boots, fox skins, walrus ivory, bear skins,
deer skins, ivory buttons and various native
implements and devices priced by white men
as curiOs. 1t is interesting to find that
different Esquimau settlements are head
quarters for different articles comprised in
this small list. For example, if a whaler
wants to trade for buttons he asks for them
at st. Lawrence Island, for the natives at
Northwest Cape famous as makers of
ivory buttons. King Island is the best place
of all to trade for the crious ivory pipes
found only in this part of the world, and if
a visitor is so ambitious as to wish to carry
a kyak or small native boat, back to the
United States with him. he had better make
his trade with one of the little native col
Onies on this same island. For deer skins go
to the Siberian coast or to Port Clarence;
for fox skins to KotZebue Sound; for brown
and polar bear skins to any of the Esqui-
mau settlements north of Behrng strait on
the shores of the Arctic.
Bear skins were scarce this summer, for
what reason no one seems able to explain.
Nearly every summer it is possible to find
several of these beautiful white pelts at
the three or four principal settlements be-
tween Cape Prince of Wales and Point
Barrow Every year, too, the EsqumauX
seem to be disposed to demand little
higher price for their skins. They are
gradually getting vague idea of the mar
ket value of these things in the United
States or, to speak more accurately, they
are learning how badly the white man wants
the things the native man has to trade.
Nevertheless, it is usually possible to buy
on the Arctic coast fine polar bear skin
worth several hundred dollars in New York
or Boston for three or four small sacks of
-four, two or three cases of hard bread
and a few cartridges. If you make the
trade on these terms you have paid from
SIS to 500 for the skin. Frequently it is
possible to buy a polar bear skin for less
than SIS; it is hard to say what the average
price really is.
The visit of whaling ship to one of these
native settlements always excites interest
among the Esquimaux very much like that
felt by the merchants in small city when
the circus comes to town. 1t is holiday
and a day for profitable enterprise. both in
one. ship is sighted by keen native eyes
as soon as a few inches of her topmast
shows, a mere speck above the horizon, and
the village becomes place OF great activ-
ity Boots or mukloks made during the
winter with soes of walrus hide and tops
of hair-seal or deer skin are brought out,
with walrus tusks, ivory buttons carved
and a large collection of miscellaneous
curos which the white traders may fancy.
The Esquimaux think all white men are
crazy. This is averred by all whites who
know the EsquimauX language and overhear
the natives conversation. They have been
in no land but their own and they cannot
understand why white men should dig IN
the ground for gold and do other queer
things unless they are the victims of un-
balanced minds is
AS soon as the ship drops anchor the
natives are seen coming of in their oumiaks
and kyaks, men, women and children, the
whole population. Nearly every one of
them has poke or sort of pouch made
of the whole skin Of hair seal slung
over his shoulder In these are contained