The Saint Paul globe., 1902-03-30
SCHOOLS IN ALASKA
SPLENDID WORK OF EARNEST
AMERICAN TEACHERS AMONG
NATIVE CHILDREN
LEARN SLOWLY, BUT SURELY
Teachers Labor Under Disadvant-
ages of Poor Home Infiuences-
Many Obstacles to Overcome,
but Workers Are Hopeful.

State Superintendent Olsen is in receipt
of the report of education in Alaska
which throws some interesting side lights
on the conditions in that country. At the
present time there are 1900 pupils n the
twenty-stx schools of Alaska under the
supervision Of about thirty teachers.
The report states that in several Sec
tlons of Alaska the influx Of white men
has resulted in an increased interest in
the schools on the part Of the adult native
Alaskans. Realizing the advantage to be
obtained by such knowledge of the Eng
lish language as VIII enable them to trade
intelligently with the white men they
have made requests for night schools
which have proved very popular and pro-
ductive Of good results.
The report states that one feature Of
the work is the regular attendance Of the
pupils in most Of the schools, about e
rer cent rot missing a day during the
year, While several have not missed a
single day in three years. One of the
teachers, a Miss Nellie Green, of Fort
Wrangel, gives this interesting descrip-
ton of conditions:
Learn Slowly, but Surely.
"The native children, If sent to. school
regularly, learn slowly but surely. Their
faith in the white man is great, and for
that reason it is easy to work among
them. Irregular attendance and hardness
are due to home surroundings. The par
ents often are Indifferent as to whether
the children attend or not, and the chill
dren use their own time and pleasure in
reaching school. The home lacks sys-
TEN. The natives do not have "a place
for everything and everything in its
place" Children are often tardy because
an article Of clothing Is lost. Little
Patsy has the faculty Of losing every
thing. One day he came to school with
out his hat; he had lost it. Another
time he had to stay at home, for he
couldn't find his coat Even at school
I'd ask him to spell a word; he would
say. I can't; I lost It,
1T is interesting to visit some Of the
homes where the members are busy at
work. One such home is little Andrew S.
The men are busy making snowshoes,
the women baskets. In other homes dur
ing the winter the families are gathered
around stove or a smoky open fire, their
cooking utensils and remnants of a re-
cent meal forming a not very pleasing
picture The most interesting families
are those who retain the simple manners
OF Indian life, or else those who can
successfully initiate the white mans
ways. AS l was walking one afternoon
in early winter in the Thlingket part Of
town, l came to some Indian women who
We're sitting on the beach around a fire
made from a log Of driftwood. Surely
these are Natures children, thought /;
nothing could be simpler than their way
of living; warm fire, plenty of pure.
fresh air. some dried fish-that was all
they needed. I could not understand
what they were saying, for they were
talking in their native tongue, but I felt
sure they had no social problems to vex
themselves with
'In Hydah home I found the members
more like white people. The room was
arranged with the care Of a white per-
son. The Indian woman was preparing
meal y1ynf CT of
meat, fried potatoes and white bread A
lamp was burning on the table; a cat was
in front of the stove. Only the dusky
faces around me showed that I was in
an Indians home"
Good Native Ability.
The general conclusion Of the report
is as follows:
I'm mental ability the native children
seem to compare favorably with those of
more civilized countries. Some few are
hopeleSsly dull, but the majority are ca
pable of cOmprehending and retaining the
subjects which engage the attention of
white children Of similar age. A few are
remarkably bright and exhibit capablity
for mental training to a very cOnSidera-
bic extent The great obstacles in their
progress are irregularity in attendance
and the lack of the gift of continuity.
Their life involves nothing which is cal
culated to train them for continued men
tai application. Their work is such as
requires physical strength and native
acuteness for little time after which
the strain is relaxed, and they lapse into
a condition of utter idleness until again
required to put forth effort. Consequent
ly their faculties for long-continued men
tai effort are undeveloped, and the chill
dren are unable to follow an extended
course of work with the facility of those
who have come Of more civilized stock
Limited by these drawbacks, however,
they have during the past year made an
appreciable advance in the use of Eng
lish, in arithmetic, in geogra ply, and in
general knowledge"
The American teachers in Alaska are
not discouraged by the many obstacles
with which they have to contend, but
write encouragingly of the progress and
possibilities, and hope much. for the flu
ture.