Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-25
SH|FTLESS ESKIM0S
Gen. Funston Comments on
Their Idle Habits.
REPORTED STARVING
TELLS OF THEIR CHARACTERIs-
TICS WHEN HE WAS IN ALASKA.
Recommends That an Officer Similar to
an Indian Agent Be Put in
Supervision Over Them.
REPORTED STARVING

Representations having been made to the
| War Department that the native Indians
| and Eskimos in Alaska. particularly in the
| vicinity of Nome and on Pilgrim river in
the Seward peninsula, were in starving con-
| dition. instructions were sent to the conf
| handing general, Department of the Co
| lumbia, to investigate the situation and re-
port what measures of relief are necessary.
He was authorized to take immediate steps
| to meet the emergency where starvation
confronts the Indians in the districts
| named, reporting his action to the War
Department for approval.
| The department has received from Cen
| eral Funston, commanding the Department
| of the Columbia, a preliminary report in
| which he says:
Steps will be taken at once to ascertain,
| through the commanding officers of the
various posts in Alaska, the extent of tht
deStitutiOn and on my coming visit to that
territory 1 shall gather all the data posi-
| BILE on the subject of restitution among the
| natives and the means of preventing and
| relieving same. AS l spent, at one time.
| two and one-half years In Alaska under
| such circumstances that lived almost en-
| tirely among the natives. both Indians and
| Eskimos feel justified in making a few
| observations on these people in advance
of my coming visit to the territory
| Gen. Funston's Experience.
Gen. Funston, in speaking of the effect
! upon the natives Of the presence Of the
white people in the country. says:
During the years 1892. 1893 and 1904
| that 1 spent In Alaska there was not a
single mining camp in the whole valley of
| the Yukon west of the Canadian boundary,
| and never had been. The same could be
| said of the northern and western coasts of
| the territory and most of the southern
| coast. In all that vast region the greatest
number of white men at any one place out
| side of the few scattered mission stations
| was the half dozen employees of the Alaska
| Commercial Company at Unalaska, about
| an equal number on st. Paul Island and
| one white man-Mr. A. Mayo-in the whole
valley of the Yukon west of the Canadian
| boundary: he was a trader, stationed at
! Nulato.1 Yet in those days starvation was
| as rife among the Eskimos as 1t is now. 1t
was no uncommon thing for whole villages
| to perish in a single winter. About twenty
years aRo-the exact date cannot give
the entire population of St Lawrence
Island. in Boring sea. fourteen hundred
| people. starved to death in single winter
| The exact year of this catastrophe can be
partment. as the revenue cutter Corwin
| visited the island the following summer,
| and her officers and crew made the discov-
| cry.
Herds Recklessly Slaughtered.
''Ten years ago. not counting the small
| mining towns of the southeast coast and
islands, such as Sitka, Juneau and a few
| others, there were not fifty white men in
| all Alaska, or less than one to every ten
thousand square miles. To my own GER
| tain personal knowledge in 1894 the moose
| and caribou in the entire lower valley of
| the Yukon and on the west coast had been
practically exterminated: the natives had
| obtained breech-loading rifles from the
| whalers some twenty years before and
slaughtered the great herds Of game with
| the most reckless prodigality; the animals
| were given no rest at any season. and were
! all but exterminated There are still. or
| at least were in 1893 and 1894, great droves
| Of caribou on the POrcupine river in north
eastern Alaska. and between that river and
| the Arctic ocean I have seen as many as
two thousand in single herd. and saw
more than six thousand in single day. It
| is true that the walrus has been practi-
cally exterminated In Boring sea and sd-
| Joining waters. but that was done, not by
| white men, but by the natives and in the
same fmprovident fashion that they exter
minated the moose and caribou Of the
! lower Yukon. In fact, the Eskimo owes his
present condition solely to his own prodi-
| gaity and disregard for the future; the
| only part the white men have had in the
| business Is that they have purchased the
| furs, walrus ivory. whalebone. etc, Of
| fered to them by the natives. The trifling
| disregard for future conditions is the cause
| Of their present distress.
Plenty of Food for the Natives.
1.-THE conditions in that country are in no
| way analogous to those in the United
| States proper. where the occupation of the
| country by large numbers Of white people,
| engaged in agriculture. mining and stock
| raising, deprived the Indians of their hunt
| ing grounds. The rivers of Alaska still
swarm with fish, there having been no
diminution Of the supply. as also do the
waters OF the entire coast. The hair seal,
| which furnishes the boots and summer
clothing Of the Eskimo. and the flesh Of
which is eaten. has been by no means ex-
| terminated. All that the Eskimo has to do
| to provide his family with food for the en-
tire year Is to bestir himself during the
fishing season and lay in a supply for the
ensuing year, instead of loaffng about trad
ing stations, mining camps and army posts
during the summer and depending upon
charity after it is too late to fish or hunt.
Partly from the ill-considered charity
Of which the Alaskan natives have been the
recipients they have developed great
fondness for bacon, hard bread. canned
beef and other foods OF like nature. and
just so long as the Eskimo Is ENCOURAGED in
idleness and shiftlessness by the knowledge
that he will be fed by the government II he
neglectS to provide for himself he will con-
tinue to be vagabond and loafer The
presence Of such mining camps as Nome
and others. with their great numbers of
dogs used for transportation purposes. Gre
ates an almost limitless demand for dried
salmon to be used dog food. An In
dian can, during the run of salmon, catch
and dry enough fish to furnish himself and
family with food for the entire year, and
can sell enough to enable him to purchase
Siberian reindeer skins for clothing Nearly
every native has a sled and dogs, and dur
ing eight months Of the year can earn more
wages than a skilled mechanic can in the
United States. by hauling supplies for min
erS. III ne is willing to work In the
mer he can make from IS to SO day"
Recommends Supervising Official
Il most earnestly recommend that an
army officer or special agent of one Of
the other departments OF the government,
be placed in general control of the Eskimos
of Alaska. his relation to them being SINH
lar to that Of an Indian agent in this coun-
try. The Eskimos should not be collected
on reservation, but 1t should be the duty
of the agent and his subordinates to insist
that they catch fish during the run Of sal
mo and ni1njqh vi orr N xvho