Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-04-25
Arhrentnnod Inlnatloe.

tce turks in the bin recently introduced |
in Congress. providing that the governor |
of Alaska shall be cx-oilicio supcrnicnd- /
cnt Of Indian affairs for that district and, /
under the direction OF the Secretary OF !
the Interior have charge of the education |
and welfare OF the native Indians and /
Eskimo. which will embrace within its
scope the management of the reindeer
Under this bill il is said, the supervision
OF the reindeer in Alaska is to be given to
the governor Of the territory as q part OF
his duties
II will be recalled that to the United
States Bareau Of Education the country
is indebted for the inception of the intro
duction Of domestic reindeer into Alaska.
The new plan evidently comprehends
relieving this bureau OF the charge of
this industry that has proven such o
boon for the native Alaskans For thir-
teen years, under the supervision of The
United States government, the rcn-
deer in Alaska have increased from an
original purchase OF 1850, until they
now number with the iaWns of this
present season. about $4,000 head
The whole enterprise was started to
prevent the starvation of the natives Of
Alaska In 1890, representations were
made to the government that the native
population in Arctic and Sub-Arctic
Alaska we're in semi-starving condi-
tion, and that something must be done
TO prevent their extinction. But in
stead of taking the form which it did
with our Indian population 10y placing
the Alaskans within reservations and
feeding them ations at government
expense, thus reducing them to condi-
tions Of helpless paupers, the agent Of
the bureau, DR.. Sheldon Jackson, who
had been for more than thirteen years
in Alaska (having gone there first in lS77),
suggested TO the government the wisdom
of importing domestic reindeer from
Siberia and teaching the l1slimo young
men their care and management and thus
providing a method whereby these Alas
lSans could in the near future support
themselves
When the plan was first presented to
Congress no action was taken, and DR..
jackson appealed to the benevolent
people of the country TO furnish funds
to make the experiment $4,000 was
sent in answer TO this appeal and with
this sum the first importation of reindeer
was made by DR. Jackson in 1892 In
that year III reindeer were purchased in
Northern Siberia and brought to Alaska
on revenue cutter, landing at Port Clar-
ence. This was the beginning of the gov
ernment herd in Alaska In 1894, two
years after il had been thus proved that
reindeer could be successfully introduced
and would thrive in Alaska, Congress
made the first appropriation, OF $4,000.
From year to year that sum was increased
until in 1900 il had reached an annual
appropriation of $4,000.
The entire care of this experiment has
been under the Bureau of Education
II has been conducted as the industrial
part of tho day schools for native Alaskans
maintained by the United States govern
ment. Promising young natives have
been taken from the industrial school
and given a hve-years' training in the
care and management of the deer. under
competent instructors brought from the
| lnplanders who had been in charge OF
herds in Norway. From year TO year q
number Of additional deer were brought
over from Siberia until the whole inn
portation aggregated $50 head From
these $50 head and their fawns have
been born. between 1893 and 1905. over
1900 fawns They have been divided
into fifteen herds
The training and selection of capable
herdsmen to attend to these reindeer
has been attended by the missionaries
with most satisfactory results. Nov,
according to the Indian Rights Asso-
citation. the white settlers who are press.
ing into Alaska and have already com,
TO appreciate the great value OF the rein
deer for transportation in Alaska, ar,
planning to get their hands upon tn,
reindeer for whites instead of natives A
grave anxiety is already felt on the part
of those who believe il TO be the dut,
of the United States government to q,
more rather than less, to save from
starvation the 25,000 uncared for nativt
Alaskans The proposed plan for taking
the reindeer away from the Bureau o
Education and giving them into the car
of the territorial governor, appears hkl
one of the methods too painfully iamila
in the past history of our dealing witt
native races. by which the long-hngere,
and avaricious whites are seeking to grasl
/ for themselves all the advantages Of IN
/ introduction of reindeer into Alaska
The notorious mismanagoment of tn
interests OF the Indians brought abou
chiefly through the appointment of Indial
D agents as a reward for party service. with
{ out regard to fitness il is held ough
e to be sufficient warning against th
adoption of any such policy for th
natives of Alaska. During the pas
5 summer IL was shown by the writer tina
two agencies formerly within the Grea
! Sioux Nation were being grossly mis-
managed, and that by reason of thes
influences the herds Of stock belongin
4 10 the Indians had been depleted and III
4 tribe had retrograded TO such am exten
e that it will require ten years OF more fo
, them to regain the high standard attaine
Z under former administrations