Alaska sentinel., 1909-01-07
WAKES UP THE TOWN

Chief George Shakes of the Thlinget tribe of Indians last week came to the conclusion that the town was becoming too dull, and in order to enliven things a little he organized a company of about thirty of his braves and proceeded 10 give an old fashioned native dance for the entertainment of the Boston men and women of Wrangell. The dance was given at Red Mems Hall Saturday evening, a spectacular street parade talk ing place before the performance. Upon returning to the hall, the chief made short speech, setting forth his 'tum- tum" to the white people. The speech follows:
 "Warriors We are met here tonight to celebrate the white mans New Years and to stir up the spirits of the lazy wbite men don't know what New Years has done for us that we shoUi1 remember his birthday, but the white men don't celebrate, so we Il do it ourselves, b'gosh. Another winter Is on the wane, and so are we. We are the wall-eyed waners from Wauetown. We have monopolzed the wane business of the whole world. Spring IS almost here, and we have not yet gone upon the war path. The pale face came among Us with the corn plaster and the Timber Land Act, and We bow before him.
 What does New Years signify to us? It is a hollow mockery Where the church bell of the white man now swings in the i breeze, a few years ago the scalp of our foe was dangling in the air. Now my people are seldom. Some are dead and others drunk Once we chased the deer across the ! Irr1o aud aGta nfi rT.af1 i Now we eat the condemned corued beef of the oppressor and weep over the graves of our fallen braves A few more moons and i I, too, shall cross over to the Happy Reser- vation.
 1 "Once I could whoop a couple of times real loud. and cover the beach with warlike athletes, Now can holler till my eyes bug out and only my sickly howl comes back to me from the hillsides. l am as lonely as the populist party. l haven't got warriors enough to carry one precinct. Where are ! the proud chieftans of my tribe? Where are old Weasel Asleep and Orlando the Hle ! facet Promoter Where are PriCkly Ash Berry and Averaging Wart2 Where are The Roman Nosed Pelican, Goggle- Eyed Aleck and The an-who rides the Suklne
 wind -bareback' They are extremely gone. 1 They are extensively whence. Ole Black Hawk, in whose veins flows the blood of many chiefs, is swapping for the Belle of 
 rode his war pony into the fray and buried his tomahawk ill the phrenology of his foe | Now he straddles the sawbuck and glibly yanks the woodsaw athwart the bosom of the hemlock chunk:
 l My people once owned this broad land ; but the Pilgrim Fathers and the knicker lockers came and planted she baked bean and the dried apple, and my people quickly vamoosed. Once we were nation. Now we are the tin can tied to the tail of the American eagle. Haraus nit der Deutsch '
 At this juncture in the speech Bruno Greif Dr. Schroeder and Ed. Ludecke made break for the door. After the excitement had somewhat subsided, the chief continued
 "Warriors. my words are few. Tears are 1 idle aud rnavailing. If I had scalding tears enough to fill millpond I wouldn' | shed a single one. The warrior suffers but he never squeals. He wraps nls royal horse blanket around his Gothic bones and says nothing. Now We are going to dance till l the COWS come home So stand from under and give us room according to our strength. ;
 And they did dance. The house was well filled, standing room being at a premium. Old timers say that it was the best dance that has been given here in number of years.