The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1909-07-21

Every tOurlSC VINO mas Oeen 10 AiaS'
Ia knows something about the model
Indian village of Metlakahtla and the
wonderful work of William Duncan,
the lay missionary who has devoted
his long life to raising a barbarous
tribe to a high degree Of Christian civ
ilization. The most complete story of
Mr.. Duncan's work yet published is
now at hand in the form of a book call
ed "The Apostle of Alaska" written
by John W. Arctander, a Minneapolis
lawyer who has spent several summers
with Mr.. Duncan, gained access to his
notebooks and talked with the Indians
about the work oftheir idolized leader.
The man who has credited Metlaka.
htla is a sturdy Yorkshireman, deeply
devout, yet endowed with rare common
sense and an eminent business faculty.
In 1857, at the age Of. %, he left his
home and friends in England and
landed at Fort Simpson, British Co.
lumbia, with the determination to give
his life to uplifting the Tsimshean In
dams. The story of how he learned
superstitions, put the medicine men out
of business, Overcame and converted
the old chiefs, escaped murderous at
tacks on his own life, became the ter.
ror of the whisky traders and even
beat the Hudson Bay company in its
fight against him-all this makes one
of the most impressive tales in the his.
tory of Christian missions.
At the age of u, Mr.. Duncan is still
the master spirit of Metlakahtla, of its
church, schools, stores, factories, salmon
cannery, etc, and lives beloved by the
whole loyal and industrious communi.
ty. He has never married. His
whole life has been spent in his work,
and any one who looks upon that
pretty little city, with its two.story
frame houses, its large cannery build.
ings, its city hall and $4,000 church
the largest in Alaska-all built by the
Indians themselves from lumber cut
and shaped in their own sawmill, will
agree that it is a glorious showing for
life work.
Mr.. Arctander's book is full of dra.
matte incidents from Mr.. Duncan 8
career. No sooner had the white mis-
sionery fairly gotten his day school es
tablished than he began to run afoul
of the medicine men, whose business
he was undermining. The head chief
sided with them, and one day. after the
missionary had refused to close the
school for certain heathenish rites, the
chief and u group Of followers in war
paint entered the room Oh murder
bent. They had been drinking.
The chief advanced, brandishing
an ugly looking knife. while one Of the
other Indians called out. Kill him.
Cut his head of: Give it to me, and
l will kick it on the beach," The
little Englishmsn calmly stood his
ground, though he thought his last day
had come. Suddenly the chief waver.
ed in his purpose, and Mr.. Duncan be-
came aware that another Indian-the
one from whom he had learned the Ian
guage-had slipped into the room be-
hind the others and was standing with
a loaded pistol under his blanket,
ready to shoot the chief dead the mom-
ent he did any harm to the white man.
The half:drunken warriors SUNK away.
In time this chief who tried to kill him
became Mr.. Duncan's most devcut
and faithful helper.
The younger missionary soon found
that he would have to get his converts
away from the degrading contact with
the whites around Fort Simpson so he
induced them to build a new town
called Metlakahtla. He taught them
how to construct houses, make boats
weave cloth, buildl Ia sawmill; also
how to observe Sunday, deal justly
with each other and live q devOut, re-
ligious life.
His hardest fight was against wits. |
Ky. One day Russian trader ar.
rived with schooner, and it was re.
ported that he intended to sell liquor.
Mr.. Duncan went on board and told
him he would have to let his vessel be
searched. When the Russian indig-
nantly demanded his authority, he said: