The Cairo bulletin., 1910-07-28
REPORT VERiFiES FENNiMORE
COOPER'S STORY AS TO
THEIR HABITS
MEASURE Time BY sun
Farming Has Good Start--Crops ri
pen Quickly-Raspberries AS
Big AS 25-cent Pieces
No Rain.

stocking" ia verified and Fennimore
Cooper Is yindicated, and their sub
sanitation comes as ii should,
through the Census Bureau. II is
from far-aWay Alaska but ii Is of
cial 1ais substantait0n is found
in report from Cnief Census Agent
Mckenzie telling all about the taking
OF the censcs in the FaiGbank dis.
trict Mr. Mckenzie gives assurance
that the Indians do measure time by
the SHOWS" and suns" andd distanc-
es by sleeps" Indeed, he asserts
that they have no other standlalts
of time or of measurement, and in
relating the fact ne cites an instance
of enumerating the red men.
only the very young children, who
have been educated in the govern
ment schools he says, have any
knowledge Of tkehr ages or births,
AMI ine agents were instructed to
use the age and birth months as
nearly as talk and observation fould
seem correct Time with them Is
computed on suns and SHOWS. and
distances, by sleeps. Marriages,
separations, births andd deaths are
all based upon such calculations. and
We are obliged to base our informa
ton in the same way
He then gives this instance:
AN Indian buck claimed to have
lived 300 SHOWS After muCa talk
and use OF the sign language it was
determined that he was about 80
years old, He was found >to have
been 20 SHOWS old when he got his
first woman; to have kept her four
SHOWS, when she got away; that nc
got more woman and keep hor five
SHOWS and she die; that he got no
woman for 20 SHOWS more, aud f.
naily hat he got young chicken and
keep ner all time ever since, now
on, 25 of 30 SHOWS
That there were other difficulties
in getting the facts aegarding the alb
ofigines is indicated by the following
from the report.
MANY Of the Indians know sutfI-
eient number Of English words to do
business with a white man. but when
it was determined that they were TO
be counted they had faculty for
closing their mouths and knowing
nothing until an interpreter impress
ed upon them the fact that the agent
came from the Great White Faith
er at Washington"
Regarding the habits and character
of the people he says:
AS a class they are indolent, lazy
and dirty, although in recent years
the teachers have taught the young.
er ones that dirt has been the
cause of much of their illness and
the present generation are keeping
themselves healthier by bathing
Their homes are filthy as rule and
conductive to the diseases with which
the Indians are most afflicted.
They spend their winters in
hunting and their summers Ia iisling.
Fu.s secured, hi.lcs Of the moose and
caribou, are brought to the traders
and exchanged for food and cloth
ing but seldom for money Out of
these hides they also make moccasins
gloves. mittens and other curios
wnich they trade in the same way
The fish caught in the summer are
dried and used for food for themsel-
YES and their dogs during the winter
"The Indians have no knowledge
of their tribal or clan names and
are always called ,by their village
or locality name. The Indians in tne
vicinity of the Chandiar River are car
led "Chandlar" Indians The same
is true of the Chena, Salcha, Tanana
Mansfield. Circle, tribes, etc. me
missionaries and the Bureau OF Edu-
cation have determined, however,
that all OF the Indians In the Interior
of Alaska are Athabascan-K -Knaioko.
hotna with the exception of those IN
the Koyakrk district when are Atna-
Observation-Disclosures"
Farming Under Diciculties.
Agriculture in this portion of Al
aska is yet in its infancy" says Mr.
Mckenzie, "but it has arrived at snch
proportions as to be considered a'
most wonderful in its results. If all
the returns are taken away they will
show remarkable condition wnen
# Is considered that it is a condition
existing within the Artic circle"
All the growth is attained between
MAY 20 and September 15. He At
tributes the fact that crops ripen not
only to the fact that the sun shines
from 1G TO "a hours per day, but 70
the comelative fact that me plants
ara supplied with moisture from oe.
neatn. where the melting ice ahords
a regular and CONSTANT supply,
"Rain is practically unknown he