Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-11-08
DUCK-FATHER
TAKES GIRL RIDE
Tells Strange Story in Court
of Witchcraft Practice
in Alaska

Juneau. Alaska, Nov. s. - That
witchcraft still exists among the ma
tlves of Alaska. was brought out in
the United States District Court be-
fore District Attorney ]. A. Smiser
here.
a complaint of the practice of
witchcraft among the natives of Kills.
moo was made some time ago to w. q.
Beattie, superintendent of native
schools for Alaska. An investigation
in the Killisnoo village led Superin-
tendent Beattle to bring a number of
the tribe to Juneau for examination
by District Attorney Smiser, with the
result the witch was found. but no
law could be found on which to base
a complaint against him.
From the testimony of the Witness
es examined before the District At
torney the story of the witchery CEN
ters around a blind man, his fifteen
year-old daughter and her grand
mother. For several months the blind
man has been announcing himself as
a witch and has claimed responsibility
for practically all the deaths that have
occurred in the village of Killisnoo for
the past five years.
According to the story of the little
native girl, Mary Moses, or Klan-
tosh. as her Indian name is, the first
time she knew that her father was a
witch was one night "long time ago"
when she was awakened in her sleep
and felt cold She called her father
and asked for more covers, which he
hi ought, and while covering her over
she says, he told her for the first time
that he was witch and that he want
ed her to learn to he one too in order
that she might carry on his work
when he died.
In order that she might learn the
secrets of the practice she said her
father told her she must visit with
him an old graveyard across the bay.
Mary stated her father told her to take
hold of his foot and in a moment they
flew" across the channel to the ceme-
terry. While there she said they were
able to look through the earth down
into the graves and could see the
bodies in them. After wandering about
the graves for time her father trans
formed himself into white duck and
on his back she says she rode back
across the cnannel. Mary IOl0 the
District Attorney that that night she
learned many things about witchcraft.
The girls story was told with
straight -forwardness and without con-
tradiction and the reason she said she
wanted something done with her
father was because she feared he
would kill her grandmother with
witchery. The child's mother is dead
and she is apparently very fond of her
grandmother, and is evidently sincere
in her fear of her fathers powers.
The only charges against her father
are based upon the firm belief that he
is a witch and in that connection he
is accused of being responsible for
everything in the way of misfortune
which has happened in the Killisnoo
Indian village. In the eyes of the law,
Mr.. Smiser says, it does look a little
like hypnotism, but nothing tangible
has occurred which can be reached
! by law.
In his remarks before the District
Attorney, Superintendent Beattie said {:
THE question of witchcraft is one of
the most difficult problems we have
10 handle among the natives. The eN-
| istence of witches is a certainty with
them, and there is absolutely no pos
! sibility of convincing them that there
! are no such things as witches. Tt isn't
stubbornness on their part, 1t is sim
! ply and sincerely their belief that
| there are among their tribesmen per-
sons who have power to cast spell
over others of their number"