The evening leader., 1916-11-01
4 JOURNALISTIC EFFORT IN
THE LAND OF THE ESKIMO

"Why are you trying to educate the
Eskimo? Why don't you let thea
alone? They were happy and were
able to exist before you began to
change their mode of life" These are
the questions that are asked and an
swered in "The Eskimo" a monthly
magazine published at Nome, Alaska,
in Tie interests of Eskimos of the
northwestern district Of Alaska. Wal
ter c. Shields, superintendent of the
work Of the bureau of education, de-
partment of the interior, in northwest
ern Alaska, who writes the leading ar
ticle in this new magazine Of the
North, says:
"The people who ask these questions,
if they really are sincere enough to
warrant any consideration, can be di-
vided into two classes. First, those
who display their scientific knowledge
by quoting the law of "the survival of
the fittest,' with the assumption that
the Eskimo is not fit to survive. The
second class claims peculiar insight
into the frame of mind of the ancient
Eskimo, who, they assert, was an es-
Ipecially contented individual, ard fur
thermora they insist that the Eskimo
of today is not contented. This set Of
critics insists on taking the position
indefensible in this day and genera
tlon, that education is bad thing for
;s people. The claim of our service is
that the Eskimo by reason of his in
herent qualities and because of his ee-
ographical position is fit and able tG
survive and we claim that by our sys-
tenn of education for him we are max
ing him not only more fit to survive,
but that he will be vital factor in the
development of Northern Alaska.
'The Eskimo is not dependent. On
the contrary, he is, even in his present
condition, a real and vital factor in
the wealth of the country. He has
never received a ration from the gov
ernment; he can support himself, not
always according to our standards il
is true, but it is better for him to eat
strictly native food than for him to
learn to expect the government to sup
port him. The wall so often heard
from ignorant but presumably chari-
table people why don't you give the
poor people some food?' if needed,
would make paupers out of self-sup-
porting and noble race. We are proud
of the fact that we have not fed the
Eskimo. We are proud of him as a
man because he feeds himself.
"One reason why primitive races
have so often been pushed to the wall
by the white race has been that the
white race have coveted and needed
the land. AS far as we can see, for
years to come the white man will not
make any attempt to push the Eskimo
off his part of the map. While there
will undoubtedly be developments in
mining, yet for long time 10 come
the Eskimo will have plenty of room
in northern Alaska. Therefore, even
if this northern part of Alaska,
through some unexpected develop
ment, should become desirable for a
large white population, we believe
that with what development the Esk:
mo has already received, and the ad-
ditional development that even five
years more of undisturbed possession
tof his northern Businesses will give
him, he will be fitted to meet advanced
economic conditions.
"The keynote of our school system
for the Eskimo is it's direct relation to
the village life. Thus the school re-
public becomes the village council, the
school garden becomes the village
garden, the cooking class becomes the
.bread-baking class of the village, the
cleanup of the school grounds be.
comes the village cleanup, the benct
work of the boys class becomes tn
: boat and sled-building center for tn;
village. And most striking of all, tht
school boy who is sent to the reindeer
herd as an apprentice, in four years
| becomes the trained herder, the sup
: porter of his family, and future
leader of his people.
eve of the Alaska school service
r are helping to bear the white man.
: burden; we do not claim to be minis
tering to a dying race; we want NJ
praise as helpers of the weak or a.
= ministers to the downtrodden who arr
: dying in filth and degradation. We d'
not allow anyone to class US in thes'