Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-12-03
INDIANS Of THE YUKON
ALARMED At INVASION
Greatly Excited Over the Construc
ton Of Government
Railroad.
ANXIOUS FOR RESERVATION
Rcd Men Want to Live Together,
Separated from the Whitcs-Im-
mense Tracts OF Land Needed by
Them for Trapping.
~, rrA>k q. cAuI.E>.yi:n.


ny FItAAE g.. CARi'E:N',i:R
ANDliEAFSKI. ALASKA Tho In
diana or interior Alaska arc excited
over tho building Of tho government
railroad. They SEQ TIC whites taking
up homcsiead:. and fear they will
swallow the country They know the
Fate OF tho Indian. Of ihc United States
proper. ana th"y want The government
To set aside land where their h.hin.
and hunting will not he disturbed.
Not long ago the seven chiefs of the
tribes Of tho Tnnana and Yukon valleys
met at Fairbanks. They came 10 tom
suit with their friends among the
whites, and see i; the government
could not he induced TO give them II
reservation. IL taking with them
Judge Wickcrshan. tn. .>lasSa dele
cate TO Congress. advised them TO have
their people take out a lot Of home
steads in one block He said IL would
be difficult for them to do this after
tho whites had come in. and said they
should act promptly. one OF the chiefs
replied that h" thought all or hlaska
belonged to tho red mon. and he want
ed To know what tho conditions actual
Is were.
Thcsc Indians would rather have n
large reservation than q number OF
individual homcatcads. They want to
live together and Keep out the whites.
Moreover they n.cd large tracts for
trapping. and the fur business will be
wipcd out by the division of the land.
The government has been setting
aside reservations for the Indians in
various parts OF Alaska. The Aleutian
Islands arc practically one reservation
Nrh
located. is another. ana the liydaburg
reservation, consisting or twelve
s,,uarc miles on the western coast Of
i.rincc Of Wales island. IL a third The
lr,c, Of 500 acres on "a. Chiihat River,
uot far from Skaswa:. has been given
10 the Klullwan Indians. and there are
forcst reservations where the Indian
can trap and hunt at Will
CHIEFS or 'rItIBES
HEM<Rk ABLE MEN
.ri. Indian chiefs VINO me; d; Fair.
hanks to counsel with The whites were
rom.rkablc men. The: were tall and
rno.lookinE. They wore clothes which
wcrc much the same as the whites,
..,ys mat ,hsy had on their ceremonial
jackets bordcred with fur. and beaded
iuoc.,siu. covered their feet. Each
,,or. a ureA; neck! lace OF beads. which
was probably badge Of his chiefiain-
shin. and the hair OF AL WAS cut short.
! h&.c r photograph OF the chiefs.
rnt!r faces arc Monaghan in cast. and
= -cr.iI Of the men looked much like
t...nc.c III show great strength Of
,.i,..c:c: and doubt IL stronger
;.-a t,,ticr-iookiug bod: % rulers could
b. .uuaa anywhere. rhty are OF Atha-
r.Sc..n lock, ami they form = part Of
mat -icat family q! Indians which is
a,a;t, .rd throughout Northern Canada.
STANDING on into Central Alaska. They
...c a.,out the same as the Navajos. ana
.,,.e uti,cr Indians Of our Southwest
,.u States.
'Thc Indians OF Alaska are rapidly
,c.reas.nC in number The! arc mAch
,ws- ,han whcn ". t"oi oas>sS'o.
o. nc ;crr!;or?; ;NI =: i"lr. &c o"' A.
to lie census. ,hcy numbered les tA'.i,
y. 10 ~ that i.mc ;h-:c wee ~
-. o"p natives, and az III. c. u" &c
ra, were E8himcs ThR: -" s.".
scattered ovc. q icr:itpI! ono.S,..h -
LARGE az ihc whole United sat $. :triG
thrce ;:u,ts The size a.: cltn s. Gcr"lan!'
or I7rnacc. Tho la!.inGs iaAani, ;hc
vcgion aioa. :lie coast - ;hc = ctjc
ocean nj l;oriu- Sea. taking ~ the
d,itua ui the YUKON. thu kUai; Oh vim
AMI o;hc- r!y,"s and e.tcndins down
IN, tho N.ca!.nm peninsula. The In.
liaus arc found h:rc aud there Oh tho
mairlan,. ana csrcciaI'$ IN thr grca;
plateau u; tho Nuiuu. ILL. arc some
III the Alcu,ian isiam.s .,ad about
rrincc y illimm ,iouni. ana thee are
great many aIons ;,s coast and on the
islands Of SoutheaHitrn Alaska.
FROM HAIF : DuZEN
DIFFERENT STOCKS
The Alaska Indians are OF "a half
dozen different stocks. The Athapas-
cans number JUS; abou 1000 They
are divided into twelve tribes and
may NC seen all along the Yukon and
Tanana Rivers The Alcut* arc closely
allied To the ESkinos. They number
perhaps 1,5oo The" live Ia the long
island chain. which extends from South
western Alaska almost to .,s;a Thoy
lru-rshcrs aud hunters They hav-
some artistic ability, and the finely
woven baskets which como from Alaska
arc made BY their women. The Thliugit
is an Indian fainil" that is found scat
tered through Southeastern Alaska 1t
numbers 1000 or 1000 divided among
a dozen or more tribes, Including the
Nnh. the Chilkat, the Rake. the Sitka.
Stik'ne. Tengls. Yakutat and others
The N'nkwans arc Thl;uSits. and so
arc The linnas. These people arc semi
civilized. aAd nearly every tribe has
Us own church and school. And then
there arc the 'faihns numbering 800
." coo. and tho Tsmscans. who we're
brought from Canada h3 Father Dun
'''n. Roth OF tho latter tribes live ON
;h' ii'hnhS OF southeastern Alaska
IN NY way down tho Yukon | saw