El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-03-10

at MICHAEL, Alaska. March 10
The Indians Of Alaska are fast
- disappearing. Alcohol. tubercu-
losiS and others OF the evils brought
in by the white man, have decimated
them and they grow fewer and fewer.
They are changing the customs, and,
ethnologically speaking. within short
time they viii be little more than a
memory.
This letter deals with the Indians
OF southeastern Alaska and those that
skirt the coast as Tar north as the
terminus Of our new railroad at Sew
ard II has TO do with the Totem In
dams and more especially with the
Ihhngets, who are FAR different from
the Indians Of the United States prop
er. and. indeed, from any others on
our western hemisphere.
Look Much Like Japanese
The Indians Of Alaska look far more
like the Chinese and Japanese than
like the red men farther south. They
have yellowish or light brown complex
ions Their eyes are trifle slanting,
and their cheek bones are as high as
'hose OF the Aongols, or the inhabit-
ants OF Tibet When dressed in Euro
pean clothes il is difficult TO tell them
from the japanese who come north TO
work in the fish canneries. and it
IS a question whether they did not orig
Aleutian Islands and gradually making
their way TO the Alexander archipel-
ago, which they largely inhabit.
Bering strait is only 80 or 60 miles
wide. and there are two islands in the
midst Of il. so that it would be easy
for the Chukchi and other Monaghan
tribes to cross over from Asia to thu
mainland of this continent. and IL may
be that the Thlingets made their first
migration that way. There is no doubt
that they have many Of the traits Of
the Mongols, and in some ways they
are like the japanese They are great
lmitatOrs. skilled in carving. and nat
urally bright and quick witted- Some 4
OF their customs are the same as those /
that prevailed in Japan before it adopt I
ed the western civilization and IL Is 4
not hard to ina CINE that these Gus
toms may have come down from their /
Monaghan ancestors
For instance, when 1 first visited |
Japan. now almost 50 years ago. every
widow shaved her head as smooth as
billiard ball in order to show that /
she was mourning for her husband
She also stained her teeth black in |
order 10 make herself unaturActive |
The widows OF the Thlingets shaved
their heads the same way until the |
missionaries taught them better. and 1
a sign Of mourning. The black used
was a water color, and If this were I
streaked with tears Il was sign Of
emotion and brought the widow respect
band
Cremation In Common
Cremation is common IN Japan. II
was Tor years common in Alaska. Many
Of these Indians burned their dead. and
they had hollow poles In which they /
tribes took the ashes and pieces OF
bones that were left and put them in
sack. which was kept in the family
lead house. the bones OF each indi-
heE~ 7
others by the colors of the sacks
The Chinese will undergo any priva-
ton to have q good funeral The
Alaskan Indians do likewise They take
from their friends to spend upon the
funeral OF a relative. They put his
favorite possessions on the grave and
clothing and bedding alongside the 7
soffin- After the funeral is over they
give great feast N honor Of the de-
leased, and the food they eat is sup Z
POSED TO Tlourish the spirit of the dear 7
departed as It goes 10 the other world 5
They differ from the Chinese in that 9
hey seldom bury the dead in mounds I
In southeastern Alaska il rains so /
much that the ground is always wet a
ND the people put UP as vaults little
louses Of wood set upon poles The =
oil OF many OF the islands is too shall h
ow for graves, and = cemetery may =
onsist Of scores OF such little houses, I
ach not larger than a dog kennel
Burial vaults of this kind are to be
ound In the interior I saw many OF Z
hem on my way down the Yukon. In / h
ONE cases they covered the top Of 3 o
i'll The houses were painted in all Z
he colors OF the rainbow. and some Il
ad rude crosses of wood or OF iron 2
ipes, screwed together, rising above +
hem Practically all OF the Indians o
re now Christians, but their old su- q
erstitions are mixed with their new Il
eligion. and II IS sometimes hard to d
ell where one ends and the other be n
ins. At Fort Yukon I photographed | a
cemetery not far from the mission ! e
tation- Here the dead were buried in o
be ground, and eacn tomb marked d