The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1921-06-10

In November ! arrived In Seattle
The distance from Nome TO King
williams land Is roughly 1900
miles.
FIND TRACES OF
EARLY EXPEDITIONS
Only two white men, I believe.
had been on Taylor island previ.
ously. They were Hansen. mate on
Amundsen's expedition, and Collin.
son. the British naval officer who
commanded the expedition In 1851
In search OF Franklin. About half a
dozen men have visited King WI.
iiams land. including Franklin, Nc.
Cliutock. Hall and Amundson.
We found traces OF the cxp~di.
tons OF Sir John Ross and Sir John
Franklin. Franklin was the last ma n
who tried TO find northwest pas.
sage to India for the British ad.
miralty. lie and his men persisted
during the winter OF 1ssT-4g. He
abandoned his two ships near Cape
Felix. One Of his ships. apparently
drifting. sunk near Sherman inlet.
Natives OF today say their fathers
told them that no white men were
aboard when the ship went down.
Natives on Adelaide peninsula, near
King Williams land. have bits OF
brass from Frankln's ship and we
also found a brass label from po-
tato tin bearing the insignia Of the
British government We found a
British naval uniform brass button
OF the Ross expedition Of 1898.
1.-THE natives of the Arctic region
have come In contact with the out.
runners of civilization and II has
not been good for them They are
changing their ways for the worse.
They are now adopting the style OF
clothing worn by western natives,
abandoning their own distinctive
styles They have quit making their
own clothing and implements The
native stove. cooking utensils. spears,
bows and arrows and the like are
rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
] believe / had the satisfaction of
bringing out the last complete col.
lection OF native art and handcraft.
NATIVES LOSING
VALUABLE GAME
'The natives crave modern arti
Giles and are getting them as traders
gradually push farther into the Arc
tic region. They are eager for rifles
and are literally shooting themselves
out OF game for food and clothing.
TN the old days of hunting with
bow and arrow, spear and harpoon,
the percentage of lost caribou and
seals was insignificant. Nowadays.
at least SO per cent OF the caribou
get away wounded and die. This Is
n disastrous loss to the natives since
the caribou is the chief source of
clothing. About rs per cent OF the
seals are lost thru rifle hunting. A
wounded seal flops into a hole in the
ice and is gone forever.
Formerly miss with a spear or
harpoon merely meant that the seal
got away but did not die.
I was told that at one Hudson's
bay post the natives were instructed
to XIII caribou and string traps
around the carcI9ses TO catch white
foxes. The fox catch increased i'm
mensely, but with tragic effect on
the caribou. All over the land we
covered We saw skeletons of caribou.
IF such reckless practices keep
up, the Canadian government will.
within 10 years, have To feed and
clothe the northern natives TO pre-
vent extinction OF the race.
"Early-day traders and explorers
have told me that the northern
coasts were once thickly populated
with natives. Today they are sparse
ly settled. In 1919, at Coronation
gulf. pneumonia took heavy toll.
Disease in the Mackenzie district,
contracted in the days when whale
hunting meant n fortune to rough
and ready adventures. Is still preva-
lent and has done it's vicious part to
weaken a lll<able and hospitable PEG
pie. The northern natives are for
the most part peaceful beings. and
there are. few crimes OF violence,
considering their primary stage of
civilization.
BLONDE ESKIMO
Is FANCIFCL
There has been much interest In