Seward daily gateway., 1923-02-10
GOVT. ORPhANAGE OF GREAT HELP
 NATIVE CHILDREN

agement of the Government. Orphan age at Kanakanak state that they have submitted plans and acquisitions to their Bureau calling for extensive building in connection with the or phanage during the summer of 1925. This step is in pursuance with the plan announced by the Bureau a few months ago for converting the o. phanage into an industrial school.
 The orphanage is an institution op- erated and maintained by the Bureau of Education, Alaska division. It is an outgrowth of the influenza epidemic, which proved so disastrous to the na- tives of Alaska. There are approXl- mately loo children in the orphanage' most of whom come from the villages of the Bristol Bay district. The Bu- reau of Education proved to be the appropriate organization to meet the emergency. The crisis was met by temporary conversion of the govern ment school house at Snag Point into home in which the children were cared for till the present permanent quarters were completed at kanaka- nak. The Government has generousl! provided every convenience necessary to the welfare of the children and the staff The children are wisely fed ana comfortably clothed at the expense ol the Government A splendid school IS maintained for them under the super vision of the superintendent of the or phanage where they receive in addi- tion to the academic training lnstruc- tion in sewing, cooking, fancy work hasketrv. etc., all of which tends to prepare them to meet the more prac t;cal problems of life after leaving the orphanage.
 It is the policy of the Bureau 10 de- yelop more and more the industrial side of the work to the extent that ul- timately the institution may become wholly or partly self-supponing. The practicability of this plan has already been abundantly demonstrated with similar institution operated by the Bu- reau of Education in southeastern Alaska. Fish being the basic natural resource of this section the industrial work for the boys will be largely con- fined to canning and salting fish. It is hoped by doing this to develop the children into self-supporting and re liant citizens of Alaska and at the same time to materially reduce the running expenses to khe government In pursuance of this plan it is an nounced that a saltecy will be opef- ated on limited scale next summer, and also a large general store Will De established and run on a cooperative basis. The supplies for the store will be purchased from the savings of the children, which have been earned by them from their work in the canner- ies during the summer. In connection with this store it is contemplated es- tablishing a cooperative store both at Kulukak and Tugiak to be supplled from the Kanakanak storeA These two stores will be under the immediate su- pervision of the Government teach CTS at thdse places. The stores Will be conducted for the exclusive benefit of the natives of these isolated viii lages.
 Another very important considera- tion in the minds of those who are working and pleading for the erection of boarding school at Kanakanak, is that such system will enable the Bureau to care for and educate the native children who live in inaccessi- ble villages where there are no sys- tenn of schools. AS a rule the num- Der of children is so small that the Bureau would not be justified in in curing the large expense necessary to the construction of school buildings and maintaining a school. The result is that if these children receive any schooling at all they must either move to some village where there is a Bu- reau of Education school or else go to the Indian school at Chemewa, Ore.
 Experience has demonstrated that the children who regularly attend the day schools in Alaska and receive ln- struction in such lines as the proposed industrial school of Kanakanak would afford become the sturdy, self reliant members of their race. $n addition, the instruction given in Alaska to the native children is of less expense and more adapted to their needs than if they were sent to the States.