Evening star., 1924-07-13

ing the barren, untimbered wastes of
| the Arctic and subarctic Alaska. Year
after year new centers were estab-
!ished, until now the reindeer service
mas become great wealth-producing
! industry affecting the entire coastal
area from Point Barrow to the Aleu-
| tian Islands.
One thousand two hundred and
eighty reindeer were imported from
Siberia There are now some 300,0 900
| reindeer in Alaska, and two thirds of
them are the property of the Eskimos.
and one-third to the government, to
| white men and Lappa.
Extensions OF Service.
| There have been two notable ex-
tensions of the reindeer service. On
the untimbered slopes of the region
tributary to the Alaska railroad there
is unlimited pasturage for reindeer.
In order to establish the reindeer in
dustry IN this region. a herd of 1852
reindeer have been driven by herders
in the employ of the United States
bureau of education approximately
1 900 miles from a point on the Bering
Seacoast to grazing land in the vicin-
\ ity of the railroad
| Hitherto the expectation of reindeer
| from the Nome region to Seattle only
| during the short season of open naVl-
| cation in midsummer. The Alaskan
| railroad will provide unlimited means
of transportation for reindeer meat
| and hides from the interior to the
| coast at any season of the year
| The district superintendent OF
schools in Alaska are also superln-
tendents of the reindeer service. The
teachers in charge of the United
1 n
affected by the reindeer industry are
ex- officio local superintendents of the
| reindeer herds in the vicinity OF their
schools.
System Of Distribution.
The reindeer are distributed by
system of apprenticeship, promising
and ambitious young natives being
selected by each local superintendent
as apprentices for a term of four
years, receiving at the end of each
year the number reindeer prescribed
by the regulations governing the
service. Upon the satisfactory ter
mination of his apprenticeship the ap-
prentice becomes a herder and as
sumes entire charge of his herd, sub
ject to the supervision of the district
and local school authorities. In &C
cordance with the regulations the
herders must, in turn, employ appren-
tices and distribute reindeer TO them,
thus becoming an additional factor
in the extension of the enterprise. In
order to safeguard the reindeer in
dustry for the natives the regulations
forbid the disposal of female reindeer
to others than natives of Alaska
The object of the importation was
originally to furnish a source of sup
ply for food and clothing to the Alas
kan Eskimos in the vicinity of Bering
Strait, nomadic hunters and fisher
men eking out a precarious existence
upon the rapidly disappearing game
animals and fish.
Advance in n Decade.
Within less than generation the
reindeer industry has advanced
through one entire stage of civiliza-
ton, the Eskimos inhabiting the vast
grazing lands from Point Barrow to
the Aleutian Islands. 1t has raised
them from the primitive to the pas
toral stage; from nomadic hunters to
civilized men, having in their herds
of reindeer assured support for them
selves and opportunity to accumulate
wealth.
In making its public schools CEN
| ters of social, industrial and civic life
in the native villages of Alaska, the
bureau of education took pioneer ac-
| tion in making an educational agency
reach an entire community.
The establishment of the Alaskan
reindeer service was the earliest gov
ernmental action providing. by the
introduction of new industry. prac-
tical vocational training, adapted to
community needs, guaranteeing as
sured support, and resulting in train
ing a primitive race into independ-
ence and responsible citizenship.