Evening star., 1927-10-22

Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary,
who found the Esquimos starving
and uncivilized in 1891. Their game
supply was unreliable and inadequate.
The nomadic habits necessitated by
the chase made 1t well-nigh impos-
sible for missionary contact close
enough to bring civilization, while
the economic situation forecast ulti-
mate destruction of all natives within
few years. So DIR. Jackson set to
work to find food supplies to supple
ment fish and game, and also to find
means of changing the habits or the
people into greater domestication by
giving them herds to care for.
In earlier times the Esquimos had
had plenty of wild reindeer, but
when firearms were introduced all
kinds of game were driven to seek
refuge in the inaccessible mountain
regions. The sea had had plenty or
whales, walruses and sea lions, the
rivers an abundance of salmon. But
the white man came with his can
neries and with his modern means OF
whaling. All such food supplies were
now shortened. DIR. Jackson is known
as the Father of Alaska, since to him
alone must be credited the reindeer
solution Of the problem.
In 1890. he wrote: "a moderate
computation, based upon the statistics
of Lapland, where similar climatic
and other conditions exist, shows
northern and central Alaska capable
of supporting 100000 head of rein.
deer. To reclaim and make valuable
vast areas Of land otherwise worth.
less; to introduce large, permanent
and wealth producing industries
where none previously existed; to take
barbarian people on the verge OF
starvation and lift them to a COM
Portable self support and civilization,
Is certainly a work Of national
Importance"
Critics declared that it would be
better to let the Eskimos die in peace
than to attempt such a visionary
scheme" as bringing reindeer from
Siberia and attempting to teach the
barbarians how to care for them and
breed them. But the plan was ap,
proved by the commissioner of educa.
ton, to whom it had been submitted,
and through his official recommends
ton, the Fifty-first Congress in 1891
$4,000 for the expert.
ment.
DIR. Jackson took this appropriation
and invested part in goods to be-
traded in Siberia for the animals, for
he knew that only by barter, not by
money, could the reindeer be
procured.
He got the first four deer In
exchange for / rifle and 200 car.
tridges; the next four required rifle,
200 cartridges and a fox trap: ths
next three cost a rifle, a revolver,
zoo cartridges and box of navy
bread; the next five found prices again
enhanced, for they cost 1 rifle, 1
repeating rifle, 200 cartridges, a set OF
reloading tools and a box Of navy
bread. That was all he was able to
persuade the Siberians to sell the first
year, but in succeeding years he
added to his herd a few score each
year. From this modest beginning
nave come the half million now in
Alaska, which are hereafter to be
the foundation of one of the greatest
meat and leather industries in the
world.
1t is the policy of the Government
to restrict ownership of reindeer to
Esk1mos to prevent overreaching by
whites, but some are possessed by
white men married to Eskimo women.
Experiments in feeding cultivated
crops to reindeer demonstrate that
such feed changes the character of
the meat, making it finer grained
and better in flavor. The future OF
such meat, therefore, has great pos
sibilities, aside from mere increase In
quantity.
X X X X
There is a demand from meat
dealers for the invention of suitable
name of reindeer meat differing from
'venison" and less awkward than
reindeer meat" Reindeer meat is
not venison; but it has the flavor of
wild game. The new name must In.
dicate the real character Of the meat
source, as do the names Of other
meats. One does not speak Of bull
steak, but Of beef; nor of sheep
meat meaning mutton, nor of pig
meat when it is ham or other pork
So why use reindeer meat" as mar.
ket name, when &. simple and distin.
gushing name would help popularize
the use of it?
Reindeer are not half as familiar
sights in the United States as the
Christmas legends seem to suggest
they might be. At present a steamer
Is bringing from central Alaska to
Seattle 800 live reindeer, together with
several tons of reindeer moss for their
feed. The animals will be distributed
to 100 or 200 cities in time for Christ
mas stunts. and then they will be sent
To Darga and zoos. s.gss