The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1939-02-17
iEskimos Reduc.
Cost of Wool ,g
New Marriage Law M kes
IL Easier for Lads
/ St Lawrence Isle.

WASHINGTON, d. Cit ssn't
che upkeep Of a wife, but the itial
cost that brought complaints rom
Iskimo youth on one Of Uncle'S ms
tr-north island possessions. Sd st.
Lawrence island, 100 miles OF s the
Alaskan coast In the Boring sea NOW
has q new marriage law VIII eeby
Hlitors need work for prospt tive
2zthers-in-law only one year, IN tead
q four, before claiming their b Ides.
Furthermore, selecting a ms 'e is
no longer to be a family affai, but
one In which young people may
make their own choice.
Change comes slowly to Il !! re-
mote top shelf Of American p sses-
sions, points out the National Geo
graphic society. ''Up near the Arc
&c sea. only 20 miles from the leak
shores Of Eastern Siberia, St. .aw-
renee island Il a spot Of land s. iom
visited by residents Of the Of side
world. g.
Uncle Sam Sends Teacher
"As government reserv lion,
. about 100 miles long and aveJ ging
20 miles across, this island ates
four school teachers and a irse,
provided by the u. s. bureau In
= dian affairs in the interests the
A B. C.'s of health and know dge.
Under simple form Of local
rule. supervised by the u. S. cast
guard and based on the pri tive
economy of the territory, alive
boards are elected in the ma ! vii
lagos to run cooperative stor set
prices, give credit IN bad mes,
. and to arrange for the sale O local
products. ~ sH
To the four or five hundr d in
habitants of St. Lawrence, hot ever,
even such elementary conn unity
interests are considerably les vital
than the individual probleI s of
making a iving-hunting, hing,
and trapping-under the harsh rules
OF the far north.
Summer gales, plus fog AM rain,
turn the Eskimo equivalent The
Good Old Summer Time into mel
ody for wind instruments. while
winter weather is merely worsf with
wilder storms and an Arct ice
pack that hens in the islaI 1 for
eight months of the year.
During the long winter n nths,
no ships visit the island Ev N the
warm season finds only half iozen
arriving. including coast guat and
Indian bureau vessels, and q 'haps
one or two free-lance I aiding
schooners with supplies for ile CO
operative stores
Life Is Hard.
''in recent years some of tn more
prominent citizens Of st. Lay renee
have learned to live in frame l-,uses.
sleep IN beds. cook on stove land
eat canned foods. For the most
part, however, the islanders strug-
gle along under conditions thu were
good enough for their faith IS.
Climate and local raw ms erals
continue to dictate dress ST es in
terms of furs and hides, wi bird
skins and feathers for orr ment.
although certain manufactu d ar
ticles such as house dresses calico
snow shirts. and mems deniI over
ais are increasingly populi For
the younger feminine set, OF mod
,ern costume includes the D. ctical
accessory of boomers made tmat-
tress ticking, worn tucked ir D, high
boots.
Still used for shelter q the
less progressive settlement and
camps are the old Siberi n-type
of winter huts, with dome haped
roofs attached to layers of 1alrus
hides, lashed to wooden fran .ework
ana nelo 10 the ground by heavy
rocks.
Even the more pre- sntious
homes of imported lumber, ( und at
the comparatively new vii age of
Savoonga, are plain, boxlik, .struc-
lures, seldom two stories hig while
poorer houses may accom- Ilodate
six or more people in thei single
room, the floor serving as ( lmmu-
nifty dining table.
Largely meat-eaters, S Law
renee islanders vary diet If wal
rus, whale, and seal with mmer
rations of fish and fowl, Sc we'd Ell
Their boiled, dried, raw, OIL sour
the latter resulting from d, sompo-
sition after underground forage.
Traditional delicacy is VIVA blub-
Der. and unique side dish made
from fermented green's, frozen.
shced into shavings, mix with
seal oil and sugar, and the frozen
again.
To-day, because Of its mpara-
lively static life through { INJURIES
Of occupation, st. Lawrence land is
particularly interesting to q cheolo-
gists and anthropologists. One Of
the most dramatic finds OF the IS
land was a specimen Of SLICED
sequoia tree"