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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1927)
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN PAGE 4 THE ORIGIN OF ANTS (Continued from page 1) and listen to the stories they would tell about some enemy they had fought the day or night previous. At this time a stranger visited this Chief’s home, as he had heard of these insects, beneficial to the whole tribe. The purpose of this stranger’s visit was to steal this bag of ants and take it to his people. The first four days of his visit he wanted to get all the information he could as to how to use this bag of ants. The Chief was polite and kind enough to show the visitor what the ants could do. The visitor was astonished at their ability and made up his mind more than ever to steal the bag of ants. It was a custom of this tribe that each evening after supper they would assemble at a certain place and discuss things that were necessary to the welfare of the tribe and while doing this the stranger escaped with the bag of ants. ' Shortly after his escape the chief discovered that his ants were gone. He paid no attention, as he thought the ants would return. The stranger traveled many miles and became so tired that he could go no farther, so he rested for the first time since the theft. This night he slept so soundly that the ants carried him back to the Chief’s home without him awakening. The next morning the stranger was awakened in the chief’s home, when the Chief told him that break fast was ready. The stranger was surprised, thought he was dreaming, but could not figure out how it happened. He was angry and decided to try to steal the ants again. Three times he got away with the bag of ants and, though he went a little farther each time, the next morning he would awaken in the Chief’s home. By these defeats he was very angry, so he escaped again with the bag of ants and traveled many, many miles. He knew he would not succeed if he made an attempt to sleep, so he just kept on traveling, and was soon near his home and' tribe. He met some buffalo and he tried to untie the bag. It had been tied up a certain way by the Chief and he could not open the bag, so he took his long knife and cut it at the end of the bag and announced loudly that they were to kill one buffalo. Gut rushed the ants after the buffalo. In his excitement the stranger lost the beautiful bag. When the ants had done as the stranger commanded they returned to him to be again placed in the bag. He looked and looked for the bag, but to save his soul he could not find it. As the ants came rushing to him he opened up his buffalo skin shirt and allowed the little creatures to jump in. So they did, and bit the stranger on the sides, back and neck. They were about to kill him, so he threw them on the ground and ran away and left them. To this day they live on the ground and will bite a man if they get on him. FISHING IN ALASKA Joseph Kahklen Alaska is noted for its fishing industries. It is probably the leading industry of Alaska. The majority of the people either make their living by fishing or their living is derived from it. There are several kinds of fishing, as king salmon fishing, or trolling, herring fishing, halibut fishing and purse seining. Halibut fishing starts early in the spring. Those of the halibut fishermen are Norwegians. There is always a great demand for halibut in the market and there is always “good money” in halibut fishing. Later in the season, about the first of June, the trollers go out to different fishing grounds to fish for King salmon. These fish are rather hard to catch and a person has to be experienced before it pays him to go out. From good catches much money is made. Every year many people, most of them inexperi enced, sail from Seattle to Alaska to troll. Most of them hardly make enough to pay for their gasoline. The experienced ones make from $20 to $40 a day, and sometimes more. At about the same time the herring show up along the coast. It is a very fine food fish. They are thick in some places. When a big school is found the power boats with their big seins will make a set around them and one haul is always sufficient for a boat load. They are then taken to a near-by cannery, where they are either ground into meal which is used for fertilizer, or packed into cans (cappered herring, which are a healthful and delicious food). During this time the salmon canneries will be pre paring for the season’s packing. About the middle of July the seiners go out to the fishing “grounds.” The fishermen start early in the northern part, near Kodiak, and travel down the coast showing up later at Juneau and Baronoff Island. There will be many fishing boats from different places. There is rivalry between the boats, and the first boat to find them makes the greatest catch before the school is scattered. Last summer I fished in a boat about fifty feet long, well equipped, which made fishing much easier. The seine was 200 fathoms long and 250-mesh deep. There were five men on the crew. Each man had certain things to do. No one liked to cook. I was detailed to the job and was chief cook for awhile. Seeing that I was a poor hand at cooking hot cakes and other things I was changed to engineering. (I don’t blame them).
