The Chemawa American, April 11, 1928, Page 4, Image 4

PAGE 4
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
THE OUTING AT SHERMAN INSTITUTE
(Continued from page 1)
to the pupils’ best interest they are not permitted to
leave the school to go out to work. Each pupil is
placed from the individual standpoint, not whole­
sale.
From the financial standpoint the outing is a won­
derful thing for both boys and girls, as a large number
of our students receive no money from their homes,
and if it were not for the privilege of earning would
have no knowledge of earning, saving or handling
money.
With this money they are able to buy individual
clothing, and not always have to wear the school
uniform. They are proud to have their own clothing
and money to spend like other people whom they
meet.
Of the wages, one third is paid direct to the pupil,
the other two thirds is sent to the school and is de­
posited to the individual credit of the pupil, to be
drawn when he returns to the school or when needed.
It is the policy of the school to use the outing as a
part of the pupil’s instructions, and to have the patron
realize it is a part of his Education and not from a
financial point only.
It is by the pupils being respectful and industrious
that our outing has been made a success.
During the year of 1927, 363 boys were on the
outing, and earned $38,412.49, and 329 girls earning
$21,281.89, a total of 692 pupils earning $59,694.38.
—E tta M. L ong , Outing Matron.
INDIAN LIFE ON THE YUKON
By FLORA HARPER, Ch emaw a Student
In the spring of the year, after the ice breaks up
and the river is cleared, great numbers of the Alaskan
Indians camp along the Yukon.
The camping places are selected where ducks, geese,
and muskrats are found, and where fishing is good.
The moose and his haunts are considered as well as the
birch tree. The moose’s skin when tanned is made
into beautiful moccasins, gloves, coats and skirts; the
flesh is dried for food, and birch bark is used for
canoes. The ducks and geese furnish food, and
feathers for beds and blankets. The muskrat fur is
valuable. The fish are caught and dried. Fish con­
stitutes the chief food of the Alaskan people living on
the Yukon.
A great column of smoke ascends from every camp.
This smudge is for protection against the mosquito
that proves to be a great pest with his “cousin-cousin-
cousin” songs, as well as his extreme fondness for
human blood.
The Indians stay at the camps for a month or so
and then return to their village, or in a party visit an­
other village. When the people of one village visit
another village a potlatch is usually given.
After the visiting is over every one prepares for the
hunting season. Each group of families have their
own fishing grounds, where their fishing paraphernalia
has been put away for the season.
The Indians have their dogs trained to tow the boats
up the river to the camps. The dogs are trained to
swim around stumps, logs, or rocks and across the
eddies of the Yukon. These dogs can easily tow
a boat thirty miles in one day.
When the run of salmon slacks and the catching
and curing is over the women first go blue-berrying
and salmon-berrying and later pick cranberries.
About this time men form hunting parties. These
parties hunt for the moose. The moose meat is dried
in the smoke house where the salmon is cured. After
the fish have been dried and smoked they are bundled
and put away in the caches. These caches are store
rooms resting on posts about six feet from the ground.
They are built so on account of stray dogs, mice, and
other animals.
The Indians now prepare for the coming winter
and trapping season. The men make new snowshoes
and build new sleighs, while the women go over the
old winter clothing, such as moccasins, parkas,
mittens, and rabbit-skin robes. The tents are also
made ready for use.
The men usually go out alone in the fall, as the
days are short and cold; however, sometimes the
whole family will go out.
At Christmas time the Indians come in for a pot­
latch. In some mysterious way the natives find out
where and when the potlatch is to be held. However,
these potlatches are held in any convenient place
during the holiday season. The Indians are as a rule
eager for a good time and when they hear of a potlatch
they immediately leave their homes to join the crowd,
even if the scene of joy is hundreds of miles away.
The Indians come from everywhere, up from the
Yukon, down from Holy Cross and Iditarod, and
from the mountains, flats, villages, and towns.
There are hundreds of sleighs and as each .sleigh
has five dogs at least, one can imagine the number of
dogs.
Many white people attend these potlatches and en­
joy them very much. The Indians usually feast in
the afternoon and dance all night, the native style, un­
til the older people get tired, and then the younger
set get out their phonograph or string band and dance
modern dances until breakfast time, which is around
seven o’clock. The native dance consists of singing,
tom-tom beating, with a number of active young men
in the center dancing. This dance is rather fast and
peppy.”
When the women dance, the song is more of a dirge
and the tempo is slower. They stand in a row with
the hair down over the face, a handkerchief held by
two corners in their hands in front of them, and a sort
of bread-kneading, or washing, motion is made. The
white people dub it the “wash tub dance.” On the
last day of the potlatch, which lasts about two weeks,
the natives collect gifts from every house. This is
done by taking a blanket and singing or chanting be­
fore the homes. Canned food and clothing are given
in great quantities. It is customary for the chiefs of
each tribe to contribute something. A chief once gave
two thousand dollars for the fund. The last day of
the potlatch every one gathers at the largest house and
there the gifts are distributed. Soon the potlatch is
over and every one leaves. The remainder of the
winter is spent in trapping and hunting. The Yukon
natives trap for fur-bearing animals, white, red, black,
blue, silver and cross fox, mink, land otter, muskrat,
martin, lynx, wolves, wolverine and ermine.