CHEM AWA^AMERICAN
............................................................................................... VoZoiSp...................................... . .................................................................
Printed at Chemawa, Oregon, and^Devoted to the Interests of Indian Education
W^inesday, Apr. 1, 1931
Vol. XXXII
REINDEER IN ALASKA
From the Annual Report of the Indian Rights Association
Going back a generation ago, we recall the efforts of
the late Dr. Sheldon Jackson, representing the Ameri
can Missionary Association, in introducing the rein
deer in Alaska, for the benefit of the Eskimo. In this
work the Indian Rights Association actively and fi
nancially assisted.
The habitat of the reindeer was Eastern Siberia.
Sheldon Jackson, having become familiar with the
climatic conditions in Alaska, believing that the loca
tion would be favorable, secured a small herd of ten
reindeer in Lapland in 1891. These were shipped to
the Seward Peninsula. The expense incident to the
purchase and transportation of this shipment was met
by private subscription, as were similar shipments,
until Congress, in later years, provided limited sums
for purchase of additional reindeer, reaching the total
of 1280 deer in 1900.
The care of these animals was in charge of trained
native Laplanders. The Education Bureau of the In
terior Department was officially in charge of the rein
deer herds until 1929, when the supervision was trans
ferred to the Alaska Government, on account of the
increased responsibility of the rapidly growing herds.
By reason of the similarity of conditions among the
Eskimo to those existing among our Indian population,
the greatest care is necessary in protecting this in
dustry.
To meet this vital need the Secretary of the Interior,
on November 20, 1929, appointed a committee:—
“. . . to advise him with relation to boundaries,
carrying capacities and range rules, and disputed own
ership and other problems which have arisen from the
rapidly increasing reindeer herds of Alaska. The
members of that committee are:—Senator John B.
Kendrick, of Wyoming; Representative Scott Leavitt,
of Montana; and Assistant Attorney General Charles
P. Sisson, of the Department of Justice.”
The character and fitness of the members of the Com
mittee carry the assurance that the interests of the
Eskimo will be carefully guarded.
The success of the experiment is phenomenal. From
the nucleus of 1280, in 1900, the Governor of Alaska,
in his report for June 30, 1930, places the present num
ber of reindeer at the stupendous figure of between
600,000 and 700,000 head, two-thirds of which are
owned by the natives. Other estimates place the num
No. 29
ber at fully a million head of deer.
Fifty-nine of the seventy-eight herds belong to the
natives, who have 328 herders on the range. The
herds vary in size, the largest comprising possibly
30,000 head. The deer are distributed among 2,500
natives, while some 13,000 natives are dependent upon
the reindeer for food and clothing. This industry
now ranks among the most important in Alaska. Aside
from supplying food and clothing for the Eskimo and
other residents, the shipment of reindeer meat to the
States is increasing. It is estimated that the industry
can supply from 100,000 to 150,000 carcasses annually
for shipment.
The appropriations of Congress thus far have been
altogether inadequate to provide for the proper care of
the reindeer. It has been stated that this vast prop
erty interest, spread over thousands of square miles,
is in charge of one official with only one assistant. A
plea is now being made for an appropriation to enable
the Commission recently appointed to secure at least
16 additional employes, which is believed to be the
very least number which should be employed to give
adequate oversight and care of the reindeer industry.
A BOY WHO HAD IDEAS AND USED THEM
A year ago we were in a little store in a town where
we spent a part of our vacation. It was just a store
and that was about all. The stock didn’t amount to
much, and what there was the proprietor didn’t seem
anxious to sell.
It was the most run-down, onery,
no-account store we ever saw. This summer we
were in that store again. We had hardly stepped our
foot inside before a boy about fifteen years old was
right on hand, courteously asking what he could do
for us. We looked around. The shelves were full,
fresh vegetables and fruits were displayed—and there
were a-half dozen customers in the store. It was a
different place. The boy who came to wait on us had
done it all. By chance he had been hired to clerk,
and he made over the business—not from any set
scheme of his—but just because he was full of ginger.
The old store had little or no trade, which had both
ered the boy so that he started out to take orders, and
he kept at folks until they began to buy from him.
Pretty soon folks found out that they could get what
they wanted at the store, or have it gotten for them
in the shortest possible time.
Besides that the boy
was always there, always busy, always looking for a
chance to go out of his way to accommodate or do a
favor for his customers—or for anybody else. Today,
less than ten months after that boy took hold of things,
that store is the most flourishing and profitable in the
village.
Now, you fellows, think that over a little.— T he
A merican B oy .