APPENDIX D.

DECREASE OF THE FOOD SUPPLY IN WESTERN ALASKA.

[From Petroff's census report, 1880.]

The whaling industry may be expected to decline gradually here as it has done in other sections of the globe. The danger indicated lies in the fact that the trading vessels coming to this region, chiefly from the Sandwich Islands, have carried such quantities of alcoholic liquor that the natives have acquired a craving for the same that can no longer be subdued, and this causes them to look for no other equivalent for their furs, oil, and ivory than the means of intoxication. At the same time they become utterly reckless in their pursuit of fur-bearing and other animals, thinking only of satisfying their desire for the present without the slightest thought of the future; and if this state of affairs be continued the extermination of the people, consequent upon the exhaustion of their means of subsistence,can only be a question of time.

APPENDIX E.

CATCH OF WHALES IN ALASKAN WATERS.

[From Senate Ex. Doc. No. 34, Forty-second Congress, second session, pages 4 and 5.]

[From Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 7, pages 24 and 25.]

The reindeer (Tarandus rangifer), the only domesticated species of deer, has a range somewhat similar to the elk, extending over the entire boreal region of both hemispheres, from Greenland and Spitzbergen in the north to New Brunswick in the south. There are several well-marked varieties differing greatly in size and in form of the antlers-the largest forms occurring farthest north, while by many writers the American reindeer, which has never been domesticated, is regarded as a distinct species. The antlers, which are long and branching and considerably palmated, are present in both sexes, although in the female they are slender and less branched than in the males. In the latter they appear at a much earlier age than in any other species of deer, and Darwin conjectures that in this circumstance a key to their exceptional appearance in the female may be found. The reindeer has long been domesticated in Scandinavia, and is of indispensable importance to the Lapland race, to whom it serves at once as a substitute for the horse, cow, sheep, and goat. As a beast of burden it is capable of drawing a weight of 300 pounds, while its fleetness and endurance are still more remarkable. Harnessed to a sledge it will travel without difficulty 100 miles a day over the frozen snow, its broad and deeply cleft

hoofs being admirably adapted for traveling over such a surface. During summer the Lapland reinleer feeds chiefly on the young shoots of the willow and birch; and as this season migration to the coast jeems necessary to the well-being of the species, the Laplander, with his family and herds, sojourns 'or several months in the neighborhood of the sea. In winter its food consists chiefly of the reindeer moss and other lichens, which it makes use of its hoofs in seeking for beneath the snow. The wild reindeer grows to a much greater size than the tame breed, but in northern Europe the former are being gradually reduced through the natives entrapping and domesticating them. The tame breed found in northern Asia is much larger than the Lapland form and is there used to ride on. There are two distinct varieties of the American reindeer, the barren-ground caribou and the woodland caribou. The former, which is larger and more widely distributed of the two, frequents in summer the shores of the Arctic Sea, retiring to the woods in autumn to feed on the tree and other lichens. The latter occupies a very limited tract of woodland country, and, unlike the barren-ground form, migrates southward in spring. The American reindeer travel in great herds, and being both unsuspicious and curious, they fall ready victims to the bow and arrow or the cunning snare of the Indian, to whom their carcasses form the chief source of food, clothing, tents, and tools.

APPENDIX G.

WILD REINDEER IN ALASKA.

[Charles H. Townsend, in the report of the cruise of the United States Revenue-Marine steamer Corwin, 1885, Capt. M. A. Healy, commanding, pages 87 and 88.]

Reindeer are found more or less regularly throughout Alaska. They were found by Mr. McLenegan on the Noatak, as well as by our party on the Kowak. Traders in the service of the Alaska Commercial Company told me of their common distribution over the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Aleutian divisions of the country. They have even been shot on Ounimak Island, at the end of the peninsula. But reindeer are restless animals, irregular in their migrations and habits. Sometimes they desert whole sections of the country for months together, and they appear to have withdrawn from many regions where firearms have been introduced. Notwithstanding the fact that large herds of reindeer are kept in a state of domestication by the Chukchees at East Cape and other well-known places on the Asiatic side of Bering Straits, with whom the natives of the Alaskan side communicate regularly, there appears to be no domestication of the species whatever in Alaska, nor indeed in any part of North America. In time, when the general use of firearms by the natives of upper Alaska shall have reduced the numbers of this wary animal, the introduction of the tame variety, which is a substantial support to the people just across the straits, among our own thriftless, alcohol-bewitched Eskimos, would be a philanthropic movement, contributing more toward their amelioration than any system of schools or kindred charities. The native boats could never accomplish the importation, which would, however, present no difficulty to ordinary seagoing vessels. The taming of the American reindeer is impracticable; for domestication, with this animal at least, is the result of subjection through many generations. Something tending to render a wild people pastoral or agricultural ought to be the first step toward their advancement. In our management of these people, "purchased from the Russians," we have an opportunity to atone, in a measure, for a century of dishonorable treatment of the Indian.

APPENDIX H.

DOMESTIC REINDEER IN LAPLAND.

[From Du Chaillu's Land of the Midnight Sun, volume 2, pages 167 and 168.]

The Fjeld Lapp's time is engaged in adding to his herd, to which he and his family devote all their energies, for their welfare depends on the growth of the animals. It is difficult to ascertain exactly the increase or decrease of reindeer according to the districts, for the people often change, and there has been of late years in the north a large immigration of Norwegian Lapps to the territory of Sweden, especially to Keresuando, but taken as a whole the population and the reindeer are increasing. There is a greater number in Norway than in Sweden, owing to the number of stationary bonder (farmer) and sea Lapps, which far outnumber the nomads. According to the late census there are:

In Sweden (1870) 6,702 Laplanders, with 220,800 reindeer; in Norway (1865) 17,178 Laplanders, with 101,768 reindeer; in Finland (1865) 615 Laplanders, with 40,200 reindeer; in Russia (1859) 2,207 Laplanders, with 4,200 reindeer.

With those that belong to farmers and others I think we may safely say that the reindeer number about 400,000. The Samoides have the largest and finest breeds, which are not numbered among those of the Lapps. In Kautokeino there are Lapps who own 2,000 reindeer; in Sorsele, in Sweden, one is said to own 5,000, and others 1,000 and 2,000. Some of the forest Lapps have 1,000. In Lulea Lappmark there are herds of over 2,000; in Finmarken, of 5,000; and some Lapps have owned as many as 10,000. A herd of 2,000 to 2,500 is said to give about 200 to 250 calves yearly.

Every owner has his own mark branded upon the ears of all his reindeers, and no other person has a right to have the same, as this is the lawful proof of ownership; otherwise when several herds are mingled on the mountains the separation would be impossible. According to custom no one can make a new mark, but must buy that of an extinct herd. If these are scarce the price paid to the families that own them is often high. The name of the purchaser and each mark have to be recorded in court, like those of any other owner and property. The tax paid is according to the pasture land occupied.

APPENDIX J.

JOINT RESOLUTION TO EXTEND TO ALASKA THE BENEFIT OF THE LAWS ENCOURAGING IN THE SEVERAL STATES AND TERRITORIES INSTRUCTION IN AGRICULTURE AND THE MECHANIC ARTS.

Whereas Congress passed an act, approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, entitled "An act to establish agricultural experiment stations in connection with the colleges established in the several States under the provisions of an act approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixtytwo, and of the acts supplementary thereto," and an act approved August thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled "An act to apply a portion of the proceeds of the public lands to the more complete endowment and support of the colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, established under the provisions of an act of Congress approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two;" and Whereas these several acts require the assent of the legislature of the State or Territory before their provisions become available; and

Whereas Alaska has no legislature, and on that account Congress has committed the charge of education in that section to the Secretary of the Interior: Therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and empowered to extend to Alaska the benefits of the above-cited acts, and to receive and disburse through the Bureau of Education for the benefit of the said Territory all moneys now or hereafter appropriated under said acts.

APPENDIX K.

SAN FRANCISCO, December 18, 1890.

Dr. SHELDON JACKSON, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: Referring to your desire to obtain information relative to the introduction of reindeer into the northwest portion of the Territory of Alaska, I would say that in my opinion the project is entirely feasible. My experience in Alaska permits me to state on authority that the next decade will witness the extinction of the American reindeer, or rather caribou. In 1881, when I first visited the district of Norton and Kotzebue sounds and the lower Yukon, deer were plentiful. This past winter (1889) not a single animal had been seen within a radius of 200 miles. Similar conditions are coexisting from Port Clarence to Point Barrow, and where in former years the hunters had to travel but 50 miles to reach the deer haunts to-day they traverse twice that distance. These contingencies arise from three causes:

1. The indiscriminate slaughter of young and old animals.

2. The use at the present day of improved weapons of the chase in lieu of the primitive bows, arrows and spears.

3. The conditions of wind prevailing at the seasons when the deer go to and from the coast. It must distinctly be understood that upon a supply of these animals our Alaskan Eskimo depend for clothing, as well as their store of meat, should their pelagic sources of provender fail.

The proposition to introduce deer from the Siberian herds can be effected at a cost of but a few thousand dollars.

The location for the first experimental station should be on Choris Peninsula or the vicinity of Kotzebue Sound. This location has climatic similarities with Siberia. The food (moss) supply is abundant and herding easy.

As the results of this initial experiment become manifest additional locations for herds can be established. Within two seasons the Chukchee herdsmen will be able to instruct the Eskimo in the style of herding.

I have made inquiries upon the subject and now give you the result. Ten years ago the Russian steamer Alexander went to the Kamchatka Peninsula, and officers of the Alaska Commercial Company bought 7 male and 7 female deer, transporting them to Bering Island (one of the islands leased by the company from Russia). Captains Blair and Greenberg and Superintendent Lubegoil inform me that the herd now numbers 180. From this you can judge the rate of propagation.

The revenue steamer Bear can be utilized for transportation, and I know no man more capable of conducting the experiment than Captain Healy.

I hope that the small sum required will be voted by Congress as, unless something is done for these people, their annihilation is only a question of a brief period.

The whales have so frightened the big fish that the natives are unable to pursue them in their rapid passage, while the extermination of the walrus is almost a fact.

These remarks I present as requested.

Yours, very truly,

HENEY D. WOOLFE.

II.—REPORT ON INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA,

1892.a

By Sheldon Jackson, General Agent of Education in Alaska.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

BUREAU OF EDUCATION,
Washington, January 9, 1893.

SIR: In compliance with a resolution of the Senate passed January 6, 1893, directing that the Commissioner of Education transmit to the Senate a copy of the latest report of Dr. Sheldon Jackson on the introduction of domesticated reindeer into Alaska, I have the honor to transmit said report herewith.

Very respectfully,

The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE.

W. T. HARRIS,

Commissioner.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, ALASKA DIVISION,
Washington, D. C., January 2, 1893.

SIR: So many inquiries have been made since my return from Alaska concerning the present progress of the plan to introduce domesticated reindeer into Alaska that it seems expedient to make a special report on that branch of the work of the office without waiting for the regular annual report on education in Alaska.

I have the honor, therefore, to submit the following report of progress on the introduction of domesticated reindeer into Alaska:

In the summer of 1890, in accordance with your instructions, I visited northern Alaska and established schools for the arctic Eskimo at Cape Prince of Wales, Point Hope, and Point Barrow. Through the courtesy of the Secretary of the Treasury and of Capt. L. G. Shepard, Chief of the Revenue Marine Division of the Treasury Department, I was permitted to accompany the U. S. Revenue Marine steamer Bear, Capt. M. A. Healy, commanding, on her annual cruise in Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

In addition to conveying me to the points designated, Captain Healy was under instructions from the Secretary of the Treasury to visit the coast of Siberia, and distribute presents to the Koraks around Cape Navarin in return for shelter and food furnished shipwrecked American whalers. He was also under commission from Superintendent Porter, of the Census Office to take a census of the native population along the Arctic coast of Alaska and the islands of Bering Sea, which population could not be reached by the usual enumerators. The trip to Siberia enabled me to make a cruise of 700 miles along that little known coast, and study somewhat the character of the native population under conditions corresponding with those under which life must be maintained in Alaska. I found them to be a hardy, tive, and well-fed people, owning tens of thousands of head of domestic reindeer.

a Reprint of Senate Mis. Doc. No. 22, Fifty-second Congress, second session, omitting maps and

illustrations.

The taking of the census of arctic Alaska furnished me even more extensive facilities for studying the condition of the Eskimo of Alaska. I found them, like their neighbors on the Siberian side, to be a hardy and active people, but because they had never been instructed to depend upon the raising of reindeer as a support, unlike the Siberians, they were on the verge of starvation. The whale and walrus that formerly had constituted the principal portion of their food have been destroyed or driven off by the whalers; and the wild reindeer that once abounded in their country have been killed off by the introduction of breechloading firearms.

The thorough canvass of the native population for enumeration, necessitating a landing wherever even one or two tents were seen on the beach, furnished unusual opportunities for observing the educational needs of that people and learning the great difficulties under which schools will have to be carried on.

Upon my return to Washington I had the honor, on November 12, to address you a preliminary report of the season's work, emphasizing the destitute condition of the Alaskan Eskimo.

On the 5th of December this report was transmitted by you to the Secretary of the Interior for his information, and on the 15th transmitted to the Senate by Hon. George Chandler, Acting Secretary of the Interior. On the following day it was referred by the Senate to the Committee on Education and Labor.

On the 19th of December, Hon. Louis E. McComas, of Maryland, introduced into the House of Representatives a joint resolution (H. R. No. 258) providing that the act of Congress approved March 2, 1887, “An act to establish agricultural experiment stations in connection with the colleges established in the several States under the provisions of an act approved July 2, 1862, and of the acts supplementary thereto," and an act approved August 30, 1890, entitled "An act to apply a portion of the proceeds of the public lands to the more complete endowment and support of the colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, established under the provisions of an act of Congress approved July 2, 1862," should be extended by the Secretary of the Interior over Alaska, with the expectation that the purchase, improvement, and management of domestic reindeer should be made a part of the industrial education of the proposed college.

The resolution was referred to the Committee on Education, and on the 9th of January, 1891, reported back to the House of Representatives for passage. (See Appendix A.) It was, however, so near the close of the short term of Congress that the resolution was not reached.

When it became apparent that it would not be reached in the usual way, the Hon. Henry M. Teller, on the 26th of February, moved an amendment to the bill (H. R. No. 13462), making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1892, appropriating $15,000 for the introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, which was carried. The appropriation failed to receive the concurrence of the conference committee of the House of Representatives.

Upon the failure of the Fifty-first Congress to take action, and deprecating the delay of twelve months before another attempt could be made, with your approval I made an appeal in the Mail and Express of New York City, the Boston Transcript, the Philadelphia Ledger, the Chicago Inter-Ocean, and Washington Star, as well as in a number of the leading religious newspapers of the country, for contributions to this object. The response was prompt and generous; $2,146 were received. (Appendix B.)

As the season had arrived for the usual visit of inspection and supervision of the schools in Alaska, you were kind enough to direct that in addition to my regular work for the schools, I should continue in charge of the work of transporting domesticated reindeer from Siberia to Alaska. As the natives of Siberia, who own the reindeer, know nothing of the use of money, an assortment of goods for the purpose of barter for the reindeer was procured from the funds so generously contributed by benevolent people in answer to the appeal through the newspapers.