THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 # P. O. Box 618
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. Boucher .Owner-Publisher
Emily Boucher .Local Editor
Jim Frye . Editor,
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Monday, November 8, 1948
ALASKA NUTRITION SURVEY REPORT: DIETARY STUDY
(By Christine A. Heller, Nutrition Consultant)
(Ed. Note—Last summer a survey was made by the U. S. Public
Health Service to determine sources of necessary foods. The following
report has been received as the result of the dietary study of the na- j
tives in this area, and is published herewith in part.)
Natural Food Sources
The kinds of fish vary considerably, but the Bering Sea area seems
to have the most prolific supply.
Certain land animals and water fowl are also available for food
such as caribou, ground or parka squirrel, beaver, muskrat, bear, moose, i
reindeer, ducks, geese, p'armigan and many others. Here again, al
though the range where these animals can be found is wide, they are
not equally available throughout the Territory.
Value of Plants
Although the native diet is essentially one of meat and fish, there
.are certain wild edible roo‘s, greens and berries that are available
rather abundantly in certain areas of the Territory. King Islanders, for
instance, should never go short on Vitamin C, for sour dock, mountain
sorrel, and edible saxifrage which the Eskimos call Chutnuk, Ahza
husk, and a sedum whose E>kimo name is Chuklookutuk grows abun
dantly on the island. These foods could and should be used in much
larger quantities than they now are, and large supplies should be
stored for winter use. The edible willow <salix pulchra) grows abun
dantly in the Kotzebue aiea. This food has also been found to be an
extraordinary source of vitamin C, a small serving furnishing the day’s
recommended allowance. According to an analysis of 184 dietaries
from Kotzebue in the late spring of 1947, approximately 90 per cent
had an intake of Vitamin C 50 per cent below that recommended for
adequate nutrition. Yet, in spite of the availability of the willow, and
in spite of the fact that willow buds and leaves are considered an edi
ble and delicious food by the Eskimo, only 9 out of the 184 had eaten
willow at the time the dietaries were collected. The study was done at
the time when these were ready for picking and eating.
Vitamin C Deficiency
The Vitamin C content of the blood is one measure of the recent
intake of Vitamin C. Of the forty-five subjects in Kotzebue whose
blood was tested for its Vi.amin C value, only two had what is con
sidered a normal value. The rest all had low values, indicating that the
body tissues were low in this particular vitamin. This is a situation
that could easily be corrected in those areas where these plant food
sources of Vitamin C and locally available.
Sources of Vitamin C
Scurvy grass, a common plant growing along the beaches in the
Arctic and throughout the Aleutians, is another excellent source of
Vitamin C. In the early days of exploration, when it was impossible to
carry fresh meats, fruits and vegeables, ship crews often became sick
with scurvy, many of them dying. One of the first foods that the afflic
ted looked for when they got ashore was scurvy grass. This food is
found today, as then, but it is not used in any great quantity. Local
food sources of Vitamin C (wild edible greens, cloudberries, rose hips)
become extremely important in these outlying areas. The majority of
the people cannot get oranges, grapefruit, fresh greens or the many
frozen products which we in the cities and towns depend on for Vita
min C. Even if these foods were available in the local stores, very few
would have the money to buy them. Consequently, it is imperative that
they learn the value of their native foods and learn to use them within
the limitations of its supply.
Natural Sources of Vitamin A
In the dietary study made among the Eskimos in 1947, Vitamin A
intake was also found to be low. Yet there were many available Vita
min A foods which were not being used as much as they should have
been. The wild edible greens are certainly a rich source of Vitamin
A. Seal liver, sea lion liver, and fish livers of various kinds (especially
halibut, salmon, cod, ling cod, and tom cod) although used extensively
by some villages were hardly used at all by others, even though they
may be equally available. Liver has a high concentration of many of
the vitamins and minerals because liver is a storage organ for the body.
Too often these animal and fish livers are tossed to the dogs. They can
be good food for humans, and they should certainly be used when fresh
and as often as possible.
Inferior Diet of Women
In checking over the diets for the different age groups, several
interesting things were brought to light. Women, on the whole, had the
worst diets. They were often low in calories, protein, calcium and iron
as well as the vitamins. In this respect they seem to be much like many
of the women in white communities in both Alaska and the States.
Summary
These are some of the areas for improvement of the Eskimo dietary:
1. A better use of local, native food resources: wild edible greens
and berries for Vitamin C; animal and fish livers for Vitamin A.
2. Improvement of the diet of women of the child-bearing age,
especially an increase in the protein (meat and fish>, calcium <milk\
Vitamin A and C content of their daily diet.
2. Improvement of the diet of the child after weaning, with par
ticular emphasis on the use of meat and fish and the various animal
and fish livers.
PUTTING HIS FOOT DOWN
'Ait we want'
IS TtACE, you
. WAWAONSEI**.
^
4. General improvement of the diet of the adolescen —more meat
and fish, more greens, berries and milk; less pancakes, biscuits, candy
and pop.
The particular foods that are used to achieve these improvements
will vary with the location of the village. Study the local native foods
and encourage the best use possible within the limitations of supply.
ELECTION REFORM NEEDED
(Rocky Mountain News*
This Presidential Election ought to be the last one conducted under
rules which make it possible for the candiate who gets the largest pop
ular vote to be defeated.
Senator Lodge <R.-Mass.) has proposed a Constitutional amend
ment to change the country’s old and bad electoral system. The next
j Congress should submit that amendment to the States for prompt rati
| fica.ion.
The present system gives each state’s entire electoral vote to the
Presidential candidate getting more popular votes than any other in
that State. For instance, this year a candidate needed to poll not even
a majority, but only a bare plurality of New York’s more than six mil
lion popular votes in order to get all 47 of New York’s electoral votes.
The same in other states. As a result of this system.
In 1876, Democrat Tilden got 4,284,885 votes in all state combined;
Republican Hayes, only 4,039,950. But the electoral vote was so close
that a Republican-controlled commission was able to count Tilden out
and make Hayes President.
In 1888, the country gave Democrat Cleveland 100,000 popular
votes more than Republican Harrison, but Harrison became President
! with 233 electoral voies to Cleveland’s 168.
And such defeats of the American people’s majority will could
happen again.
In 1S44, a shift of fewer than 600,000 popular votes in six big
States would have elected Republican Dewey with a small majority of
the country’s electoral vote, although Democrat Roosevelt still would
have been the choice of a great majority of he country’s voting citizens.
Indeed, it is now mathematically possible for fewer than 24 million
citizens voting in 12 large Sta‘es to elect a Candida e even though 60
million citizens in the other 36 States might vote for his opponent.
The Lodge amendment provides for dividing the electoral votes of
each State among the various Presidential candidates in proportion to
their shares of that State’s popular vote.
That would make the whole country’s electoral vote reflect much
more accurately the whole country’s popular vote. It would make it
impossible for a comparatively small number of citizens in a few big
States to defeat the will of a much larger number of citizens in many
small States.
And it would bring a wholesome increase of interest in campaigns
and in voting, for it would assure the citizens of all States that their
ballots actually count in the final result of Presidential elections.
THAT'S THAT—By Bruci Guilin
President Truman says “I hate Communism.” But hat isn’t
enough. As Governor Dewey commented:
“Our country is entitled to a government which will not need
twenty-six million dollars to find out how many Communists it has
appointed to :he government service. Our country is entitled to a gov
ernment which will not appoint Communists :n the first place.”
Communist infiltration of the federal government took place un
der the Democratic regime in Washington. There’s no getting away
from that fact. Congressional efforts to expose and weed out disloyal
employees on the government payroll have been belittled and ob
structed. President Truman ridiculed the Russian spy probe of the
House committee on un-American activities. He called it a ‘‘red herr
ing.” He laughed at charges that a Communist spy ring was still op
erating in Washington. He denied Congressional investigators access to
the departmental personnel records.
Now, I wonder if President Truman, with his Democratic-con
trolled Congress, will continue to obstruct the activities of the un
American activities committee; or perhaps the committee will fail to
function, and the Communists continue to secure places of high office
in the Federal government in Washington?
Public Welfare
Meeting Concludes
Meetings of the Board of Public
Welfare concluded with members
returning to their homes after re
viewing proposed budgetary es
imates for programs for the next
wo years, said director of the de
partment,( R. G. Maynard.
Those attending were Governor
Ernest Gruening, chairman, Rev
trend G. Edgar Gallant of Skag
way, Howard Lyng of Nome, Mrs.
Evangeline Atwood of Anchorage.
Mrs. M. Clifford Smith, Jr., of
Fairbanks was unable to attend.
Mrs. Atwood, wife of the pub
lisher of the Anchorage Times,
highlighted discussions and plan
ning on child welfare. She heads a
communi.y group known as the
Anchorage Youth Council \vhich
is actively interested in fostering
benefits for underprivileged chil
'rcn as well as organized recrea
tional projects for children. Mrs.
Atwood was recently appointed to
he board by Governor Gruening
and is an old-time Alaskan with an
abiding interest in child and pub
lic welfare.
Director Maynard sadi that most
significant were the board recom
mendations for legislative action
that the present legal maximums
in the Old Age Assistance and Aid
, to Dependent Chi’d.ens programs
should be modified upward in or
der to permit the Department to
make assistance payments in
amounts more nearly meeting the
, .IwOCl a
He pa nfed to the fact that infla
j lion and high costs of living were
working severe hardships among
the aged and children, as well as
o hers, under present maximums.
Costs of services in other pro
grams have increased alarmingly,
he pointed out.
The board pointed to the hard
ships experienced during the past
eighteen months by needy persons
because of insufficient funds and
recommended that more ample
funds be made available by the
Legislature. Community regard
and anxiety was amply indicated
by many communications coming
to the attentino of the board, it
was stated.
The board further drew atten
tion to the need for legislative ac
ion to provide for Aid to the
Blind. It recommended that the
Legislature give serious consider
ation to a proposal to adopt such a i
program which would be financed
jointly by the Federal and Terri
torial Governments. Limited sta
tistics showed at leas1 300 blind
persons in Alaska, and the Board
urged that a fact-finding program
be initiated to determine the num
ber of persons suffering from
blindness who were in need.
All members of the board point
ed to the increasingly difficult^
problem of administering public
welfare with inadequate funds and
staff to meet the public demands
for service and assfstance. Serious
breakdowns in social responsibili
ties were increasing alarmingly
with the abrupt economic changes
taking place in Alaska, they stated.*
Increased costs in providing
child care in foster homes and m
stitutions drew a further recom
mendation from the Boa”d that
more adequate funds had to be
provided for this purpose if Alas
ka was to meet its responsibilities
to the growing generation. Innum
erable instances were pointed out
where even common ordinary den
tal care could not be provided, nor
even new clothing for children be*
cause there were no funds with
which to pay the costs. *
The lack of Federal funds to as
sist in meeting the needs of indi