The following communication has been received from Bob Bartlett,relegate
elect to Congress: o
•In a few days I shall depart from Juneau enrout to Washingt n, T, '•
preparatory to.taking over my duties as lelegate'to Congress from Al'ska
in January, Before leaving I consider it my duty to inform Alaskans as
to my views regarding the Indian claims which have been the subject of
several-hearings in Southeastern Alaska nad 'concerning which another
hearing is scheduled to be held in Seattle beginning November 15. '
Prior to the general election in Alaska on September 12 I was con
stantly invitee?, in' fact urged, to denounce the claims and everything
and everyone having to do with them* 'For two v.ery valid reasons I de
clined these pressing invitations; First, because I believed 'and still
believe the injection of the Issue as a nitftter'of partisan politics was
entirely meaningless, could not affect that issue in any sense whatso
ever and would only stir up emotion without any useful result. Secorr1,
because no hearings had been held then, the facts available were insuf
ficient to support anything but a snap judgment and. to come out for
either side then would have been similar to arriving at a decision in
a lrw case without consideration of the evidence;
As your relegate to Congress I intend to do these things;
First.;' Oppose with all the vigor at my command and foe* reasons to be
stated presently, creation of a whblesn-le system of reservations for
exclusive use or benefit of the native race in Southeastern or any o her
part of Alaska,
Second: Support to the very best of my ability, the taking of those
claims into a competent court of jurisdiction^so that the Indian pe pie
may receive just compensation in whatever amount they have been damaged.
Third: S/upport, with a very real conviction as to the desirability
th reef, the granting of trap sites in selected Indian localities so
vtheir economic lot may be bettered.
Assuming every claim is * just in its entirety, assuming ever;.'' petition
is ^ranted, assuming a series of reservations is created, a qu- stlor
arises which has not been sufficiently' explored.. It is altog* ther 1 1
likely the natives as individuals, as tribes or as a race would admin
ister these reservations. This would-be done by a government agency
an'1 the profits, if precedent were followed, would go to the U.S,Treasury
to be disbursed eventually for improvement of native communities and for
ti e betterment of the native race generally. Perhaps no other agency
ever esteblished In Alaska would be called upon to cope with such a
complex problem. The task ahead of it staggers the imagination,
Establishment of reservations over such a broad expanse of .country
anr’ over .the bordering ocean wher? settlement both of natives and whites
has proceeded for generations according tc an entirely different prin
ciple would be a departure from established American prociedurd' as unique
as it would be unworkable,
Let us not overlook the- certainty that bitter antagonisms would bo
aroused. Where they woulc1 lead no man can foretell and I, for one, care
to speculate as little as..pcssible on that feature,
Un^er the present system of taxation--snd under any system which may
be adopted in the future —the territorial government necessarily looks
for a considerable percentage of its income from the products of the see
an^ the land in Southeastern Alaska. Thbse lqmds would be non-taxai .1 .
The native races go to make up almost one—half the population of
Alaska. Indians, Eskimoes and Aleuts—they were here long before us.
In comparison with them, the very oldes-t of the oldtimers among the
whites are cheechakoes indeed. They are all-year,residents of Alaska in
a sense the white people never have been. The forefathers of the nutive
people living here today did not invite the Russians or the Americans
to come to this land. In that distant day when they were undisturbed in
their holdings they obtained all-they needed and wanted from the rich
natural resources-.of Alaska. v
All this changed with the advent of the white man. He brought c< r
tain material advantages, it is true, but he brought other things as
well. He brought diseases formerly unknown. He brought about a necess
ity for economic competition the end results of which today en/.a^e our •
attention, •/'
To these people we owe much. In common humanity this obligation must
be discharged. It is certainly as proper that we strive to curb and
Cont, on 10, . s,\ « \* ,