THREE NATIVES CREMATED
IN SAVAGE STYLE
From the “Alaska News” publislr
in Juneau years ago, the item below is
reprinted. The story is under date of
November 2, 1893. It says:
“The Raven and Wolf Clans of the
Auk and Taku tribes of Indians held
high cremation ceremonies on the point
below the Auk Indian village last Tues
day. A personage of some persimmons,
who belonged to the Raven family, had
been gathered to his happy hunting
ground two weeks ago, and in state his
body had lain in the rude temple of
the dead. The bodies of Shaw dunk,
fifty years old, and his two relatives,
Ya-Heen-Nuk, seventeen years old,
and an infant boy named Yea-Tak-Su,
were burned into bones and ashes amid
the flames of funeral pyres. The ashes
and bones of the departed were then
gathered into camphorated boxes and
deposited in the family vault. In the
evening the wife of the aged chief
tain presented the director of the. fu
neral $100 in cash, and about $400
wt r ii of blankets and cloth was distri
buted among friends and relatives of
the cremation officials.
()n \\ ednesuay the folf Clan in eom
mem.-ration of the illustrious dead
held a potlatch and there was some
high kicking by the Indian maidens,
whose agility would put to shame the
rioted danseuse, Carnnncita.
‘‘Yesterday the funeral rejoicings
were brought to an end by a smallsiz
ed pe; latch. The picture presented by
the fifty Indians, chanting around two
immense bonfires of logs, while the
bodies were being consumed to ashes,
was grotesque, wierd and wild-looking.
The pyres were formed by logs cut six
feet long and scrubbed and the bodies,
enveloped in blankets, were placed in
the ground. The relatives, with sticks
in their hands, chanted a guttural lin
go. and at intervals raised their sticks
in unison. A central figure a, times
raised his voice and launched out in an
invocation, concerning the virtues of
the dead. lie was the chief.
-vi;-he native women i •:n£ in ctiargv or
tli>' crem \ o'.i, wore i• !ae‘c luindker
clii. i's over their raven dresses. They
fed the fire and turned over the bodies
f> The licking hen; . it took about
four hours to do tin- burning.
The child’s body was deposited in
11 in,rial bo ust last A ugust. the relatives
vlining tor one ol' the kin to die, so
t i t hoy e-uiM In- bvr.Tid logo tier.
This is c vonial in it with deliberation.
Several of the gu, sts at the Occidental
hote visited the* bonfires to witness
t h e strange spec La ole.
The Chilkat Indian's or.- a. tie- war
path and their it: • ■•n k . »v Ted with
bipod. They h a ’-a • girded up tin ir loins
with a hkehiug n - n p. - eak feath
ers: in their h< aale ;r - d-mued the
'warpaint, and n!i ■ e t of an an
cestral, old-fashioned nut. Ex-Presi
dent' Benjamin Harrison *s hat was nev
er .'in it with t.h's , . Auk Johnson,
the son of a chieftain of the Raven
■‘‘ekin'. an <-x -polict-mun and general util
ity individual in his tribe, indulged
freely w;,h ;he flowing bowl last
summer. Not satisfied with gening his
ty':, ■ drunk'. : filled his age i mother-,
in daw a 1th isiuon essence and . -rida
water, until she keeled over and turn
tkat relatives canr- or -r uuT-us over
tie ha::, a.-id t! eroup.iti si d ■ tlie- hat
Johnson secured it again from d , Tn
dians by appealing to the .• men ’s
.lavas. The Chib-at Indians proposed
To settle the diffianiy by de.dr ,dd cus
toms and tribal 1 vs. ami hence the le
gal interfereru - . . i . ns d them the
moi -. Seventy-five < ■ them in their
war canoes arrived from Chilkat Mon-,
day. They hold a paw-wow on Tues
day in < hief Johnson’s house and de
manded eight hundred blankets from
him for the death of his mother-in-law
or forfeit his position in the tribe as a
high Tree. Johnson offered to give
400 blankets, but Ihe Chilkats Would
not take less than 800. If Johnson is
dishonored he falls from his position
and is placed under a ban. Upon the
first opportunity his life will be ended
by a Chilkat brave. Johnson has ap
pealed to the authorities at the court
house for protection, as he is in dread
of violence on the part of the unwel
come visitors. Jack McLaughlin states
that over 600 Chilkats have passed
Berners Bay in the last few days, head
ed for Juneau. Should they conclude
to swoop down on Johnson and his tribe
some dark and windy night there would
be plenty of work for the coroner for
the next few days. What is Johnson
going to do? Ilis deceased mother-in
law surely ranks high from a blanket
standpoint. ’ ’—Alaska Di spat eh.
JAMESON-FAULKNER
According to private advices, the
marriage of Miss Roma Harriet Jame
son and Herbert Lionel Faulkner was
solemnized at 10 o’clock this morning
in Aberdeen, Washington, from the
Congregational church, the Rev. Chas.
McDermoth using the beautiful ring
ceremony. The wedding was informal,
only the most intimate friends and rel
atives of the bride being present. Miss
Jameson was accompanied by her moth
er, Mrs. S. E. Jameson, of Aberdeen,
and sister, Mrs. Robert E. Alexander,
of Billings, Montana.
Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner repaired to
a bountiful wedding lunch at the Wash
ington hotel and left Aberdeen on the
12:15 train for Seattle. They will
spend their honeymoon on Puget
Sound and in Oregon and will be at
home to their friends in Juneau on or
about the 20th of this month. The El
lin ger residence on the hill has been
prepared by the groom and they will
immediately go to housekeeping upon
their arrival here.
Miss Jameson came north early this
year to teach an unexpired term in the
Juneau school, following the resigna
tion of the teacher of the Third and
Fourth grades. Here she met Mr.
Faulkner and their friendship grew in
to. a pretty romance. The engagement
followed. The bride is a sister of E.
C. Jameson of the Dispatch.
The groom is well and favorably
known in Alaska and has been United
States marshal for the first division for
nearly two years. Prior to that he re
sided in Ketchiean. — From Wednesday’s
Daily Alaska Dispatch.
STEAMSHIP SCHEDULE
Northbound.
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Howard Ewing, agent, Juneau.
Sept, h:—Dolphin, Alaska S.S. Co.
s. p . 1:7:—City of Seattle, Pacific
.•;«1 S. s. (’o.
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cific S. S. Co.
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Pacifiic S.S. Co.
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Co.
; CO.
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< 'oast S.S. Co. Princess May, Cana
m Pacific S.S. Co.
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Pacific; S. S. Humboldt, Humboldt S.
S. Co.
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Southbound
Sep:. 7:—Humboldt.
Sept. 8:—Kamouo.
S' pt. 10:—Dolphin.
Sept. IS:—City of Seattle.
••Sept. 14:—Prir;c ss May.
Sept. 16:—A ■in.'rpl Sampson.
Sept. 17:—Priuc •••; Koyal. .<
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Sept. 30:—Ramona.
J. Frank Warner and F. W. Willi
amson, the well known government sur
veyors, are back home after a long
stay in Westward Alaska. Messrs
Warner and Williamson have been
working on the government contracts
in the Copper river country. They re
turned to Ketchikan by a coastwise
steamer which did not call here, and
came north from the ‘ ‘ First Alaskan
Town” by the Humboldt
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