LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Juneau, Alaska
November 26, 1962
Dear sirs and fellow natives of
Alaska:
A “friend and brother in the
Alaska Native Brotherhood" told
me about your paper. He said he
was very fortunate to read the No
vember 19th issue and advised me
to get that copy. Please do send it.
I have taken a great interest in
the work of our Alaska Native
Brotherhood and Sisterhood since
1930 when I joined. I was elected
Grand President six times, and am
now an Executive Committeeman
for life.
Put me on your mailing list, !
please, and send me "bill" for a '
year's subscription.
1 am so interested because I am
a Thlingit Indian, part Russian. I
was born in Killisnoo, Alaska in
1892. We have seen plenty of
change in our native people since
the birth of the Alaska Native
Brotherhood in 1912. It surely
makes us all very happy. We thank
God and we praise him.
The native people in Alaska must
stand firm, working for the better
ment of our race, education, etc.
We must know our friends, but let
us not be friends of the bottle. Pray ,
that we will be victorious over this ;
big evil. We will march as Christian
Soldiers hand in hand.
May God bless us all as Christian
Citizens.
Your brother,
Cyril J. Zuboff
Allentown, Penn.
November 25, 1962
Dear Editor:
It was of much interest to me to
read in The Christian Science Moni
tor, that you have started a unique
newspaper. It is one I feel I would
like very much to read and sub
scribe to.
Will you please send me the rates,
and, would it be possible to serve
one a little somewhat removed from
the immediate locale.
I would assume the cost of mail
ing.
Sincere best wishes for the suc
cess of a most worthwhile effort.
Mrs. Catherine M. Saeger1
Edgecumbe Alumni
Reunion Banquet
Being Planned
A reunion banquet of the Mt.
Edgecumbe alumni is being planned
for this summer. All alumni living
in the Fairbanks area and interested j
in a reunion are asked to please
write to: Charles Brower. Boys' Dor
mitory, Mt. Edgecumbe, Alaska.
PT. BARROW NEWS
Adult Education Makes
Big Hit at Pt. Barrow
By Guy Okakok
Polar Bear Hunters
BARROW, November 15. — Dis
cussion was heard this afternoon
from different hunters in Barrow.
Hunters who do hunt daily, weather
permitting, and they who never
stay home said, “It's about time
for us hunters to take action, be
cause we were taught to hunt for
food and the game we caught was
stowed away neatly for our own
use.
"The hunters in planes are com
ing next spring and you people
know very well that we don’t raise
crops like the outsiders do. Why
don't we make a strong rule here,
not a backsliding rule? You all know
that the bear hunters will come in
to hunt polar bear next spring.”
One Eskimo hunter said, the only
income we get is from the hides,
meaning polar bear skin, and we
need these badly.
If the hunters want to hunt polar
bears, they should either hire a na
tive guide, or follow them out on
the ice like we do. We don't want
any hunters to hunt, or see them
hunt from a plane. This way. they
said, no one will say anything about
this. Let’s all keep this rule in a
brotherly way, so we all can go on
well.
Let’s all hope that this will be re
membered during this coming sea
son. It's not going to be an easy
one, like it was before.
We all like to hunt, all of us.
Let’s keep it that way.
Adult Education
Talking about adult education,
there's a class going on here in ,
Barrow school. The oldest student
of these adults is 60 years old, and
he is doing very well. Still more
joining day after day.
Don't think that you are too old
to come back to school. Don't think
that you cannot learn the subjects
from being too old.
You make a mistake, there’s lots
of fun, and still you can learn to
write and read.
That’s what the old people are
doing here *n Barrow. You may
not like it the first day, but the
second day you will find it easier
and I’m sure you will enjoy it too.
No Hope Now
A young man, Noongak, who dis
appeared last fall has never been
found, and his belongings have
never been located either. But some
of his dogs came back with their
harnesses on.
The wind was blowing very hard,
and those who tried to look for him
couldn’t go nowhere on account of I
the weather.
Both of his parents died when he j
was a boy, and this boy was taken
care of by his grandfather, Otis
Ahkivgak, who now lives in Fair
banks.
The young man was very quiet
and friendly too.
Conversational Eskimo
In case you meet a person who
doesn't speak English, try speak
ing the other language.
English
Where are you going?
What is your name?
What’s that?
I’m Hungry.
Translations
Soo-moak-sivich?
Kena atkin?
Suna-una?
Kak-toonga.
These are very short brief phrases
in English and Eskimo. If anyone is
interested in having more of these
translations, we can use them in
I the Tundra Times.
Fear. Gripped the Village
The Day the Game Wardens Came
By Thomas A. Snapp
Times Staff Writer
(Editor's note: Though names of
persons and places have been chang
ed in the following story, it is
based on actual happening in an
Interior Indian village in the rela
tively recent past.)
Fear gripped the small remote
village of Gatlak like electricity.
People sensing impending doom
darted here and there nervously.
Three game wardens had come
strutting into the village seeking
illegal game and in practically every
family food cache in the village
there was fresh moose meat taken
out of season.
“Father! Father! What shall we
do?” some of the villagers breath
lessly inquired of the village priest.
“The wardens are here and they
are looking around everywhere and
asking all kinds of questions.”
"Just keep your wits,” Father
Travenac calmly answered as he
put on his heavy clothing to in
vestigate.
The Indian village of Interior Al
aska had had a splendid early moose
season. Practically every eligible
hunter had gotten his limit of one
moose.
But then the villagers were pla
gued with a late, late fall. It became
so warm that their moose meat
without refrigeration began to
spoil.
In a desperate attempt to save
the meat, tremendous amounts of
the meat was cooked and for about
two weeks the villagers really stuff
ed themselves. By the time the
warm spell was over, the winter
moose supply had dwindled prac
tically out of existence.
As the cold dark winter drew on,
the caches became bare except for
fish.
Fish . . . fish . . . fish . . . three
times a day This became the mono
tonous steady diet of the villagers.
Of course there were canned goods
in the smal village store, but at
Gatlak, who had the money to buy
it? To get money, one must have a
job and jobs at Gatlak were as
scarce as hen's teeth.
Just a day or two before the game
wardens arrived, one of the young
men of Gatlak returning from his
beaver trap line, had spotted four
moose by the lake about a mile
from the village.
Thinking more about hunger
than the strict game laws, the ani
mals were killed and the news,
“Fresh meat!" proudly announced to
the village. Everybody pitched in,
the animals were skinned and dress
ed, and divided and the village
was in good spirits for a change of
diet.
Where Old Timers Meet
The oldest bar in South Fairbanks
MORRY'S BAR
\
27th and Cushman Street, Fairbanks
, That is, until the game wardens
| came upon the scene airing their
suspicious and mumbling something
about search warrants. They left
saying they would return the fol
lowing day.
That night the people got excited
and jittery. Father Travanac as
sured them they had nothing to be
frightened about.
“Let's just do what the Barrow
Eskimos did with the eider ducks.
Let's just all open our caches and
show them the meat. They can't
take us all to jail.
But the people could not be calm
ed. Some suggested taking the meat
out into the woods and hiding it.
“No, no," Father Travanac said.
“In that fresh, deep snow you can't
make a new trail. You'il lead them
1 right to the spot."
That night the, scared villagers
took another course. They chipped
out a cache in the ice of the river,
right beside the much traveled
trail into the village. The meat was
covered with chipped ice.
The next day the game warden
showed up on schedule, this time
scrutinizing every inch of the vil
lage for traces of hair or blood.
One of the Wardens found a
bloody hair on a dog sled and rush
ed to the other end of the village
to get the other wardens as wit
nesses. But when he returned the
dog sled was nowhere to be found.
By this time the game wardens
were openly charging that someone
in the village had killed three
moose — that they knew if from
the markings at the lake. The vil
lagers were laughing to themselves
because they knew the wardens had
not been able to correctly decipher
the markings, since there were four
animals taken instead of three.
That night Father Travanac talk
ed with the game wardens.
“What makes you think someone
from here has been killing moose
out of season? he asked.
"Are you kidding. Father, who
would come 60 miles to get moose'
a mile from your village?'’ he re
plied.
“All right, someone from the vil
lage has been killing moose out if
season. What about the subsistar.ee
hunting law?"
The warden explained he was
only following the law, \hat food
was available at the village .store.
"But we have not seen a piece
of meat since last October: \\ e
couldn't keep it. How would your
youngsters like eating fish three
times a day?”
The warden did not answer.
Father Travanac then told the
warden, "I hope you do bring
charges. I'd love to have a case n
court on the question of subsistance
hunting.”
The next day the game wardens
quietly departed Gatlak taking wild
them their unserved search war
rants.
Santa Claus is the garbled Am
erican version ol' San Nieholaas,
the Dutch name for a Roman Catho
lic bishop who became the patron
saint of schoolboys during the
Middle Ages.
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