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THE KAQRCQ OR WHALING CELEBRATION GROUNDS—At
Point Hope the flags are seen throrgh the arch of two huge whale
jawbones, each 19 feet in length. The 60-foot whale, from which they
came, was caught by Allen Rock of Point Hope, in May 1961. In
the background are two other sets of jawbones. Four sets of bone
tripods, three of which ran be seen, are used to tie the nalukatuk
tightly to insure safety to the performers and to stabilize the pull
on all sides. These are the grounds where great feasts, nalukatuk
(blanket toss), and celebration dances are held after eaeh successful
whaling season. The whole population of Point Houe gathers here
for the occasions. —Tundra Times Photo by Andrew Tooyak
Native Dance Big Success
On the evening of July 20, one of
the most heartwarming native
dances took place at the Barnette
School in Fairbanks. The dance was
put on by the Fairbanks Native As
sociation.
After dining on baked salmon.
jVIinto dancers began the perform
ance by doing a circle dance and
then a mcst unusual thing happen- I
ed. The leader of the Minto dancers
invited the Eskimo dancers to dance
La Farge Dies . . .
c
i Continued from Page 1>
he was the son of Christopher Grant |
La Farge, an architect.
Greatly interested in problems of !
Alaska natives. Mr. La Farge last
year appeared on the same platform
in New York with Guy Okakok,
contributing editor of Tundra Times,
and stressed the U. S. was threat- j
ening to repeat, for all the world
to see, the failure of other Ameri
cans to deal fairly with Indians a
century ago.
“We can have all over again in
Alaska." he observed, “what hap
pened in the Northwest Teritory, in
the South, in fact in every part of
the old 40 states, wherever the na
tives of tire land stood unaided
against the furious land hunger of
the white man.”
The Tundra Times has been re- j
quested by a national magazine to
furnish photographs to accompany \
an article rcently written by the |
prize-winning author regarding Al- I
aska native land problems.
The slim, dark-haired author at
tended Harvard University where !
he edited the “Lampoon,” and was j
graduated in 1924.
In a wire to the Tundra Times, j
"William B.vler, executive director of
the Asociation on American Indian
Affairs, said: “This asociation to
which he gave so much of his life
will continue his work in defense
of the American Indians and Eski- |
mos.”
along with them. The Indians and
Eskimos danced together much to
the delight of a large audience pre
sent.
“I never danced an Indian dance
before but pretty soon I could do
pretty well.” said Guy Okakok of
Barrow, one of the most Eskimoest
cf Eskimos around.
Earlier in the proceedings. Paul
Green, leader of the Nome dancers,
told the crowd that he had known
the dance leader of Mi.nto. They
had met while both were patients
in Anchorage hospital in 1953 and
had become fast friends. The re
union was a moving one when the
two men got on the stage and shook
hands vigorously. This touched off
a new enthusiasm and the Eskimo
dancers joined the Indians in a
riotous dance around the room.
Later, the Indians reciprocated
by learning to do the Eskimo dance.
It was refreshing to see Minto
children and teenagers join in the
performance of their elders. The
Indians had their colorful dance
costumes and the Eskimos had on
their full native regalia. The spec
tacle was one {if the most unusual
ever seen anywhere in Alaska. It
was a demonstration of friendli
ness and good fellowship.
The dance took place after the
conclusion of the Eskimo Olympics
put on during the celebration of
Golden Days, a commemoration of
the discovery of gold in the Fair
banks area.
Nick Gray, vice president of the
Fairbanks Native Association, was
the master of ceremony. Mrs. Alex
ander, Minto. and Chief Moses, gave
welcoming speeches in Athabascan
language and Edith Tegoseak of
Fairbanks gave a speech in Eskimo.
Young native people later danced
to a guitar combo and did, the jitter
bug and the twist.
The Indian and Eskimo dance was
so successful that plans were made
to repeat the performance next
'ear.
Ten Native RCA Graduates Offered Jobs
Ton Alaska Indians and Eskimos
have been offered employment at
Data Acquisition site at Gilmore
Creek near Fairbanks by National
Aeronautics and Space Adminis
tration, said Rep. Ralph •!. Rivers,
in a wire to the Tundra Times on
July 24.
The men have been training on |
an 13-month course in Industrial
and Communications Electronics at
RCA Institute in Los Angeles under
joint project of Bureau of Indian
Affairs and RCA Service Company.
The group includes M o r r i s
Thompson. Tanana; Roy Snyder, Jr .
Nome; Paul Rookok, Mt. Edge
combe: Lawrence Peterson, Fort
Yukon: Albert Morgan, Ketchikan;
Vernon Miller, Fairbanks; Vitus
Jack, Stebbins; HiSijrld Haldane,
Metlakatla; Gerald Evans, Betties
Field; and Albert Adams, Kotzebue,
Rogers, Post Die 19 Years Ago ...
(Continued from Page 1>
cled once more and landed nearby
on a lake.
After the plane beached, two men
got out and Okpeaha walked toward
them. One man had a patch over an
eye. Later, he found out the man
with the patch was Wiley Post and
the other man was Will Rogers.
Invited to Stay
The men asked Okpeaha where
Barrcw village was and how far it
was. Okepeaha pointed toward
Barrow, toward north, but because
the weather was bad. he invited
the two men to his tent.
They refused his invitation.
"Sorry," they said. “We would
rather keep on going till we reach
our goal.” They said they would
rather go on toward the village they
had heard so much about. Both
thanked Okpeaha and said they
would probably visit him next time
they came by.
The two men went inside their
plane and started the motor. They
even waved their hands farewell
before they took off.
The plane was still low when it
started to turn. While Okpeaha was j
still watching, all of a sudden the |
plane sommersaulted and landed
bottomside up in a creek nearby, j
The Eskimo hunter ran with all |
his might to the crashed plane.
When he reached it, he called and
called to the men inside but there
was no answer.
Okpeaha went back to his wife
and children and told them he was
afraid he would have to leave them
and gc up to Barrow village to re
port what was going on.
He got in his kayak and took off.
But there were still dots of ice in
the water and finally he couldn't
cruise anymore. He beached and
pulled his kayak ashore, away from
the ice and started to run.
When he reached the village, the
first thing he did was to sec the
old man commissioner, Charles
Brower. After the old man had
heard the sad report, he asked Ok
peaha what time the plane crashed
and where.
The Eskimo hunter answered
every question in honesty and truth.
That very day, in the evening.
Mr. Brower sent about fifteen of
us down to the crash. We took two
boats, a canoe and a Navy launch.
When wp go there, we rolled the
plane over and pulled the bodies
out of the plane.
We put both bodies carefully in
cne of the boats, then left. We came
home tired after we had worked
all night. Seven of us carried the
bodies over to the hospital. There
Dr. Griest mended their cuts and
after he finished mending their
cuts, we took the bodies to a bush
plane that had come to take the
bodies to Fairbanks.
One evening this F.skimo hunter
said to us. ‘‘Ladies and gentlemen,
we never know what’s going to hap
pen to each one of us. like the two
men who never reached their goal.
Claire Okpeaha, a full-blooded
Eskimo, showed his willingness to
help out in an emergency. He is
the man who ran on the soft sand,
following the shore from his camp
until he reached Barrow village to
report the death of two famous fiv
ers, Will Rogers and Wiley Post.
Okpeaha lives today in Barrow.
His name will never be forgotten.
ROGERS-POS^T MONUMENT—People from all over the world have traveled to see this monument 13
miles from Barrow honoring two of America’s mo st famous men who met their deaths in this lonely
spot nineteen years ago. Here cowboy movie star, Roy Rogers, poses beside the monument dedicated to
the memory of the American ambassadors of good w 111. —Wien Alaska Airlines Photo by Noel Wien.