ST TUNDRA TIMES E
lnupiat Pai,°’ —^Bk— ari. l u^m I De"a ^Hena*
"People's Heritage" - - 1 " n » >»»* The land speaks
Vol. 1, No. 3 Thursday, Nov. 1, 1962 Fairbanks, Alaska
CONFLICT WITHIN INTERIOR DEPARTMENT
_
Pt. Hope Man ;
Gets Movie Role
Tingook, 85-year-old senior cit
izen of Point Hope, has added mov
ie acting to his long and eventful
life in the Arctic.
During September this year. Jap
anese Broadcasting Company <JBC)
shot scenes of a film at Point Hope.
According to Point Hope News, ;
“The director, Mr. Shinjiro Tom- i
ihisa, chose Tingook, an 85-year-old
Point Hope man, to be in a scene
which involved a popular female
star.
In the scene the girl came to
Tingcok to ask about her boyfriend
from Japan. Tingook informed her
that the boy “left two days ago for
Kotzebue,” but had left a cigarette
lighter which Tingook hands, in the
film, to the girl.
Besides being an actor, Tingook
is cne of the finest interpreters and
performers of the Eskimo dance.
To see him perform is to witness
the dance the way Eskimo dance
was meant to be He loves it and
lives it.
GIFT FROM THE NORTH — James Officer, assistant commissioner
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs receives an Eskimo yn-yo from
little Miss Jacqueline (Jackie.) Joule at the recent Inupiat Paitot
meeting at Kotzebue. Officer was main speaker at the conference
attended by 28 delegates from widely separated Eskimo villages.
Editorial
VOTE WISELY
November 6, the date of our state and national elec
tions, is approaching. It is an important date. We can
presume that on that day a new page of history of our
country will have its beginning.
Many manner of men will be voted into office by
voters all over the country. From bankers, lawyers, and
doctors to fishermen, hunters and whalers, people in all
walks of life will be voting.
Caucasians, Chinese, Philipinos, Negroes, Japanese,
Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts—all Americans—will go to the
polls to vote.
This election is important to everyone in the United
States, including Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts in Alaska.
People in most native villages all over Alaska have
received and read the October 15 issue of the Tundra
Times in which four Congressional candidates answered
ten difficult questions. In this issue the candidates for the
governorship of our state will also have the opportunity
of answering these questions. Their answers should bear
careful reading.
The right to vote is a basic principle of our American
way of life. But that right also carries with it basic responsi
bilities, the responsibility of getting out on election day to
cast your ballot, the responsibility of obtaining the in
formation upon which sound judgement is based.
You should read and consider what each candidate
is saying in this and other newspapers, what he has said
when he visited your village. Through every means at your
command you should try to determine if a candidate
means what he says.
The candidates for election are men of recognized
capability. They are going through a very strenuous cam
paign. More than ever before they are striving to get your
vote, you—Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians.
More than ever before they are talking about your
economic opportunities, your education, your hunting and
fishing rights and most important of all, your land rights.
Size each candidate up. Weigh his words. Will
he carry out his promises? Will he be a better man in
office than his opponent? Has he worked vigorously
(Continued on Page 2)
How Mukluks
Were Named
Non-native Alaskans call Es
kimo borts mukluks. Why?
Eskimos from Unalakleet north
call these boots or kummiks.
The soles are usually made from
the oogruk or bearded seal. The
tops are made from hair seal or
caribou skin.
The oogruk is called mukluk
by the lower Yukon and Hooper
Bay Eskimos. Apparently this is
how Eskimo boots have been
named mukluks in English.
BIA and BLM Battling
Alaska Land Policies
At National Level
That a conflict exists within the
Interior Department in regard to
native land policies in Alaska was
the most startling development of
the recent Inupiat Paitot meeting
at Kotzebue.
In a fast-paced question-and-an
swer period after a speech by James
Officer, assistant commissioner of ;
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it was ;
brought out that the BIA and the
Bureau of Land Management are !
j poles apart at the national level.
According to BIA Assistant Ccm- [
missioner, the bureau hag been neg
ligent in not checking more care- .
fully the actions of the BLM in
j Alaska.
He said the BLM put into effect j
in Alaska many regulations based '
1 on solicitor’s opinions which were
j contrary to the intent of the law.
He said that the BIA was find
ing out that these regulations were
working injustices upon natives
, and that the Bureau, as is its duty,
will wage an all-out battle at the |
I national level to see that these in- I
[justices are corrected.
He particularly pointed out and
criticized as unrealistic, the BLM's
policy in regard to native allot
ments. He cited the fact that only
101 native allotments had been
granted in the whole of Alaska since
1906 as proving that the law had
been improperly administered.
"Until recently the BIA has not
done very much wrestling with the
BLM over land policies, but we are
preparing to enter tn ring nor ar.d
[ have been nomin ' >d as one . id
combatants,” Officer ,-a d.
In the Organic Art rf lo.lt • .d
again in the Statehood Act, the fed
eral government specifically states
t will protect natives in their use
and occupancy of land, ft was
Drought out at the meeting that iic
BLM docs not consider hunting ?nd
fishing, even when it. is done as a
means of livelihood, as use of the
land.
Assistant Commissioner Officer
said the BIA disagreed with this
regulation, including many others.
While land policies arc being
“wrestled out” in Washington. D.C..
Officer strongly recommended that
all natives anywhere in Alaska use
every piece of existing legislation,
to lay claim and get title to land.
I We will wc'rk herd to soe that
'at tlie very minimum the natives
of Alaska get title to the lanji on
which they are living and using
to hunt and fish and a limited area
on which their hunting and fishing
rights are protected, he said.
Asked about mineral rights. Offi
cer explained that individual claims
would have to be made and a set
tlement would have to await fur
ther developments.
Officer was a member of the spe
cial task force sent to Alaska in
June by Secretary of Interior Stew
art Udall to study the complete
Alaska native picture. As a preview
(Continued on Page 15)
FAREWELL DANCE — Delegates to the Inupiat Paitot conference joined Kotzebue residents in a dance
honoring Chester and Helen Seveck, who departed on a six months tour which will take them to
cities in the lower states and-perhaps to Europe. Enjoyment of the dance is shown by the expression
on the faces of the children at left and Alfred Ketzler, chairman of the Indian Dena Nena Henash or
ganization. —Staff Photo