GREETS STUDENT—Commissioner Nash gives Katie Egowa of
Barrow, Alaska, a hearty handshake at the conclusion of the meet
ing with University of Alaska native students. —Tundra Times Photo.
PAUSES FOR LIGHT REFRESHMENTS—BIA Commissioner pauses
for light refreshments during an informal meeting with Alaska
native students at the University of Alaska recently, From left to
right. Area Director, Robert L. Bennett; Charles Degnan, Commis
sioner Nash, and student. —Tundra Times Photo.
COMMISSIONER NASH AND STUDENTS CHAT—Informal conver
sation followed between the Commissioner and members of Theata
Cliib, a native student organization at the University of Alaska. From
left to right, Commissioner Nash, Charles Degnan of Unalakleet,
Theata Club President; Daphne Rylander of Nome, Martha Teeluk
of Kwlguk, and Bill Leavitt of Barrow.
—Tundra Times Photo
BIA Commissioner Philleo Nosh Clarifies
School Construction Program in Alaska
(This is the first in a series of
articles on the visit to Alaska of
BIA Commissioner Philleo Nash.)
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is
in the midst of a gigantic school
building program in which it hopes
by 1965 to provide space for every
child that wants an elementary edu
cation.
According to Philleo Nash, com
missioner of the BIA, last week in
Fairbanks, efforts are mainly con
centrated on the Navajo reservation
in Arizona and in Alaska.
“In these two places the cost of
building schools, the problems of
design, construction, operation, and
mpply are so great we have never
vet caught up with our obligation,”
Nash said.
He went on to point out, however,
that this year the bureau is build
ing $50 million in schools, and in
the budget now before Congress
there is a request for $50 million
more for school construction next
year.
“We are going to keep building
at this rate until we fulfill our ob
ligation and Congress has indicated
that it wants to appropriate money
for this purpose.”
“If everything else remains the
same, we will reach this obligation
in 1965."
Commissioner Nash just recently
completed a 10-dav tour of Alaska,
visiting Anchorage. Fairbanks, Bar
row, WainwrigHt. Juneau, Sitka,
and Metlakatla. Because of a delay
in arriving, he had to cancel pro
posed trips to Nome, Buckland, and
Kotzebue.
At Barrow in addition to review
ing the Barrow gas problem at a
community meeting with people
there, he dedicated that commun
ity’s new million-dollar school.
For every two children in federal
schools, there are three children
in public schools, Commissioner
Nash said.
He said the policy of Bureau of
Indian Affairs all along has been
to move ahead as quickly as pos
sible so that children, whether they
be Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut—will
be uniformly educated in exactly
the same manner as all children—
by their living at home and attend
ing a nearby day school, by having
a modern school plant with highly
qualified teachers and supported
by local tax revenues with some aid
from the federal government but
not with a great deal of federal con
trol.
"The federal government remains
in the education business in remote
locations which because of lack of
economic development are not able
to support public school districts or
support costly school operation.”
In the more settled areas, Nash
said the Bureau was turning over
to public school districts the schools
the bureau had built and that these
areas with some assistance were
locally determining school policies
and participating in school affairs.
The bureau is connected with the
education of 720.000 youth, of which
60.000 attend public school and 10,
000 go to mission schools. The re
maining S0.000 attend federal
schools.
“These young people who go to
federal schools don’t come from
English speaking homes. They have
the problem of not only learning
the difficult art of the printed
word but learning it in what is es
sentially a foreign language,” Nash
said.
Not only do the federal schools,
Nash pointed out that there is a
very peculiar kind of school situa
tion—for the mofit part, federal
schools don't have school boards.
He said that instead of school
boards the government through a
branch of his bureau made decisions
about schools—about standards,
textbooks, how much vocational ed
ucation there would be, and so
forth.
“Government is by its very na
ture, authoritarian,” he said, “If
there are dollars to spend, and I 1
can assure you there are many,
many of them.”
“Congress gives money to the Sec
retary of the Interior, he gives some
to me. I give some to Mr. Bennett
and then he gives some to Mr.
Coombs for education in the many
areas of the state.
“It comes from the top down to
the bottom.”
Commissioner Nash pointed out
that this method of operating
schools is contrary to the way pub
lic schools are operated, and the
way public schools developed in
the early history of America. He
said people on the frontier built
schools for their children and taxed
themselves for this purpose.
Another Village
From Interior
Plans to Move
Holikachuk, Alaska
January 17, 1963
Dear Editor:
Recently I read your newly pub
lished paper and I was very pleased
with it. I think your paper is the
thing to unite the Natives of Alaska
closer together.
The council members of this vil
lage, of which I am secretary treas
urer. are finishing up their plans
for our big move that is to start this
coming spring.
We started our plans last winter
but at times we weren’t definite.
Now the move is definitely going to
start this coming spring. We already
have a warehouse for our spring
supplies up at the new site.
We are moving the village from
its present site on the Innoko Riv
er. We feel that we have better op
portunities to improve our standard
of living at the new site.
Our people have again completed
their Indian dance that takes place
about this time every year. We all
had a wonderful time with lots of
laughs. I personally feel that our
native kind of dances are better
than the up-to-date white man’s
dances.
Our dances have a meaning to
them. Whereas the other dances are
just twisting and jumping around
the floor with no pattern to follow
at all.
More and more the people in this
village are taking interest in their
ways of living. They are always
trying to improve their houses.
There are so many things for me
to write about, like dog races, and
other community activities.
Please reply and let me know
immediately if your paper is will
ing to carry the story of our move
and I will then send you a story.
Closing with good regards,
Wilbert Nicholas
/
CHILDREN HAD HALOES
Commissioner Says Arctic Trip
Was Wonderful and Unique
By Howard Rock
Times Editor
“They looked as if they had built
in haloes around their faces.” This
is how BIA Commissioner Philleo
Nash described the children at
Wainwright, Alaska.
The head of the Bureau of In
dian Affairs said he found his get
acquainted trip to northern Alas
ka “one of the most wonderful
and unique” in his entire life. It
was not hard to tell that the chil
dren of Wainwright and Barrow
had touched a soft spot in his heart.
“When we landed at Wainwright
and taxied to a stop, there was a
rather steep bank with a drift on
it. All at once the children with
their parkas appeared over the top
of it. Instead of running down the
incline, they slid down to where
the plane was resting,” Nash said.
Belying his 'strong personality
and rugged features, the Commis
sioner proved to be a man of easy
charm. At the meeting with native
students at the University of Al
aska. he demonstrated this with a
sprinkling of keen sense of humor.
After the informal meeting, the
students gathered around him and
had a lengthy session of uninhibited
conversation.
Upon his return from Barrow and
Wainwirght, the Commissioner was
realistic about his findings in those
communities. On the subject of
economic development, he said:
“Before any small industries in
native communities can be estab
lished villages will have to work
hard to install utilities, water
systems, and disposal systems. With
out these, it will be difficult to es
tablish small industries.”
On high schools: "Two high
schools are on the planning stage
at the present time. If we get the
appropriations, we plan to build
one at Barrow and one at Kotzo
bue. If built, these schools will be
210-student capacity.”
On dropouts in secondary schools:
“This is a serious problem in Alas
ka, especially among native stu
dents. Out of ten students enrolled
in high school six will drop out ac
cording to present statistics.”
Letter to Editor
Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada
January 16. 1963
Dear Editor:
In Vol. 1 No. 3 of the Tundra
Times there is an aiticle by Martha
Teeluk on “Eskimo Halloween." In
it she states that since her child
hood the Eskimos have had their
own version of Halloween call
“Gariitaq.”
She describes how young men
with their faces blackened, wearing
masks and old clothes stuffed to
give a ludicrous appearance, visit
from house to house dancing and
gesticulating but in complete sil
ence.
This is undoubtedly a very old
custom because it is widespread
throughout the Eskimo region.
There is an almost identical cus
tom in Greenland where the dis
guised men are known as “rnitar
tut.”
Two detailed description of "mi*
tartut” have been published lately,
one in Moddelelser on Gronland
Vol. 161. No. 5, and the other in
“Folk,” Vol. 2.
They draw attention to the paral
lels in Alaska and elsewhere among
the Eskimos.
Yours sincerely,
G. W. Rowley
NO SPACE
Due to space limitation many fine
letters and articles were not print
ed in this edition.