Gov. Egan Shocked at Attitude
Of Federal Fish, Wildlife Agent
Governor William A. Egan re
cently said that he was unable to
comprehend the attatude of federal
U.S. Fish and Wildlife subsistence
in the Arctic areas of Alaska.
Egan said he was shocked at the
reported statement of the head of
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
at Fairbanks.
This official was quoted as saying
that the recent decision of a Ca
nadian appelate court which held
that the taking of ducks and geese
by Eskimos and Indians for food
was not a violation of the Migra
Borrow Nos
No Crops,
Needs Ducks
By Guy Okakok
Our sun here in Barrow is on
surface now and will stay up 24
hours daily. Also hundreds and
thousands of ducks are coming
north now.
The ducks have just started com
ing and they will continue flying
north this month and June. Ducks
are increasing, as we have studied
them each year, because we were
brought up here in Barrow. Many of
us have lived here many, many
years and we are sure they are in
creasing.
Some people say that the ducks
are decreasing. They are mistaken.
Just look at them; we were out on
the ice and for two days we saw
hundreds of thousands of them.
Needed
We people here in Barrow need
them. We don’t kill them for sport.
There’s no waste on duck. Every
bit of it is always eaten, all except
the beak and bile they don’t touch.
The people will need the ducks
now because whalers didn’t get
whales this spring.
I want to see that the Eskimos
be not bothered up along this north
while they are hunting. We Eskimos
don’t raise crops like the people who
are living outside of north. The
game of any kind here up north is
our crops. We don’t want to just
watch them go by whenever we
know they are here.
We store every catch we get in
our meat caches. They stay fresh
all the year round.
Meeting Called
One day a notice was hung in the
Barrow' native store while I was out
on the ice. After this notice had
been read they sent w'ord down to
the whalers to come ashore and dis
cuss about it. The notice was about
the ducks.
The word of the person w'as very
strong when he said for us Eskimos
not to shoot ducks. This same per
son has worked for the Arctic Con
tractors. People here know' him very
well. The Eskimos do not forget
easily even if they don’t write.
Whatever they know, they tie them
good in their minds. They do not
forget.
Can’t Stay Hungry
If we do need the food, do we just
look at the ducks go by? The answer
to this is “No.” We don't want our
children to stay hungry when we
could get ducks for them.
The readers of the Tundra Times,
especially those along the coast
where the eider ducks are should
know this: when I was in Washing
ton, D.C. with the officials, they
said that we can shoot them for
food. They said, when we need
them, shoot them, in season or out
of season.
Remember officials said those
things. You Eskimos don’t need to
be afraid to shoot ducks whenever
Vou need them. , .
tory Bird Treaty of 1916, didn’t
mean anything in Alaska so far as
enforcement is concerned and that
he and his agents would arrest any
one they find taking ducks and
geese between now and September.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife rep
resentative, Egan said, was further
I quoted as having said that the Ca
1 nadian court decision is “one man's
j opinion’’ and that the Crown had
appealed the case to a higher tri
bunal.
Flagrant Example
Governor Egan' said it was his
I opinion the statement is a flagrant
example of enforcement officers at
tempting to be judge and jury of
maters which are in the province
of the judicial branch of the Canad
ian Government.
The Governor said the decision
of the Canadian eppelate court is
the law of Oanada and in his
(Egan’s) opinion the decision should
be the law of the United States.
The United States is a signatory '
to the Migratory Bird Treaty of
1916 and it is only reasonable that a
court determination of one nation
involved in such a treaty should
be honored by other treaty nations
as the policy of those nations, he
said.
Egan said the Canadian decision
paralleled his oft-expressed view
that the spirit and interest of the
Migratory Bird Treaty of 1916 did
not contemplate refusal of the Es
kimos and Indians of Arctic areas
to the taking of migratory birds for
subsistence purposes at any time
of the year.
Judicious Approach
“That this was the understand
ing of all nations who were signa
tories to the treaty is obvious,” he
said.
"For almost 46 years, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service permitted
such taking of birds for subsistence
purposes without interference. This
policy proved to be a wise and ju
dicious approach throughout those
long 46 years.
The people living in these diffi
cult to service areas were able to
secure fresh fowl meat for survival
during the months of the year when
it is veritably impossible to obtain
other supplies, at the same time.
Fish and Wildlife study reports are
themselves evidence that such tak
ing for subsistence purposes was
no hindrance to the enlargement
of the flocks of birds of the various
species taken.”
Unknown Reason
Governor Egan continued by say
ing that suddently in 1961 for some
yet unknown reason, Federal agents
pounced on Eskimo and Indian
hunters in the region.
He said that abandonment of the
nearly 46-year-old policy which
I had been based on the spirit and
intent o fthe treaty, and on reason
and human compassion, shocked
him and the vast majority of Alas
ka’s citizens as well as millions of
citizens of the United States.
The Governor said he did not be
lieve it to be the policy of the
United States Government to con
tinue to harrass the Eskimo people
of the Arctic areas in this manner.
Rather, he said, he suspects the
entire problem stems from the fact
that Statehood, and the assumption
of prime responsibility for the man
agement of the fish and game re
sources by the State of Alaska,
caused some U. S. Fish and Wild
life Service agents here to feel that
their jurisdiction in Alaska had
been too seriously curtailed.
Unwarranted Action
Governor Egan said he had stat
ed long ago that the chief result of
the 1961 action by U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service agents relative to
Eskimo and Indian hunting of mi
gratory birds in the Arctic for sub
sistence purposes, would be to raise
a question that shouldn’t exist,
either here or among our friendly
Canadian neighbors.
The Governor urged U. S. Fish
and Wildlife agents in Alaska to
permit the people of the Arctic to
live in subsistence peace and con
tentment and to accept the Canadian
Court decision as being their guide
to right and justice.
Letter to Editor
(Editor’s Note — We were only
too pleased to furnish Miss Katie
Sawyer a number of issues of the
Tundra Times and pictures of na
tives for her school project. Her
pleasure is certainly our pleasure.!
42 Holyoke Street
Easthampton, Massachusetts
May 6, 1963
Dear Editor:
I thank you so much for send
ing me all the wonderful pictures
and newspapers from the “Tundra
Times." The project came out simp
ly wonderful thanks to your help
fulness and generosity. The on
lookers were especially interested
and curious about where the pic
tures came from. I received the
newspapers today and was I ex
cited! Just in time. too. Thanks a
million!
Katie Sawyer
Let no man imagine that he has
no influence. Whoever he may be.
and wherever he may be placed,
the man who thinks becomes a
light and a power.—Henry George
(American social reformer).
Where You'll Always Feel an Easy
Atmosphere of Friendliness
NORDALE HOTEL
Preferred by All Travelers
517 2nd Dial 452-2105
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GREASED POLE EVENT AT M ( HALAWOVYA — At last year’s
Nuchalawoyya celebration in Xanana, one of the most hilarious
events was “walking the greased pole across the creek" in which
many participated. Much splashing and falling into the creek was
the order of the day, very much to the amusement of the specta
tors. This event, along with other interesting events, will be re
peated in this year's Nuchalawoyya at Xanana, June 7-9. The festiv
ities will start with an authentic Indian Potlatch on the evening
of June 7. —Tundra Times Photo
Came Regulations to Affect
Economy of Many Villages
By Robert A. Rausch
Alaska Dept, of Fish and Game
Game regulations approved at
the April meeting of the Alaska
Board of Fish and Game will effect
the economy and welfare of a num
ber of villages.
Whenever possible, the regula
tions reflect the Board's desire to
establish seasons and bag limits
that will insure proper utilization
of the wildlife resource, and at the
same time recognize local problems.
Moose
In Units 21 and 24 (south of Ala
kaket), two moose will be allowed j
per person this fall. These units
include the villages along the Yu- ;
kon from Tanana to Holy Cross and
those villages along the Kovukuk
River from Alakaket to Koyukuk. I
The season will consist of two
parts. One moose may be taken dur
ing each portion. Not more than
one of the moose may be antler
less, however.
Surveys which have been made
continuously since 1954. reveal that
the moose population within these
areas is abundant.
Even the severe winter of 1962,
(Continued on Page 7j
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