.- Cuirtira Ctnus ,Kc
Indian I----- | O
Dena Nena Henash The Land Speaks ii . , ... ...
^ /} /I if* ,'rffetoafr. i—- Ut kah neek Informing and Reporting
Unungang Toonooktakuks The Aleuts Speak ‘vm*** ** ** ix&jh9* ^mr
Vol. 1, No. 18__ Monday, June 17, 1963 Fairbanks, Alaska
Dog Sled Era of Carrying U. S. Mail Ends Amid Surprises
By Thomas A. Snapp
, Times Staff Writer
The dramatic era of carrying the
U.S. mail by dog team had a host
of surprise endings here Friday.
For six years, Chester Noong
wook, the country’s last dog sled
mail carrier, never once let bad
weather stop him from delivering
the mails.
But Friday, the modern airplane
plagued by bad weather caused the
29-year-old Eskimo from Alaska’s
St. Lawrence Island, to be'tardy for
what may be the most important
occasion of his life, receiving a
special award from the post office
department upon his retirement.
Noongwook, who made weekly
100-mile runs sometimes in blinding
snowstorms where visibility was
about 10 feet and temperatures
ranged to 40 below, was four hours
late for a special ceremony here
when fog prevented his plane from
departing Nome.
But the lateness of the plane was
only one of Noongwook's surprises.
He was surprised at being at Fair
banks at all.
Complete Surprise
At his remote village of Savoonga
Wednesday, Noongwook was told
simply to report to Northeast Cape.
There he was told he should fly
to Fairbanks. He didn't know why
—he just came.
Then when he stepped off a Wien
F-27 at 6 p.m. in Fairbanks, there
stood William J. Hartigan, assistant
postmaster general in charge of
transportation, and other postal
officials. Under Hartigan’s arm, he
had a large framed certificate which
he presented to the retiring Eskimo
mail man. Movie camera began to
roll and flashbulbs began to click
Reporters asked questions.
"I am really surprised,” said
Noongwook. ”My wife doesn't even
know I am here.”
Also on hand to make the occas
ion appropriate but which added to
Noongvvook’s amazement was a
team of huskies and a dog sled sim
ilar to the team he regularly used
for years to haul the mail.
After the presentation of the
special award, the first of its kind
for outstanding service as the last
dog sled mail carrier, Noongwook
was dinner guest of post office and
high government officials.
Noongwook began carrying the
mail between Savoonga and Gam
bell in 1957. He took over the run
when Arthur Gologergen was forced
to stop because of tuberculosis.
Mail by Team, Boat
Between June and October,
Noongwook with the assistance of
i his brother, Edwin, carried the
| mails by skin boat and motor speed
boat. Between November and June,
they carried the mail by dog team.
They could carry up to 300 lbs.
by dog team, 1.000 pounds by skin
boat, and 400 pounds by speed boat.
But there were periods during the
spring and fall thaws when there
was not enough snow for mushing
and the sea was too rough for boats.
Sometimes Savoonga had to go as
much as a month without mail.
But according to the 29-year-old
Eskimo the weather never got too
cold for a trip with the mails
The post office paid $50 for each
(Continued on Page 7)
Bennett Cites
Education as
Key to Future
Governor Wililam A. Egan last
week transmitted to Secretary of
Interior Stewart L. Udall an over
all education plan for the state of
Alaska.
The general long range plan for
the eventual take over and opera
tion of all schools in Alaska by the
state was drafted by a special gov
ernor's advisory committee that
have been meeting and working on
the report for about a year.
The special committee to draft
the plan for education in the future
was appointed shortly after a con
troversy over the proposed voca
tional school at Nome.
Voters passed a state bond issue
to construct a vocational school at
Nome. Later many legislators made
public statements that they were
counting on assistance from the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and a
(Continued on Page 6)
Governor Sends
Secretary lldall
Education Plan
Robert L. Bennett, area director
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
stressed education as the key to the
eventual, long range solving of
Alaska native problems at the re
cent Tanana Indian Conference.
“The hunting and fishing econ
omy is at a point of no return.”
Bennett said. ,
“There is only one way you can
meet the changes which are affect
ing you people—through education.”
He stressed that more and more
native people would have to have
cash to obtain the things they
wanted for their families. He point
ed out that game was being de
pleted and get scarcer with the
population increase.
The only way that the native
people are going to meet the prob
lems they face in the future is to
urge and insist that their children
(Continued on Page 6)
THE DANCE OF TIIE ATHABASCANS—A group of Indian dancers, including children, are shown per
forming at the celebration of the Nuchalawoyya, an ancient festival, that took place at Tunana, the
town “between the rivers,’’ at the confluence of the Tanana and Yukon Rivers. The colorful celebration
lasted for three days, June 7-9. —Tundra Times Photo I
Efforts Confused
Bartlett Hits R dicta Control
“Our present efforts in the field
of radiation measurement and con
trol are inadequate and they are
confused,” Senator Bartlett stated
last week in appearing before the
Joint Atomic Energy Committee
which held hearings on fallout and
the federal government's policy re
garding countermeasures.
He said he could sympathize and
understand “the paralysis that has
seized policy-making in this field”
but that he could not condone it.
“On the coming year levels of
fallout are expected to increase
fourfold,” Senator Bartlett declar
ed. “In the years ahead, no one
can say that these levels will drop;
many would bet they will continue
to increase. If we continue to drift,
as a nation, putting off decisions as
to the amounts of poisonous radio
contaminants we will allow our
selves to absorb, thereby postpon
ing the implementation of protec
tive countermeasures in the isolat
ed cases where they are needed, we
may find one of these years that it j
is too late. Let us not dwell on the
dimensions ef such a discovery. Our j
present efforts in the field of ra
diation measurement and control
are inadequate and they are con
fused. The United States govern- j
ment is not doing what it could or
should do in this field.”
Representative Melvin Price of
Illinois, chairman of the Sub-com
mittee on Research, Development,
and Radiation of the Joint Commit
tee on Atomic Energy, expressed
concern after the hearings were
concluded. “Unless the Federal Ra
diation Council acts with dispatch,''
he declared, “a Pandora's box of
ill-timed, ill-advised, and unco
ordinated action may be opened.
Moreover, responsible government
officials will have abdicated their
solemn responsibility for dealing
with this problem. Such an intol
lerable situation must not be per
mitted to develop.”
Senator Bartlett, who was the
only member of Congress to testify,
has for past weeks been under
scoring in Senate speeches his con
cern on the indecisions of federal
officials as to when and whether
to apply protective measures if fall
out continues to increase, as he
feels it surely will.
Inupiat Paitot,
Dena Nena Henasli,
AM> to Affiliate
By Thomas Snapp
Times Staff Writer
Steps to unite three large Eskimo
and Indian organizations in Alaska
was one of the chief highlights of
last week's Tananu Indian Confer
ence.
Upon an appeal by Steven V.
Hotch, first vice president of the
Alaska Native Brotherhood, the
Dena Nona Henash officially agreed
to affiliate with the Alaska Native
Brotherhood. Southeastern Alaska
organization, and the Inupiat Pai
tot. Eskimo organization.
The provision to affiliate was
written into the constitution and
bylaws of the Interior Indian or
ganization. Dena Nena Henash. and
will become effective upon ratifica
tion of the two other groups.
But both Hotch. of the ANB who
made the proposal, and Howard
Rock, executive secretary of the In
upiat Paitot. both special guests at
the conference, expressed confi
dence that the affiliation would
meet with the approval of their or
ganizations.
The proposal for unity was uso
spoken of in high regard by Wil
liam Paul, grand president emeri
tus of the ANB and one of its
founders, and Alfred Ketzler. chair
man of the Dena Nena Henash
In a special interview with Tun
dra Times, Hotch expained that in
1912 when his organization was
formed, the name "Alaska Native
Brotherhood" was suggested by the
late Peter Simpson, of Sitka, who
• Continued on Page 7)
NOTICE
During the month of July in
order that the issues will be
more properly spaced, the Tun
dra Times will be published on
the first and fourth Mondays,
July 1 and 22 respectively, in
stead of the usual first and third
Mondays. During August, the
Tundra Times will return to its
regular schedule.
J
______________