Kwakiutl Sword of Whale Bone
Aided Warrior to Kill Monster
By GEORGE JENNINGS GAEE
While visiting New York City
Som6 years back, I came upon an
Indian whale bone sword with a
history and legend. This sword was,
In no way, in the form of a club,
for a husky man could sever another
man’s neck at a single stroke.
The sword (Kwakiutl) was made
from a single piece of whale bone.
Proof of Asian
Travelers Found
A Canadian scientist, Dr. L. A.
Bayrock, glacial geologist with the
Alberta Research Council, reports
the finding of an artifact that es
tablishes first proof of man coming
to Canada from Asia during the Ice
Age, about 20,000 years ago.
Dr. Bayrock says he now has
proof that much of Alberta, Sas
katchewan and the Northwest Ter
ritories were not covered with ice
at the time most of North America
was under the spell of giant gla
ciers.
He says the artifact shows that
man and animals migrated east
ward from Asia during this era,
into Canada via the ice free corri
dors.
Similar theories on the lack of
Ice have been set forth for Interior
Alaska, which presumably was the
first area the migrating men occu
pied before pushing east into Can
ada.
Anyone could see it at Heye Foun
dation in New York.
In the legend, an Indian named
Quekagila of the Nashwitti tribe,
while going down to his canoe, met
a double-headed sea monster which
he could neither pass nor go around.
He sat down to think it over and
then noticed movements in the
water.
Suddenly, a totem pole came out
of the ocean and a voice said that
Quekagila would be a great chief
if he took the totem pole. But the
Indian did not answer and the to
tem pole disappeared into the water.
Next came a canoe with two men
in it and the voice of the sea said
that the Indian would be a great
whaler if he took the canoe. Again
he did not answer and the canoe
went down into the deep.
And then there arose a little man
with a stone and a chisel. The little
man told him he would be a great
canoe maker if he took the tools,
but the shy Indian could not speak.
The little man was also swallowed
up by the sea.
At last, a hand and arm appeared
with a bolo-like bone sword and the
sea voice told Quekagila that it
was his last chance.
The voice said, “If you take this
sword, you would be the bravest
and most feared warrior along the
ocean. The Indian quickly grabbed
the sword.
Because of this action, and the
more efficient sword, the Nashwitti
tribesmen became head hunters.
VOTE FOR
[X] BARRY W. JACKSON
for Chairman
The candidate with a program. You may not
agree with all of it BUT you DO know his stand.
COMMITTED
to oppose inclusion of Indian villages (i.e. Tanacross,
Tetlin) in the Fairbanks area borough,
to hire and promote borough employees on the basis of
merit and fitness and without discrimination, as
required by the borough law.
to support better vocational education in Fairbanks area
schools, both through our school board and through
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
For other planks see Jessen’s and the Daily News-Miner.
Vote As You Will on Chairman or Manager
BUT
VOTE FOR JACKSON
for Chairman
I For Ms stand on any question related to the Borough,
Call 452-2909—Evenings 456-4541
-— -. — ____—-or . w
Gruening, Aide, Cull Conservation
Leaders 'Fanatics' — Plug Rampart
tty Thomas Suapp
Times Staff Writer
Senator Ernest Gruening and his
administrative assistant. George
Sundborg, have pinpointed conser
vationists both in and out of the
U.S. Interior Department as the i
chief opponents to the proposed
Rampart Dam and waged an all
out attack against them.
Gruening branded as a“fanatic”
Ira N. Gabrielson, one of the most
reputable conservationists in the
country and former director of the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Sundborg described Secretary of
the Interior Stewart Udall as a man
too busy climbing Mt. Kilamajaro
in Africa to attend a meeting in I
Alaska regarding the proposed hy- j
dro project.
The all-out attack on conserva
tionists was initiated at a meeting
j at Mt. McKinley Park Hotel on
! September 7 attended by 103 influ
j ential Alaska citizens. The purpose
i of the meeting was to form a state
wide organization to push for the
construction of Rampart Dam “at
the earliest possible moment" and,
if possible, get the project included
for Congressional consideration in
next year’s omnibus bill.
Gruening and Sundborg said con
servationists both in Alaska and
in the lower states have already
started an extensive, effective cam
paign to defeat Rampart and in no
uncertain terms, conservationists
were held up as the principal ob
stacle in getting the gigantic pro
ject authorized by Congress.
Bear Clobbers
Moose First
The bears of Alaska have really
been on the prowl this summer,
and a recent incident near the Dena
li Highway certainly served to show
how much respect hunters have
gained for Mr. Bruin.
Seems two men spotted a nice
bull moose, and began a long, ar
duous stalk to get within shooting
distance.
Just as the gunner sighted in on
the moose, and got ready to squeeze
the trigger — a big grizzly bear
jumped from the brush, and with
one mighty swing, broke the bull's
neck. He then began to devour the
animal.
Without even thinking of shoot
ing the bear instead, the gunner
turned to his partner and said,
“C'rnon, let’s get out of here be
fore he decides we're dessert.”
19 Entries in Times
NativeTalentSearch j
1
Nineteen entries, all from the Es
kimo village of Point Hope, have
arrived at the Tundra Times for
this paper's “Search for Native
Talent” are contest.
More than $100 in prize money
is being offered in the contest.
Deadline for entries has been ex
tended to Oct. 20.
The entries that have arrived so
far are all pen or pencil drawings,
depicting typical coastal Eskimo
activities. Morris Oviuk, 14, has
sent six of his drawings.
Other artists that have entered
are: Theodore Frankson, 30, with
three entries: Joseph Towksjhea,
29, four entries: Evaline Tooyak, 11.
one entry: Andrew N. Tooyak, 36,
one entry; Kenneth Lisbourne, 12,
I two entries and Ira Frankson, 14,
two entries.
More entries are expected in the
contest. Winning entries will be
reproduced as Christmas cards from
Alaska. See the ad in this paper for
contest rules.
Opposition Named
National conservation groups sin
gled out by Sundborg included:
Wildlife Management Institute, Na
tional Wildlife Federation, the Izaak
Walton League, Ducks Unlimited
and the Outdoors Writers Associa
tion. The Alaska Conservation So
ciety also drew fire.
“Do we—please excuse the meta
phor—have all our ducks in a row?
Is everything copasetic? Far from
it," Sundborg said.
Red Hot Mimeograph
“Rampart has its enemies, wait
ing with a loaded shotgun and a
red hot mimeograph machine."
He charged Gabrielson. as a di
rector of the U S. Fish and Wildlife
Service from 1941 to 1946. presided
over the destruction of Alaska’s
great salmon runs. He said the Wild
life Management Institute, of which
Gabrielson is president, tried to
block the opening of the Kenai Na
tional Moose Range to oil and gas
leasing. He said time had shown
the institute’s objects were com
pletely without foundation and if
they had been taken serious would
have prevented Alaska from receiv
ing more than $50 million dollars
in royalties.
Gabrielson was the first Director
of the Fish and Wildlife Service
after it was organized in 1940 by
the amalgamation of the old Bio
logical Survey of the Department of
Agriculture and the Bureau of Fish
eries of the Department of Com
merce. As the Fish and Wildlife
Service, it was moved to the De
partment of the Interior.
Omening quoted Gabrielson as
saying that Rampart Dam dwarfed
“all previous projects in unpre
cedented magnitude of fish and
wildlife habitat that would be de
stroyed.” that the proposed dam
would “block sizable upstream mi
grations of salmon in the Yukon,”
and that “Rampart Dam is synony
mous with resource destruction.”
Words of Fanatic
“These are not the words of a |
scientist . . . these are words of a |
fanatic!" Gruening said. "And a i
fanatic with a special interest!”
Both Gruening and Sundborg j
charged the conservationist socie
ties were “substantially financed
by the gunmakers.”
Not Minding Business
“We even have the California Fish 1
and Game Commission—not mind
ing its business—but adopting a \
resolution that it is unalterably op- j
posed to the construction of Ram- j
part,” Gruening said.
“Other fish and game commissions
are being infiltrated by some of j
these fanatics and we have got some |
of them right here at the Univer- j
sity! We have some of them in the \
Department of Fish and Game. We !
have a lot of them in the Fish and
Wildlife Service and they are right
in the Department of the Interior!"
Gruening charged.
, “We really have to fight to get the
true facts before the people of the
United States before their minds
are closed, before they arrive at the
conviction that this is going to be
destructive.”
Each Other 9 Cues
Gruening described the conser
vation groups as a very effective
lobby who “take their cues from
each other.” He said they sell mem
berships for the very nominal sum
of a dollar a year and that they
have thousands and tens of thous
ands of members who get their bul
letins filled with reckless, unjusti
] fied, and extreme statements. He
said their members were requested
i to wire and write their congress
men—that already the conservation
ists had influenced senators and
representatives in Congress.
Bald Eagle Protected
Gruening, painting out he took
action as governor to stop the
slaughter of the bald eagle in Alas
ka. said he considered himself a
“firm conservationist” but said
there “had to be some relationship
between concern for animal life and
human life.”
He said the conservationists are
‘more concerned with a nesting
duck, a fish or a flower than they
are the economic welfare of millions
of people.”
Governor William A. Egan out
lined in detail the need for Ram
part Dam in developing the state's
economy. Many protests, he said,
had come to his attention primarily
; from those interested in conserva
tion of land, fish, and wildlife.
F.gan Insulted
“After fighting for so many years
: to secure means whereby we could
j protect and conserve the fish and
wildlife resources of the State, I am
j sure that many of us feel just a bit
insulted that some would consider
i us exploiters for favoring the early
j construction of Rampart Dam," ha
said.
Interior Department Hit
Sundborg attacked the Depart
I ment of the Interior, saying many of
I its “employees are enrolled, prac.
| tically full-time, in trying to cut
Rampart off at the pass." He said a
j Fish and Wildlife Service official
; at Juneau, without waiting for the
j evidence to come in, was making
speeches to civic groups against
Rampart.
Park Secretary
| “To be realistic, however, what
j can we expect from a department
whose Secretary seems to conceive
' of his mission as dealing primarily,
I if not exclusively, with parks and
j recreation?” Sunclborg asked.
j “If Mr. Udall thought otherwise
I he. or at least a princinal associate
from Washington, would be here at
this important meeting instead of
mountaineering on Ml. Kilnmaniaro
in Africa where Secretary Udall
is today.”
Everything But Blast
I might say that Senator Omen
ing did everything but blast that a
high official of the Interior Depart
ment would be here at this meet
ing. We got some promises they
would he here but they haven't
arrived.”
Representative Ralph Rivers said
that it appeared from what hr had
heard at the meeting that the Bu
reau of Reclamation and the Bureau
of Fisheries in the Interior Depart
ment were “dragging their feet” in
regard to Rampart studies.
Punches Coming
Fivers said he felt the time had
come to go in and have a “heart to
heart talk with Udall.” that he
thought Udall had some punches
coming, and that the Alaska con
gressional delegation “were ade
quate to administer those punches.”
Personally. Rivers stressed, he fa
vored a different approach than
public attack. He said he would try
to persuade him in a “smooth and
kind tone of voice.”
Sugar Catches Flies
“I think we can catch more flies
with sugar than we can with vine
gar.” he said.
Fivers pointed out that prior to
being appointed Secretary of Inter
ior. Udall was a fellow committee
member in Congress and that he
and Udall had a good relationship.
Bargain Support
He pointed out he was cooperat
ing with Udall in getting appropri
ations for a program to provide
recreational opportunities for 300
million people, the projected U.S.
I population at the turn of the cen
1 tury.
j He intimated he could bargain his
} support for Udall's program fop
i Udall's support of Rampart Dam. ^