Nenana Protests
State Selection
The Village Council of Nenana
last month made a blanket claim of
land around Nenana and filed with
the Bureau of Land Management
here a protest against state selection
in the area.
Daniel Jones, manager of the BLM
land office here, quickly dismissed
the protest. The Village Council of
Nenana and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs recently appealed Jones’ de
cision to Secretary of Interior Udall
in Washington, D.C.
In 1961, the villages of Minto,
Tannacross. and Northway filed
similar protests with the Bureau of
Land Management.
Village Councils
Can Become Game
Advisory Councils
Frank Degnan, of Unalakleet, a
member of the State Fish and Game
Board, has suggested that village
councils can become advisory coun
cils for the state Fish and Game
Board.
Degnan said advisory councils
were needed in the villages to in- I
form the state board on local condi- '
tions and needed changes in the j
State fish and game regulations.
He urged each council to send in |
the names of its members and offi- |
cers and request appointment as a !
“Village Advisory Council.”
Artist Offers
Alaska Natives
Plaque of Ship
Stock Island. Florida
April 22, 1963
Dear Editor:
I am receiving the Tundra Times
and enjoying reading each issue, as
do my friends. And from the ex
pressions I have heard, they seem to
like the exclusive all-Alaska news.
This writer was deeply touched
concerning the editorial on the Cut
ter "Bear," he. having been a mar
iner for the past 65 years and hav
ing known of the "Bear," as well as
the "Thesis," and their crews when
they were making history.
For your information, 1 am not
following the sea commercially any
longer. I slip away for a pleasure
voyage now and then. Next month
(May), I will be on this celestial
globe for 88 years. And not to
waste my time away, I do art work
(something rare for an “Old Salt”),
using colored cement as my method
of making murals or plaques.
It would be a great pleasure to
me to secure a print or photo of
the "Bear." Perhaps you could sug
gest as to where to get one.
I would find great pleasure in ex
ecuting a plaque to present free to
the natives of Alaska.
Thanking you in advance for any
kindness shown, I remain,
Capt. Frank Curry
Alaska Poetry Society
Holds Annual Contest
The Poetry Society of Alaska,'
Inc.. Juneau is putting on a World
Poetry Day Contest, 19G3.
Anyone who has written a poem
is eligible to enter the contest.
There will be three classifications:
narrative, not to exceed 100 lines in
any form, prize award, $25; sonnet,
any of the forms on any serious
subject, prize award, $25; free verse,
or patterned after free verse, 30 j
lines.or less, prize award, $25.
All entries, which must be mail- ]
ed to the Contest Committee, shall
be postmarked no later than August
15, 1963. Entries must not have
been previously published or ac
cepted for publication.
The Society will select qualified
Judges for the judging of the en
tries. Winners will be announced
on World Poetry Day. October 15,
1963. $25 will be awarded the win
ners in each of the categgories.
Here are the rules of the poetry
contest: send an original and three
copies to the Contest Committee,
Poetry Society of Alaska, Inc., Box
1106. Juneau. Alaska. Only one poem
may be submitted in each category
(One narrative, one sonnet, one
free verse — not more than three
in all). Do not write your name on
the poem entered. Instead, on a
separate slip of paper, write your
name, title, and first line of your
entry. Seal it in an envelope label
ed only with the title and first line
of your poem. Keep a copy of your
poem at home. We cannot return
the entries!
Author of any winning poem in
the contest agrees to allow the So
ciety to publish said poem in its
journals and to have it broadcast
and published by various Alaskan
news media. Non-winning poems
may be chosen for radio, television
or other uses which will not pre
vent their being submitted to pub
lications or future contests.
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in this blank:
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To vakanok (Pals)
Tragic Plan of Eskimo Partners
To Have One Wife Between Them
By Joe Carter
Noorylk Alaska
Once upon a time there were two
boys, Mektoyok and Panutak, who
grew up together in the village of
Wales on Cape Prince of Wales. The
Eskimo name of the village was
Keegnigin. The two boys played to
gether and never got far apart.
They called each other Tovaka
nok, just the same as one would call
his best friend, partner.
On day, Mektoyok told his part
ner, “When we grow up to be men,
we should get one woman for our
wife. Panutak agreed. They prom
ised one another they would stay
in the same igloo. Yes, they would
build an igloo for themselves when
they became men and have one
wife. “Otherwise,” they said to one
another, "if we take each a wife,
we might get separated.”
When they grew up, they built
their igloo and stayed together for
a long time.
One Wife
One evening, Mektoyok. went out
and stayed until very late. Finally,
he came in and brought a woman
with him. Panutak had never seen
the woman before. She was not from
their village of Keegnigin.
Panutak said, “Well partner, you
finally got us a wife. She is a nice
looking lady. Now partner, is this
lady going to be wife to both of
us?”
Mektoyok was quiet for a long
while. He was thinking. Finally he
said to Panutak, “Well partner, I
think this lady is for me alone.”
“Well, what's wrong?” asked
Panutak. “You always told me, that
when we grew up we’d have one
wife, one who would stay quiet
about it. We can stay together now
that you have found us a wife. How
come you want this woman all to
yourself?”
Changed Mind
Mektoyok said. “I’ve changed my
mind. I’ll have this woman all to
myself.
“Well partner, where did you get
this woman? Can you show me
where you got her.” asked Panutak.
“Why sure. I'll show you where
T got this lady. When you go out of
our igloo, you walk right straight
ahead until you find an old Eskimo
drum that is broken on one side.
You look through the broken Side
and you will see ladies picking ber
ries. If you see one right under you,
try and see if you can make her
look up at you. If she looks up at
you. tell her you want her to come
up. but be sure you don’t go down,
even if she tells you to come down!”
Wife Search
“O.K.,” said Panutak and went
out. He went straight ahead until
he found the old Eskimo drum j
broken on one side. It was just
FOR SALE OR LEASE
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Box 1287, Fairbanks
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Out-of-town orders solicited
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like his partner had told him.
He looked down through the
broken side and saw ladies picking
berries. There was one lady right
below him. He made a noise to see
if he could make the lady look up.
To his surprise, the lady looked up
and saw him. The young man took a
good look at the woman. She was
very beautiful.
“I’m looking for a lady to be my
wife. If you agreed to be my wife,
you will have a nice home and you
will have everything you want,”
Panutak said.
But the lady said, “You come
down here, instead of me coming
up there to you. I'm an only child
in the family and my parents will
be glad to have you. I have never
belonged to any man. I will take
you home to my parents.”
So Panutak went down and went
with the lady.
At home, Mektoyok waited and
waited but his partner did not re
turn. He went out and looked for
the broken drum. The drum had dis
appeared. He went all through the
village looking for Panutak but he
was nowhere to be found.
Partner Killed
Some people in the village had
heard that a berry picker had
brought home a young man in a
far-off village. Since the young man
was a total stranger the men of that
village killed him.
All that winter Mektoyok stayed
in Keegnigin. One day a stranger
come from the village of Shish
maref. Metoyok sent his wife to ask
the stranger to come to their igloo
to eat.
After the meal. Mektoyok asked
the man if he had heard anything
from a different village about Pan
utak. The man told him they had
heard from Keekeetaroak (Kotze
bue) that fall that a woman berry
picker had brought home a young
man. When Keekeetaroak people
found out about the young man. they
killed him.
Mystery Solved
When Mektoyok heard this, he
was sure that the slain young man
was his friend, Panutak. He thanked
the man from Shismaref for the
news.
Later, Mektoyok hitched up his
dogs and left for Keekeetaroak.
When he got there, it was night.
He quietly went to the back of the
village to look over the bodies that
had died that fall. (In the old days
they wrapped dead bodies with
skins.)
He went from one dead person
to another until he finally found
the body of his friend. He wrapped
Paniftak neatly and gently and
wept over him as he left the grave
yard. i
Revenge
As he walked along grieving the
loss of his friend, Mektoyck because
angry and revengeful. That night
when the people were asleep, Mek
toyok entered an igloo and slew
everyone in the household. He went
into another and did the same thing
but one person got away to the next
igloo and warned the people there.
Fearing that his identity might
be found out, Metoyok fled in the
night and returned to Keeknigin.
Keekeetareak people never knew
who the murderer was until a long
I time later when Mektoyok died.
1 His wife went to Keekeetaroak and
I told who he was.
Tyonek Wins Important Decision;
Will Get Money From Oil Leasing
J u
The Indian village of Tyonek.;
about 40 miles form Anchorage, on
April 23 won an important decision
in its legal battle for revenues from
oil leasing on the Moquawkie Res
ervation.
The U.S. Interior Department and
the Bureau of Indian Affairs have
switched their positions and instead
of holding moneys from oil leasing
in escrow, both have agreed that
proceeds of the Tyonek sale will ac
cure to the benefit of the natives.
Specific details of just how the
proceeds will be used have not
been released but rumors here are
that the moneys can be used for
economic development of the na
tives.
A decision by the BIA and the
Interior Department in Washington.
D.C. to call off a proposed sale of
leases on 32 tracks of the reserve
averted two federal court cases
scheduled to be heard two days
afterward in Anchorage.
One case was by an Anchorage
woman, Mrs. Louise A. Pease, who
sought a preliminary injunction to
keep the Department from going
ahead with the lease sale. Mrs.
Pease claimed that the area offered
for leasing is the same as that cov
ered by 14 lease applications she
filed on May 21, 1962.
A second case was by four major
oil companies—Skelly Oil Co., Sin
clair Oil Co., Pan American Petrol
eum Corp., and Phillips Petroleum
Co.
The oil companies sought an in
junction to prevent the BIA from
opening bids in an oil lease sale re
ceived on April 3. The companies,
who had submitted bids for the
tracks, said they would be “irre
parably damaged" if the bids were
opened as the scope, extent and
value of the lands to be leased
would be divulged to the world.
Attorney Paul Robinson, rep
resenting the oil companies, said it
was obvious to the world that Ty
onek was a “very valuable area.”
He told Judge Hodge that each of
six oil companies had spent some
$230,000 to prepare for the Tyonek
lease sale.
Oil men have stated they believe
the reservation covers the top of a
subsurface structure that shows
promise of being an oil reservoir.
The oil companies sought the in
junction because of a previous rul
ing by the federal judge in favor of
Tyonek that the bids could be op
ened but forbidding the issuance of
leases.
Tyonek had filed a court case ob
jecting to the BIA offering the
leases with the funds to be held in
escrow.
Because of the switch in position
of the Interior Department, all bids
received on April 3 have been re
turned and a new lease sale under
a different procedure will be held
in the near future.
The Interior Department reinter
preted a 1927 act (44 Stat. 1347, 25
U.S.C. 398(a) and its accompanying
letter to allow leasing on unallotted
lands within the limits of any reser
vation or withdrawal created by
executive order for Indian purposes
or for the use of occupancy of In
dians.
Since the April 3 sale was can
celed, Judge Walter Hodge on
April 24 dismissed the court cases
filed by the Anchorage woman, Mrs.
Pease, and the case filed by the oil
companies. _J