NORTHERN LIGHT
1*ib'ished mo.ithly by the Unalakleet
Eskimo School •
Unalakleet_Alaska
lv E Van Ness.Editor
One Dollar per year
EDITORIAL AND COMMENT
TOO MANY DOGS
Too many natives own too many
dogs. This is one of the reasons why
some natives have such a hard time
making a living for themslves. In
Alaska at the present time a i>ig team
of dogs owned by a native tends to
m ike them feel a good deal like the
fellow in tl e st tes that owns a
cracker-jack automobile. Of course
the fellow in the states may not have
the machine all paid for, but its the
fad to have o e and have it they must.
So here in this land there are natives
who go tearing thru town—but just
now the dogs are not in the teari g
mood The grub pile is all but used up
and so the dogs in some instances
have to live on snow balls and the
memory of some past good meal.
Now the above is not all wind but
it is a text that we are expecting to
elucidate some what i:i the following.
It is a fact that there are some nat
ives living in this town who are dog
poor, and so are the dogs Last sum
mer and fall the wife sat on the damp
sloppy bank of the slough and cut and
cleaned hundreds of fish every day.
All a’>o it her the little totts played in
the cold and mud and water. Buckets
and boilers and tubs of fish were car
ried by the women folks and strung
along on poles to dry; dozens of fires
were built beneath to dry the fish and
fit the n fo.' the dogs. Much of this
wood was secured by women folks.
Of course the men worked too-sein
ing for the fish.
nvery one in the family worked.
Winter came on in the course of time
as it always does in this country.Out
side, tied to a row of stakes, were the
howling dogs. Howling and waiting
and fighting for the fish thrown to
them every day.
Day utter day, week after week,
mouth after mo.th the bundles of
fish were s'.o vly b it surely going
dog-ward. Light ho.vling dogs eat
i igand growiiugand growing thinner
a id thinner until two standing side
by side make but one shadow.
Grub in the ho ise is actually get
ting s:arce. Little chaps that really
need milk and bread. But there is no
way of getting it unless some of the
fish are sold and that can not be al
lowed for the dogs must be fed. As
a last resort the owner of the team
goes to the store and puts up a piti
ful story and the kind hearted store
keeper carries the family thru, while
the dogs continue to howl—but not
very loud for they are too thin. You
asi; why do they keep theni?To tell
the truth we can not say.The natives
siy they m ist have them to haul
the wood and i e during the winter.
We are told that it costs alxmt four
dollars a month to keep a dog in good
shape during the winter mouths
(some six months at the least) At
this figure eight dogs would cost $32.
per month and six times thirty two
equals $192.00. The other six
months they might be maintained at
about a dollar a month apiece. This
would add $48.00 more to the cost
which would make a grand total of
$240.00. They have to be cared fo?