v BOURKFS FINE
COLLECTION OF
NATIVE MASKS
Masks in the possession of Joseph
Bourke of Valdez, who is now in Cor
dova as a special representative of
the government for the suppression of
the sale of liquor to natives, carved
from single pieces of wood, brightly
colored, with long wooden tendrils
protruding froflf'the top of the head
like a devil fish’s arms, recall to those
familiar with the natives of Alaska
their ages-old shamanism.
Shamanism, or superstition and sor
cery, always has played an important
part in the life of the Alaska native.
So implicitly did the Alaska natives
of not many years ago believe in the
words and actions of the shaman that
a whole tribe would go hungry rather
✓ than incur his displeasure by eating
l foods which he had tabooed.
The shaman attained his position
and power by unusual methods. By
fasting and prayer amid the solitudes
of the woods and mountains, where
he fed only upon grasses and roots,
he prepared himself to become a sha
man. By this method, it was con
ceded, the candidate’s body became
sufficiently purified to become the
abiding place of the spirits, and all
successful shamans had to have nu
merous spirits at their immediate
command. Usually the spirit willing
to abide with the shaman sent the no
vitiate a land otter, which the can
didate killed. The otter’s tongue he
preserved as a talisman away from
all human view, for should the talis
man ever be seen it was believed the
shaman would go insane or be turned
into the animal from which the tongue
was taken. The skin of the otter was
kept by the shaman as a sign of his
profession.
Thus it came about that the land
otter was regarded as too sacred an
^ animal to be killed by other than the
shamans, and neither Aleutian natives
nor those of the mainland would kill
the otter until long after the coming
of the Russians.
Sometimes it happened that the fast
ing and prayer in solitude did not bring
to the would-be shaman the spirits
craved. In this emergency he betook
himself, still fasting, to the grave of
some deceased shaman and passed a
night with the corpse, taking one of
the teeth of the cadaver in his mouth.
Upon the shaman’s return to his tribe
his skill was then tested by a shaman
of known powers.
For each spirit which the shaman
could produce he had a separate
wooden mask, with features as horri
ble as the tastes of the carver could
devise.
The shaman had many duties to per
form. He Avas supposed to heal the
sick, to cast out the devils from the
frail bodies of his subjects, to foretell
the future, and with the aid of his
spirits to enable one to avoid misfor
tune and disaster. The tricks of his
trade, paraphernalia and charms gen
erally descended from father to son.
The shaman’s hair Avas never cut, for
to lose his locks would be to lose his
poAvers. When he died he Avas not
cremated. After his death his body
Avas alloAved to remain in the spot
where death came for twenty-four
hours, so that the Avandering spirit
might find its tenement of clay should
it so desire. When two suns had
Avaned the body Avas removed to an
other corner of the house, this pro
cedure continuing until the body had
rested in every corner. Meamvhile
the inmates of the house fasted.
At last, dressed in full regalia, the
li.' ...r===r~:.
body was lashed to a board. One of
the two bone sticks used by every
well-accoutred shaman was placed
through the hair and the other through
the orifice cut in the nose. The head
was covered with a basket woven of
small twigs and grass, and at night
the body was carried secretly to some
remote cavern or crevice. Thereafter
the members of the tribe never entered
this burial place, for it was supposed
to be filled with evil spirits.
Mr. Bourke’s collection of native
masks, weapons and utensils is said to
be one of the finest in Alaska.
NEW POSTMASTERS ARE
APPOINTED FOR ALASKA
l^ew postmasters appointed for
Alaska were announced by the post
office department recently, and are as
follows:
John H. Henson, for Douglas; Anna
M. Stevenson, Thane, and Alice M.
Coughlin, for Treadwell.
At the suggestion of Delegate Grigs
by, the postoffice department is con
sidering the proposition to raise a
number of Alaska postoffices from the
fourth to the third class.
Job printing at Daily Times office.
* ♦ • • • .««•*« .v.v.vtv«t#v.v.v4v.v4%v«v**v.v.v.'«' v.v.v.v.y/
*: SEE OUR LARGE ASSORTMENT S
X* *x
Traveling Bags
I AND 1
I Suit Cases I
•X X*
y. - — . .. ._. x*
£: i$
.y *4%
! :*:* This luggage, just received, is of better quality and has
1:::: +
*:•: greater value than any we have seen :>:
£ £
.V -
;X X;
| MODERATELY PRICED
»*«* *»*.
i| Suit Cases, $6.00 to $40.00 |
Traveling Bags, $12.00 to $17.50
&
&: _ :£
I WILL CLAYSON I
vX*X*/X#X#X*X*X*X*X#X*X‘X*X*H*X*X*X\\*XvXvX\vX,XvXvX\vXvX\vXvX\vX*XvX\vX#v*v*v*v*v*,*v.v.v
......... •. .v.v.v.v.v.v.,.v.v.v.,.v.v.v.*.v.v.v.,.v.v.,.v,v,.,v,vX*X.Xv' ♦ •
TIMES ADS FOR SURE RESULTS"
j Step
1?N the years you have
J | been in Alaska how
many times you have
\Jf\ 1 1® seen some cheechako step
j VJ vtJS. in and take advantage of
an opportunity from right
under your nose. Then
_ you cussed your hard
luck.
Can’t you see the opportunity to get in
on the ground floor on Cordova real estate?
Others are seeing it and
If you don’t you will bemoan your
hard luck again when the Katalla
Branch and the opening of the Bering
River coal cause the next
✓
healthy and permanent
advance in Cordova /&
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• The loss of a job has few terrors for the man who
*■ : j ©
« ! spends just a little less than he earns and puts that
© | i •
• little into an interest-bearing savings account
e i
! I And it only takes a little. Those nickles, dimes and
j § f ii*. I
1 quarters that daily slip through your fingers will,
I * i
j \ | if saved, soon provide an emergency fund that will
• j take good care of you in time of want
© | !
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i S Every person should have such a fund. Every sen
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I I sible person DOES have one I i
ill il|
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Ii FIRST BANK OF CORDOVA II
2 j GOVERNMENT INSPECTED TERRITORIAL DEPOSITARY i 2
2 i ESTABLISHED 1909 2
| --| |
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.....«•....
CORDOVA MACHINE
WORKS
.
E. R. GARNES, Prop.
Residence Phone 101-3
Shop Phone 182
Machine Work of all Kinds, j
Blacksmithing, General Repair
ing, Horse Shoeing, Oxy-Acety
lene Welding and Cutting.
AUTOMOBILES
REPAIRED
Office and Shop: City Dock
CORDOVA, Alaska.
Out of Town Jobs Given Strict
Attention.
ROSSWOG
WE LEAD—OTHERS FOLLOW
LOVERA MONARCH CIGARS.
2 for 25c
OPTIMO STANDARD CIGARS.
2 for 25c
OPTIMO SENATOR CIGARS.
2 for 25c
MOZART MAGNIFICENT CIGARS
2 for 25c
MOZART CORONA FINA.
2 for 25c
VELVET TOBACCO, TINS.—
3 for 50c
TUXEDO TOBACCO, TINS _
3 for 50c
PRINCE ALBERT, TINS__
3 for 50c
ALL OTHER CIGARS AND TO
BACCO AT POPULAR PRICES
CORDOVA
C. M. ROSSWOG
STATIONER, NEWSDEALER,
NOTIONS,
TOBACCOS, CONFECTIONERY.
Electric irons, 3 pounds to 6 1-2
pounds. Prices $3.50 to $6.50 at the
Northwestern Hardware Company.
Read the Daily Times for the latest
and most reliable world news.
j
BUILDING MATERIALS OF
ALL KINDS
Brick and Lime
CORDOVA MILL AND
LUMBER CO.
Electric Wiring
and Repairs—
JOHN G. YOUNG
Leave Orders at Cordova
Sheet Metal Works.
Phone 143
Sanitary
GARBAGE CANS
Plenty of Them at
CORDOVA
SHEET METAL WORKS
Phones
Shop, 143 Res., 133-2
■ ----—
Aunty
Keating’s
Wee Shop
Take a peep in the Wee Shop,
And I'll bet you my all
You’ll want to stop in
If only to call.
There are lots of Toys,
Picture Books and Games,
Marbles and Candies and
Dolls without names—
Silks and Laces,
Ribbons by the mile—
And Frances Fraisure there
To give you a smile.
————_
SMITH &
I
M’CONAGHY
Plumbers and
Steamfitters
COR. FRONT and B STS.
............ ,
Sixty Steam-Heated Rooms, Electric-Lighted
Hot and Cold Water in Every Room
With or Without Bath
Cordova House
DOOLEY & GREENIG
Headquarters for Railroad and Mining Men
Satisfaction Guaranteed :: Rates Reasonable