. STARVATION OF
NATIVES IS DUE
TO POTLATCH
In the report of John H. Kilbuck,
assistant superintendent of schools in
the Kuskokwim district, to the bureau
of education at Washington, he states
that the natives impoverished them
selves, this last yfear, after a season
of prosperity, by giving a native dance
called Kuvgagyagag, in order to get a
reputation with other tribes of the
district.
The Quigillingok natives had made
* a good catch of fish in the summer,
and in the fall, after the ice had
formed, they further increased their
food supply with a record catch of
tomcod. The previous selling season
had been good, and the catch of fur
greater than it had ever been. The
people were never better off in their
lives, and being so well off, they want
ed to make their reputation. Accord
ingly the invited several villages to
a play. Each individual wanted to
•mfijn some rival in giving. The vis
itors went away well off. taking even
the guns and traps of the hunters.
Before the play was over a storm set
in and lasted several weeks. During
all this time the hosts fed their guests
and their dogs. Before the sealing
season set in the natives of Quigilli
nok were short of food and reduced to
actual want, many being reduced to
actual starvation. The season was
backward and if relief had not been
obtained from the missionaries the
entire village would have succumbed
to hunger. The missionaries butch
ered three fat deer, which, with 100
pounds of flour, the same amount of
beans and 25 pounds of prunes, wfere
dispatched in two dog sleds to the
starving natives.
Thirty-two natives at Quigillingok
were found to be short of provisions
and starving. One woman was left by
her sisters and brothers to die. She
wras unable to stand, and as she was
in a hut that had no roof, water and
slime were all about her. She had a
dry spot just her size—no food, not
even water to drink. She said that
she was waiting for the ewul. We left
her provisions and hunted up her
, brother and made it plain to him that
something not very pleasant would
happen to him if he did not at once
o-m arid fake care of her.
It is reported that many children
9^ were allowed to starve, which may be
true, as hunger dehumanizes these
people. I took one man who was far
gone to the hospital, but he died. Up
to the time of my visit twenty-three
had died at Quigilliingok and eighteen
in the surrounding villages as a direct
result of the shortage of food.
The lesson of the whole matter is
this: There was no occasion for this
situation; it was brought about by
the play. Other people who did not
have so great a supply of food stood
the adverse conditions in good shape.
Quigillingok natives will have to work
for years before they will get over the
effects of this starvation. The dogs
are all gone and nearly all of the huts
are burned.
Mr. Kilbuck says that the teachers
at Bethel have to contend against the
white man’s dance, which is gaining
in favor among the natives. The white
men foster it and do everything they
? can to encourage it. The natives do
not realize yet that they are paying
dearly for their pleasure. The dancing
craze has just come to Aniak, but the
sentiment of the older people, we be
lieve, is strong enough to prevent it
taking hold of the people to any great
extent. After the teachers themselves
had emphatically set forth the dan
gers that go with dancing the natives
themselves placed themselves on rec
ord as being opposed to its introduc
tion into the village.
The dance described by Mr. Kilbuck
is as follows:
Before the beginning of the feast
the givers of the potlatch or feast,
dressed in their best apparel, deposit
on the floor the articles intended to
/be given to their guests. Each giver
proclaims in a loud voice for whom
H the article or articles are intended,
and then delivers it in silence. At
the end of the distribution the spec
tators divide themselves into four
groups, one at each angle of the
kashga, or ceremonial hall. One of
the visitors chants a low' song espe
cially composed for the occasion. The
voices of the singers, with the drums
and rattles used, cause a weird ef
fect. Then the givers of the feast
represent in pantomime some impor
tant epoch of their lives. After the
pantomime view, which lasts some
time, a feast of seal oil, seal blubber,
fish, berries, whole boiled Beals, huge
piles of dried fish, are placed before
the assemblage. The hosts give away
all their property, and the man who
reserves the smallest article of value
loses face with the tribe, and is ever
afterward an object of derision and
scorn.
This system of promiscuous giving
is responsible for nine-tenths of the
suffering among the tribes along the
Kuskokwim and other points. A sea
son of plenty is followed f>y an orgie
of giving, and the patient Eskimc
starts out the beginning of the winter
perhaps, without even a gun or trap
or any article of value to provide
substance for the long, cold winter.
J. H. Dunning and J. Faulks of New
Bealand, who have been hunting big
i game in the Kenai peninsula, tool
out four Kodiak bear skins, six sheet
heads and one moose head. One ol
the bear skins measured eleven feel
in length, and Mr. Dunning said thal
while he enjoyed hunting the Alaska
Kodiak bear he could not picture any
thing more formidable than one ol
those giants towering four or five feel
higher than the average man, ap
proaching one with its horrible claws
outspread and emitting a roar louder
than the roar of a lion. He said th«
Kodiak bears do Alaska more harm
than good, and it would never be safe
to attempt to populate a part of the
territory infested by these wfu
brutes. The sheep measured 38 M
inches and the moose head 68^
inches.
Scarborough Pictures that please a
prices that are right. Over Cordovr
drug store. Phone 14—3 rings.
Hub Bollinger has taken charge oi
HubbeK’s tailor shop, and is prepared
to attend to your wants. 1-ti
Your eyes fitted. Compound an<
stigmatlc lenses replaced. See Oe
borne.
Best coffee in town served at th«
City Bakery.
—-:——i
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| Is there a question |
(in your mind
ip where to go to select j|
pj a Christmas Gife? ip
pi Then try Osborne |i‘
| Bros., the Jewelers §1
pi who manufacture j§
| their own jewelry §j
ip out of gold mined in
i| Alaska.’ * pi
pi We carry a well-se- ip
•iji lected stock of jp
pj Watches and Jewelry jjjj
We are jp
| PYpCDT^makers
| LAl L rl I Engravers
Opticians
TABLEWARE
Full sets and single pieces, in Sterling Silver, Community and Rogers
1847.
My stock of Glasses is complete. Nippon. Chinaware, in gold and
white, also decorated, in dinner sets, from $25 up. Single pieces of
sugar and cream, cake plates and vases.
PAUL BLOEDHORN
WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER
Watch Repairing Phone 223
At Last
You can have
a quiet office
Install the “Silent Smith”
and do away with noise!
The Slogan, ‘‘Ball-Bearing, Long-Wearing,” is the absolute truth.
The illustration above shows the balal bearings in each typebar
of the L. C. Smith & Bros. Typewriter. Ask for demonstration.
%
E. S. HEWITT & CO., JUNEAU, ALASKA
FRED M. SCHAUPP
SANITARY PLUMBING
Steam-Fitting, Marine Pipe and Tank Work
Sheet Metal Work
SECOND STREET, NEXT DOOR TO FEDERAL JAIL
PHONE 72
_ -- -.-- ■ *—
Manhattan Hotel
R. W. FERRELL, Prop.
Electric Lighted. Hot Water. Turkish a«d Tub
Baths.
OPPOSITE CORDOVA GRILL, CORDOVA, ALASKA.
PHONE 99
WHAT THRIFT IS LL_
•
THRIFT BEGAN WITH CIVILIZATION. IT BEGAN A8 SOON A8 T * --;
MEN REALIZED THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO PROVIDE FOR
TOMORROW AS WELL AS FOR TODAY. IT BEGAN LONG BE- ^ _
FORE MONEY WAS INVENTED. THRIFT MEANS PRIVATE :
ECONOMY AS WELL A8 THE ORDER AND MANAGEMENT OF E
A FAMILY. —‘Samuel Smllee.” I _ _
i
Start Practicing Thrift =
By Opening a Savings Account
|| SECURITY® SERVICE ®SATISFACTlON
I ESTABLISHED 1909
[ CORDOVA MACHINE
WORKS
E. R. GARNES, Prop.
') Residence Phone 101-3
Shop Phone 182
Machine Work of all Kinds,
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
-♦—
Come
And See Our Line
of
Christmas Cards
A
Greeting and a Cheer
to
Mother
Father
Sister
Brother
and
The Folks at Home
We Have a Fine Line
of
TOYS
• ' •
C. M. ROSSWOG
STATIONER, NEWSDEALER,
NOTIONS,
TOBACCOS, CONFECTIONERY.
..~r..
The Dally Times joh plant is
well equipped for all classe of com
mercial printing.
Read the Daily Times tor the latest
and most reliable world news.
A Fine Assortment of
Hand-Painted Gifts
for Christmas
At
I
AUNTY KEATING’S
“WEE SHOP”
*
Shop early and avoid the rush.
i
SMITH &
M’CONAGHY
Plumbers and
Steamfitters
—♦—
COR. FRONT and B STS.
LUMBER i
BUILDING MATERIALS OF
ALL KINDS
Brick and Lime
CORDOVA MILL AND
LUMBER CO*
SIBERIAN FUR COMPANY
C. Leen, Mgr.
NOTICE TO TRAPPERS
We Buy All Kinds of Furs
Honest Prices Paid
We make up all kinds of Furs, also
do remodeling. We also do Tan
ning and Mounting. Fourteen
years’ experience.
Next to Hegg’s, on C Street
Phone 123-4
—
CORDOVA
SHEET METAL WORKS
SHARPENERS
SKATE
SECOND STREET. ACROSS
FROM JAIL
PHONE 143
Sixty Steam-Heated Rooms, Electric-Lighted
Hot and Cold Water in Every Room
With or Without Bath
Cordova House
DOOLEY & GREEN1G
Headquarters for Railroad and Mining Men
Satisfaction Guaranteed :: Rates Reasonable
*