EARLY HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF KODIAK
TAKEN FROM “EXPLORATION IK ALASKA
The Gateway is planning on run
ning a series of articles covering
the Indian tribes of Alaska, their
history, beliefs and legends. First,
as they are mare closely related
•with this district, we will give a
short history of the Kodiak Natives,
as they were in the past century,
when Alaska was first being explor
ed by the Whites and Russians:
• • •
The Kaniags (KOniak or Kikhtag
smute) are the inhabitants of the Is
land of Kadiak and surrounding is
lands. They are called Kadiak
Aleuts by the Russians, or Jiriefly
Kadiaks. Neither ot these two ap
pellations are correct, as originally
neither island nor people bore such
a name. The name of Kadiak is
evidently a corruption of Kikhtak,
a word signifying in the language of
Kikhtagmute a great island, and
which naturally applied to the largest
island of the group. What imay have
induced the Russians to call the Ka
miags Aleuts, a name first applied to
the inhabitants of Fox Islands, dif
ferent entirely in language as well
as in outward appearance from the
former, is not easily explained un
less it was based upon the general
similarity of outline existing among
the natives of the northwest coast
of America.
In the course off time the name of
Kadiak has been universally adopted
even by the natives of the island,
whale the younger generation call
themselves Aleut, which they pro
nounce Aleutik; only the aged still
maintain that in the days of their
liberty and independence their name
was Koniag.
Divided Into Two Classes.
We find in the Koniags a people
divided originally into commoners
and hereditary chiefs. Under Russian
rule this social organization had al
most disappeared, but the chiefs or
elders “starshina” were selected by
the Russian-American company on
account of their influence or wealth,
and the company also took care to
make these selections from families
in which chieftainship was heredi
tary. They received a salary from
the company, and if they held this
office for a prolongel period they
were presented with a tunic made
from scanlic cloth. A “starshina”
dressed in this manner enjoyed among
his people great respect than was
accorded to European nobles with
hundreds of ancestors.
In outward appearances a few char
acteristics distinguish the Kaniak
from other tribes of the northwest
coast of America. The posterior por
tion off his skull is decidedly flat, and
his stature, (in the early ’80’s) was
considerable above the medium, mak
ing him the tallest among his neigh
bors. Occasionally individuals of gi
gantic stature were met with; for
instance Davidof, an early Russian
adventurer, claimed to have met with
a chief in the bay of Igak who meas
ured six feet nine inches in height.
The dark or nearly copper color of
the skin of the native of today, is
considered not natural but due to
sun and exposure, for at that time
Davidof claims he saw many white
ferna1as
In former times both sexes wore
their hair long, the men’s in plaits
and the women’s in a rough knot on
top of their head, and cut straight
across the forehead just above the
eyes. On festive occasions it was
smeared with whaleoil and a red pow
der made of burnt ocher, and finally
strewn with white down taken from
the breast of an eagle. Of all these
modes of ornamenting the hair oil
ing has been retained among the
very old people, and nearly all the
men, Women and children dress it in
European fashion.
Lip, Nose and Ear Split.
The partition of the nose, the low
er lip, and the external rim of the
ear were pierced for the reception
of ornaments, of which the one des
tined for the nose a ways consisted
of a cylindrical pin of bone five inch
es in length, sometimes replaced
with a sea-lion’s whiskers. In the
lips and ears, the ornaments or pen
dants consisted of polished bon gen
erally pierced and strung upon
threads, but after the arrival of the
Russians glass beads look the plan
of them. At the beginning of the
Eighteenth Century the lip and ea:
ornaments of the •wealthy Kan lag
women and young dandvs frequently
weighed several pounds.
The dentalium was an omamen
much prized by men and women
This shell did not exist in the Rus
sian provinces but was imported from
the British colonies north of the Co
lumbia river, and thence passed from
hand to hand along the whole costs*
as far as the Aleutian Islands. The
price of one pair off these little shaHs
was a whole parka of squirrel skins
There is also a tradition of the
Kaniagmute to the effect that in
the country of the Tthinket, far to
the southward, there was a lake from
which the dentalium or hyqua shell
was obtained, the mollucks being fed
with the bodies of slaves thrown into
the eater—a story evidently invent
ed by the Thinkets to enhance the
price of this commodity, of which
they had a monopoly.
The most precious ornaments con
sisted of pieces of amber that were
washed Up occasion ally by the sea
on the south end of Kodiak Island
but chiefly oh the Island of Ooka
mak. At certain times, after an
earthquake as a rule, the ocean seem
ed tc be more lavish in bestowing
this- treasure, and then the amber
formed quite an article of trade be
ttween the peoples of Kadiak and the
people of Bristol Bay and Xushs
gak, but as these harvests only oc
curred at long intervals the value of
the article always remained at a
high standard.
The lower lip of the woman was
always pierced twice, but frequently
five or six times, the men having
only one such orifice. Some dandy
in ancient times originated the i6ea
of making a long horizontal slit in
the upper lip parallel with the mouth,
but this mode had few followers ow
ing to the inconvenience of having
their food come out of the artificial
apeture.
Women and Men Tattooed.
At present it is doubtful if the old
est woman on Kadiak would show
traces of tattooing on her chin, ibo’
formerly this custom was universal.
The mode of procedure was to smear
a thin thread of whale smew with
a mixture of soot and oil, and then
draw the thread into the skin by
means of a needle, thus forming
certain primitive pattterns. In an
cient times the breasts of women
were also tattooed, and frequntly
two parallel lines were drawn Croon
ear to chin; and if a married woman
wished to give her husband proof
of great love she tattooed herself on
various parts of the body and on the
, hands.
Men and Women Dressed Alike
In former times the clothing oC
the men and women was alike, and
j consisted of the kamleika and the
parkee. Both of these names were
introduced from Kamchatka, the na
tive word for kamleika being “kam
akhliuku” and for the parkee “at
kufcu.” The parkee was a long shirt
or garment with a small opening at
the neck just large enough to allow
the head of pass through, and with
two short sleeves intended more for
ornament than for use, as under each
j sleeve there was a veer tide slit thru
which the aims were thrust when
I needed, but commonly these members
I were kept concealed under the gar
;mnt. The parkee was made of the
skins of birds and animals. Of the
| former the cormorant, the duck and
J the sea parrot furnished the material,
and of the latter those of the ground
| squirrel, the sea otter, the marmot
, the bear, and the reindeer were used
The most valuable of bird skin par
kees were those made altogether oi
the necks of the cormorant, won
only by the young women, and a singe
garment required the necks of 15(
to 200 birds. The feathers from:
these birds were worn on the out.
side and were ornamented wtih lon^
hair of the reindeer, the skin of er
mine, sea otter and sometimes will
eagle feathers.
The kamleika is the most import
ant particle of clothing worn by th<
Kaniaks, as it protects them agains
rain and moisture, and it would hav<
bee® Impossible t* to** wm&t *«y «*
Tended VQyagf* It 1*18«I%*S. 15 W1S5
cadf from the ©amds flC bourn. *»
lions ant s«i)k anc ooc*siea*al!y
of Ike sea« oner. Thw w©pf <tiT*ML
cm into strips and tirrai nmc t©
getber Jute & garmen- with in#
sleeves. and a hone which «ms drawn
over the head until only « portirtt of
the fane remained uncover*^ Wi»e®
one of these garments was completed
the neck and sleeves were rtec and
water poured into the frames- ta
test its !mpe~nousness The kamiet
fcas made from the ontrals off the bear
were considered the strnnirest hot the
material was less plentiful than that
obtained from seals and see bans
These garments art still wore t© the
far western but are now ornamented
with stripe of bright cloths, and oth
er materials
Hats and caps of American manu
facture have alraos’ entirer raker,
the plat**1 of those mane of plaited
roots and high!* ornamented with
beads and other shells A blue color,
consisting of small fragment*- of one.
which were ground into powder, was
obtained by the early Kadiak settlers,
and this they used as a dye In ap
plying this, and other pigments t©
their paddles, and other things fe
was the custom to open a blood ves
sels of the nose, and mrt the color
with blood tc the proper consistency
The Kan jags claimed ths£v such a mul
ture was more durable nan whet mix
ed with oil. IT the bleeding did no
cease immediately, ashes were sprink
led into the cut. Before the arrival
of the Russians inhabitants of Kadiak
were barefooted but they soon adopt
ed the -oba^sa hoots of sea] or #«r
skini imnortec by the Russians from
Kamchatka.
Mot Pa-ticuia- about com
In his choice of food die Kaniag
was still less particular than the
tribes of the loweT Alaskan coast,
and in addition to the diet of the lat
ter be consumed a number of dis
gusting and unclean things, that nr
other tribe would look upon as food
.As a siimpie of this one instance, af
ter killing a bear they would empty
the stomach and entrals of their con
tents and boil them with berries; this
was done chiefly at a season The when
the bear lived almost entire upon
berries This disgusting habit can
not be traced to necessity, for food
of all kinds was about at that time
of the year. It may be stated truly.
That th- Kaniagmute would eat any
thing and everything, from the rough
est root to the most disgusting worm
of land or sea.
The principal means of subsists nee.
however, was fish. 3>nring the sum
mer season it was generally cooked
before eat ng, but during the winter
season, the air-dried fish was ©aton
row more frequently-, than cooked.
The drying of the fish was done in
the open air, and nothing hindered
the flies from depositing their ©gtrs
therein, which speedily developed in
to maggots. Whale was another deli
cacy of the Kaniag. the blubber as
well as the meat being cut up into
long strips, tire meat being boiled, seb
domly being consumed fresh, being
deposited in excavations in the ground
where it underwent a process of put
refaction. and where, according to
the Russian expression. It became
“sour" before it was fit to eat. Fre
quently the blubber was boiled up
away in bladders for wimer use.
with berries and roots, and stored
Sometimes, when a family was un
usually lucky during the fishing sea
son. salmon was piled on the floor,
many times several feet high, the
family living on top of it. literallv eat
U
THE PALACE
John Mattich, Prop.
POOL, SOFT DRINKS AND
CIGARS
Furnished Rooms
Phone Main 55
CHRIS’ PLACE
Cigars and Tobaccos
Soft Drinks and Candies
CARD TABLES
Phone Madison 54
CHRIST LARSEN, Prop.
Next Door to Liberty Theatre
4sg Mfr way m fife® HmK-,
MkMto* T*»r Cwr feoet *egk
N^ww w? fb®*r «njMflMMr» wfth
vt u«tf <Wr <**te tB%Mftr*-3fer
««f«. fey 4Mflhi Ami ifcb
■ffennouT** tcnkw Off awapbecrtw amd
whortieberr?®? few: that w*? rrrofeffe
ited fey fh® Bnssaax OnaputT. Now
d*«w al know how *p distil IHwcr
frmt. finer sopwr. and motes®** Tkf
'*» «ff Tctoaoro® has )*wo»» wnfcwwai
particularly -fe* us- cf swat ue
«nKwc other afthfe* off hskary tea
kbc smear are th* most MhpMtMWL
C*t?«m»*c ^ogwtfeer.
Timm arriving m. *n® Kad.afc »
bwi tb® early explorer? wwr® as
tonish*-® ie find ra® or fcuuc
«i J*i®g It m IT fifteefc
dwwEteg* fieri bo: was inhabit *<
fey three or more tamOse? tb* in?®
tmt cflBsisrijf of om oonrmot ajon
moat- or cooking or Iftrng rwa ®mI
ft”"**- or foor small partitiows «® font
sleeping unb. The ««% ctmstm
ot o? plank? planted p®rp*wd»calar
bL tb® earth slightly incHscd fc
’W*?d The rafters generally <yiwi«
ec off what? riba, rororoc off sticks of
driftwood. and diict hgm of one
placed ower them, Tim Soar «i$
sTrewr with dr*et grassea. asd is tib®
vnd&h off is was m ferepftac®
Tb® s>**!pinp compa'rmetts w#®*
sr*m«Fkilr i«r lew on® co«M not Kaaff
tmrir-in in them. senmertases helix
:rr ’ - Ms - ■ -- r- ?.• ■ ■ -«•* r- r
me? in tb® wraSs Herr® st wasal ffhm
■fltes would stretch cat: epor ib® plant
floor ar:bn*rt cewertar off any lrinc
BRary Rt>ims' VCWflMc !a*e.
Tb* year around Kad.&k Inland was
exceedingly rick It fish. Ae most
prmr 3®u; among then feeing 5b® sal
mon of which ids spec?*® were dt®
the red fish. tb* ktshoch
tinruisb-'-c th* redfish, rb® kishurreh.
:b* ivrfnjsba. tb® ebatieba. 5b®
kb&its end 5b® rnJotx. ®f salmon
t rmn. Eact off fb®®® spec?®® ttnafi
~b® bey? a: rerrair naasor.? of 5b®
year and arer® ®as2y tatf® arjrb
spears. Ba3:b®rt sne roffeb ap®r® al
so CBugbL bm with books.
Tb® see nrrer ebas® m cord octet
almos: entirely by lace® parti®? off
from 94) to 2bfc rwo-heTcb canoes, tb®
mtikinp of which :b® Kar.iap? wen®
master? in tbeir trad®. It wa? npes
sary to await a perfectly calm day.
» ben aE tb® canoes left «b® beach t®
petber. forminfr in a 1 osy tin®. A?
soon a® an orrer wa? sirhtec by one
off tbf men b® raised hi? paddle., when
a < rri® wa? immediately formed
around tb® spot where tb® aea otter
wa? expected to ris®, When tb® ani
mal bad recereed tb® first arrow, :t
dived immediately, bat a new circle
wa? then formed farther owt. and tb®
otter prevented from escapim:, until
weakened from tb® loss off blood and
exhaustion, il fell an easy victim. Tb®
sea ester arrow off tb® Kaniaps was
a fir® piece of workman?!. 7 and con
sisted of a shaft a boot two feet in
length, with a headpiece off bon® six
or seven inches in leacth. which fey
its weifrbt. keep? tb® arrow npripht
in tb® water, Tb® point off tb® arrbw
was also off bon® and was very sharp,
no; being: attached to tb® shaft, bat
being connected with ft fey a piece
of rawhide. When tb® animal was
struck tb® shaft cam® loose, tb® point
remaining in tb® body, impeding tb®
diving and swimming of tb® animal.
The bon® poms were usually marked
by tb® banters, and the arrow in tb®
body closest tb® bead took tb® skin.
( To Be Completed next week,)
Hand tinted pictures wrapped se
curely for mailing—Alaska Shop. tf.
F. B. MOORE
Grt Bid®. Adame 145
WALL PAPER PAPER-HANG
ING, and PAINTING
TINTING
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OGLE’S GARAGE
GASOLINE AND
WARM STORAGE
EXPERT MECHANICS
Phone Mad. 66.
suvoay tiHnitw services
a: the local VfMl t
'mmtmmr •ertsia* at 11:3*
j«\*anfc Tfe* **rtaha «fl! V of sjch
j«&a~*r?e* m m 1wflf la keepfe* rtihe
a«r lagr eff the **■* r**r clean.
|Cmk aad sniwahU sith a*. and see
IT we «r. aat start i>f sew rear a
IMMT r-fua-^ I© k*ef* ;he
aJSi:r'k sw»? <%' as hare made
m :» Kwrtrasait.
Sw^Aa' echos’ a It:* Yo* am!
jaar chSIdrec V»a need the Saadar
h®^ the Surdar echoed seeds
yea Cn® and he* as la this very
fsarertaa: we-* «f chsreh.
thaoaas Phi** Graham.
M sister.
ASoat ccHfetl of all deaths result
freat paecascaia
1: takes a Sartle afcoc:. hat? at hear
» hy is# epps
Darts* his tare Term* President
Otar: Sad S3 dlfVrent cahiaet stem
hers
Pre*»de«; Buchanan is said to hare
”N£1' w.Ivt poeret than whea he ec
tered H
Or- J. A. Bomghmen
Phpafcoia* a«d hirftos
CWROMC cstases A SPECIALTY
**©*• Mader *C $e»ia AlaaAa
W. K. Coppered
ATTORNEY AKD COEN5ELOR AT
LAW
wii: PracOoe ts AH Courts of the
Territory
SEW A tt*. ALASKA
«EI
Cwrhs R. Mor ford
Ton FIRE INSURANCE
Or. A. R. Roberts
OENTJST
r^**al aad General
I RAT WORE
New Teckknher* Bid*.
Pbcmt Mad. lOg-Seward, Mwb
Aaron E. Rucker * •
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Office h Besson Building
PHONE MADISON 114
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REAL ESTATE AND FIRE
INSURANCE
AGENT FOR
Equitable Life Assurance
Society
TELEPHONES
6us. Adams 1S2 Res^ Madison 58
Gas Launch
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FISHING AND HUNTING
PARTIES CARRIED DOWN
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TO MILE TWENTY
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