278 Alaskan Science Conference 



are not enough white hunters in the Arctic to cause a conflict. 

 In the sub-arctic portions of the interior, however, there is con- 

 siderable conflict especially on trap lines. 



3. As would be expected the policy and practices of the lead- 

 ing white man in the primitive villages greatly influences the 

 conservation attitude in the district. Usually this individual 

 is the trader, in some villages it may be the teacher but the 

 teacher's tenure is frequently temporary while the trader is a 

 permanent resident. Besides, the trader controls the purse 

 strings and the credit. If the trader has a reasonable respect for 

 wildlife conservation the people in the village reflect this. If, 

 on the other hand the trader buys summer-caught beaver or 

 condones a caribou slaughter, waste and poor conservation prac- 

 tice results. 



4. Migratory waterfowl and the native villages pose a unique 

 question. Here we are concerned not with resident game, but 

 with a resource produced in Alaska, overwintered largely in 

 the states and Mexico, and harvested all along the Pacific Fly- 

 way. In the spring when food is scarce in the villages and the 

 rat camps, few would begrudge the Indians and Eskimo some 

 fresh meat and the total effect is probably not great. But it is 

 poor management to kill the breeding birds, those that have 

 survived the vicissitudes of the long flight south and the return 

 trip northward, and especially is it undesirable if birds are 

 killed before they nest. It may not be completely fantastic to 

 suggest that a few carloads of Spam might be the best invest- 

 ment duck hunting clubs could make as insurance for their 

 sport, at least that portion of it dependent on the Alaska nesting 

 grounds. 



One school of thought holds to the view that the native cannot 

 be changed. Those who have seen him adopt the outboard 

 motor for water travel, the 30-06 rifle for hunting and the white 

 man's rain gear for wet weather hold the opposite view. They 

 believe that if convinced of the reason and need and ultimate 

 advantage to himself and family, the native will respond to 

 conservation education. The great need, however, is for educa- 

 tion of the right sort probably much of it by means of visual 



