12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 56 



infants, and, strange to say, such kidnapping appears not to be con- 

 sidered a serious offence. 



POLITICAL AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY 



The native idea of money value is very unstable. In this respect 

 they are the victims of unfortunate circumstances. I am told that 

 in 1898, during the gold rush, many natives were hired as pilots and 

 guides at $10.00 per day. This gave them an exaggerated notion 

 of the value of their labor, to which they cling tenaciously. The 

 smallest piece of money current in any of the Alaskan stores is 

 twenty-five cents, so the native regards a twenty-five-cent piece 

 about the same as a laborer in the States regards a cent. An inci- 

 dent will illustrate : I saw a white traveler take a picture of a native 

 family and give the paterfamilias twenty-five cents as a tip, but he 

 superciliously tossed it to his baby, considering it too trivial a reward 

 for himself. 



The wages of a white man in this country average five dollars a 

 day. This compensates him for labor and things incidental to work- 

 ing away from home. The native has a keen appreciation of his 

 own value and will not work for any less than the white. 



The lowest price usually assigned by a native to any piece of work 

 is five dollars. I have seen one refuse to tan a small bear-hide 

 (worth about $4.00) for less than five dollars, although in a few 

 days his wife was seeking destitute rations. 



While these people will not come down from a set price, their 

 failure to appreciate comparative values allows them to be cheated. 

 The following incident will illustrate : A native had a pail of berries 

 for which he wanted two dollars; a store-keeper offered him one 

 dollar, which he refused. Then the store-keeper threw down three 

 bars of soap, worth thirty cents, and offered them in trade, which 

 offer was promptly accepted. 



The natives are very improvident. They will loaf continually in 

 the summer, gathering no firewood for winter. In cold weather 

 they will huddle together in a poorly heated cabin, and I have known 

 them to tear down cabins for firewood and rebuild when summer 

 comes. When they have much dry salmon in the summer they sell 

 it to the stores, but when winter comes and they run short they buy 

 it back at a higher price. 



