622 ' ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



this tliiug or that ought to be done. They have undertaken to treat 

 the natives as grown people treat children, and nobody will tliis year 

 succeed in filling the heads of the Eskimos with stories about the 

 Lapps, and the only outsiders among the Eskimos who still believe 

 themselves to be superior to all others, not only to the Lapps, are the 

 people from Cape Prince of Wales who occasionally have to come here 

 with their seal skins and other things to exchange them for ammunition 

 and provisions. They show by their conduct that they regard them- 

 selves as superior, but the only thing in which they are regarded as 

 being superior and in which they actually excel all others is begging. 

 They have studied completely the various kinds of beggars' tricks, 

 and practice them both orally and in writing. The Lapps have occa- 

 sionally been deceived by the lamentations and tricks of these people, 

 but their dishonesty has usually been detected, and when the dishon- 

 esty has been discovered, then neither the Lapps nor the rest of us 

 understand a word they say, this being the best way of getting rid of 

 them. Usually they have received something to eat, and their hypoc- 

 risy has been used as the source of amusement. 



I am very happy to say that the Lapps have hitherto conducted them- 

 selves most excellently, and have submitted with alacrity to the rules and 

 regulations made for them, rules and regulations which they have never 

 had to submit to heretofore. The only thing with which they have 

 expressed any dissatisfaction is that they have not received as much 

 reindeer meat as they would like. 



The Lapps have certainly done everything that they possibly could, 

 not only in taking care of but also in instructing the apprentices. 

 So far as the language has permitted, they have always been willing to 

 explain why this thing or that had to be done in this way or that way, 

 and why things should be done at a certain time. This applied both 

 to herding, to milking, to driving, to training, to the making of sleds, 

 harnesses, saddles, skees, cheese, tanning and the preparation of skins, 

 and to the proper use of reindeer hair, antlers, etc. When we arrived 

 at the station it was assumed, both by the Eskimos and by the white 

 men at the station, that reindeer skins could not be tanned or pre- 

 pared so as to be made waterproof, and that people would always have 

 to depend upon the seal for their waterproof boots. The opposite has 

 now been demonstrated so many times by the Lapps, they having shown 

 how completely dry their feet were after standing in water above their 

 knees for hours at a time, that the Eskimos now see that the seal can 

 be spared from this use, since there are a sufQcient number of reindeer 

 skins to take their place. 



When you left us last fall we had the following apprentices at the 

 station : Moses (an Indian), Martin Jacobson, Tatpan (Herbert), Akweet 

 koon, Soo wa wha sie, Antisarlook (Charlie), Kum muk, Sekeog look, 

 Oo kwood let, To oo tuk, Ohlook, Alektoona, Wok sock (Eskimos). 



Of these thirteen apprentices three were married and had their 



