IV. Reindeer Progress in Alaska* 
BY 
Linuian E. Zen 
HE herding and breeding of domesticated reindeer, introduced as 
an experiment a number of years ago with animals imported from 
Siberia by the government, has now become the most prominent fea- 
ture of the industrial education of the Eskimo and the main activity of 
many native villages of Arctic Alaska. The progress in civilization 
that has been made by lifting up the natives formerly living as savages, 
and eking out a precarious existence by hunting with no other domes- 
tic animal than the dog, to the estate of civilized, self-supporting herds- 
men, as accomplished through the reindeer industry, is a remarkable 
educational achievement. The Alaska Reindeer Service has now reached 
its most successful stage, as it marks the beginning of the period of 
full utilization of all the reindeer owned by the Government for the 
benefit of the native population. 
At the present time there is hardly a surplus Government rein- 
deer north of the Kuskokwim river. This has been made possible by 
the establishment of new reindeer stations, the employment of more 
natives as chief herders, by accepting the largest practical number of 
apprentices, and by transferring reindeer to both chief herders and 
apprentices in lieu of salary or supplies, the chief aim and fundamen- 
tal policy of the Government being to turn the reindeer over to the 
natives as rapidly as they learn the industry and appreciate its value. 
The total number of reindeer in Alaska at the last census was neatly 
23,000, and of this number over 11,000 are owned by the natives. One 
of the most striking and gratifying features is the large income which 
the natives derive from the sale of reindeer products, their share for 
the past fiscal year having been over $18,000. This amount does not 
include the value of the reindeer skins used for clothing, nor that of 
the meat consumed as food. These material benefits and the very con- 
siderable income thus derived demonstrate the fact that the reindeer 
industry has become one of the most prominent factors in the economic 
life of the Eskimo. 
The total number of Alaskan reindeer is distributed in herds among 
twenty-eight stations, eighteen of these being owned by the Government 
and ten by church missions. The Lapps own over three thousand. The 
natives are very anxious to get deer and look upon them as a safe 
“American Forestry, January, 1913. 
