INTKODrCTION OF DOMESTIC KKINDKKK INTO ALASKA. 89 



faiiiilics ill the village. In view ol the fact that the lives of the people 

 of this station virtually dej)end on two harvests of seal and walrus, 

 the failure of either of which would throw the inhal)itants into a 

 famine, it would seem highly proi)er that a good suj)pl3' of stajjle food 

 products should be kept here continually, and a proper building 

 erected for the purjiose. When the ice comes in the early winter, seal 

 and walrus are usually c{uite plentiful. Between November 1 and 15, 

 1903, 111 seals were killed, and from November 28 to December 10,81 

 W' alruses, the cold weather enabling the people to keep the meat. This 

 catch, with the few killed during the winter, supplies the larder until 

 about the time of the breaking up of the ice in spring, when another 

 catch is made which tides them over the summer. Ducks, fish, and 

 eggs, with whale meat and skin, complete the diet, added to a small 

 amount of white man's provisions obtained in trade for whalebone, 

 ivory, and fox skins. Last year there was between $30,000 and $40,000 

 worth of these valuable articles taken from St. Lawrence Island, for 

 wliich the people did not receive much more than one-fifth or one-sixth 

 that amount. This year one of the boys brought me a bundle of 

 whalebone asking me to weigh it for him, which I did and found it con- 

 tained 14 pounds. The same bundle was weighed aboard one of the 

 whalers and the weight announced as 9 jiounds, and the bov given 

 a new .44-caliber Winchester rifle — $84 for $12. Rather large gain 

 to cover handling. Sometimes a good trade is made to make a good 

 impression and the man is caught for a large deal as well as many 

 of his friends, for ever^'one tells everyone else of the trade he has made. 

 This is a well-known advertising scheme in the business world, but 

 sadly successful among a people so ignorant of the true value of what 

 they get. It this connection I would say I do not believe the Govern- 

 ment teachers and missionaries in Alaska are getting the lowest rate 

 obtainable, l)ut our isolation puts us in a position where we can not 

 have a choice. Many of the present evils of trading will disappear 

 when the school gets a larger hold on the people, and those now in 

 school have grown to years of maturity. We should be verv glad, 

 indeed, to see a stanch, stifl' backboned Christian business man here 

 for trading alone. It would pax. But it is hard to have one kind of 

 teaching going on all winter, and the direct antagonist coming with 

 the ships in great power in the spring. Whisky or other alcoholic 

 drink is still used as a trade or prostitution inducer, though not so 

 op(Mily as in former years. The method often practiced now is for 

 the party of the first part, white, Portuguese, or negro, after trade, 

 adultery, or prostitution to place the liquor in reach and go away. If 

 it is taken he does not give it, and so escapes the letter of the law. 

 Words well-nigh fail to express the discouraging tendency such actions 

 have on our work. 



