REPORT OF HON. JOHN i\. BRADY, GOVERNOR OF ALASKA, 



ON REINDEER. 



[From Aiiiuial Report of the Governor of the District of Alaslia to the Secretary of the Interior, l.s99, 



pages 28-30.] 



REINDEER. 



This interesting animal belongs to the frozen zone. He loves ana 

 thrives upon a moss which is popularly known as " reindeer moss." 



This valuable member of the vegetable kingdom grows to the very 

 border of the Northern seas. The reindeer has been domesticated for 

 generations and has afiorded the Lapp, the "Chuckchee," and other 

 tribes of northern Asia certain sul)sistence. His flesh is nutritious 

 and especially rich in carbon, a requirement in food for those cold 

 regions. The milk is utilized and made into cheese, the horns are 

 made use of in many ways, and there is nothing that can l)e compared 

 to the reindeer skin for clothing to withstand the rigor of a Northern 

 winter. In fact, every part of the animal is utilized, and for trans- 

 portation he is used for drawing and packing loads. All the foregoing 

 was well established years ago. When the officers of our reveiuie 

 service made their annual cruises to Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean 

 and saw the helpless condition of the Eskimos they wondered why 

 these natives could not be supplied with reindeer and be as certain of 

 subsistence as are the people just across Bering Straits who are sup- 

 plied with herds. These officers could well understand that the ani- 

 mals upon Avhich our people were depending were procured with 

 greater difficulty each year. The seal, the walrus, and the whale 

 were game for the white man, who, with his superior appliances, could 

 chase them beyond the reach of the native. It was a question, too, 

 whether the natives on the Alaska side would be Avilling to abandon 

 their dogs and settle down to the lives of herders; whether they really 

 valued the reindeer enough to make the change. A great many other 

 questions came up which nobody could answer — would the ""Chuck- 

 chee" be willing to sell them; if so, ct)uld they be transported, and 

 if they were successfully transported would they be prott^cted from 

 the ferocity of the huskiy and malanmte dog? 



The occasion demanded a man of a peculiar type, and, like Cresar, 

 ''He came, he saw," and, in the opinion of the friends of this enter- 

 prise, has '■'conquered." Dr. Sheldon Jackson became so impressed 



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