INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 189 



toiy condition of affairs by making a demand upon tiie Czar of Russia 

 to prevent these Siberians from further evil doing at this place, or by 

 overtaking them in their fault on American soil, and administering to 

 them sound punishment therefor. 



This bitter feud is alone sufficient, 1 fancy, to account for the origin 

 of the St. Lawrence Island natives. 



POLITICAL ORGANIZATION. 



The office of chief appears to be merely a nominal one, for it car- 

 ries with it seemingly no power of leadership or of executive action. 

 The title is conferred upon the man who is the most successful whale 

 hunter. If the chief should fail after his selection to sustain his for- 

 mer reputation, he would soon be relegated to private life again. If 

 a nian secures one or more whales during one year he is regarded as 

 "growing bigger," and if his growth continues to excite admiration 

 he has every chance of a speedy election to tiic chieftaincy. Popu- 

 larity in a sense, after all, determines the choice, for w^hen a man 

 secures a whale he divides it between himself and his neighbors, 

 retaining no considerable portion of either the meat, blu))ber, or whale- 

 bone. Hence his neighbors have reason to be under obligations to him 

 for his kindness, and make him chief in time if he continues to gratify 

 them by further divisions of his gain with them. 



The people claim that long ago before the dreadful famine i-arried 

 off so many of the inhabitants of the island there was one great and 

 powerful chief over all the natives on the island, residing at Seevookuk. 

 The temper of the people at present is opposed to a chieftaincy pos- 

 sessed of authoritative functions. 



The chief, accordingly, is not called on to right the wrongs of any 

 aggrieved person; the latter must attend to his own affairs, calling 

 upon his relatives and near friends, doubtless, to support him, if the 

 matter is an important one. On the whole, I think that the peace of 

 the comumnity is seldom disturbed by very serious broils. There are 

 family antipathies, of course, and bitter words are at times exchanged, 

 but blows are not given. There are two factions here, I believe, one 

 of them affiliated by marriage with the Indian Point natives, and in 

 which a few of the latter figure prominently as disturbers of the peace, 

 for they are given to drinking and concocting intoxicants and to riot- 

 ing. These factions were two or three years ago on the verge of 

 fighting, but at present appear to respect a truce. It would improve 

 the community, I may say, if our Government extradited the Indian 

 Point faction or two or three of its leaders. 



Under a system such as obtains here the teacher is unable to find 

 anyone who has the central authority, and can not rely upon con- 

 certed action on the part of the people in case of emergency. This 



