22 PtTR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



company had permission from the Government to bring out natives 

 from Ounalashka to do extra work. 



Q. They employ no laborers of the United States or otlfcr countries"? — 

 A. No, they employ no laborers except men to oversee the killing and 

 one teamster, 1 think. No person is allowed to kill a seal except a na- 

 tive. Nobody but they can do it j it is a trade. Now, in relation to the 

 division 



Q. That is a point I want to get at there. — A. After I went there, the 

 divisions were on a little different system from what Mr. Buynitsky 

 gave. 1 requested the agent of the company to keep every man's time 

 and the value of his time, the number of hours of work, of the kind of 

 a workman he was ; because in the division as previously made, I found 

 when thej' were made by chiefs, they were made by consultation with 

 the heads of the church and the priests, and those persons who were in 

 good standing with the church got a good division, and those who were 

 not, although they might be equally skillful, would not get as much as 

 they were entitled to; and there was some complaint. So I concluded 

 I would take it out of the hands of the church and attend to it myself ; 

 and they never made a complaint of the division thus made, and it did 

 not all go into the church and was more equal. The division is made 

 upon the same way, first class, second class, etc. 



Q. Ton mean the division and the rate of compensation of the labor 

 is made according to the man's merits? — A. According to his merits; 

 yes, sir. They have from twenty-some thousand to $32,000 a year to 

 be distributed there. 



Q. Among how many people? — A. I think there were sixty-one la- 

 borers at that time. The number varies each year. I do not believe I 

 have that for each year, but I have a statement of the amount of money 

 that is distributed each year. Then, when the division is made, it is 

 brought into the store and read off to the whole crowd. You have to 

 have two interpreters when you want to communicate with the natives — 

 one Eussian, who understands English and Aleutian, who talks the 

 English language, and then to the natives in Eussian and Aleutian both. 

 If they ever have any trouble they want to talk to the agent. 



Q. Does your observation lead you to conclude the condition of the 

 natives has been improved under our administration above that of the 

 Eussian administration ? — A. They had been brought from about three- 

 quarters barbaric and savage state to good, respectable, half-civilized 

 men. You can not make a native in his house be neat in most instances. 

 They will not do that. But they dress better, and they are more polite 

 and more like white people, and they imitate them very largely. For 

 instance, they come into my house and see a carpet on the floor, and 

 immediately they want a carpet, too, and everything of that kind. The 

 women all like to be well dressed. They will take a Harper's Bazaar 

 and see a pattern and make a dress very like that. Some of the men 

 are pretty good mechanics. They pride themselves upon their small 

 feet, and you can not get one to wear a coarse shoe. They trapse 

 through the snow in thin, kid shoes. If they get a good dress, the 

 women will go to the field and pack seal meat in it. The men make 

 the women do the hard work, and do nothing except during the sealing 

 season. The women pack the meat from the sealing ground. The men 

 are sometimes willing to bring water for the women ; but it is only 

 through talking to them, and telling them that is the way we do where 

 we live that they can be influenced to do it. 



Q. Now, do you reach any conclusions as to whether the policy of 

 leasing the privilege of taking fur seals is better for the Government 



