REINDEEE IF ALASKA. 35 



same range, and in such instances all the animals come under white 

 management. Except where cared for in a white man's herd, the 

 Eskimo reindeer are generally rather badly managed because of the 

 improper methods employed and the lack of trained supervision. 

 The teachers at the Eskimo schools maintained by the Bureau of 

 Education are doing all they can to supervise the management of the 

 herds of the people at their stations, but they are not skilled in 

 animal husbandry, and their other duties occupy their time. The 

 assistance of a small organized corps of trained white men to look 

 after the native herds and supervise their development along im- 

 proved practical lines is urgently needed. 



COMMUNITY HERDS. 



The organization of herds on a cooperative basis, as proposed and 

 recently initiated by the Bureau of Education, will not only secure 

 proper and definite allotments of range but will promote more effec- 

 tive management of both herds and ranges. Such organizations 

 among native owners will make possible the employment of the best 

 reindeer men for herding and prevent interference and meddling by 

 others. It will make possible uniformity in distribution of herders 

 between bands, establish adequate and just remuneration for them, 

 and eliminate the inefficient herder who could put in his time to bettei 

 advantage in fishing and hunting. It will result also in the adop- 

 tion of one distinctive earmark or brand for the combined herd, and 

 in a centralization of herd management, either in a white super- 

 intendency or in an advisory board of the leading natives under 



j^hite supervision. 



pi In larger herds under the cooperative plan herd management will 

 be much simplified. Gain and loss in the herd will be prorated 

 among the individual owners, and it will be easier to guard against 

 "rustling, " which may grow to serious proportions. The supervision 

 oi native holdings by the Government also will be greatly simplified 



i and made more effective. 



SIZE OF HERDS. 



In Alaska, reindeer are now run in herds of from less than 400 

 I up to 5,000 head, and in one case 8,000. While the future tendency 

 > will be toward the larger herds, under existing conditions it appears 

 to be preferable, for the present at least, that the Eskimo reindeer be 

 t run in herds of medium size. In the absence of proper corrals, in 

 ( order to insure less complicated handling, particularly for mark- 

 i ing and counting, these should not be larger than 1,000 to 1,500 head 

 each. 



Where a cooperative organization includes several small bands or 

 i herds, this should not necessarily imply uniting all of them in one 



