REINDEER IN 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 better 
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 
white supervision. 
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 
of native holdings by the Government also will be greatly simplified 
and made more effective. 
SIZE OF HERDS. 
In Alaska, reindeer are now run in herds of from less than 400 
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 
run in herds of medium size. In the absence of proper corrals, in 
order to insure less complicated handling, particularly for mark- 
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 
herds, this should not necessarily imply uniting all of them in one 
