10 BULLETIN 1089, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The Norwegian animals had just landed after a long, rough 
voyage, but even when fed they would fall short of the average 
weight of Alaskan reindeer, which for steers average 150 pounds 
dressed. The ages of the Norwegian animals ran between 3 and 
4 years. 
The Norway reindeer differs a little from the Alaskan animal in 
being lighter colored. At first sight more white was noticeable 
around the feet and legs, and in some instances the belly was almost 
white. As a rule, the sides of the belly in .Alaskan reindeer are very 
dark and in some cases almost black. In other respects the marks 
are almost identical. 
REINDEER AS RANGE STOCK. 
OWNERSHIP OF REINDEER. 
The ownership of the reindeer herds in Alaska now falls largely 
into three classes: Eskimos, white men married to Eskimo women, 
and other white men, including Lapps. Formerly herds were also 
owned by the Government and by the various missions located in 
Alaska, but these owners have practically dropped out, as also have 
many of the Lapps. While no complete information as to exact 
numbers of reindeer or exact ownership is available, it is generally 
considered that, on the basis of an estimated total of 130,000 animals, 
the whites, including Lapps, now own about 40,000 to 45,000, and the 
Eskimos the remainder, or some 85,000 to 90,000. In 1917, the Bu- 
reau of Education reported the Eskimo ownership to be distributed 
among 1,568 natives. 
The ownership of reindeer among the natives is not uniform. 
There are numerous small owners, each with a few head, often only 
2 or 3, and a few Eskimos are large owners, with several hundred 
to a thousand animals. Among the whites, aside from the Lapps, 
and those married to native women, who for these purposes are 
classed as natives, ownership is as yet limited, being largely confined 
to the relatively few who have been able to buy the herds that had 
been acquired by the Lapps and the missions. 
Up to within a few years, the Alaska reindeer industry had oeen 
largely a native enterprise and development has been entirely under 
the supervision of the Bureau of Education. The Eskimos were 
taught herding and given ownership in reindeer through a system 
of progressive apprenticeship under instruction of the Lapps 
brought over from northern Norway for the purpose. The reindeer 
were originally imported for the Eskimo, and the policy of the 
Government was to limit ownership as much as possible to the na- 
tives, but an exception was made in the case of the Lapp herders 
and of missions. Largely through recent purchases of herds from 
