there is also a big, black husky aboard. he is a cross between an indian (not an esquimaux) dog and a wolf. he is a big, heavy fellow, large of head, strong of limb and feet widened in muscular development wrought in his race by generations of hard service in this rugged climate. he is valued at three hundred and fifty dollars. he will pull three hundred pounds and travel forty miles a day over ice and snow, being fed but once a day on dried fish.
the most curious and by far the handsomest dog aboard is a malamute. he is a beautiful dog. his furry coat is heavy and his fine ears stand erect. for actions, manners and affection for his master he is a fine specimen of the canine tribe. his walk is somewhat of a stride like that of the bear.
his owner, who lives in chicago, is aboard. he paid three hundred dollars for the dog and took him home, but it is too warm for him in chicago, so he is taking him back to alaska.
there are many cases of oranges, lemons, peaches, apples, apricots and plums and tons of groceries of all sorts for skagway, dawson, juneau, sitka and other alaskan points. also many pounds of dressed beef, mutton, flour, cornmeal, oatmeal and canned goods. there are one thousand cases of oil, lots of dry goods and many miners’ outfits. so you see there is quite a traffic up and down this coast.
as we steam steadily on toward the home of hoder, the stormy old god of winter, the air grows colder, the scenery more wild and strange. snowclad mountains, sun-lit clouds resting on their peaks and veiling their sides, blue sky and sparkling water make a scene which may be imagined but not described.
alaska is the aboriginal name and means “great country.” it was at the request of charles sumner that the original name was retained. seven million two hundred thousand dollars for a field of stony mountain, icebergs and glaciers! had seward gone mad? ah, no. he builded wiser than he knew. alaska is nine times the size of the new england states and cost less than one-half cent per acre.
the northwest coast of alaska was discovered and explored by a russian expedition under behring, in 1741. russian settlements were made and the fur trade developed.
the climate is no colder than at st. petersburg and many other parts of russia. the warm japan current sweeps the coast and tempers the climate. sitka is only three miles north of balmoral, scotland. the isothermal line running through sitka runs through richmond, va., giving both points the same temperature. the average summer temperature is fifty-two degrees and the average winter weather thirty-one degrees above zero.
the average rainfall at this point is eighty-two inches. native grasses and berries grow plentifully in the valleys. the chief wealth of the country lies in its forests, fish, fur-bearing[64] animals and mines. the forest consists of yellow pine, spruce, larch, fir of great size, cypress and hemlock. the wild animals include the elk, deer and bear. the fur-bearing animals are the fox, wolf, beaver, ermine, otter and squirrel. fur-bearing seals inhabit the waters along the coast. salmon abound in the rivers.
it is one of the secrets of the rebellion that the large sum paid to russia for alaska was to compensate her for the presence of her warships in our harbor during the early days of the civil war, thus helping to prevent english interference.
fort wrangel is delightfully located on the green slopes of the mountains. it was once a russian military post and takes its name from the russian governor of alaska, baron wrangel.
here are some fine totem poles. totemism is a species of heraldry. their whales, frogs, crows, and wolves are no more difficult to understand than the dragons, griffins, and fleur-de-lis of european heraldry. the totem pole of the alaskan indian is his crest, his monument. the totem is his clan name, his god. he is a crow, a raven, an eagle, a bear, a whale, or a wolf. it is the old story of beauty and the[65] beast. the beautiful raven maiden may live happily with her bear husband.
every indian claims kinship with three totems. the clan totem is the animal from which the clan descended. there is a totem common to all the women of the clan. the men of the clan have a totem and each individual when he or she arrives at manhood or womanhood chooses a totem sacred to him or herself. this totem is his guardian angel and protects him from danger and harm. the alaskan indian believes the eagle to be the american man’s totem and the lion and the unicorn the two totems of the englishman.
the civilized races of antiquity all passed through the totem period. our indians all had their totems as their names indicate, blackfeet, crow and sioux. totems are common to all savage races, but the alaskan indian is the only north american who erects a monument to his totem.
while the totem protects the indian the indian is in duty bound to protect his totem. he may neither kill nor eat his own totem, but he may with impunity kill the god of another. if you kill his totem he will be grieved and sorrowfully ask, “why you kill him, my brother?”
these people were evolutionists long before darwin. there are no monkeys, however, among the totems of the alaskan indians.
when an indian marries he takes his wife’s name, the name of her clan totem. the children, too, belong to the mother’s totem, and, of course, take her name. the wife is the head of the family, managing it and transacting all the business.
these indians and all the indians of southern alaska are tlingits. tlingit means people. there are many traditions among them of a supernatural origin; one to the effect that the crow in whom dwelt the great spirit lived on the nass river, where he turned two blades of grass into a man and a woman. this was the first pair from whom sprang all tlingits. they have tales of a migration from the southeast, the mars river country. their propitiation of evil spirits, their shamanism and their belief in the transmigration of souls, all point to asiatic origin, yet there is no tradition among them of any such origin. once, many thousands of snows ago, a tlingit stole the sun and hid it, then nearly all the people died, but the crow found it and placed it in the sky again. after this the tribe increased.
the tlingit idea of justice is something of a novelty. the code, however, is short; an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, is always strictly demanded. a tlingit once shot at a decoy duck, but he made the owner pay for the shot used. a young indian stole a rifle and accidentally killed himself with it. his relatives made the owner pay for the dead thief. if a patient dies under a doctor’s care he pays for him.
before the advent of the white man shamanism held sway. when a tlingit fell ill he sent for his medicine man, who by incantations cured him, or failing that, accused some one of bewitching his patient. the wizard or witch was tortured and put to death, after which the sick indian recovered or died, as the case might be.
captain e. c. merriman, of the u. s. navy, destroyed the power of the shaman by rescuing the accused and punishing the shaman.
the shaman spends the greater part of his life in the forest, fasting and receiving inspiration from his totemic spirits. a concoction of dried frogs’ legs and sea water give him power to perceive a man’s soul—the tlingit woman had no soul then—escaping from his[68] body and to catch it and restore it to the man.
the tlingits practiced cremation, but the body of a shaman was never cremated, it would not burn. it was always buried in a little box-like tomb. the body was wrapped in blankets and placed in a sitting posture, surrounded by the masks, wands, rattles, and all the paraphernalia of the office of a shaman, ready for use in the heaven to which he had gone.
the missionaries have destroyed faith in the shaman and broken up the practice of cremation.
at fort wrangel we called on the chief. he has the tallest and the most handsomely carved pole in the indian village.
