Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

This Territory is the only part of the United States that is not dominated at this day by the Anglo-American ideas and institutions, which began nearly three centuries ago to assert their supremacy in the New World. It has been repeatedly observed that colonization and civilization prosper best when travelling on parallels running east and west. This natural tendency is shown in the presence of the Esquimaux people in Alaska and other Arctic regions. The power that civilization gives increases this capacity, and the English races have shown themselves pre-eminently capable of successful modification and widespread growth. If it be true that

Westward the course of empire takes its way,

then the Anglo American flood-tide will eventually extend also to Alaska. Such seems the lesson of history, as it is the commonplace of poetry. Shall history repeat for Alaska the melancholy tale she has already penned respecting the Indian of the United States? Are the natives of the new Territory to be expelled from their fishing places and hunting grounds, confined to ever-diminishing reservations, or driven into mountains and deserts too poor to tempt the cupidity of the white inrader? Are they also to acquire the vices and diseases of the white man, without acquiring his safeguards of industry, education, and religion? Shall they be exterminated, and shall the millstones of our Christian civilization grind to powder the simple children of our Alaskan winds and waves? These problems are to be solved in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains and along the tempestuous coasts of the Pacific, but the moral responsibility will rest upon us here, in the older, richer, better trained, and more thoughtful parts of our land. We may attempt to evade the problem and shirk the responsibility, but not without injury to our moral sense and fair fame as a great factor in the civilization of the Western Continent.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

The political condition of Alaska is anomalous and exceptional. The Organic Act of May 7, 1884, which provided a civil government, was deferred until nearly twenty years after the treaty of acquisition, and is an imperfect and crude piece of legislation.

This Act provides little more than the shadow of civil government, without the right to legislate or raise revenue. It expressly inhibits the operation of the general land laws, while it provides that the laws relating to mines and mining shall be in full force and operation. It provides no means by which its citizens may acquire homes or homesteads, or obtain title to an acre of land in its ample domain. It pro vides no means by which the inhabitants can obtain the benefits and protection of municipal law. It has established a single tribunal, with a more extensive jurisdiction than any similar court in, the United States, but provides no means by which its processes and decrees may be

enforced. This Act has been well described as a "legislative fungus, without precedent or parallel in the history of American legislation."

As a consequence, the material progress and advancement of the Territory have been retarded, immigration has been discouraged, and its rich and inviting fields of industry remain undeveloped.

Tracts of land adapted to agriculture, producing vegetables and the grasses, and affording rich pasturage, may be found in many portions of the Territory. With the extension of the land laws to these parts of the country, an industrious and enterprising population would soon find comfortable homes and develop thriving industries. With the same advantages of civil government which are enjoyed by the citizens of other Territories, the people of Alaska would soon enter upon an era of prosperity which would justify the expectations of its most sanguine friends. It is to be hoped that Congress, at its present session, will provide such needful legislation as will protect its citizens and develop its rich resources. Alaska is the gate of the North Pacific, and in the not distant future must become one of our most valuable possessions.

EDUCATION IN ALASKA.

The duty of making needful and proper provision for the education of children of school age in the Territory of Alaska was devolved upon the Secretary of the Interior by the provisions of the act providing a civil government for Alaska, May 17, 1884, section 13, and the Commissioner of Education having been designated to carry out these purposes by the order of the Hon. H. M. Teller, Secretary of the Interior, bearing date March 2, 1885, and the same having been continued in force, with authority to prepare all needful rules and regulations for the management of the schools, a system of rules and regulations for the conduct of the public schools in the Territory was prepared, which was adopted and ordered to be promulgated by your order of the 15th day of June, 1887. These rules and regulations are contained in Chapter III of this Report.

This plan was forwarded to the Hon. A. P. Swineford, Governor of the Territory, and the other gentlemen who were appointed members of the Board of Education, with the request that they would at once organize under it.

When I took charge of this Office, as stated in the Annual Report for 1885-86, I found that Dr. Sheldon Jackson, General Agent of Education for the Territory, had just departed upon a tour of inspection. This was undertaken by order of my predecessor, which was approved by the Secretary of the Interior, bearing date of August 4, 1886. Under the authority given him a vessel was chartered, and he visited, in the fall of 1886, the Kadiak group of islands, the Shumagin Islands, and Unalaska, in Behring's Sea. During this voyage schools were estab lished at several points, and a complete census of the population from Kadiak westward to Attu was taken. For a full report of his expedi

tion, and of the condition of education in that Territory for the year ending June 30, 1887, I would refer to his report, which will be found. in Chapter III, to the interesting details of which I would respectfully call your attention.

TOUR OF INSPECTION.

On the 15th of July last I was directed by you to visit the Territory for the purpose of examining into its educational affairs and public schools. I was instructed to see that the plan of education recently promulgated by your order of the 15th of June was put into operation, and that the schools of the Territory were made to conform to the same in its requirements; to examine the present condition of education among the children of school age, without reference to race; to decide what provision for the building of school-houses was needed, and to direct in what manner the school fund for the current fiscal year should be used, so far as I deemed necessary, and to make a detailed report upon the points covered by these instructions.

I left Washington on the 22d of July, and proceeded via the Northern Pacific Railroad to Tacoma, Wash. Ter., and thence by steamer through the inland passage to Sitka.

I was a passenger on the Ancon, and passed through the famous Alexander Archipelago, studded with its thousand islands. The ship stopped at nearly all the villages and settlements, affording me an excellent opportunity of seeing the country and conversing with its inhabitants.

Islands, mountains, glaciers, inlets, and channels appear all along this inland passage; the eye is delighted at every turn by a succession of the most beautiful and picturesque scenery. The islands are never out of sight, and rise from the bosom of the sea like emeralds in a crown of diamonds. The atmosphere is so light and pure that you are hardly conscious that you are breathing the elixir of life. The blue waters are as smooth and calm as those of an Alpine lake. Ranges of lofty mountains, rich in forest and verdure, with snow-capped summits and glaciers covering large areas, are nearly always in sight. All is wild, weird, and grand. Mounts La Perouse, Crillon, and Fairweather, and many others equally imposing, rising from 9,000 to 15,000 feet above the level of the ocean, with immense glaciers debouching from their frozen valleys and slopes, are successively seen; while Edgecumbe, whose fires have slumbered for a hundred years, with its crown of volcanic scoria glistening in the sunlight, appears like a sleeping giant resting from his labors. From its frozen peak cascades come leaping down like threads of silver until lost to view in the forest line.

En route I visited Nanaimo, Bella-Bella, Metlakahtla, and Port Simpson, in British Columbia; Fort Tongass, Annette Island, Port Chester, Fort Wrangell, Loring, Juneau, Douglas Island, Chilcat, and Haines. The steamer stopped for several hours and parts of days at each of these

points. At all of these towns schools have been in operation since 1885. I reached Sitka, the capital, on the 13th of August.

The schools were in vacation, but I met a number of the native children who attended the schools, and many adult Indians and citizens. Most of these children and some of the Indians speak English.

I met also the teachers at Fort Wrangell, Juneau, Killisnoo, Doug. las Island, Chilcat, and Sitka, and obtained from them all the information they could give in regard to the condition of the native children. under their care. They all unite in the opinion that the natives are both capable and willing, and learn rapidly.

METLAKAHTLA.

During the voyage, William Duncan, the distinguished English missionary, was a passenger on the steamer. Thirty years ago he estab lished a mission for the Indians near Port Simpson, in British Columbia. He found them the slaves of superstition, practicing cannibalism and other disgusting rites of their ancestors.

Under his teachings about twelve hundred of them have been converted to Christianity and have gathered around them, in their Arcadian village of Metlakahtla, many of the comforts and appliances of civilization. The village was situated on a beautiful plateau near the seashore, and was in plain view of the steamer. One hundred dwellings, with gardens attached, two large school buildings, a public hall, several mills and stores, and a Gothic church, built of yellow cedar, equal in architectural design and finish to many of the churches of our own towns, attested their progress. Under his practical and sensible guidance they have been trained to habits of industry, and have become well-behaved and order-loving citizens. The children have had the advantages of schools and religious training. On account of some political differences between Mr. Duncan and the civil authorities of British Columbia, growing out of disputes respecting the title to the lands upon which this village was built, and also with the Church authorities, these people have become alienated from the Columbian government, and have removed to Alaska and placed themselves under the protection of the United States.

The point selected for their present settlement is on Annette Island, near Port Chester, about 60 miles north of the southern boundary of Alaska, and has been named Metlakahtla, after their old home. Mr. Duncan had been to the United States in the interest of his people, and was on his return. The steamer landed on Sunday afternoon, the 7th of August, at this point. The day was perfect-a "bridal of earth and sky."

Attended by some of the passengers, Mr. Duncan was met upon the beach by a few of his people, and was warmly welcomed. The meeting was exceedingly impressive and affecting. Old men and women, girls and boys, gathered around this good man and expressed with tears their intense joy and gladness. Two United States flags, which had

been presented to him, were raised upon an improvised staff, and the Indians and passengers assembled under their folds in the shade of the trees on the shelving shore.

I quote the following description from the pen of a correspondent, who contributed a graphic account of this incident to the Portland Oregonian:

It is impossible to imagine a more lovely place than the harbor where the steamer lay at anchor. Semi-circular in shape, it opens out through a number of small islands to the sea on the westward. On the east and north, wild, rugged, mountains come down to the water's edge, and on the south a low green shore, skirted by a gravel beach, winds in beautiful curves.

The place was entirely uninhabited, except by a few of the Metlakahtlans, who occupied it as an advance guard of the colony. The remainder, about one thousand in number, will come as soon as the means of transportation are provided. The exercises were impromptu. Mr. Duncan addressed the people in their native tongue; told them of his trip to the United States, and mentioned how he had been received and how deep an interest had been excited in their behalf, and concluded by introducing Hon. N. H. R. Dawson, the United States Commissioner of Education, then upon an official tour of Alaska, who, at his request, consented to make an address, in order to allay the uneasiness of the Indians touching their new relations to the United States. His address was interpreted by Mr. Duncan for the benefit of those who did not understand English. Mr. Dawson congratulated the Indians upon their advent to American soil. They were impressively told of the power of the great nation under whose protection they were about to place themselves, and assured that they would be protected in their rights of person and property and in the enjoyment of their homes, and that, although the general land laws of the United States were not in force in the Territory, they would be protected in the possession of any lands upon which they might settle, and that when these laws were extended over the country they would be allowed to hold their lands. In the meantime they would have the protection of the Government, and the same advantages of education which are enjoyed by the people of the Territory. Efforts had been made to impress them with the idea that the American Government was unfriendly to their settlement, but this impression Mr. Dawson successfully removed. His address was received with evidences of great satisfaction by the Indians. When he concluded, the flags were unfurled to the breeze, the ship saluting them with her single gun. The Indians sang "Rock of Ages" in their own language. The Rev. Dr. Fraser, of California, commended the new settlement to the protection of Divine Providence in a touching prayer, after which all united in singing "Coronation." One of the chiefs or selectmen, Daniel Ne-ash-kum-ack-em, then briefly replied to Mr. Dawson's address as follows: "I desire to say a few words to let you know what our hearts are saying. The God of heaven is looking at our doings here to-day. You have stretched out your hands to the Indians. Your act is a Christian act. We have long been knocking at the door of another government for justice, but the door has been closed to us. You have risen ap and opened your door to us, and bid us welcome to, this beautiful island, upon which we have decided to build our home. What can our hearts say to this except that we are thankful and happy? The work of the Christian is never lost. Your work will not be lost to you. It will live, and you will find it after many days. The few of us who are here to-day have been made happy by your words, but how much more joy will they occasion when they reach all our people, numbering over a thousand. What shall we say more to thank you. We were told that no slaves lived under the flag of England. For a long time we relied upon this promise. We were content and happy, but we have found that our trust was misplaced. The promises made to us have been broken, and that nation, in its treatment of us, has set aside and disregarded its own laws, and has dealt with us as if we were slaves.

« AnteriorContinuar »