the old man senseless upon the field.
Next morning a crowd, no longer
fearful of him, beat him as he lay
on the ground.
He was taken to a hospital three
days later, and three months after
ward died of his injuries. The vil
lage is rid of its “sorcerer” but the
villagers apparently have no con
sciousness of guilt.
This Is What Makes The
Alaska Native Brother
hood—Haines Spirit
We are in receipt of the following
communication from the Haines
Camp of the Alaska Native Brotn
erliood. The Haines delegation to
the A. N. B. Convention at Angoon
last November were active bidders
for the next convention, which was
voted to Sitka by the deciding bal
lot of the Grand President when it
was found the vote was a tie.
“1 am representing Haines Alaska
Native Brotherhood’s and Alaska
Native Sisterhood’s spirit.
“We wish to take this opportuni
ty in sending our invitation to the
Alaska Fisherman. We are invit
nig the 192!) Convention to Haines.
We wish this to be known among
all the Camps and visitors. You
know we have an Arrow in our A
N. B. pin. So we want it to hk
hard for the A. N. B. through
Haines. And you must remember
that Haines strawberries have good
flavor.
Now, Mr. Paul, You know you
were half delegate lor Haines at
the Angoon Convention. This time
help us and put lots of pep in U
when you are printing our invita
tion in the Alaska Fisherman.
“If you don’t succeed at Sitka,
we will try and try again until we
get it. This will be our spirit.
Sincerely yours,
Samuel A. Martin
Cor. Secretary.
The Hydaburg
Petition
Hydaburg, Alaska
AUGUST 30,1927
The Honorable Dan Sutherland,
House of Representatives,
Washington, D. C.
Sir:
In justice to the one thousand
and more fishermen of the west
coast of Prince of Wales Island,
whose prime means of livlihood is
the catching and sale of fish,
(seining), to the local canneries,
and now deprived of this only source
of existence by the unreasonable
number of depradatory fish traps
set by merciless and self-interested
concerns without limit to the num
ber or size, consequently forcing
on the helpless natives an inevitable
winter of hardships and probable
starvation, we feel that the time has
arrived when it is no longer wise
nor fair, in the name of a just God,
to withhold from you and that aug
ust body of national lawgivers who
to our knowledge has always fath
ered the cause of righteousness, the
following petition of grievances:
That the right to petition
for redress is an inalienable
right under the constitution of
this great republic and is there
fore binding within the United
States and her territories;
That the atrocious exploita
tion of canneries operating
along the west coast of Prince of
Wales Island is inconsistent
with and inviolation of the God
given rights of a liberty loving
people;
That on account of the in
tolerable numbers of fish traps,
(95 to 10 canneries) which in
fest the fishing grounds at ev
ery turn, the poor fishermen
are confronted with the colos
sal problem of making a decent
liTlni;
That we attribute the pre
sent dearth of hsh as com
pared to last year’s production
(40,000 cases packed by 10
canneries as against 300,000
cases of last year and anyone
can see what percentage went
to the seiners), to the increas
ed number of devastating fish
traps against which there is no
law;
That the only salutary and
tangible benefit which the clos
ing law, now in effect, can di
rectly bestow in the future,
will be to fill the cannery traps
with the fish saved from this
year’s extinction by the ordi
nance and foresight of the
authorities;
That in British Columbia
the seining boats are the only
source of fish supply, without
any apparent damage to the
canneries, instead, both parties
are in a state of material pros
perity;
That the number of seining
boats can reasonably supply
the demand of any cannery at
any time in this locality;
That we are willing, al
though in poverty this sum
mer, to battle the sad and un
fortunate consequences of a
cruel on-coming winter;
And that, in view of the fore
going facts, it is both impera
tive and urgent thta we strong
ly recommend,
THAT A LAW BE PASSED
PROVIDING FOR THE ABSO
LUTE AND UNRESTRICTED
DISPENSATION OF FISH
TRAPS IN THIS LOCALITY.
We hold the belief that in all
fairness no legislature of any na
tion can deny us the right to live,
in our own land. Yet the canneries
by the gradual increase of traps
are slowly choking the poor fisher
men to an untimely death. The
humanitarian interests of our law
makers can not permit them to
atand idly while the exploiters are