when they may justify the faith
and pride of their fathers and
give to the world sens of whom
the Great White Father may well
be proud. In the great war there
was a greater percentage of In
dians in uniform according to
their total number than of whit
es—every 17 th Indian in the
United States was in uniform
and serving his country while
every thirteenth whiteman was
in uniform serving the same
cause. And the records are in
disputable that these Indian
patriots acquitted themselves
most acceptably.
In all seriousness then, why
segregate the Indians? In the
words of the immortal General
R. H. Pratt, for twenty-five
years head of the famous Car
lisle Indian School: “To civilize
the Indian, get him intr ci/iU
zation: to keep him civilized, let
him stay.” Compare, if you will,
the results of the reservation
system in the states, which has
rightly been called “A Century
cf Dishonor,” with the achieve
ment of the Thlingets and the
Haidas of Southeastern Alaska
in the past thirty years. From a
few scattered warring bands,
Jiving as simple children of na
ture in ignorance and supersti
tion, the Natives of this section
have emerged to a state of
“competent, Christian citizen
ship,” and ministers who need
not be ashamed in any company
They have absorbed and fairly
assimilated in the span of two
generations the progress made
by the white race in two thou
sand years cr more.
They are not asking that re
servations be established. Their
leaders are not whining for
special privileges even though
the ancient fishing grounds of
their fathers have been gradual
ly taken from them and given
to others to such an extent that
the native fishermen are today
perhaps the poorest paid of all
classes of labor in this country.
Realizing that two wrongs can
not make a right, and that one
special privilege will not justify
another, they are asking for
themselves and their white
brothers that special privileges
be abolished and that they be
permitted to earn by their in
dustry a decent, honest living
for themselves and their fami
lies; that they be allowed to take
their places in the world of men
4 o stand or fall according to
thcii industry and adaptability
and that: no allowances be made
for their failure or short com
ings.
They have made progress since
those days not very long ago
when to secure an old second
hand gun, an Indian was re
quired to stack valuable fur pelts
of mink, marten, otter and bea
ver to the full height of the gun
—and the gun barrels were made
plenty long! What they have
learned by such costly experienc
es they have learned well. Those
who took advantage of their in
nocence have passed on to their
respective rewards but they have
"loft behind a people who expect
value for value. Today shrewd
political tricksters are dangling
before their eyes a more or less
tempting bait, demanding that
they stack alongside it in ex
change, their birthright and
everything that can possibly
make life worth the living—all
in order that the tentacles of
that far-reaching octopus known
as the Bureau of Indian Affairs
may be extended to all Alaska.
Page the Lomen Reindeer Cor
poration which already is work
ing through the Indian Bureau
and other political tricksters to
take from the Eskimos the graz
ing lands and while so-doing
brand with the Lomen brand
any maverick (and otherwise)
reindeer that they can put their
brands to. The recent transfer of
the education of the Alaska Na
tives from the Bureau of Educa
tion direction to that of the
Indian Bureau is but another
indication of administrative
trend.
Petersburg Commercial Club
recently tabled the Cordova pro
test for more information. It is
most earnestly hoped that every
commercial and civic organiza
tion throughout the Territory
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