MORE SNAP-SHOTS
Sen. Ayer killed the model work
men’s compensation act and then ex
tended the present rotten act to cov
er all industries. Will he tell the
Nome workmen “What a friend we
have in Ayer?”
* * * * $ *
Some U. S. Marshals will not hand
pick juries from now on thanks
to Senators Dimond (tree, we paid
Dimond a compliment) Brown and
others who were interested in stop
ping; this practice.
* * * * * *
Question: How can a legislator
resign when there is no provision in
law for a resignation nor anyone au
thorized to accept the resignation?
But why worry when the Federal
jobs must be filled?
******
Legislators are hastening to re
sign now that the session is over.
Staser is the latest. The legislature
loses a handsome member, but An
chorage gets a new deputy marshal.
The black eye that Jameson ware
and the delapidated face that Foster
presented for a few days reminds us
that drinking lemonade is safer, san
er and at least lawful.
******
If Ayer and Raelson did not have
Daly to guide them around with their
voting, they surely would have made
at least one ndistake and voted with
others than the “solid third.”
******
We have not learned yet why Rael
son has not been appointed Regent
or something at the Fairbanks Col
lege. He has a big voice even if
Keyes has a bald head.
FAMOUS SAYINGS
“I voted for the memorial con
demning the fish reserves against my
better judgment.” Sen. Ayer.
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“The Indians are not corrupt. I
would hate to lose their friendship.
I mean the members of this House
are corrupt.”—Rep. Polley.
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,“What are we voting on, anyway?”
Rep. Keyes.
* * * * * *
“I stand for pure politics.” Foster.
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“I need the mon’ ”. Shepard.
NOOZ-NI
Tills is a tale of the Yakutats, or
Youk-dots, as they are more proper
ly called, a people who live on the
seashore just south of the mountain
that is named St. Elias. It is told for
the sake of the younger generation
who are no longer willing to listen
to the lore of the tribe around the
community fire tin the long winter
evenings.
Nooz-ni belonged to the Tay-qua
dy clan. In those days about which
I write, no man dared marry within
his own clan because all people of one
clan wore considered brothers and
sisters. The penalty for breaking
the law was death and the sentence
was usually carried out by the head
of the family.
It so happened that a man of the
Tay-qua-dy family married in viola
tion of the law. Very promptly he
suffered the penalty for the disgrace
he had brought on the Tay-qua-dy
people and was killed.
There is a second law that was very
strictly kept in the old days. The
Indians of Alaska have always lived
under the Mosaic law of an “eye for
an eye and a tooth for tooth,” ac
cordingly. a near relative of the man
upon whom the death sentence had
been inflicted at once killed a near
relative of the executioner. The
bloodshed did not end here because
one family or the other was always
one or two deaths ahead and the
struggle to “get even” continued. In
this way the entire family was wiped
out except Nooz-ni who had run away
when he saw that the odds were too
great for him.
On-gi-hhoo, a clever and merciless
man, was chief of the victorious fam
ily. From his hiding place, Nooz-ni
went to consult an Icht, or doctor,
to find how he might be avenged on
On-gi-hhoo. The Icht answered that if
Nooz-ni had a strong heart and would
obey him, he might kill On-g'-hhoo,
who seemed to bear a charmed life.
Obeying the instructions of the
Icht, Nooz-ni approached the fort of
On-gi-hhoo singing the song of Goo
wa-kan, or deer, which (is the symbol
of peace among the Indians. He ap
proached the fort, singing the song
and alone. On-gi-hhoo’s people came
from the fort breaking their spears,
and took him within.
There they made him a Goo-wa-kan
or deer, but all through the elaborate
ritual no one discovered that Nooz
ni had a knife hidden between his
legs. As the ceremony progressed,
he continued singing the song of
Goo wa-kan, with the accompaniment
of weird incantation and rhythmic
dance, all the1 while working his way
slowly and cautiously toward the
chief On-gi-hhoo.
His enemies were defeated; the
town was deserted. In the ominous
silence that took possession of the
big fort, Nooz-ni had time to re*
member that he was only one and
that his enemies were still many. He
forgot that they were po?sessed with
fear, and that he was master of the
fort. And even in his victory, he
began to fear for ’ffl's life until in
his despair, he rushed into his own
house and hid away in its recesses.
One by one, his enemies peered
from their hiding places and not see
ing the terrible and inspired Nooz-ni
dominating their fort, they crept
forth and gathered to themselves
their weapons. Even at this point,
they would have run away, if their
terrible and implacable enemy had
shown himself; for fear is a soul
eating instinct. They looked about
and gathered together. In numbers
there is courage and soon they be
gan the runt for Nooz-ni. They found
him hiding away, cowering, conquer
ed and afraid. He soon paid with
his life as a forfeit to the law of
Moses, “an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth.”
Goo-na-heen, a wiseman of the
Kok wan tons, made an adage out of
this story and said, “Nooz-ni ran a
way after he had chased his enemies
away.”
Today, the younger generation of
Indians may not understand, but
the older generation understands fully
when one of the old men says. “Don’t
be like Nooz-ni.”
REP. WILSON URGES
ROAD BUILDING
Mr. Wilson of Nome introduced a
bill to place Territorial Road Build
ing in the hands of roadmasters elect
ed by the people.' Mr. Daly of Nome
successfully fought this bill. Did
this recent employee of the Road
Commission come to the Legislature
for this purpose?
The argument in favor of Terri
torial control is that the roads are
built where the people want them.
The argument in favor of Federal
control of Territorial Funds for Road
Building is that there is no overhead
all the money goes into the roads,
and equipment is not duplicated.
Under the present law, a certain
amount of money is supposed to be