any one would gain a priority
simply because he was the first to
put in a few piles in a wide
stretch of navigable waters, in
closing nothing, or was the first
to stand upon the shore and say:
‘I intend to fish in this particular
place. I intend to build a fishing
appliance in the waters off this
shore.’
“The right of fishery in the
navigable waters is a common
right. It is a right of almost an
equal grade with the right of
navigation. Certainly it is an older
right.
Nc Exclusive Right
“As was said in the case of
Pacific Steam Whaling Company
v. Alaska Packers’ Association, 138
Cal. 63G, 72 Pac. 163: ‘The right
of fishery in the waters of the
ocean, whether in the open sea.
or where the waters ebb and flow
over tidelands, is a public right
which may ho exercised by any
citizen. In its very nature, the exer
cise of the right of fishing in the
public waters of the ocean is not,
and cannot be, exclusive. Its exer
cise, no matter by whom or for
what length of time, is only the
exercise of a public right. There
can he no possession, for the pur
pose of fishery, of an area of land
covered by the waters of the ocean
that is at all analogous (similar) to
an actual possession of a tract oi:
upland which might give the pos
sessor a right of action against
a mere trespasser. One who exer
cises this public right of fishery
in the sea does not by that make
himself a trespasser.’”
ALASKA NiM ill
MBITS PLATFORM
The platform adopted by the A.
N. B. in 1920 still applies. It
shows how right these natives were
then, and is as follows:
1. We affirm that great principle
of the Declaration of Independence,
that all men are created free and
equal, and that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain in
alienable Rights, life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness.
2. We affirm that all people
within the United States should be
equal before the law and that it
is not only un-American in prin
ciple to make laws which create
within its confines a more favored
race, but we also affirm that such
laws are in the end injurious to
the favored peoples.
,3. We, the Alaska Native
Brotherhood, therefore ask that all
favors shown the Natives of Alaska,
and more particularly the Natives
of Southeastern Alaska, be with
drawn, and that the Natives be
hereafter under the' same privileges
and duties of any other citizen
of the United States.
4. It is the wish of this Conven
tion that the Natives shall pay his
taxes for the support of all proper
activities in the same manner as
any other citizen, that he s hall be
required to attend the same schools
as other citizens for we believe
that the system that has as im
ilated millions of foreigners who
have come to our shores within
the past twenty years, to wit, the
public school, is the only reasonable
system by which the so-called In
dian problem should be solved.
5. We believe in compulsory
education, and as an evidenc1 of
our faith, we recommend that all
children of Natives shall be re
quired by law to remain in school
until their sixteenth year and shall
began with their eighth year, and
that they attend the public schools
of Alaska as required of any other
citizen.
f>. Most of the delegates of this
Convention know from experience
of the numerous catches of salmon
by traps which take the »almon
at points of bays, channels, and
streams, where a seiner cannot pos
sibly work; also the fact that a
trap works twenty four hours a day
whereas a seiner cannot work more
than daylight hours and only in
comparatively calm weather; also
that it is the practice of many
trap owners to work their traps
during the closed season and that
but few of these owners are brought
to justice; also the fact that while
there are a great many successful
traps in Alaska, there are a great
many unsuccessful traps and the
cost of these unsuccessful traps are
added to the cost of production so
that the price of the canned sal
mon is very high not because the
seiners are paid a high price for
salmon, but because those unsuccess
ful traps costing oftentimes from
ten to twenty thousand dollars are
added by the cannery owner to the
cost of operation; therefore we
pledge ourselves to work for—
abolition of all traps and pledge
ourselves to send U kpScial
resentative to Washington, D. C., td
work to this end.
7. We know from personal ob
servation that very many trap;
catch fish having a value of five
to twenty thousand dollars a day
and more during’ the heavy run,
therefore we wish to go o:i
record as opposed to the systerd
of fines which seem to prevail hi
the Court of this District where
the trap-owner is fined two hundred
dollars for a violation of the lav/
with one trap, one hundred aid
fifty dollars each violation of the
law with five traps, and one hirv
dred dollars for each violation of t'' '
law with ten or more trap?, an i
ask our Delegate to Congress 11
work for a system of heavy fire',
more in the nature of a penal': ”
than in the nature of an item r *
expense. Hut we urge our Delega' ^
to Congress to work first for th'
abolition of the traps as the fir t
and the most important step i i
the fight for the preservation of
fishing industry.
S. no urge the officers of th’n
Society to' extend the work of the
”:^AT.TU:?tHOOD.
To summarize our desires, w ’
p’odge ourselves to work for-—
First— Abolishment of fish tra;^.
Second— Equality of all Native'
before the lav/;
Third— Equal rights and pri ‘c
leges as citizens;
Fourth— Equal schools as oth er
citizen?.
Fifth— A Convention to me.t
yearly ro that by association the e
may be a better understander g
among cur neonle and a mo*‘e
rapid change from the tie-s cf
harmful customs to the practices
of a better civilization;
Si’:th— The use of but one
language, namely, the American
language ;
Seventh— We believe in ONE
LANGUAGE, ONE COUNTRY, and
CNF, FLAG.
We hoar from Klukwan that
preparations arc already being- made
for the annual Alaska Native
Brotherhood Convention for
next year and that the Camp would
be glad of words of encouragement
from the other camps. Two new
members have joined as a resuit
cf the reports of the delegates.
The people of Klukwan are erect
ing a small saw mill which will
be ready for running early in the
spring.