They Would Lomenize Alaska
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From The Progressive
A certain news item in your
paper of May 3, quotes a letter
from the Chief of the Agricul
tural Department to Senator
Deneen, questioning the right of
the Eskimo natives of Igloo,
Alaska to complain of treatment
as was published by Dan Suther
land, Delegate for Alaska.
I wish to ask:
. .Have representatives of the
Agricultural Department ever
been on the lands involved in
the claims, or visited the herds
of the natives making the com
plaint?
Do they know what lands were
occupied by the Iglo natives as
range before the Lomen corpor
ation occupied ground on the
Seward Peninsula?
Are they acquainted with the
reported counts and apportion
nents of the Lomen coiporaticn
specifically relating to the rein
deer of the Igloo natives?
Do they know that U is gen
erally understood that the Lo
rn en corporation has r: ade ap -
Location under the leasing Act.
of Congress for certain lands
east of the American River and
North of Igloo Creek which has
been considred to have been
the range of the Igloo natives.
The natives are presumed to
have preference on the lands
occupied by them, (Grazing
Land Act, App. Mar. 4, 1927).
If the Lomen corporation has
applied for that land, it is an ag -
gressive salient forced into the
native lands, pursuant to a poli
cy which has been followed for
fifteen years to acquire native
lands and reindeer and the na
tives have the right to protest.
The report of counting and
r<"nortirning of reindeer in the
Lomen-Teller herd, which lies
directly west of the Igloo range,
and i'rom which the salient is
being extended, shows in 1926
reindeer as follows:
Adult Reindeer tomen
Ccrp. mark.2,802
Adult Reindeer Native
Co-owner mark.1,304
Adult reindeer Native
Eatray. 2,034
Adult reindeer Native
Unmarked.911
Total adults . . .. 7051
Fawns.2912
Total. 9963
. .The estray doer above men
tioned are nearly all deer ol' the
Igloo Eskimos who made ihe pe
tition which was published by
Dan Sutherland, Delegate for
Alaska. Their land is the land
asked for under lease by the Lo
men Reindeer Corporation north
of Igloo Crook and east of the
American River, on the Seward
Peninsula.
The increase of fawns of the
herd for that year was appor
tioned as follows, according to
the report of the Lomen Corp.,
tiled in the office of the Bureau
of Education at Nome, Alaska.
The apportionment was made on
the females:
Lomen Corp 1933 1916 99. u
Native ‘Co-own’ 1055 816 77.3
Native Estrays. from
Igloo, & others 1472 180 12.2
4160 2912
Ave. 65.2
Unmarked deer called
“yearlings” taken for herd
bill by Corp 911
Fawns apportioned 2912
Males in herd 1619
9902
Unaccounted for 61
Total 9963
If the rate of increase of 12.2
nPr cent is unfair on their fe
male deer while the holding cor
porattcm takes 99.1 per cent, then
the Igloo natives DO have a
right to protest.
The records seem to show that
for 15 years there has been a
steady policy of absorption of the
native deer in at least three
herds of native reindeer by the
Lomen Corporation.
The first move was to pur
chase in 1915 and 1916, rein
deer held in trust for the natives
of Golovin and Teller by mis
sions who were to distribute the
females among the natives for
herding the reindeer. (See report
of Governor of Alaska for 1917.
p. 22, also see Circular letter, W.
T. Harris, Commissioner of Edu
cation, May 11, 1896 in Reindeer
Report 1896 pp. 119-122, Gov’t
Ptg. Ofs. Washington, D. C., also
see Rules and Regulations Rein
deer Service, Int. Dept. pp. 10
11.)
The application for the por
tion of the Igloo Range above
mentioned is one of the later
ones.
Further investigation of the
matter is invited
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WILL CELEBRATE IN
HOME TOWN
-x
The people of Metlakatla are
going to celebrate this Fourth
of July in their own home town
instead of in the First City.
Roderick Davis, Mayor of Met
lakatla will be chairman of the
exercises and he will be assisted
by James Evans, manager of the
Metlakatla Commercial Company
and Raymon Wolfe, principal in
charge of the U. S. Bureau of
Education station in that town.
The address of the day will be
given by Reverend Edward Mars
den of the Presbyterian Church
and Herbert Joshua Murchison
will read the “Declaration of In
dependence.” The local band
of 42 members under direction of
Benjamin Simpson, will furnish
music for the day.