The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1926, Page 85

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

85

Indians who were slaves in their youth are living
to-day, and they and their children are looked down
upon by those who are the descendants of free fami-
lies. As late as 1880 a Government report on the
condition of the Indians mentioned the fact that
slaves were slaughtered upon special occasions and
that it was not uncommon to kill slaves belonging
to a rich man or chief and to bury them with him
in order that they might minister to his wants in
the land of spirits. Slaves among the Alaskan In-
dians were either prisoners of war or such as were
born in bondage. The children of slaves were also
slaves. The treatment of these slaves was very
cruel, and no work was too low for them to do.
It even happened,. it is said, that their masters
would sacrifice them just to show their power and
wealth and their ability to sustain the loss of val-
uable property.

Polygamy was common before the coming of
Christianity. Some chiefs had as many as twenty
wives, and one. case is reported where a chief had
even forty. In cases of polygamy the first wife was
the ruler of the harem. In olden days child mar-
Tiages were common, and even now they occur at
times. To-day monogamy is the rule, and even the
rich and powerful seldom have more than one wife.

Before the coming of the missionaries the
Thlingets used to pen up their girls in some isolated
place when they reached the marriageable age. The
maiden, before marriage, was put in a wooden coop
for a period extending from four months to a year.
When the girl was let out of her prison, pale and
emaciated, she was supposed to be sufficiently
humbled and ready for marriage. ‘The marriages
were arranged by the relatives of the young people,
and the girls were strictly restrained from making
any advances to the young men.

Missionaries also found infanticide common
_when they came to Alaska. Twins were very un-
welcome and often put to death as soon as born.
The children that were doomed to die were usually
killed by being smothered. ‘This gruesome task
generally fell to the lot of some female relative of
the mother. The poor children were usually taken
into the near-by forest to be put to death.

To-day more than half the native adults among
the Thlingets and practically all the Hydahs are
members of the Christian Church. Three-fourths
of the children are in Sunday-schools. The men
and women are married in Christian fashion, and
separations are infrequent. Home life is prosper-
ing, and in almost every house family worship is

observed, and blessing is asked at every meal.
Practically the whole native population turns out
to church whenever there is opportunity to attend
services. The same is true of most of the Indians
living along the coast-line of Alaska as far as the
Arctic Circle. But when we turn to the natives of
Northern Alaska and the interior, the picture is not
so bright. Some good work has been done, but the
majority of these people are still without the knowl-
edge of Christ and the privileges of the Gospel.

The Eskimos of Alaska.

The Eskimos are decidedly Mongolian in appear-
ance. They have slanting eyes, and their faces are
of a bronze or copper color. Though lighter in
complexion than our North American Indians, they
have the same high cheek-bones. Their faces are

A Group of Eskimos with Their Huskies.

flat and almost square, and they have little, flat
noses. The Eskimos are a friendly race, full of fun,
and it takes but little to bring a smile to their faces.
Eskimos are intelligent and make good traders.
Eskimo babies are described by a traveler as “the
brightest, sweetest, and dirtiest little pieces of
human clay” imaginable.

Eskimos under the influence of missionaries are
rapidly changing their mode of life. They are be-
ginning to dress the same as we do, cook on regular -
cook-stoves, and are building houses with windows
and doors like ours. As the Gospel comes, the igloo
vanishes, fur-clothing is discarded, and cleanliness
gains victories. But more missionaries are needed.
Because of the inaccessibility of many places in all
parts of Alaska, but particularly in those parts
where the Eskimo lives, more missionaries and
more stations are needed, so that the distances to
churches and schools may not be too great. The