Norwegian Scenery.—Lonely Navigation.—The Marvels of Takou Inlet.—
Hundreds of Icebergs.—Home of the Frost King.—More Gold Deposits.—
Snowstorm among the Peaks.—Juneau the Metropolis of Alaska.—Auk and
Takou Indians.—Manners and Customs.—Spartan Habits.—Disposal of
Widows.—Duels.—Sacrificing Slaves.—Hideous Customs still prevail.
Before reaching Juneau we explored Takou Inlet, where there are two
large glaciers, one with a moraine before its foot, the other reaching
the deep water with its face, so as to discharge icebergs constantly.
The bay was well filled with these, some of which were larger than our
steamer (the Corona), and all were of such intense blue, mingled with
dazzling white, as to recall the effect realized in the Blue Grotto of
Capri. This berg-producing glacier was corrugated upon its surface in a
remarkable manner, being utterly impassable to human feet. It was nearly
a mile in width and its length indefinite; we doubt if it has ever been
explored. A thousand ice and snow fed streams poured into the bay from
the surrounding mountains, which completely walled in the broad sheet of
water, so sprinkled with ice-sculpture in all manner of shapes. The
ceaseless music of falling water was the only noise which broke the
silence of the scene. A cavalcade of fleecy clouds, kindly forgetting to
precipitate themselves in form of rain, floated over our heads,
producing delicate lights and shades, with creeping shadows upon the
surrounding mountains. The steamer’s abrupt whistle was echoed with
mocking hoarseness from the surrounding cliffs, causing the myriads of
white-winged wild fowl to rise from the icebergs until the air was
filled with them like snowflakes. How wonderful it was! A broad clear
flood of sunshine enveloped the whole; everything seemed so serene, so
grand, the sky so blue, and the angels so near. It was all as
magnificent as a gorgeous dream, to the thoughtful observer a living
poem. Close in to the precipitous cliffs of the myrtle-green hills were
inky shadows, which formed the requisite contrast to the crystal
clearness of the surroundings. For thousands of years this glacial
action has been going on, the story of the earth is so old; but its
beauty is ever young, its loveliness eternal.
On our way up Gastineau Channel—the tide-waters of which have a rise and
fall of sixteen feet—we have presented to us veritable Norwegian
scenery, under a pale amethyst sky fringed at the horizon with orange
and crimson; now gliding close to precipitous cliffs enlivened by
silvery streams leaping down their sides, and now passing the mouths of
inlets winding among abrupt mountains leading no one knows whither, for
there are no maps or charts of these lateral channels. The Indian canoes
may have occasionally penetrated them, but never the keel of the white
man. On the left stand the tall peaks of Douglas Island, and on the
right the jagged Alps of the mainland, both rising to a height of a
thousand feet or more, on the continent side backed by elevations still
more lofty. The Takou River flows into the sea and gives its name to the
neighborhood. Here the Hudson Bay Fur Company established and maintained
a trading-post for several years. All this region is famous for its
game, such as deer, bears, caribou, wolves, foxes, martens, and minks,
together with the abounding big-horn sheep. In place of wool these
latter have a coat somewhat like the red deer, and except in the size of
their horns they resemble our domestic sheep. We are told that this
district is also rich in gold placer mines, and according to Professor
Muir it must eventually yield extremely profitable results to
intelligent mining enterprise. In many localities the placers have paid
for years, though worked by the most simple means. The experience of
California will undoubtedly be repeated in Alaska; the great aggregate
of gold which was realized there will be duplicated here. After due
thought and personal observation relative to the subject, we are willing
to stand or fall upon the correctness of this prediction. The result may
not come in the next year, or that following, but it will come in the
near future. Mining north of 54° 40′ is only in its infancy; its growth
has been far more rapid, however, than it was at the south, both because
of the richness of the mines, and because the business of mining is, and
will continue to be, done more intelligently.
Just before reaching Juneau a singular phenomenon attracted our
attention; it was a furious snowstorm among the mountain peaks, while
all about us was quite calm and pleasant. The thick clouds of snow were
driven hither and thither, from one pinnacle to another, writhing and
twisting like a cyclone or water-spout at sea. It was a curious
contrast, the storm raging in those far upper currents, while we enjoyed
a gracious wealth of sunshine in a temperature of 65° Fah.
Juneau, located one hundred and fifty miles southeast of Sitka, and
about three hundred north of Fort Wrangel, is already a considerable
mining centre, with a population of about four thousand, situated not
far from Takou district, and is the depot for the rich quartz and placer
mines which are located in the region back of it. The site of the town
is picturesque, being at the base of an abrupt mountain cliff which is
decked with sparkling cascades. We were told that there is a rise and
fall of twenty-four feet in the tide at the wharf of Juneau, but think
perhaps eighteen feet would be nearer correct. The winter population is
swelled by the influx of miners when the placers are not worked owing to
snow and ice. Truth compels us to say that the residents here, of both
sexes, are far from being of a desirable class. The Indians of this
vicinity are of the Auk and Takou tribes; good traders and good hunters,
but enemies of each other, though not given to open hostility. The
native women, as if not content with the natural ugliness which has been
liberally bestowed upon them by Providence, besmear their faces with a
compound of seal-oil and lampblack, but for what possible reason, except
that it is aboriginal Alaska fashion, one cannot divine. It is said that
this is a sort of mourning for departed relations or friends; but the
hilarity of those thus marked was anything but an indication of sorrow.
We can well remember Yokohama wives, with blackened teeth and shaved
eyebrows, who looked, if possible, a degree worse than these Alaskan
women. In the latter case, however, the wives confessedly sought to make
themselves hideous to prevent jealousy on the part of their husbands;
but the native women here do not assign any plausible reason for
smooching themselves in this offensive manner. When their faces are
washed, a circumstance of rare occurrence, they are as white as the
average of white people who are exposed to an out-of-door life. It is
not the practice of the aborigines of either sex to wash themselves with
water. They are sometimes seen to besmear their faces and hands with
oil, which they carefully wipe off with a wisp of dry grass, or other
substitute for the towel of civilization. The effect is to make the
features shine like varnished mahogany; but as to cleanliness obtained
by such a process, that does not follow.
If it were possible to discover a soap mine here there might be some
hopes of introducing among the natives that condition which common
acceptation places next to godliness. A traveling companion remarked
that although milk and honey could not be said to flow in this
neighborhood, oil does.
Many of the women, like those of the South Sea and the Malacca Straits,
wear nose rings and glittering bracelets, while they go about with bare
legs and feet. The author has seen all sorts of rude decorations
employed by savage races, but never one which seemed quite so ridiculous
or so deforming as the plug which many of these women of Alaska wear
thrust through their under lips. The plug causes them to drool
incessantly through the artificial aperture, though it is partially
stopped by a piece of bone, ivory, or wood, formed like a large
cuff-button, with a flat-spread portion inside to keep it in position.
This practice is commenced in youth, the plug being increased in size as
the wearer advances in age, so that when she becomes aged her lower lip
is shockingly deformed. It is gratifying to be able to say that this
custom is becoming less and less in use among the rising generation, and
the same may be said as to tattooing the chin and cheeks. The hands and
feet of the women are so small as to be noticeable in that respect.
The girls and boys endure great physical neglect in their youth, so that
only the strongest are able to survive their childhood. It was
surprising to see children of tender age of both sexes clothed only in a
single cotton shirt, reaching to their knees, bare-legged, bare-footed,
and bare-headed, yet apparently quite comfortable, while our woolen
clothes and waterproofs were to us indispensable. We were told that in
infancy these children are dipped every morning into the sea, without
regard to the temperature, or season of the year, commencing the
operation when they are four weeks old. This heroic, Spartan treatment
of the bath will probably harden, if it does not kill, but undoubtedly
the latter result is the more likely of the two. The adults of some of
the tribes break holes in the ice in midwinter, and bathe with marvelous
fortitude, not for purposes of cleanliness, but declaring that it makes
them “brave and strong, able to resist the cold, and to live long.” The
next hour, however, they may be found sitting on their hams as close to
the fire in the middle of their unventilated cabins as they can get,
closely wrapped in blankets, head and all. The prevalence among them of
rheumatism and consumption shows that Nature cannot be outraged with
impunity even by half-civilized Alaskans.
The natives do not seem to know anything about medicine, but when
seriously ill they call in their shaman or medicine-man, and submit to
his wild and senseless incantations, a process which would drive a
civilized patient distracted. Fifty years ago an epidemic of small-pox
swept away one third of the population of this part of the North Pacific
coast, besides which, from various causes, the number in the several
tribes is steadily decreasing. Vaccination having been introduced, a
second visit of the dreaded disease just mentioned was accompanied with
a very much smaller fatality. A scourge known as black measles is a
frequent visitor among the youthful Alaskans, and is quite as fatal as
small-pox.
Strong efforts are made by our government officials to keep intoxicating
liquors out of the Territory, and the law makes them strictly
contraband, but it is no more difficult or impossible to smuggle in
Alaska than it is in New York or Boston. There are plenty of
irresponsible whites ready to make money out of the aborigines. Rum is
the native’s bane, its effect upon him being singularly fatal; it
maddens him, even slight intoxication means to him delirium and all its
consequences, wild brutality and utter demoralization. Molasses is sold
freely to them, and the Indians have learned how to distill rum from it,
so that they secretly produce a vile and potent intoxicant, in spite of
all prohibition.
When a native husband dies his brother’s or sister’s son, according to
their custom, must marry the widow, but if there is no male relative of
the husband’s living, the widow may then choose for herself. If the
individual who thus falls heir to a widow does not fancy the conditions,
he must buy himself off, or fight the widow’s nearest male relative.
Oftentimes, if the new alliance is particularly disagreeable, the victim
escapes by paying so much cash or so many blankets. There seems to be no
hurt to a native’s honor that pecuniary consideration will not promptly
heal. Corporal punishment is considered by these aborigines to be a
great disgrace, and is very seldom resorted to even with rebellious
children. Theft is not looked upon as a crime; but if discovered, the
thief must make ample restitution; and when his peculation is known he
promptly does so without question or murmur. They have the duel as a
decisive means of settling family feuds. When matters have come to the
last resort, there is no secret about the matter. The two combatants
fight publicly with knives, their friends looking on and singing songs
while the combat lasts. But these duels, the same as with many other
earlier savage practices, are now nearly obsolete. Like our Western
Indians, their method of war was the ambush and surprise, and like them
they scalped their prisoners and subjected them to savage cruelties.
This also is more of the past than the present, as no open conflicts
would now be permitted by the United States officials. The natives deck
themselves with paint,—yellow ochre,—and look very much like the Sioux
and Apache Indians in this respect. A century ago they were armed with
flint-capped lances, bows, and arrows, but association with the whites
has now supplied them with firearms. The old style of native weapons has
consequently disappeared, except the lance with which they hunt the
sea-otter. Firearms they do not use in this occupation, fearing to
frighten away the valuable game altogether. They still manufacture bows
and arrows for sale as curiosities to visiting strangers. They pride
themselves upon their accomplishments in singing and dancing, but which
to civilized ears and eyes are only the grossest caricatures. In these
notes of the natives we refer to no one tribe, but to the aborigines of
Alaska generally. The various tribes of course differ from each other.
Those most in contact with the whites, having abolished many of their
ancient habits, have adopted in a certain degree such customs as they
see the white people follow. The holding of slaves is still practiced
among them. Formerly, as we have said, one or two of these were
sacrificed when their owner died, if he was a chief, in order that he
might be well attended in the new sphere upon which he was entering; but
this practice also has passed away in most communities, with many other
cruelties which were once common. These slaves are generally descendants
of parents who were taken in battle during civil wars, though they are
also bought and sold for so many otter-skins, or so many blankets. Such
persons are always submissive, and accept the position in which they
find themselves as a matter of course. This enforced servitude will soon
be entirely abolished.
Female infanticide has not been uncommon with some tribes, but it does
not prevail as has been represented by late writers. It is true that
there have been cases where mothers, dreading to bring up their girls to
such lives of hardship as they have themselves endured, have resorted to
this desperate alternative, but careful inquiry did not satisfy us that
such a practice now prevails if, indeed, it has not entirely ceased. In
common with nearly all semi-civilized and savage races, the native
Alaskans regard their women more in the light of slaves than as
help-mates, and nearly all the hard work, except hunting and fishing,
falls to their share. This is not a peculiarity of savage life, after
all; horses and mules are not harder worked than are women in Germany
and various parts of Europe. The writer has seen women carrying hods of
bricks and mortar up long ladders in Munich, while their husbands drank
huge “schooners” of beer and smoked tobacco in the nearest groggery.
Here and there among the several tribes, strange, unnatural, hideous
customs are still extant, relative to wives about to become mothers, and
as to young girls arriving at the age of puberty. We realize, however,
that is not for us to look at this people through the lens of any small
circumscribed moral code, but with kindly, hopeful views, guided by a
due consideration of their normal condition. The conventionalities of
civilization do not apply; latitude and longitude make broad differences
as to what constitutes vice and virtue, reason or unreason. Modern
instances are inadequate as a criterion of comparison. One who has
traveled in many lands has learned to expand his horizon of judgment to
accord with his geographical experience.
Notwithstanding the light in which the Alaskan regards his women, there
seems to be a universal concession made to them in all matters of trade,
wherein they undoubtedly hold the veto power, and in some other respects
their domestic authority is promptly acknowledged. Just where the line
is drawn does not seem to be clear to a stranger. After a native had
sold us some trifle, his wife in more than one instance came and
demanded it back again, carefully refunding the consideration which was
given for the same. To this interference the husband seemed forced to
submit in silence,—forced by the arbitrary custom of his tribe. We were
told that even among themselves an agreement amounted to nothing at all,
as they claim the right, and exercise it, of undoing any contract at
will, provided the consideration which passed is promptly refunded. Even
the white traders are obliged to yield to this singular idea to a
certain extent, for the sake of peace.
The story so often told about polygamous wives, that is women with
husbands in the plural, cannot be absolutely denied, but is an
exaggeration of facts. Such relations we were told did exist, but to no
great extent, among the tribes of Alaska.
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