REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION FOR THE NATIVES OF ALASKA, 1911-12.

PART I.-GENERAL SUMMARY.

REPORT ON EDUCATION.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

BUREAU OF EDUCATION, ALASKA DIVISION,

Washington, February 1, 1913.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the annual report of the Alaska division of the Bureau of Education for the fiscal year ended June 30,

1912.

During this period the field force of the Alaska school service consisted of 4 district superintendents of schools, 1 assistant superintendent, 108 teachers, 8 physicians (1 of whom also filled another position), 8 nurses, 2 contract physicians, and 3 hospital attendants. Eighty public schools were maintained, with an enrollment of 4,018 pupils, and an average attendance of 1,805.

METHOD OF ADMINISTRATION.

The regulations governing the Alaska school service permit the greatest freedom of action on the part of the local employees that is consistent with the ultimate responsibility of the Commissioner of Education. Each of the four school districts is under the immediate charge of a district superintendent who has almost absolute control of the work of the Bureau of Education in his district, and he in turn delegates to the teachers the greatest possible freedom of action in the local affairs of the schools. At the beginning of each fiscal year the Commissioner of Education distributes to the purchasing agent in Seattle and to the district superintendents, from the appropriation made by Congress for education in Alaska, definite sums for the purchase of supplies, furniture, equipment, and fuel, for the payment of rental, for furnishing medical relief to the natives, for the relief of destitute natives, and for the payment of traveling expenses. In like manner, from the authorizations received by them from the Commissioner of Education, the district superintendents distribute to the teachers, physicians, and nurses in their districts "subauthoriza

tions" to enable them to make expenditures for local needs. Except in grave emergency, no expenditure is permissible unless it is covered by an authorization or by a subauthorization. By this method of distributing funds each superintendent and teacher is enabled to meet, within the limit of expenditure authorized, every need of the service as it arises.

MEDICAL WORK.

Without neglecting the work in the schoolrooms and the sanitary work in the villages, special attention has been given during the year to medical work among the natives. Realizing the absolute necessity for checking disease among the natives of Alaska, $25,144.50 of the appropriation for education in Alaska was used (1) in maintaining hospitals in rented buildings at Juneau and Nushagak; (2) in payments under contracts with the Holy Cross Hospital at Nome and the Fairhaven Hospital at Candle for the treatment of diseased natives, upon the application of a superintendent, physician, or teacher in the Alaska school service; (3) in the employment of 7 physicians in hospital work and in checking disease among the natives in their respective districts; (4) in the employment of 8 nurses in the hospitals and in hygienic and sanitary work in the native schools and villages; and (5) in furnishing medical chests to the teachers to enable them to treat minor ailments.

During the autumn of 1911 quarantine maintained at the mouth of the Porcupine River by Mr. George E. Boulter, superintendent of schools in the upper Yukon district, and by Dr. Grafton Burke, medical missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Fort Yukon, who was temporarily employed by the Bureau of Education, was an important factor in preventing smallpox from entering the Yukon Valley by way of the Porcupine.

COOPERATION BY PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE.

During the summer of 1911 Passed Asst. Surg. Milton H. Foster, of the Public Health Service, made a preliminary investigation of health conditions among the natives of southern Alaska with a view to inaugurating adequate measures for their relief. One of Dr. Foster's recommendations was the extension of the medical work in connection with the Alaska school service. In pursuance of this recommendation and in order that the entire medical work among the natives of Alaska might have expert supervision, upon the request of the Secretary of the Interior, the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, in March, 1912, detailed Passed Asst. Surg. Emil Krulish for service in Alaska for an indefinite period under the direction of the Commissioner of Education. With the consent of the Secretary of the Treasury, the duties of Dr. Krulish for the Bureau of Education will be (a) to supervise all measures for the

medical and surgical relief of the natives of Alaska, (b) to act as instructor to the teachers of the United States public schools in Alaska in all matters pertaining to the sanitary education of the natives, (c) to give instructions to teachers in first aid to the injured or sick, and (d) to act in a general advisory capacity to the superintendent of education of natives of Alaska in all matters pertaining to sanitation, hygiene, maintenance of hospitals, and other matters of like character. The plans for the work of Dr. Krulish in Alaska include prescribing and enforcing regulations for checking disease in the native villages.

THE HYDABURG VILLAGE.

For several years there existed a desire among the members of the Hydah Tribe living in the villages of Klinquan and Howkan, in southeastern Alaska, to migrate to a site advantageously situated with regard to fishing and hunting grounds and running water, where they could found an exclusively native village and build up industries owned and operated by the natives themselves. During September, 1911, these natives moved to the selected site, on the west shore of Prince of Wales Island, where they founded a village, which they named Hydaburg. A United States public school was at once established for their benefit. By Executive order a tract of approximately 12 square miles was reserved for the use of this colony and such of the natives of Alaska as may settle within the limits of the reservation. Under the supervision of the teacher of the United States public school, the Hydaburg Trading Co. was organized to transact the mercantile business of the settlement and the Hydaburg Lumber Co. was organized to operate a sawmill. The natives were aided by the Bureau of Education in equipping the mill. A careful examination of the affairs of the two companies in December, 1912, by the supply agent of the Alaska division, detailed from Seattle for the purpose, showed that these native enterprises had been eminently successful. It was found possible for the directors of the Hydaburg Trading Co. to declare a cash dividend of 50 per cent and still have funds available toward the erection and equipment of a larger store building. The sawmill had provided the lumber used in building the homes for the natives, and had also furnished acceptable lumber to a number of the neighboring canneries.

THE ERUPTION OF KATMAI VOLCANO.

On June 6, 1912, Mount Katmai, a supposedly extinct volcano in southwestern Alaska, burst into eruption. For two days and nights a rain of ashes fell; the darkness was illumined by occasional flashes of lightning; the air was charged with suffocating gases; frequent earthquake shocks were felt. An extensive region was buried deep in volcanic matter. The eruption caused no loss of life, but destroyed

the houses of the natives living on the coast adjacent to the volcano and rendered necessary the distribution of food to the people in the stricken district, for the gardens were deeply covered and the salmon streams were choked with ashes. All employees of the Government in the region affected by the eruption cooperated with the RevenueCutter Service in rendering relief. Capt. K. W. Perry, commanding the revenue cutter Manning, conveyed 98 natives, whose homes had been destroyed, to a site on the Alaska Peninsula which had been selected for their new home. Here the two teachers from the United States public schools at Seldovia and Tatitlek supervised the erection of the new village, to which the name of Perry was given. The materials for the construction of 21 houses, to shelter these destitute natives, and the most necessary articles for their use were sent to them from Seattle.

JUNEAU CONFERENCE.

A conference of the teachers of the schools in southeastern Alaska and native delegates representing 9 of the largest villages was held in Juneau from October 28 to November 2, under the direction of the district superintendent. The morning sessions were for teachers only, and consideration was given to the various phases of the teachers' work. The afternoon sessions were devoted to discussions of the social and economic problems confronting the natives. The native delegates expressed themselves clearly and forcibly in regard to those problems. Resolutions urging extension of the medical work among the natives, assistance to the natives in the establishment of industrial enterprises, and legislation granting citizenship to duly qualified natives were adopted by the conference.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

I can not urge too strongly the importance of the appropriation by Congress of funds to enable the Bureau of Education to make adequate provision for the medical and sanitary relief of the natives of Alaska. The use for this purpose of part of the appropriation for the education of the natives is an emergency measure dictated by the absolute necessity for action. The entire appropriation is urgently needed for the support of the schools and to promote the industrial development of the native population. Under a decision of the comptroller this appropriation can not be used in erecting hospitals.

I repeat my recommendation for the passage of a compulsory school attendance law, which is especially needed in native villages adjacent to the large towns. It is greatly to be desired that the compulsory school attendance bill which was passed by the Senate at the last session, but not acted upon by the House, should become a law.

I again invite attention to the fact that the Bureau of Education should own and maintain a seagoing vessel in which to transport