11]

*

Returning to the Good Tidings we went to Metlakahtla arriving there at 11 a. m. * Father Duncan stoutly maintained that the people there were receiving all the education in the way of school instruction that they needed, We returned to Ketchikan arriving there about

11 p. m.

The following day (Aug. 12) was spent in summing up matters and in final verbal discussion of the needs of the various communities and schools we had visited.

The Commissioner of Education and the Chief of the Alaska Division left for the south on the Mariposa sometime after midnight. *

BEGINNING OF THE RIVAL GOVERNMENT SCHOOL AT METLA KAHTLA AND THE EMPLOYMENT OF ITS FIRST TEACHER

Notwithstanding the fact that there were crying needs calling for schools elsewhere in Alaska, and regardless of the fact that there was no necessity for the Bureau of Education to place a school at Metlakahtla, nevertheless this school was intruded into Metlakahtla on November 18, 1913.

The Bureau plotters realized that the Secretary of the Interior was not responsive to their machinations, and his consent for the establishment of the Bureau school was obtained only after they had presented an artful scheme which they believed would become a "potent factor in convincting the public" as well as the Secretary. This scheme provided for the payment of the Government teacher's salary, for a limited period, by the Indians themselves, and as Jones wrote to Lopp on November 6, 1913, this was "a unique experience in Indian history"; so remarkable in fact that the Secretary of the Interior was persuaded to order the establishment of a rival Government school in Father Duncan's mission village.

INSTALLATION OF FIRST BUREAU TEACHER

For the purposes of the school the upper floor of a native building was rented and to this building was transported the school equip ment from Saxman and elsewhere; and Charles D. Jones, a burly man with strong-arm tendencies, was rushed to Metlakahtla to take charge of the school, where he proceeded aggressively to advance the schemes of the plotters and to lord it over and bully Father Duncan.

The following are excerpts from the records, showing activities of agents of the Bureau of Education in installing a Government school at Metlakahtla and in placing Charles D. Jones there as the teacher in charge of the school:

Letter from W. T. Lopp, superintendent of education of natives of Alaska, to Marsden, September 4, 1913:

I have told Mr. Jones that

I believed it possible for your people

to raise the teachers' salary by subscription

I suggest

*

*

that you bring this matter before the Metlakatla people and have your committee request through me the Secretary's permission for them to employ their own teacher

at once

Letter from Marsden to W. T. Lopp, September 17, 1913:

I them etc.

only had time to call and see those of our people and explain to * To them the idea is practical and I myself will contribute

Telegram from W. T. Lopp to Mark Hamilton, a native, October 18, 1913:

Inform council have teacher and wife who will come if guaranteed 125 monthly, house, fuel, light, and transportation. Lang approves. If you desire same cable before 22nd. See Beattie Monday evening.

Telegram from W. T. Lopp to Gov. J. F. Strong, of Alaska, October 21, 1913:

Haldane, secretary, Metlakatla Council here is requesting Secretary's approval for people to employ teacher until Government can assume same. If you approve suggest you cable Secretary accordingly.

Letter from W. G. Beattie, superintendent of schools of the southeastern district of Alaska, to W. T. Lopp, October 25, 1913.

I attended to some business for Hydaburg and Marsden came up at 4 in his boat. Hamilton, Verney, and I joined them. Arrived Metlakatla about 6 p. m. Miss Hubbert and I called on Father Duncan. Later met a bunch of men in house of Adolphus Calvert, president of the council.

They have raised enough money to pay transportation of teachers here. They say they will pay that on arrival and will pay the salary of $125 a month on last day of each month for 2 months.

* * *

Telegram from W. T. Lopp to William Hamilton, Assistant Chief of the Alaska Division, October 27, 1913:

Beattie wires Metlakatlans guarantee 2 months' salary. They desire Secretary's approval immediately. Jones cannot await decision longer.

Letter from William Hamilton to W. T. Lopp, October 28, 1913: The Commissioner wishes me to let you know that if the Secretary grants permission for the establishment of a United States public school in Metlakatla, he thinks there should be, if possible, two teachers at Metlakatla, the Bureau of Education supporting one and the Metlakatlans the other; with the distinct understanding that the Bureau of Education is to have entire control of the school as to policy. The Bureau's teacher should be the principal teacher.

The Commissioner wishes this plan of cooperation to be thought out carefully and to be put into effect judiciously, as, if successful, it may inaugurate a new policy of financial cooperation by the natives with the Bureau and its work, thus promoting greater interest and appreciation on the part of the natives.

The Commissioner would like you or Mr. Beattie to spend some time in Metlakatla giving close personal attention to the foregoing starting of the school.

(NOTE.-At the time the foregoing letter was written Father Duncan was, and for many years had been, furnishing teachers for the Metlakahtla Christian Mission School at his own personal expense.)

Telegram from W. T. Lopp to W. G. Beattie, October 30, 1913: Hoonah shipped October 11, Dolphin. Cannot Kasaan seats, etc., be used Metlakahtla? Expect Secretary's approval Saturday.

Telegram from W. G. Beattie to W. T. Lopp, October 31, 1913:

Kasaan asking for school. Claim 15 school age. If no funds for Kasaan, equipment can be transferred Metlakatla.

Telegram from William Hamilton to W. T. Lopp, November 1, 1913:

Decision of the Secretary of the Interior Metlakatla awaiting receipt Governor's letter. Hold Jones. Absence many Senators has caused delay of Katmai resolution.

Telegram from W. T. Lopp to Gov. J. F. A. Strong, of Alaska, November 1, 1913:

Secretary's approval our plan for Metlakahtla withheld pending receipt your letter. Suggest you wire him. Cannot hold teacher longer than Monday. People impatient.

Telegram from W. T. Lopp to P. P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education, November 1, 1913:

Cannot hold Jones longer than Monday. People impatient. Am asking Governor wire Secretary direct.

Letter from C. D. Jones to W. T. Lopp, November 6, 1913:

We are still depending on Metlakatla. I am inclined to think, in spite of adverse reports, that Mr. Duncan may not be so opposed to our going on the island, once he knows us, as anticipated. However that may be, we should endeavor to push on the good work with the least possible friction.

I am sure that the natives retaining their own teacher at their own expense will be a potent factor in convincing the public that they are justified in having a public school, even against the wishes of their old friend and leader. This shows an intense desire for knowledge on their part and is a unique experience in Indian history.

Telegram from P. P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education, to W. T. Lopp, November 7, 1913:

Jones appointed Metlakatla November 4-June 30, $125 monthly. We must control school from beginning. Letter mailed you today.

Letter from P. P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education, to W. T. Lopp, November 7, 1913:

I am enclosing a letter which you can transmit to the council at Metlakahtla if you agree with me that it will be helpful for the people of Metlakatla to provide the salary of an assistant teacher there this year. I think the estimates in this letter as to the number of children must be about correct. Unless Father Duncan maintains a school this winter and a large proportion of the children attend his school, there will be urgent need for at least two teachers.

I believe it would be best for us to pay the salary of the principal from the very beginning and thus have him under our immediate direction, and for the Metlakahtla people to provide the salary of an assistant also from the beginning of the school. It will be much better to begin the school in such a way as to insure its success than to begin it on a smaller scale. Probably under the circumstances it might be well to have a native as an assistant, but I leave this to your judgment.

No doubt we can find, somehow, sufficient amount of money to pay Jones' salary at $125, from November 4, when he was employed by this Bureau.

Letter from Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, to P. P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education, November 10, 1913:

I have carefully considered your letter of October 11 setting forth the need for the establishment of a United States public school in the village of Metlakahtla, Alaska, and requesting a renewal of the permission granted by Secretary Ballinger, February 7, 1911, for the establishment of such a school.

You are therefore directed at the earliest practicable date to take the neces sary steps for the establishment of a United States public school, under your supervision, in the village of Metlakahtla, and to report to me from time to time the action taken by you to establish and maintain this school.

Letter from W. T. Lopp to P. P. Claxton, Cimmissioner of Educa tion, November 11, 1913:

I am in receipt of your letters of the 5th, 6th, and 7th instants with reference to Metlakahtla.

Mr. Jones and wife are here ready to sail with me tomorrow night on the steamship Alki. I shall present your plan of having the natives pay for the assistant to the council, and if they favor the same I will endeavor to secure a suitable lady teacher from Bellingham whom Mr. Jones has in mind.

BUREAU TEACHER WHO WAS RUSHED TO METLAKAHTLA FINDS NATIVES FULL OF GRATITUDE TO FATHER DUNCAN

In the report of Jones to the Commissioner of Education giving an account of his arrival at Metlakahtla and the remarks of the natives at the opening of the Government school there, dated November 27, 1913, he said:

In the evening we were taken to the other public hall, built and supported entirely by the natives. Here we were privileged to listen to some very pathetic and most excellent addresses. Among the speakers were ** * * and Edward Marsden, of Saxman. These speakers showed themselves to be aboriginal giants in strength of poise, choice imagery, and forensic ability.

Strange to say, there was absolutely no trace of invective in their discourses, as might have been expected. On the other hand, their speeches were full of gratitude for the service done them by their old leader and famous missionary, William Duncan.

*

COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCES TO FATHER DUNCAN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BUREAU SCHOOL AT METLA KAHTLA

After the arrival of Jones at Metlakahtla to intrude the Government school into Father Duncan's mission village, the venerable missionary received the following announcement in a letter from P. P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education, dated November 5, 1913:

After a very long and careful consideration of the matter, the Secretary of the Interior has requested me, as Commissioner of Education, to establish a school for the children of Metlakahtla. I am instructing Mr. Lopp, superintendent of education of natives of Alaska, to employ a teacher and make other provisions for the opening of the school.

We wish to assure you that in taking this action we fully appreciate the very great work which you have done for these people and the fine spirit of devotion with which you have served them, and I believe these people also fully appropriate what you have done for them and will long remember affectionately you and your work. I sincerely hope that in taking up this work for the education of the Indians of this village we shall have your very hearty cooperation, which I assure you will be greatly appreciated.

FATHER DUNCAN REPLIES TO LETTER FROM COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION

To the foregoing letter from Commissioner Claxton, Father Duncan replied, on January 10, 1914, as follows:

Your letter of 5th of November came to hand a few days after the arrival here of Mr. Lopp, introducing to us the school teacher he had brought, in obedience to instructions received from you.

On the arrival of these gentlemen, though I could not but deplore the advent of a rival teacher, yet I thought it best to wait to see results before replying to your letter.

It grieves me now to say that the evils which I had anticipated have been realized.

The rival school has divided our little community, brought disturbance into families, and has given a triumph to a band of treacherous men who for years have been scheming to overthrow the mission, and I can clearly see that if the sad state of things just inaugurated is allowed to go on, the peace and prosperity of Metlakahtla is doomed.

That God, to Whom we owe all the blessings in the past, will avert such a calamity we may hope and pray, but my duty is clear to me, which is, that I must, in writing, expose the action and the characters of those who are concerned in misleading the Government officers, and when our friends become acquainted with the facts I believe they will appeal to Congress for redress.

The first Secretary of the Interior, who was mislead by intriguers and sent an embassy to spy into the affairs of our mission, was Mr. Ballinger, and he never had the courtesy to send me a copy of the report rendered him.

Before, however, I take the step as above, may I ask that you will kindly appoint some one in your confidence (say Mr. Beattie, now employed in Alaska under your auspices) to come here and I will give him the facts to report to you.

Another thought strikes me which is that the teacher you have sent here be permitted, if he is willing, to join our mission work as schoolmaster and thus work in harmony with me and a medical missionary who will soon arrive here. As our mission is self-supporting I, of course, am responsible for his salary. Kindly let me hear from you as soon as possible, and oblige This appeal of Father Duncan was followed by a series of outrageous persecutions which will now be related.

*

*

BUREAU TEACHER PLANS TO DRIVE FATHER DUNCAN FROM METLA KAHTLA AND WARNS FELLOW PLOTTERS TO BULWARK ACTION WITH ALL MANNER OF PRECAUTION

The following is quoted from a letter of Charles D. Jones, principal of the Government school at Metlakahtla, to William G. Beattie, superintendent of schools of the southeastern district of Alaska, which letter is undated but was apparently written in May or June, 1914:

If I had my way, I would transport him [referring to Father Duncan] bag and baggage to Ben Davy's land, where he deserves to go. (Have you read any of late letters to the Secretary?) However, I realize that he has many friends and that any action taken against him must be bulwarked with all manner of precaution.

* **

In order to forestall the bad effects of a sentimental reflex on the part of the natives, in case the Government deems it obligatory to forcibly remove him, I would suggest the following course of action: It seems to me it would be advisable to get the sentiment of a large majority of the natives in the writing, that the complaints and testimony of the older natives ought to be taken in the form of depositions before sickness or death disables them to furnish this valuable evidence, and that Mr. Duncan's books ought to be inspected and his testimony taken by this same party or parties. I know this has all been talked over many times, but the necessity of such a course cannot be urged too strongly.

The intrusion of the Government school at Metlakahtla was followed by illegal and high-handed acts of the Commissioner of Education and his subordinates in unlawfully seizing the property of Father Duncan and his mission and by a reign of terror and frightfulness at Metlakahtla that will be recounted in the sections which follow.

SECTION 33. INVASION AND SEIZURE OF FATHER DUNCAN'S MISSION GROUNDS

A thrust at the heart of the mission. Seizure of mission plot. Seizures made in a manner to antagonize Father Duncan and cripple his mission. Statement by Dr. Henry J. Minthorn regarding seizure of mission grounds

The records in the Metlakahtla case show that one of the underlying motives on the part of the Bureau of Education in seeking to capture or destroy this mission was based on malice, born of envy, and nurtured by jealousy.

These records disclose that the Bureau of Education had often been reproached because of its failure to achieve results comparable with those obtained by Father Duncan.