The Report of the fifty-eighth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science quotes with approval the opinion of Dr. Franz Boas, the eminent American anthropologist, that—

The only way to civilize these tribes is clearly shown by Mr. W. Duncan's success at Metlakahtla. He made the Indians of Metlakahtla a self-sustaining, independent community.

Father Duncan's school was most successful and his methods became recognized as the standard to be followed in educational work among native races.

AUTHORS AND SPONSORS OF THIS SLANDER

It appears from the records that this false accusation in regard to Father Duncan's school originated in letters and faked so-called native petitions for a Government school at Metlakahtla written by Edward Marsden, who was then a Presbyterian missionary stationed at Saxman, Alaska.

One of these faked so-called native petitions, dated January 2, 1908, addressed to Hon. Thomas Cale, Delegate in Congress from Alaska, falsely alleged in regard to Father Duncan's school:

[Slander]

* * The school methods and system under which we have been, and are, living are antiquated, unbearable, and un-American.

A report by handwriting experts in the Bureau of Standards shows that the text of these alleged native petitions was written by Edward Marsden, who at the time was not a resident of Annette Islands Reserve.

In a letter written by Marsden to Hon. Elmer E. Brown, Commissioner of Education, dated May 7, 1909, attached as an exhibit to the Lopp report, the following false statement was made:

[Slander]

What school there was, and has been, at Metlakahtla, under the support and management of Mr. Duncan could not be properly called even an elementary school, and I can cite many facts from my own experiences why I say this. The Metlakahtla school under the management of Mr. Duncan is and has been nothing more than a mere name before which even the highest officials in the Government have and must bow with much reverence.

These slanders concocted by Marsden in his effort to gain a foothold at Metlakahtla were enlarged upon by his confederates, and were officially sponsored by being incorporated in—

1. Report of William T. Lopp, superintendent of education of natives of Alaska, to the Commissioner of Education, dated January 14, 1911, pages 3, 5-7, 10, and letter of Marsden to the Commissioner of Education, dated May 7, 1909, attached thereto as an exhibit. 2. Report of W. R. Logan, an inspector in the Department of the Interior, to the Secretary of the Interior, dated March 4, 1911, pages 9, 17, 30, 46, 51, 67, 68, and 80.

3. Report to the Secretary of the Interior by committee on matters pertaining to Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska, dated May 3, 1927, pages 46-47, etc.

REFUTATION OF SLANDER

The slanders in regard to Father Duncan's school are refuted by many official documents.

In the report of the Commissioner of Education for 1891-92, volume 2, page 876, the statement of Charles Hallock, the founder of

Forest and Stream, is approvingly quoted-"Metlakahtla is truly the full realization of the missionaries' dream of aboriginal restoration." The report of the Commissioner of Education for 1896-97, page 1626, declares that "the news of the remarkable success of the mission had circulated wherever the English language was known."

In a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, a former distinguished Commissioner of Education (Hon. N. H. R. Dawson) said that, in his opinion, "the success of Mr. Duncan solves more fully than any example I have met with, the problem of Indian education."

In the Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners, page 128, the work of Father Duncan at Metlakahtla is referred to as "the finest object lesson in Indian civilization that the world has ever seen."

After the filing of the Lopp report, attacking Father Duncan's school and recommending the establishment of a Government school at Metlakahtla, Lopp, on July 24, 1911, instructed Charles W. Hawkesworth, a representative of the Bureau of Education, to visit Metlakahtla "for the purpose of making a study of what Indians can do if properly directed."

This letter to Hawkesworth is marked "Approved" by P. P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education, and is initialed by William Hamilton, Assistant Chief of the Alaska Division.

The Honorable Hubert Work declared in his annual report as the Secretary of the Interior for the fiscal year 1924, page 109, that Father Duncan's success at Metlakahtla was "one of the missionary achievements of history."

Marsden's campaign of vilification against Father Duncan and his mission (which ended only at his death in 1932) began in 1895, when Father Duncan refused Marsden's request for funds for use in a manner that Father Duncan could not approve.

Up to the time Marsden was refused these funds, he wrote many letters to Father Duncan, highly praising his school.

This slander in regard to Father Duncan's school, invented by Marsden, enlarged upon by his confederates, and sponsored by advisers of the Secretary of the Interior, is completely refuted by Marsden's own letters written after he had left Father Duncan's school to begin his colleagite education, as shown in Chapter X: Slanders Refuted; section 83, Untrue Allegations of Plotters Refuted by Their Own Statements [p. 194541.

STATEMENT OF DR. HENRY J. MINTHORN REFUTING SLANDERS REGARDING SCHOOL

The slanders regarding Father Duncan's school are also refuted by the following statement of Dr. Henry J. Minthorn, made on August 1, 1916:

First and by far the most important of all the effects of Mr. Duncan's missionary work among the natives was that of character building.

The well-known fact that first of all they excelled in industrions habits, honesty, truthfulness, temperance, and, in fact, all the virtues that accompany the acceptance of the Christian faith did more to insure their happiness and place them in a satisfactory relation to each other and the world in general than anything they could ever have acquired in any secular institution of learning. But, in addition to this-the work of the church, the prayer meeting, the Sunday school, and other religious instrumentalities-Mr. Duncan's constant

concern was to give them opportunities for acquiring all the practical education adapted as nearly as possible to their environment.

First of all, after the church work was established, a secular school was always maintained, where the English language and the primary branches of an English education were taught.

*

To give them these advantages and opportunities, Dr. Duncan employed, first, an experienced sailor to teach them how to handle larger vessels than they were accustomed to manage and, later, engineers to teach them the operation of steam engines-millwrights, carpenters, sawyers, and instructors in the other parts of sawmill operation.

Then came salmon canning with the use of gillnets and seines, cleaning, cutting, cooking, and other processes of salmon canning up to lacquering, labeling, and boxing the finished product, all of which was taught by skillful and highsalaried experts, each in his own line, and so effectually that the finished prodnct commanded the highest price in the market.

So thoroughly were all of these things taught and learned that the Metlakahtlans have been able to obtain employment and give satisfaction in canneries, fishing, and logging camps all over southeastern Alaska.

They have been licensed as marine engineers and pilots and masters. They have been entrusted with the management in many of these lines of business, and, as a result, have had good pay and have been able to make for themselves good homes, own and operate better boats, wear better clothes, and in many other ways enjoy more of the comforts of life than they otherwise could have done.

In anticipation of the time when the salmon supply of southeastern Alaska would become depleted and the natives would be compelled to resort to other means for obtaining a livelihood, Mr. Duncan employed for several years an expert farmer and gardener, and goats and cattle were kept, various kinds of fruit trees and berry bushes were introduced, and many kinds of native grasses were sown, all with varying degrees of success and as an object lesson to the natives.

There has always been a school, in some respects superior to schools much more pretentious, one [advantage] being that all beginners, and others when they needed it, had the help of one who thoroughly understood their language and could make them understand in their own tongue what was being taught them. The importance of this is realized when an English-speaking person undertakes to learn a foreign language; and any person speaking a foreign language would not be considered for a moment as a teacher of that language if he did not at the same time understand the language of the pupil. But quite different ideas have prevailed in schools for Indian children.

Perhaps no languages differ more in their structure and grammar from English than the Indian languages. Some Indian languages have no inflections for verbs, but not only every action but every phase of every action as to time and manner is represented by different words having no resemblance to each other in form. What, therefore, is to be said of a school that simply ignores the fact that neither the teacher nor the pupil understands the language of the other? There are hundreds of schools in operation at great expense and with fine equipment, of which this is true, and which I feel sure are either working at a great disadvantage or almost entirely failing.

I must instance one point in which Mr. Duncan's school very far excelled any school in which the teaching is not explained in a language that the pupil understands; viz, Mr. Duncan's pupils learned to read understandingly and after leaving school read books and newspapers, and accumulated from them ideas out of proportion to what they showed in their spoken language.

These ideas, while they could not express them in spoken English, were in their minds and have been made use of, by people who did not know what they were doing, to mislead them in the line of education, by intimating to them that if what seemed such an inadequate amount of help as Mr. Duncan had given them should so awaken and enlighten them-then if they were allowed the advantages at the disposal of a great and beneficent Government like that of the United States, there would certainly follow results in the same proportion. This is right where many of them have been misled, and by a little adroit intimation they have even been led to believe that Mr. Duncan stood in the way of great achievement for them and had even held them back and thus wronged them.

*. These people have made wonderful advancement and on account of that have received unstinted praise and admiration.

Metlakahtla has long suggested to the missionaries of other places the idea of very rapid progress in missionary endeavor, and to many others what they thought to be the successful termination of a well-planned and well-executed experiment.

Many were the pilgrimages made to Metlakahtla and much was written and said about it * * *; and if anything more was needed to make trouble it was for some one or more people to have an interest in bringing about dissensions and destroying confidence in Mr. Duncan because he stood in the way of their aggrandizement.

*

FATHER DUNCAN'S EXEMPLARY EDUCATIONAL METHODS

The slander that Father Duncan failed to maintain an adequate school is completely refuted by his outstanding success, which is dealt with in the references already cited.

II. FALSE ACCUSATION THAT FATHER DUNCAN FAILED TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE SANITATION AND MEDICAL ATTENTION

The accusation that Father Duncan failed to provide sanitation and medical attention is utterly false.

Before the Bureau of Education entered Metlakahtla the good health of the natives was a noticeable fact, and Father Duncan's successful care of the natives in this as well as in other respects was the subject of favorable comment by many eminent medical men who visited the mission.

Until his mission was seized Father Duncan provided and maintained an efficient medical service for the natives. He furnished them free medical, surgical, and dental attention, as well as the necessary medicines and medical accessories and supplies. In cases requiring special medical, surgical, or optical treatment the natives were placed under the care of the best specialists in Seattle or elsewhere. All of these things Father Duncan did at his own personal expense.

With the exception of periods when unpreventable circumstances caused a temporary vacancy, Father Duncan provided for the mission practitioners of high medical and surgical qualifications.

Notable among the medical missionaries who assisted Father Duncan in his work at Metlakahtla were Dr. James Bluett-Duncan, a distinguished physician who volunteered and gave 10 years of his life as a medical missionary at Metlakahtla; and Dr. Henry J. Minthorn, the uncle and foster father of former President Hoover.

Dr. Bluett-Duncan, who was not related to Father Duncan, was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, and licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh.

Dr. Minthorn was a fully qualified physician of high professional standing in private practice, with postgraduate and extensive hospital experience in some of the leading hospitals in the country. He was closely associated with Father Duncan and his mission for about 20 years, and was for 10 years the resident physician at the mission. In addition to the medical dispensary in charge of a highly qualified physician, Father Duncan provided for emergencies by keeping on a table in the office of his cottage a large medical chest supplied with up-to-date medicines, and also a complete equipment of first aid necessities for instant use.

Throughout his life Father Duncan cared for the health of the natives with the same self-sacrifice and devotion as he exhibited in the early days of his mission work, as told by Dr. Henry S. Wellcome in The Story of Metlakahtla:

Just at this time there fell upon the coast a fearful plague of smallpox, destroying thousands of lives, and spreading universal destitution and terror. Five hundred of the Tsimsheans succumbed to its ravages. Thanks to the wise sanitary precautions taken by Mr. Duncan, who vaccinated all who came to him, only five deaths occurred among his original settlers who came with him from Fort Simpson, and several of these contracted the fatal malady while caring for outside sufferers.

But the ravages of this scourge along the coast caused frightful misery and suffering. Seeing so many fellow creatures stricken down on all sides about them, the Indians were so demoralized with terror that they could hardly be induced, during its depressing reign, to continue their vocations; and trading between the tribes was almost wholly suspended. Mr. Duncan humanely sent succor far and near, and numbers flocked to him for assistance; he ministered to them as far as possible, always guarding the welfare and safety of his own people as his prime duty. His heroic conduct and indefatigable devotion during this trying ordeal, were not lost upon the Indians.

These were certainly grave difficulties to be met singlehanded by a lone white man, with an infant community of but half-enlightened savages. But the brave man who had not feared to face death in the performance of the work to which he had so nobly dedicated himself, did not falter.

AUTHORS AND SPONSORS OF THIS SLANDER

It appears from the records that this slander in regard to the sanitary conditions and medical service originated in statements by— 1. John W. Arctander, a disbarred attorney, who assisted in paving the way to deceive and mislead the Secretary of the Interior into ordering the seizure of Father Duncan's water power pipe line.

2. Charles D. Jones, superintendent of the Bureau of Education's school at Metlakahtla, an aid in the scheme of the conspirators to deceive and mislead the Secretary of the Interior into ordering the seizure of the property of Father Duncan and his mission and turning over the fisheries of Annette Islands Reserve to outside commercial interests.

These slanders were enlarged upon by Marsden and his confederates and were officially sponsored by being incorporated in

1. Report of W. R. Logan, an inspector in the Department of the Interior, to the Secretary of the Interior, dated March 4, 1911, pages 22-24, 43-45, 49.

2. Report to the Secretary of the Interior by committee on matters pertaining to Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska, dated May 3, 1927, pages 57, 61, 178, et cetera.

REFUTATION OF SLANDER

The slanders in regard to the sanitary conditions at Metlakahtla have already been dealt with and completely refuted.

The false statements in regard to the sanitary conditions and Father Duncan's medical service at Metlakahtla made by Arctander in 1910, their incorporation in the Logan report, and their acceptance by advisory officials in the Department of the Interior without Investigation, opened the way for the inclusion in the record of other slanders, invented and spread by Marsden and agents of the Bureau