Reindeer Meat.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 4 December 1914, Page 3

Reindeer Meat.

Before very long people in England may draw a steady part of their meat supply /rum the reindeer herds of Alaska. So says the Government Bureau of Education, which has charge of all the Alaskan reindeer —the reindeer service in that Territory being part of the school system—looking I across the world to Britain. Already considerable quantities of reindeer meat are being- shipped from Alaska. A recent shipment from Nome comprised 125 carcases, bought by a cold storage company from Eskimo herders. All of it found a ready market, some find- ! ing its way across the Atlantic. I This, however, is only the beginning. It is estimated by the bureau that there are in northern and western Alaska at least' 400,000 square miles of treeless country, worthless for agricultural purposes, which would furnish pasturage for ' 10,000,000 reindeer. 'Advantage of the opportunity is sure to be taken because of the money in the business, and then men who are pioneering the notion believe Alaska will become in the not-distant future a browsing ground for herds of reindeer such as have never been seen anywhere in the world. ' The animals breed with astonish- ' ing rapidity. It is estimated by the Bureau of Education that, at the present rate of increase, the number of reindeer in Alaska may be expected to reach 2,000,000 within twenty-five years. How far this estimate is justified may be judged by a brief reference to facts already accomplished. The first reindeer, 171 in number, were brought to Alaska from Siberia by the revenue cutter Bear in 1892. Subsequent importations, during the three following years brought the total up to 1,280 head. In' June, 1911 (later figures are not obtainable), there were in Alaska 33,623 reindeer. Of this number, 20,071 (or GO per cent.), were owned by native Lapps, and 3,951 were the property of the United States. The first Lapps were fetched to Alaska by the Bureau of Education, to teach the Eskimo how to care for the reindeer. They liked the country and others have followed them. Reindeer meat is in demand by both whites and natives throughout Alaska. The skin, with its long hair, is the most satisfactory material for winter clothing. To the Eskimo, the reindeer is fo.od, clothing, house, furniture, implements, and transportation. Its milk and flesh furnish food. Its hide is made into clothes, bedding, and tentcovers. When there are ten million reindeer in Alaska, .at least two million of the slaughtered animals can be shipped out of the ternf.nr.v annually without reducing the stock.