Part 6 (2/2)
To-day, at the end of twenty years, the voyager approaching Annette Island, beholds rising before his reverent eyes the new Metlakahtla--the old having sunken to ruin, where it lies, a vanis.h.i.+ng stain on the fair fame of the Church of England of the past; for the church of to-day is too broad and too enlightened to approve of the action of its Mission Society in regard to its most earnest and successful worker, William Duncan.
The new town s.h.i.+nes white against a dark hill. The steamer lands at a good wharf, which is largely occupied by salmon canneries. Sidewalks and neat gravelled paths lead to all parts of the village. The buildings are attractive in their originality, for Mr. Duncan has his own ideas of architecture. The church, adorned with two large square towers, has a commanding situation, and is a modern, steam-heated building, large enough to seat a thousand people, or the entire village. It is of handsome interior finish in natural woods. Above the altar are the following pa.s.sages: _The angel said unto them: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people....
Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins._
The cottages are one and two stories in height, and are surrounded by vegetable and flower gardens, of which the women seem to be specially proud. They and the smiling children stand at their gates and on corners and offer for sale baskets and other articles of their own making. These baskets are, without exception, crudely and inartistically made; yet they have a value to collectors by having been woven at Metlakahtla by Mr. Duncan's Indian women, and no tourist fails to purchase at least one, while many return to the steamer laden with them.
There is a girls' school and a boys' school; a hotel, a town hall, several stores, a saw-mill, a system of water-works, a cannery capable of packing twenty thousand cases of salmon in a season, a wharf, and good warehouses and steam-vessels.
The community is governed by a council of thirty members, having a president. There is a police force of twenty members. Taxes are levied for public improvements, and for the maintenance of public inst.i.tutions.
The land belongs to the community, from which it may be obtained by individuals for the purpose of building homes. The cannery and the saw-mill, which is operated by water, belong to companies in which stock is held by Indians who receive dividends. The employees receive regular wages.
The people seem happy and contented. They are deeply attached to Mr.
Duncan, and very proud of their model town. They have an excellent band of twenty-one pieces, at the mere mention of which their dark faces take on an expression of pride and pleasure, and their black eyes s.h.i.+ne into their questioner's eyes with intense interest; in fact, if one desires to steady the gaze and hold the attention of a Metlakahtla Indian, he can most readily accomplish his purpose by introducing the subject of the village band.
It is a surprise that these Indians do not, generally, speak English more fluently; but this is coming with the younger generations. Some of these young men and young women have been graduated from Eastern colleges, and have returned to take up missionary work in various parts of Alaska. Meeting one of these young men on a steamer, I asked him if he knew Mr. Duncan. The smile of affection and pride that went across his face! ”_I am one of his boys_,” he replied, simply. This was the Reverend Edward Marsden, who, returning from an Eastern college in 1898, began missionary work at Saxman, near Juneau, where he has been very successful.
Mr. Duncan is exceedingly modest and una.s.suming in manner and bearing, seeming to shrink from personal attention, and to desire that his work shall speak for itself. He is frequently called ”Father,” which is exceedingly distasteful to him. Visitors seeking information are welcome to spend a week or two at the guest-house and learn by observation and by conversation with the people what has been accomplished in this ideal community; but, save on rare occasions, he cannot be persuaded to dwell upon his own work, and after he has given his reasons for this att.i.tude, only a person lost to all sense of decency and delicacy would urge him to break his rule of silence.
”I am here to work, and not to talk or write about my work,” he says, kindly and cordially. ”If I took the time to answer one-tenth of the questions I am asked, verbally and by letter, I would have no time left for my work, and my time for work is growing short. I am an old man,”--his beautiful, intensely blue eyes smiled as he said this, and he at once shook his white-crowned head,--”that is what they are saying of me, but it is not true. I am young, I _feel_ young, and have many more years of work ahead of me. Still, I must confess that I do not work so easily, and my cares are multiplying. Some to whom I make this explanation will not respect my wishes or understand my silence. They press me by letter, or personally, to answer only this question or only that. They are inconsiderate and hamper me in my work.”
Possibly this is the key-note to Mr. Duncan's success. ”Here is my work; let it speak for itself.” He has devoted his whole life to his work, with no thought for the fame it may bring him. For the latter, he cares nothing.
This is the reason that pilgrims voyage to Metlakahtla as reverently as to a shrine. It is the n.o.ble and unselfish life-work of a man who has not only accomplished a great purpose, but who is great in himself. When he pa.s.ses on, let him be buried simply among the Indians he has loved and to whom he has given his whole life, and write upon his headstone: ”Let his work speak.”
The settlement on Annette Island was provided for in the act of Congress, 1891, as follows:--
”That, until otherwise provided for by law, the body of lands known as Annette Islands, situated in Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska, on the north side of Dixon Entrance, be, and the same is hereby, set apart as a reservation for the Metlakahtla Indians, and those people known as Metlakahtlans, who have recently emigrated from British Columbia to Alaska, and such other Alaskan natives as may join them, to be held and used by them in common, under such rules and regulations, and subject to such restrictions, as may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of the Interior.”
The Indians of the Community are required to sign, and to fulfil the terms of, the following Declaration:--
”We, the people of Metlakahtla, Alaska, in order to secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of a Christian home, do severally subscribe to the following rules for the regulation of our conduct and town affairs:--
”To reverence the Sabbath and to refrain from all unnecessary secular work on that day; to attend divine wors.h.i.+p; to take the Bible for our rule of faith; to regard all true Christians as our brethren; and to be truthful, honest, and industrious.
”To be faithful and loyal to the Government and laws of the United States.
”To render our votes when called upon for the election of the Town Council, and to promptly obey the by-laws and orders imposed by the said Council.
”To attend to the education of our children and keep them at school as regularly as possible.
”To totally abstain from all intoxicants and gambling, and never attend heathen festivities or countenance heathenish customs in surrounding villages.
”To strictly carry out all sanitary regulations necessary for the health of the town.
”To identify ourselves with the progress of the settlement, and to utilize the land we hold.
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