 A story of Alaska's reindeer By June Allen January 01, 2003
 [between ca. 1900 and ca. 1930] Forms part of: Frank and Frances Carpenter collection (Library of Congress). Gift; Mrs. W. Chapin Huntington; 1951. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. Will Viagra also cut into or eliminate a present and profitable, entirely legal Alaska sex-stimulant industry? Until now, reindeer herders along the coast in Arctic Alaska have prospered through ethical and legal sales of reindeer antlers to the same Asian sex-product market. After the reindeers' heavy racks are removed during yearly roundups, they are sold to Asian bidders who travel to locations on the Seward Peninsula, which is that knobby nose poking into the Bering Sea, the one that juts out toward Siberia. When the antlers are dried and ground, the powder is sold in Asian apothecaries at whopping prices. (The reindeer quickly re-grow their antlers.) Reindeer are not native to Alaska but have been herded for centuries in the northern regions of Siberia, Lapland and Norway. They are smaller-sized cousins of Alaska's indigenous caribou and share most of their traits, except that reindeer have been domesticated for centuries some are even kept as pets. The Alaska caribou are wild.  [between ca. 1900 and ca. 1930] Forms part of: Frank and Frances Carpenter collection (Library of Congress). Gift; Mrs. W. Chapin Huntington; 1951. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. Both have racks that seem too large and cumbersome for their bodies. Their fur is uniquely "hollow" so that it provides excellent insulation and it also assists flotation - caribou are strong swimmers and migrate thousands of miles over vast acreages. But while caribou migrate, Alaska's domestic reindeer obey watchful herders and stray into passing caribou herds only when attracted by caribou in rut. And while reindeer are not exactly as cute as everyone's favorite, Rudolph of the red nose, they do indeed have Rudolph's tractable nature and have pulled many a sleigh while hauling Siberian freight and travelers. They were also part of the Siberian diet. Reindeer meat is said to taste like a cross between tasty duck with a little of the gaminess of lamb. The fat is butchered off the dark red, almost purplish meat. Like caribou, reindeer fat has an unpleasant wild taste that only cooking in a highly acidic sauce can partially obscure. (That's a personal opinion. In my Fairbanks years I cooked the tougher, stronger caribou cuts in pineapple juice. (But the small caribou liver is the best eating of any animal.) And reindeer meat is popular and quite common in sausages. Reindeer were first brought to Alaska from Siberia in 1892, an importation arranged by Presbyterian missionary Sheldon Jackson. Dr. Jackson had come to Alaska first as a curious tourist. He returned later as the Alaska Educational Agent for the federal government and as such was entitled to travel on the cutters of the Revenue Marine Service, forerunner of the U.S. Coast Guard. The legendary cutter Bear, with Jackson aboard, visited missions and schools through Southeastern and traveled along both the Alaska and Siberian sides of the Bering Sea.  [between ca. 1900 and ca. 1930] Forms part of: Frank and Frances Carpenter collection (Library of Congress). Gift; Mrs. W. Chapin Huntington; 1951. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. Dr. Jackson reported that he saw a distressingly great difference between the well-fed people on the Siberian eastern shore and the more primitive Eskimos on the Alaska side of Bering Strait. He was convinced that the difference between the two was that the Siberians utilized reindeer. For centuries the Siberians had herded reindeer for food and clothing and trained them to pull sledges (sleds). He saw the Siberians as herders; he began to see the Alaskans as hunters he hoped to change into herders. Alaska's Eskimo populations at that time were indeed in dire straits, but through no fault of their own. As early as 1835, the whaling fleets that had once sailed only into the southern Pacific began to move north into Arctic waters, tasking whales that were part of the Eskimo diet. By the pre-petroleum years of the Civil War, 1861-65, the American demand for whale oil was critical, needed to oil the weapons and the axles of military transports and to fill lanterns, to make soap and candles. As more and more vessels joined in harvesting the whales, the competition was heavy and some of them also harvested walrus to keep profits up. This left the people of Alaska's coast with vastly depleted food sources.  Forms part of: Frank and Frances Carpenter collection (Library of Congress). Gift; Mrs. W. Chapin Huntington; 1951. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. So in 1890 Sheldon Jackson asked Congress for funds to transport Siberian reindeer to Alaska, saying that schools and missionaries became secondary when people were starving. He also asked for Siberian herdsmen to train the Alaskan Natives to handle and herd the imported animals. In 1892 the money became available and the first reindeer were brought over. Dr. Jackson's petition stated:
Two years later, in 1892, the funds became available and the first domestic reindeer were brought to Alaska's Seward Peninsula. The first reindeer station was built at Port Clarence. Four Siberian herdsmen came along to train the Alaskans in animal husbandry. However, like many altruistic projects and in spite of Jackson's good intentions, the experiment was not successful. The Alaskans' dogs, which their owners prized, had been used to pull sleds for centuries. The barking, snapping dogs terrified the timid reindeer! The Siberian herdsmen found it difficult to interest the Alaskans in animal husbandry and less than two years later quit and went back to Siberia. The Alaska Native people preferred to remain hunters, not herders - although a few did indeed make an effort to succeed at herding.  [between ca. 1900 and ca. 1930] Forms part of: Frank and Frances Carpenter collection (Library of Congress). Gift; Mrs. W. Chapin Huntington; 1951. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. After the Siberians went home, the government brought in a few herders from Lapland and they continued to work with the Alaska Natives. There eventually was some small success. Records indicate that there was at least one U.S. bush mail route that was accomplished with a reindeer-powered sled. And also in the Native Alaskans' favor, it is rather amusing to think of today's Iditarod Serum Run Race led by antlered reindeer as they dashed through the wilds to Nome. The first winter of the Alaska Gold Rush, 1897, was a bitter one. Word leaked out that the miners at Circle City were in trouble and would starve before navigation opened up in the spring. Since navigation by water was blocked by ice, Sheldon Jackson somehow persuaded a sympathetic Congress to fund the transport a huge herd of reindeer from Lapland to Alaska and then drive the animals overland to Circle City on the Yukon River! This would entail an ocean voyage across the Atlantic, a transcontinental train ride to Seattle, and another ocean voyage to Haines even before the drive for the Yukon even began! Dr. Jackson himself traveled to Europe, made the arrangements, and departed Lapland with 538 reindeer and 113 Lapp herders. Some of the animals died en route, others on the train ride. At the end of the transcontinental train trip, the bagged reindeer moss packed along on the trip was depleted. So the herd was let loose in a Seattle park to graze - and more of them died from the unaccustomed grass diet. Finally the greatly reduced herd boarded the ship for Alaska but when the steamer arrived in Haines, it was learned that crisis in Circle City was over!  [between ca. 1900 and ca. 1930] Photo by Lomen Bros., Nome. Forms part of: Frank and Frances Carpenter collection (Library of Congress). Gift; Mrs. W. Chapin Huntington; 1951. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. These animals were, however, government animals. Dr. Jackson apparently was not all that disappointed - they would simply become part of his original plan, another try at herding. The animals were sent on overland in two herds, one to the west and one to the north. In time, the herders successfully brought many of the reindeer into the Barrow region and to the Seward Peninsula. Reindeer in good condition are said to double their numbers in three years. In 1902, the Russian government ended any exportation of Siberian reindeer to Alaska. But by then the world-traveling creatures of 1897 became the beginnings of present-day herds in Alaska, most centered on the Seward Peninsula. Reindeer sausage is widely available today. Thirty years ago reindeer steaks were featured in Nome eateries. I don't know if they still are. Twenty years ago reindeer antlers for the aphrodisiac market was a healthy industry. Is it still? And twenty+ years ago the down-south drafters of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) wrote a particular section of the law that made it illegal for reindeer to cross ANILCA boundaries and mate with the wild caribou. Well shucks.
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