History of Reindeer in ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ
By the late 1880s, there were reports of starving ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Native populations in western ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ due to the decimation of marine mammals from the whaling industry and scarce numbers of caribou. Dr. Sheldon Jackson, a U.S. general agent for education and a Presbyterian missionary, lobbied for federal monies to assist ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Natives. He built mission schools and in the late 1800s introduced reindeer into ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ from Russia as a source of protein and revenue. Reindeer were brought to ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ on Captain Healy’s U.S. Revenue Cutter, the Bear. Siberian herders and then Saami herders were brought to western ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ to teach Native ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æns how to herd reindeer. The reindeer industry grew until there were over 600,000 animals present in the 1930s. Mismanagement and losses to wolves and caribou sparked a dramatic decline to only 50,000 reindeer by the 1950s. The Reindeer Act of 1937 allows only ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Natives to own reindeer. Today there are approximately 30,000 throughout the state and 20,000 in western ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ, with most living on the Seward Peninsula and in island herds.
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