People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 October 1893 — The Women of Alaska. [ARTICLE]

The Women of Alaska.

There is a woman in Sitka, known as Princess Tom, who is very rich. She at one time had three husbands, but has become Christianized and has discarded two. She is an extensive trader, and has several large canoes in which she transports goods from Sitka to the interior and exchanges them with the natives for furs. She is known all over Alaska, and wears upon her arms twenty or thirty bracelets made out of S2O gold pieces. The natives also trace their genealogy through the female branch of the family, and the inheritance comes through the mother’s side. For instance, if a chief should die, leaving a son, his sister’s son or nephew would succeed in authority and not his own son. The women are not slaves, as in the Indian tribes in this country, but exercise a great deal of authority. The women emulate their sex in civilized countries in their affectation of bright and gaudy colors, and most of the money they receive is invested in bright colored goods and shawls.