Chief (Simeon) Ezi
of the Once Powerful Eklutnas
Is Given Colorful Adieu
Anchorage Times 2/24/1935
Covered in
a beautiful fringed and highly colored blanket, and with another warm blanket
beside him, and wearing a strikingly designed, new, pair of mukluks, and attired
in a new suit of
clothes and other garnishments, Chief Ezi, for many years the re
spected idol of
the once powerful tribe of Eklutnas, was laid to rest in the Anchorage
Cemetery.
Mourned by scores of his people who were present, and also honored by
a number of white friends, the old Chieftan was lowered into the grave as men,
women and children of his tribe chanted in Russian and as the burial ritual was
recited in Russian by Mrs. Billy Austin.
The old Chief rests beneath a “TOP”
house, largest of the kind seen in this region, made by his own sons and placed
above the grave yesterday immediately after the service and burial. The house
stands 5 feet above the grave, is 6½ feet long and 3½ feet wide. Over the house
rises a large wooden cross, cut out of a log in one solid piece.
The services
continued for 2 hours and were characterized with numerous songs, chants and
readings, all in Russian, according to the ritual of the Orthodox Greek Catholic
Church in who’s faith they had been reared and trained from childhood.
Thanks
to Coleen Mielke
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