Editing Sheldon Jackson (section)

==North to Alaska==
[[File:Map of USA AK full.png|thumb|Map showing Alaska position relative to lower 48 states]]  
[[File:Sheldon Jackson on U.S.S. Bear.jpg|thumb|Sheldon Jackson, third from right, on USS ''Bear'' (1874)]]
Jackson found his major life's work in the new territory of [[Alaska]].  In 1867, US Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]], during the administration of [[U.S. President]] [[Andrew Johnson]], had negotiated the [[Alaska purchase|Alaska Purchase]] from [[Russia]]. The huge territory, with 20,000 miles of coastline, was initially called by many skeptics "Seward's Folly".<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/mar05/bear.html Have you been to the "polar bear garden"?] The loc.gov Wise Guide</ref>

In 1877, Jackson began his work in Alaska. He became committed to the Protestant Christian spiritual, educational, and economic wellbeing of the [[Alaska Natives]], according to his conception of well-being. He founded numerous schools and training centers that served these native people. At those schools, however, children were punished for speaking in their native languages.<ref name="Michael Krauss 1980">Michael Krauss (1980), ''Alaska Native Languages: Past, Present, and Future''. Alaska Native Language Center Research Papers Number 4.</ref><ref name="ankn.uaf.edu">Our Language Our Souls:[http://ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/Yupiaq/DelenaNorrisTull/bLower%20Kuskokwim%20bilingual.htm The Yup'ik bilingual curriculum of the Lower Kuskokwim School District: A continuing success story]. Edited by Delena Norris-Tull. 1999</ref> His protégés included [[Edward Marsden]], a [[Tsimshian]] missionary among the [[Tlingit people|Tlingit]].

Jackson had considerable common ground with another important American in the region.  Captain [[Michael A. Healy]] of the [[United States Revenue Cutter Service]], commander of the [[USS Bear|USRC ''Bear'']], was also known for his concern for the native Alaskan [[Inuit]]. During this time, Captain Healy, primarily of European-American ancestry and the first person of African descent to command a U.S. ship, was essentially the law enforcement officer of the U.S. government in the vast territory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/people/HealyMichaelIndex.asp|title=Captain Michael A. Healy, USRCS|publisher=uscg.mil}}</ref>  In his twenty years of service between [[San Francisco]] and [[Point Barrow, Alaska|Point Barrow]], Healy acted as a judge, doctor, and policeman to Alaskan Natives, merchant seamen and whaling crews.  His ship also carried doctors and provided the only available trained medical care to many isolated communities.<ref name="icefloe.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.icefloe.net/healy_michaelhealy.html |title=Healy - Captain Michael A. Healy |access-date=2008-12-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724194607/http://www.icefloe.net/healy_michaelhealy.html |archive-date=2008-07-24 }}</ref>  The Native people throughout the vast regions of the north came to know and respect this skipper and called his ship "Healy's Fire Canoe".<ref name="icefloe.net"/>  The ''Bear'' and Captain Healy reportedly inspired author [[Jack London]], and are featured prominently, along with Jackson, in [[James A. Michener]]'s novel, ''[[Alaska (novel)|Alaska]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Michener|first=James Albert |title=Alaska|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HdU-FGdL0H8C|accessdate=1 June 2021|year=1988|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-394-55154-8}}</ref>

Healy and Jackson became allies of a sort. During visits to [[Siberia]] (across the [[Bering Sea]] from the Alaskan coast), Healy had observed that the [[Chukchi people]] in the remote Asian area had domesticated [[reindeer]] and used them for food, travel, and clothing.<ref name="bcm.bc.edu">{{cite web|url=http://bcm.bc.edu/issues/summer_2003/ft_passing.html|title=Passing free - BCM - Summer 2003|publisher=bcm.bc.edu}}</ref> Recognizing the decline in the seal and whale populations for native consumption because of growing commercial fishing activities, and to aid Eskimos in transportation, Jackson and Healy made numerous trips into Siberia and helped import nearly 1,300 reindeer to bolster the livelihoods of Native people.  These became valuable tools in the provision of food, clothing and other necessities for Native peoples.  This work was noted in the ''[[New York Sun]]'' newspaper in 1894.<ref name="bcm.bc.edu"/>
   
Jackson was convinced that Americanization was the key to the future of Alaskan Natives. He discouraged the use of indigenous languages, traditional cultural practices, and spiritual celebrations. Because he was worried that Native cultures would vanish with no records of their past (a process which his own educational efforts accelerated), he collected artifacts from those cultures on his many trips throughout the region.

Jackson believed he could further his goals for the Alaskan natives through politics. He became a close friend of U.S. President [[Benjamin Harrison]].  He worked toward the passage of the [[Organized territory|Organic Act]] of 1884, which ensured that Alaska would begin to set up a judicial system and receive aid for education.  As a result, Sheldon Jackson was appointed as the First General Agent of Education in Alaska.