GUEST: We have 17 Sheldon Jackson reindeer# reports from 1893 to 1906.

So this is just## part of our collection.

And because# my grandfather was a reindeer herder## and his name is in some of these books,# that's... that was our interest in them.

APPRAISER: I'm learning things in Alaska,# never having come to Alaska before, and I'm## grateful to be here and to, to learn# about the reindeer.

I did not know## that they were not indigenous# to Alaska, they were introduced.

GUEST: The reindeer's cousin, the caribou,# is indigenous to Alaska.

My ancestors,## their main source of food, if you're on the# coast, were sea mammals-- so whales, walrus,## and seals.

And now back in the 1800s, so many# of them were taken by-- in the whaling ships...

GUEST: ...around the world, and so, that left very# little food for my ancestors.

And Sheldon Jackson,## the education agent, saw that.

He had heard that# other countries were raising reindeer for food,## and so he thought it would be# good to try that in Alaska.

APPRAISER: Yeah, and it was# something that indigenous people in,## in other parts of Siberia and other# parts of Scandinavia did as well.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: The books.. reports of this program.

So, in addition to your# grandfather's name, they have the names of all## of the people that were involved in the program,# and, of course, the numbers of animals and then## how the program was doing, which is, which is# fascinating.

Because they are reports for an## ongoing government program, the only way you can# really get them is in the original editions as## they're coming out each year from the government# printing office.

There's photos in there,## there are maps.

We can look at a photo.

It does# show milking reindeer.

The female reindeer were## only meant to be given to people in the community# only.

They wanted to keep the new tradition of## herding among indigenous Alaskans.

These books# are important to you personally, and it's also## such an i... an interesting moment in the# history of this very diverse place of Alaska.

GUEST: A lot of these, we bought 40 years ago... APPRAISER: Right.

GUEST: And we have no idea what they're worth now.

GUEST: The price range varied;# the average was about $50.

APPRAISER: What I see right# now on the retail market is## individual volumes selling for# about, more like $100 to $200.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.