Alaska History & Culture - Travel Alaska - Official State of
Alaska History
description
Transcript of Alaska History
Alaska History 1Overview
Prehistory
Upper Paleolithic Period (14,000 BC)◦Groups from Siberia crossed the Bering land
bridge
Alaska Native Cultures (language)Alaska Native IndiansAthabaskan (Interior)Eyak (SC/SE Coastal)Haida (SE Coastal)Tlingit (SE Coastal)Tsimshian (SE Coastal)
Native Eskimo PeopleInupiat/Inupiaq/Inuit(Northern Eskimos)Yupiit (Bering Sea)Siberian Yup’ikYup’ik/Cup’ikAlutiiqChugachKoniagKenai PeninsulaAleut
Alaska Native Cultures
Subsistence lifestyle◦Surviving on what can be harvested (hunted or
gathered) from the environment
Early Exploration
In 1648 Semyon Dezhnev sailed from the mouth of the Kolyma River through the Arctic Ocean and around the eastern tip of Asia to the Anadyr River
Questions
◦Legend—some of his boats were carried off course and reached Alaska No evidence survives
◦News of Dezhnev's discovery eventually made it to St. Petersburg But, the question of whether or not Siberia was
connected to North America was never answered completely
Audio History
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ACKFeLaxOA&list=PLdFsYdyyFuQgcll7XYfBTF-LAKfBFvwmc&index=10
1st Kamchatka Expedition
1728—Vitus Bering sailed from the Sea of Okhotsk, around the Kamchatka Peninsula north and through the Bering Strait◦He did NOT see Alaska
Set sail from Kamchatka
1725 Tsar Peter 1 of Russia funded an expedition 1728—Bering and a group of explorers traveled from St.
Petersburg to The Sea of Okhotsk and the Kamchatka Peninsula They sailed around Kamchatka Peninsula and North through
Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean
1733-1743 2nd Kamchatka Expedition
1st Europeans to reach Alaska were Russian
June 1741 Vitus Bering and Aleksei Chirikov set sail in two ships; they were soon separated
Russian Sighting of Alaska
July 15, 1741 Chirikov sighted land—Prince of Wales Island Sent a group of men ashore in a longboat making them the
1st Europeans to set foot on the northwestern coast of North America
Russian Sighting of Alaska
July 16, 1741, Bering sighted Mount St. Elias (on the mainland) from his ship and soon thereafter, headed back to Russia
Bering dies
Sept. 9, 1741, Bering’s ship entered Adak harbor In November, Bering’s ship was wrecked on Bering
Island◦ Bering died, leaving his crew stranded for the winter
The next summer, they rebuilt the ship from debris and returned home carrying word of the expedition and sea otter pelts
Fur Industry
Soon, fur traders sailed from Siberia to Aleutian Islands◦Established hunting and trading posts
Word of quality furs spread◦More fur traders arrived, established trading
companies◦Forced Aleuts into slavery
Separated men from women and children◦Traditional roles ignored◦Women and children starved
Promyshlenniki (Russian fur hunters)
Russian fur hunters exploited the islands of the Aleutian Chain one at a time and when the fur-bearing sea mammals were all gone, they moved east until reaching the mainland
Pribilof Islands
In 1786, Gerrassium Pribylov followed fur seals from the Aleutian Islands to St. George Island◦Uninhabited “rock”◦Shipped men to Pribilof Islands
Worked in the killing fields and blubbering houses
Marine Mammals
The Killing Fields
Harbor Seal Harvest, Canada
Russian influence
Catherine the Great (German), Empress 1763◦Wife of Peter III, orchestrated his overthrow◦Proclaimed goodwill towards the Aleuts and
urged fair treatment
Conflict hard to avoid
On some islands and parts of the Alaska Peninsula, traders and Aleut Natives were able to co-exist peacefully
Catastrophic situation
Increased competition—declining animal populations◦Continued enslavement
Families split up Re-settlement
◦Hunters forced to take greater risks in dangerous North Pacific
Shelekhov-Golikov Company emerged◦Created a monopoly
Used violence as a tool to exploit the Aleuts
Devastating effects
Aleuts revolt, Russian retaliation swift and severe◦Many Aleuts killed◦Boats destroyed◦Hunting gear destroyed
No means to hunt Many Aleuts died of starvation
Exposure to disease was even more devastating◦1741-1799, 80% of Aleut population died◦Aleut had no immunity to Eurasian diseases
Aleut Assimilation
Dynamic blend of Native and Russian Traditions emerged◦Russian traders prohibited traditional religious
celebrations◦Encouraged Aleuts to embrace Orthodoxy◦Russian men and Aleut women inter-married