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Alaska History

Alaska History. Overview. Upper Paleolithic Period (14,000 BC) Groups from Siberia crossed the Bering land bridge . Prehistory. Alaska Native Cultures (language). Eskimo Inupiaq Yup’ik/ Cup’ik Aleut Alutiiq Southeast Coastal Indians Tlingit Tsimshian Haida Eak.

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Alaska History

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  1. Alaska History Overview

  2. Upper Paleolithic Period (14,000 BC) • Groups from Siberia crossed the Bering land bridge Prehistory

  3. Alaska Native Cultures (language) Eskimo Inupiaq Yup’ik/Cup’ik Aleut Alutiiq Southeast Coastal Indians Tlingit Tsimshian Haida Eak

  4. Subsistence lifestyle • Surviving on what can be harvested (hunted or gathered) from the environment Alaska Native Cultures

  5. 1stEuropeans to reach Alaska were Russian • 1725 Tsar Peter 1 of Russia funded an expedition • June 1741 Vitus Bering and Aleksei Chirikov set sail in two ships; they were soon separated Russian America 1733-1867

  6. 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

  7. July 16, 1741, Bering sighted Mount St. Elias (on the mainland) from his ship and soon thereafter, headed back to Russia Russian Sighting of Alaska

  8. 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 Bering dies

  9. 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 Fur Industry

  10. In 1786, GerrassiumPribylov followed fur seals from the Aleutian Islands to St. George Island • Uninhabited “rock” • Shipped men to PrililofIslands • Worked in the killing fields and blubbering houses Pribilof Islands

  11. Marine Mammals

  12. Harbor Seal Harvest, Canada The Killing Fields

  13. Catherine the Great, Empress 1763 • Proclaimed goodwill towards the Aleuts and urged fair treatment Russian influence

  14. On some islands and parts of the Alaska Peninsula, traders and Aleut Natives were able to co-exist peacefully Conflict hard to avoid

  15. 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 Catastrophic situation

  16. 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 European diseases Devastating effects

  17. 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 Aleut Assimilation

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