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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 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
Subsistence lifestyle • Surviving on what can be harvested (hunted or gathered) from the environment Alaska Native Cultures
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
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 Russian Sighting of Alaska
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
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
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
Harbor Seal Harvest, Canada The Killing Fields
Catherine the Great, Empress 1763 • Proclaimed goodwill towards the Aleuts and urged fair treatment Russian influence
On some islands and parts of the Alaska Peninsula, traders and Aleut Natives were able to co-exist peacefully Conflict hard to avoid
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
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
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