Unalaska
United Methodist Church
...serving Unalaska and the greater Aleutian community in the name of Christ
Native Cultural
Since the arrival of modern culture in the mid-1700’s, Native peoples have suffered a devastating decline in population. Invading the islands initially were the Russians, then the islands, along with all of Alaska, were sold to the United States. Aleuts, the native population, suffered under the rule of both nations.
“Aleuts had lived in the islands for eight thousand years when Russians arrived in the Eastern Aleutians in 1759, eighteen years after Vitus Bering’s voyage of discovery. By 1775 a trading settlement had been established at Unalaska by Ivan Aolov’ev, and here men from Captain James Cook’s vessels visited in 1787. “In the initial two decades of hostilities between the Aleuts and Russians in the Eastern Aleutians, roughly 1759 to 1779, gave way to another two decades of coexistence. In 1799 the Russian American Company was granted its monopoly over all Alaskan commerce and Aleuts discovered themselves dominated by a ruthless bureaucracy. In 1824 Father Veniaminov began his ten-year mission at Unalaska. Although economic conditions for local people did not improve, this period witnessed a transformation of much of the Aleut population. Under Veniaminov’s tutelage, children attended school, literacy in Aleut and Russian flourished, Aleuts became the administrative and spiritual backbone of the Orthodox Church in Alaska.”(1)
Throughout the past 250 years the proud culture of the Native
people has remained resilient. Introduced diseases, forced servitude
under the Russians and Americans, and relocation during World War II all
took their toll. Only because the elders were dedicated to their Native
culture, has much of it survived.
Peoples of the Aleutian Archipelago receive the name Aleut from the Russians. However, many Natives refer to themselves as “Unangan” or “Unangas,” traditional names for the people.
“In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Unalaska village
was called variously Illuluk, Iloolook, and Iliuliuk. As the major
settlement on the island, this village gradually adopted the island’s
name as its own. The name had changed from
Agunalashka to Oonalaska, and
finally with many variants in between, to Unalaska.”(2)
Today there is a heighten awareness to maintain and reclaim as
much of the Native culture as possible. Dancing is now taught to the
children; Unangan language is taught in public schools. A Native culture
camp is held each summer for the children of the Aleutians on Unalaska
Island, in Humpy Cove, where elders and other instructors teach the old
ways. Instruction included: grass weaving, skin sewing, tool making,
throwing the atl atl and many other skills including constructing
beautiful bentwood hats.
(1)(2) “Moments Rightly Placed, An Aleutian Memoir.”
Author:
Ray Hudson, Unalaska teacher, artist, and writer.
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Last Update: Nov. 13, 2007
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