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The Aleuts are the people of the Aleutian Islands and western Alaska who survived as maritime hunters. The Aleutians extend for about 1,800 kilometers (km) southwestward from the Alaskan mainland toward Russian Siberia. They separate the North Pacific from the Bering Sea, one of the roughest bodies of water in the world. These Islands are what is left of the land bridge which once connected Siberia and Alaska and which waves of migration from Siberia populated North and evenntually South America. The Aleuts are presumably descended from the last wave of migration, but I have little information about this. The Aleuts were the people encontered by Danish explorer in the service of the Russian Vitus Bering (1681-1741) in his voyage of discovery, from which he did not survive. The Russians proceeded to colonize Alaska. The Russians were attracted by furs, especially the luxurious sea otter pelts.
It was the Russians who provided the name "Aleuts", the original Russian meaning is now unknown.
They called themselves Unangan, meaning "the people" in their language. The Aleuts are racially and ethnically related to the Eskimo, but have a destinctive language and culture. The encounter with Bering and the Russians (1741) was the Aleuts first contact with Europeans. The Aleuts lived in widely scattered villages a survived by hunting marine mammals and fishing. The population at the time Bering encountered them has been various estimted at 12,000 to 25,000. Their houses were semisubterranean, designed to withstand the severe weather of the North Pacific and Bering Sea. There class system included both nobles and slaves and had a system of bilateral descent. Shamans or priest, medicinemen were important in hunting rituals as well as social taboos and medicine. The Aleutians are extremely baren. wind-swept islands. Intensive agriculture is not possible. The Aleuts thus turned to the sea. They primarily went after sea otters, sealions, seals, whales, and fish using skin-covered boats. Land resources imcluded birds, eggs, and a variety of plants. It was the fur trade that attracted the Russians who by 1750 had set up trading posts. Sea otters have the most luxurious pelts in the animal kingdom. Other valuable pelts were available, including fur seals, and foxes. The Russians essentially enslaved the Aleuts to hunt for them. The Aleuts were decimated by the Russians who treated them severely and by the European diseases they introduced. The Russians sold Alaska including the leutian Islnds to the United States (1867). By this time the populations of sea otters and fur seals had been badly depleted. There are today about 8,000 Aleuts in Alaska.
The Aleuts are the people of the Aleutian Islands and western Alaska who survived as maritime hunters. The Aleutians extend for about 1,800 kilometers (km) southwestward from the Alaskan mainland toward Russian Siberia. They separate the North Pacific from the Bering Sea, one of the roughest bodies of water in the world.
The Aleuts are racially very similar to Siberian peoples. The Aleutians Islands are what is left of the land bridge which once connected Siberia and Alaska and which waves of migration from Siberia populated North and evenntually South America. The Aleuts are presumably descended from the last wave of migration, but I have little information about this.
The Aleuts were the people encontered by Danish explorer in the service of the Russian Vitus Bering (1681-1741) in his voyage of discovery, from which he did not survive. The Russians proceeded to colonize Alaska. The Russians were attracted by furs, especially the luxurious sea otter pelts, highly prised in the fur trade.
It was the Russians who provided the name "Aleuts", the original Russian meaning is now unknown.
They called themselves Unangan, meaning "the people" in their language. The Aleuts are racially and ethnically related to the Eskimo, but have a destinctive, but related language and culture.
The Aleut language is a member of the Eskimo-Aleut family.
The encounter with Bering and the Russians (1741) was the Aleuts first contact with Europeans. The Aleuts lived in widely scattered villages a survived by hunting marine mammals and fishing. The population at the time Bering encountered them has been various estimted at 12,000 to 25,000. Their houses were semisubterranean, designed to withstand the severe weather of the North Pacific and Bering Sea. There class system included both nobles and slaves and had a system of bilateral descent. Shamans or priest, medicinemen were important in hunting rituals as well as social taboos and medicine. The Aleutians are extremely baren. wind-swept islands. Intensive agriculture is not possible. The Aleuts thus turned to the sea. Given sea conditions in the North Pacific and Bering Sea, this required considerable skill. They primarily went after sea otters, sealions, seals, whales, and fish using skin-covered boats. Land resources imcluded birds, eggs, and a variety of plants.
It was the fur trade that attracted the Russians who by 1750 had set up trading posts. Sea otters have the most luxurious pelts in the animal kingdom. Other valuable pelts were available, including fur seals, and foxes. The Russians needed the Aleuts because they were such skilled marine hunters. The Russians essentially enslaved the Aleuts to hunt for them. The Aleuts were decimated by the Russians who treated them severely, including some murderous attacks on Aleut villages. Also the Russians forced the Aleuts to hunt outside their normal area, as far south as northern California, which brought them into conflict with mainland tribes. The European diseases (smallpox and influenza) which they inadvetently introduced were even more deadly. The was considerable comingling and as a result, most Aleuts today are descended from both Aleut and Russians. The Russians introduced sheep to the islands which have become important in the local ecomomies. Under Russian rule, most Aleuts converted to the Orthodox faith.
The Russians sold Alaska including the Aleutian Islnds to the United States (1867). By this time the populations of sea otters and fur seals had been badly depleted. World War II had a major impact on the Aleuts who at the time still lived a very traditional lifestyle. . As part of their attack on Midway, the Japanese invaded Atu and Kiska as a diversion (1942). The United States evacuated the Aleuts on the remaining islands, primarily Atka, to southeastern Alaska. This mandatory evacuation contribued to the decline of the traditional way of life. Aleut Scouts assisted in the retaking of the island (1943). They were allowed to return after the War, but their life styke hd been permantly altered. Aleut population estimates vary. Estimates range from 2,000- 8,000 Aleuts. As a result of treaties between the United States and Russia and conservation measures, populations of fur seals and sea otters have recovered. The Aleuts are allowed to harvest a quota of fur seals on the Pribolof Islands. Sea otters despite their recovery are a protected species.
Ackerman, Robert. Ethnohistory in Southwestern Alaska and the Southern Yukon (1970).
Jochelson, V.I. The History, Ethnology and Anthropology of the Aleut (1933, repr. 1966).
Laughlin, William S. Aleuts (1981).
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