Contents. Natives in Alaska s History

Transcription

1 Natives in Alaska s History Contents Note to the Teacher... 2 Natives in Alaska s History Oral History... 5 Igadik Chuning Tlingit History: Kasteen Masu and Her Adopted Son Nulthkutuk 2. Russian Days... 9 K alyáan (Katlian) What was a Creole? Some Early Explorers Semeon and Ivan Semeonovich Lukin Alexander Filipovich Kashevarov Native Scholars and Religious Leaders Ivan Pan kov Iakov Netsvetov Other Religious Men 3. Early American Days Erinia Pavaloff Cheroskey Callahan Sinrock Mary Angokwazhuk ( Happy Jack ) David Paul Louis Shotridge Serum Race Albert Tritt John Fredson Sources Written by: Patricia H. Partnow, Ph.D. Curriculum Development Specialist Indian Education Program / Anchorage School District June 1984 Revised and Reprinted 2004 A L AS KA STUD IES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 1.

2 NATIVES IN ALASKA S HISTORY NOTE TO THE TEACHER Why the Booklet Was Written The student booklet Natives in Alaska s History began as part of the celebration of Alaska s 25th Anniversary as a state. In reading history texts of Alaska, I became aware that most of them show Natives playing only a minor role in the history and development of our state. Generally, when Natives are mentioned, it is in one of two circumstances: First in the pre-history sections, where they are sole actors (but even then, they are usually shown as representatives of a static culture, not as people who changed or invented anything); second, after contact, when they are shown as the victims or passive recipients of the white man s actions. I began the research for this booklet with a belief that this picture is incomplete. I expected to have some difficulty in finding written accounts of Natives actions, since the written record consists mostly of the comments of the few whites who traveled Alaska in the early days. In fact, there is a lot written about various Natives, but it is in bits and pieces. A case in point are the Lukins, father and son. They cropped up in the journals of various explorers of Alaska. Zagoskin talks about the father at some length in Dall mentions the son in And a member of the Western Union Telegraph Company expedition of , George Adams, kept a diary of which Ivan Lukin (the son) plays a major part. Although the Yukon River up to Dawson City was explored by Ivan Lukin, his contributions were unknown or ignored by the Americans of his day. This is a fairly typical treatment of Alaska Natives and Creoles in our history. We know them as guides and employees but not as history makers. The Reverend Michael Oleksa pointed out another group of important Natives to me. He provided me with sources on many Russians who were the middle management, explorers, and clerics during the Russian period in Alaska. In fact, scores of these men were Creoles, being at least half Native (usually Unangan or Sugpiaq, though also some Yup ik and Tlingit). Because they had Russian or Creole fathers and had been baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church, their names are Russian. Their Native heritage sheds new light on this period in our state s history. How the People were Chosen The people I chose for this booklet were those about whom I had least trouble finding information. After the first draft, I noticed that, because of the nature of the written sources, most of the people were friends of the Russian or Americans, and most were men. The men who were considered outstanding members of their own groups, but who fought against the newcomers, were often not considered great by the white men who came into conflict with them. Similarly, few women (of any ethnic 2. A L AS KA S TUDIES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

3 group) appear in written histories of Alaska. I have included individuals from these two categories. I have not included anyone who has been active in very recent years. Instead, I restricted the booklet to the deceased. Still, there are a number of influential people who should be included. William Paul, Sr. and William Beltz come to mind immediately. Their stories have been written elsewhere, and I encourage readers to seek out their biographies. How the Booklet Fits in With a Study of Alaska s History The book is designed to be used with students from middle to high school age. It is arranged chronologically. Although I mention the names of various periods in our history I do not explore the general trends of each period. It is the teacher s task to put the biographies into context for the students. I would also encourage teachers to develop further some of the themes that recur in these stories. One is the status of Creoles, in comparison with both the Russians and the Natives. Another is the potential conflict between our modern emphasis on change and innovation and the traditional Native values of learning from elders and respecting the eternal and unchanging relationships between humans and the natural world. When was an innovation acceptable to Native onlookers, and when had a person gone too far? Third, there is the theme of the good Native (i.e., one who emulates whites), who was in danger of losing his Nativeness in the rush to fit into the new world that Alaska became and, most of all, is the question of what is Nativeness? What is special about the Alaska Native worldview and philosophy? How can it be incorporated into modern Alaskan society? What can we learn from it today? Patricia H. Partnow Spring 1984 Author s Note 2004 Since this booklet was written and printed twenty years ago, scholars have supplemented the list of reliable sources with a great deal of impressive new research. In particular, I encourage readers to check the catalog of the University of Alaska Press in Fairbanks. Since 1984, this press has published more than a dozen new titles relevant to the Russian American period and stories of Alaska Native lives. PHP Anchorage A L AS KA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 3.

4 NATIVES IN ALASKA S HISTORY History is about the past. In the European tradition, history is mostly about the changes in the past, and how things got to be the way they are today. Each person s life and actions are part of the past. Yet, when we write about history, we can t tell about every single person. We choose to write about the people we think made the most difference, those who changed things the most. Many history books about Alaska tell only about the lives and actions of Euro-American men (and some women). Those books don t usually include information about men of other ethnicities or cultures, and might slight the stories of women. Is this because white men did the most important things in our state s past? No. Rather, it is because it was the Euro-Americans who wrote about their deeds the most, and so today we know about the past from their points of view. They wrote letters home; they wrote magazine articles to readers in New York; they wrote reports to the government in Washington, D.C. Along the way, some of them wrote about the Natives they met in their travels, and those who helped them survive their journeys. The guides they hired were Natives. Although the explorers are usually given credit for being the first to get to a certain place, in many cases the guides had been there before, and were simply retracing their steps. So why is it the explorers who become famous and not the guides? Because the explorers wrote about the adventures. Except for the Aleuts (both Unangan and Sugpiaq/Alutiiq), some of whom wrote diaries and newsletters in the 19th Century, Alaska Natives did not write much about themselves until the 20th Century. Of course they did have a history, which they passed on: Oral history. Elders taught the children the important events of the past, just as their parents had taught them, and just as history books teach us today. This booklet talks about a few of the Alaska Natives who played an important part in Alaska s history. It is broken into several parts, starting with the earliest years in Alaska (before the coming of the Russians in the 1700s), and continuing through the years to the recent past. 4. A L AS KA S TUDIES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

5 1. ORAL HISTORY WE ALL USE ORAL HISTORY TO PASS ON INFORMATION. When our parents tell us about their lives as little children, they are passing on oral history. When we tell a friend about our summer vacation, we re passing on oral history. Until the 1800s, Alaska Natives history was all oral. Each band or village had historians who were known for their memories, and those were the people who told the young about the group s history. We have all tried repeating a story we once heard, only to discover we can t remember all the details. That might make us wonder how accurate oral history is. It s so easy to forget, so hard to get all the details right. It is undoubtedly true that the stories that were told by village historians were a bit different from what had happened generations before. But it is also true that the people back then were much more skilled at repeating the exact story that most people are today. First, they heard the stories over and over before trying to tell them themselves. Second, their memories were undoubtedly better than ours, because every bit of information they used was recorded only in their minds, not in books. They had to have excellent memories to survive. And third, the historians were often required to memorize the stories, word for word, and repeat them back to their teachers. We know about the people in this first section from oral histories that have survived the years and have been recorded or written down. We don t know exactly when these people lived, because in the days before written history, people did not keep track of years and dates. We also don t know all the details of their stories. But their stories are crucial parts of Alaska s earliest history. A L AS KA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 5.

6 IGADIK Igadik was an Unangan, or Aleut, from Unimak Island. He was a respected young man: Not only was he the son of the chief, but he was also an excellent baidarka (the Russian term for kayak) handler and a very good hunter. Igadik was one of a long line of Aleut explorers. His fame came from one particular adventure. It started when he was hunting for sea mammals in his baidarka, north of the island. A strong wind suddenly came up out of the south. It blew him north, far into the Bering Sea. The storm continued for several days, blowing him farther and farther north. Finally, the wind died down and the rain stopped, only to be replaced by a thick fog. Igadik drifted in the fog for a while, until he realized that he was hearing familiar sounds: The voices of birds and fur seals. This meant he was near land. He paddled toward the sounds. Suddenly, looming out of the mist, he saw a dark cliff in front of him. And he saw millions of fur seals on the rocks below it. Mother seals were nursing their pups. Igadik knew he had found the breeding grounds of the fur seals that swam past the Aleutian Islands. The island is today called St. George, one of the Pribilof Islands. Igadik stayed for a year, then returned to his home island of Unimak. He named the islands he found Amiq, and the story of his discovery was passed on for generations. Today, we call the island group the Pribilofs, after a Russian trader who first saw them in If the Aleuts had written down Igadik s adventures, perhaps we would now call them the Amiq Islands. CHUNING Chuning was also an Unangan whose accidental adventure changed history. She was the only survivor of a war between the people of her island, Attu, and a group of eastern Aleuts. She managed to hide until the invaders left the island. Then she set about killing a sea lion for food and making a home for herself on the northwest side of the island. Chuning realized that she was all alone. To ease her loneliness, she made pets of a sea gull and an eider duck. Through the years, they kept her company. Several years after the war, some people arrived at Attu from Umnak Island. They found Chuning all alone and marveled at her ability to stay alive for so long with no help. These people settled on Attu and eventually children were born and the island was populated again. From then on, Chuning was known as the ancestress of the Attuans. 6. A L AS KA S TUDIES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

7 TLINGIT HISTORY Among the richest sources of Alaska Native history are Tlingit clan stories. Elders in each clan know the names of many people who have performed brave deeds, led the clan to a new home, become great war leaders, founded new branches of the clan, or been great healers or shamans. There are hundreds of such people, whose names have been given to their clan ancestors. For instance, there is Natsilane, a man of the Daqlaweidee clan who was the founder of the Killerwhale crest; and Aakwtaatseen of the Kiks.adi clan, a boy who brought the Dog Salmon crest to his clan; and Xatgawet, a Teiqweidee man known as a great clan leader, founder of a village, war chief, and expert trader. Tlingit history also tells of many women. In Tlingit society, it is the mother who passes on her history to her children, so each clan values its women very highly. A clan with no women in it would die out; men cannot pass on their clan name or history to their own children. KASTEEN One story tells of the great sacrifice of a woman in the northern part of Tlingit territory, around what is now Glacier Bay. Her name was Shaawat Seek and she was an older woman of the Chookaneidee clan. In those days, several hundred years ago, when a girl became a woman she was put in a small house all by herself, away from the village. Only her mother and female relatives could talk to her and bring her food. She was not allowed even to look at men. She couldn t eat fresh meat. There were lots of things she was used to doing which were now forbidden. A Chookaneidee girl named Kasteen who had recently been taken to her secluded house became very lonely and bored. She cried and cried, and called out to the glacier to come keep her company. In answer to her call, the glacier began advancing toward her and the nearby village. It was coming quickly, and was almost upon the village when the people realized their home was about to be destroyed. They quickly made plans to move south to a new location. But first, they had to pay a debt to the glacier. The people believed that it was because of Kasteen s request that the glacier had approached their village. The glacier s spirit was expecting to be given a woman, and would not stop until it had one. A Chookaneidee woman must stay behind for the glacier. The young woman who had caused the problem could have been chosen to stay. Instead, Shawat Seek stepped forward and volunteered to sacrifice herself. She stayed in the old village, and was eventually crushed by the oncoming glacier. Today, it is the old woman who is remembered as the person who made possible the Chookaneidees safe escape from Glacier Bay. It was because she paid Kasteen s debt that the people felt safe and brave enough to start a new village. That village is called Hoonah. A L AS KA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 7.

8 MASU and her adopted son NULTHKUTUK Masu was an amazing Inupiaq Eskimo woman who lived more than 200 years ago. She was the sister of the headman of Unalakleet at the time of a war between her people and the interior Athabascans. The Inupiat won the battle, scaring off or killing all the Athabascans. Masu was at the scene of the battle afterward when she heard a cough. She looked around and could see no one, but heard the cough again. She followed the sound until she found a little Indian boy, seven years old, huddled under a tree. The boy was terrified, sure that he would be killed by this enemy of his people. But Masu s first thought was not of hatred, but of love. She quickly warmed and comforted the boy. Masu adopted the boy Nulthkutuk, and he became the nephew of her brother the headman. Nulthkutuk s new mother and uncle saw that he was taught the Inupiaq language and in the Inupiaq ways of hunting. He was being trained to be the next headman of the village. Nulthkutuk did become headman, and married his adopted cousin. He was considered wise and brave. There is a story of his stopping a war between the Inupiat and his original people, the Athabascans. It was because of Masu s kindness and love that an Athabascan boy became a great Inupiaq leader. 8. A L AS KA S TUDIES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

9 2. RUSSIAN DAYS FROM 1741 UNTIL 1867, ALASKA WAS A TERRITORY OF RUSSIA. Although most of the people we read about from this Russian period worked for or with the Russians, there were many others who did not welcome their coming. One Native, a Tlingit, stands out in the history books as a leader who battled against the Russians. K alyáan (KATLIAN) Battle Leader, K alyáan (often spelled Katlian in English) was a leader of the Kiks.adi clan of Tlingit Indians. You may come across the name often if you read Alaska s history, for his name was passed on to his descendants. The K alyáan who lived in 1802 was an important and rich man, the nephew of the leader of his clan and next in line for that position. His Kiks.adi clan owned fishing, hunting, and food gathering rights to much of the area around the present-day city of Sitka. In 1799, the Russians had arrived at his home territory to establish a fort. The Russians, under the command of Alexander Baranov, were greeted by K alyáan and other Kiks.adi leaders, as well as members of other clans. The Tlingits did not welcome the intruders to the territory. The Kiks.adi clan had occupied the area long before, and their claims were known to all people in the area. They meant to make sure that Baranov also recognized these claims. The Kiks.adi and Baranov came to an agreement that a Russian building could be constructed on a small portion of the land. Russians and the Aleut hunters from Kodiak and the Aleutian Chain who came with them moved in. As time passed, the Tlingits became less and less pleased with the Russians. The reasons for their feelings were several: first, the fort was apparently larger than the Kiks.adi had been led to expect. It also became apparent that the Russians meant to stay there. Second, it is probable that some Tlingit people of high standing were mistreated by the Russians. Third, the Tlingits, who were a fiercely independent people, were not pleased that the Russians interfered with their trade with British and American ships. The Kiks.adi attempted to oust the Russians a number of times, but were not successful until after Baranov left the fort to return to Kodiak. There is evidence that together Tlingits from the southernmost part of Alaska all the way to Yakutat in the north planned an attack on the Russians. In 1802, under the leadership of a Kiks.adi elder, the Tlingits from Sitka surrounded the Russian fort, drove some Russians and their Aleut servants to the mountains to hide, killed others, and burned the fort. The few survivors were taken to Kodiak by a passing British ship, and Baranov learned of the loss of his fort. For two years, the Sitka area was free of outsiders. During that time the Kiks.adi built a fort at the mouth of Indian River in preparation for the return of the Russian fur traders. Because of the tide flats there any cannon shots from ships would not be able to destroy their fort. Then, in 1804, the Russians returned, this time with more weapons. Baranov was with them. Kiks.adi tradition tells that the Russians, sitting in their ships in the bay, routinely shot cannons at the shore at noon each day. One of the A L AS KA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 9.

10 cannons struck a Kiks.adi woman. She was instantly killed. The Tlingits had not planned to welcome the Russians but this was the last straw. A battle plan was devised. Their plan was to coax the Russians to shore. The Tlingits fasted and sat quietly awaiting the Russians, who believed that the Natives had left the area. They began to go ashore. First came the Aleut hunters. The Kiks.adi still remember one Aleut with striking reddish hair. Next came the Russians. When all had landed, the Tlingits began a thunderous and steady drum beat. As arranged, the women let out loud shrieks to frighten the Russians. K alyáan, wearing a Raven headdress and swinging a heavy blacksmith s hammer, raged toward the enemy. One story says that one old man begged, Don t kill me! According to that story, the man was Baranov. He was wounded in battle. The Russians were being forced to retreat toward the shore when the guns from their ships began firing. This turned the tide to the battle. The Kiks.adi had used up their gunpowder and lost some young men. They abandoned their fort and all their possessions in the Sitka area, stole away quickly and quietly into the forest, and exiled themselves in a distant bay for nearly twenty years. During that time the Russians established their second fort in Sitka, and named it Novoarkhangelsk (New Archangel). There were no successful attacks on this fort by the Tlingits, although there were tense relations between the two groups. A cannon remained aimed at the Tlingit ranch, which is what the village area was called, until Russia sold its holdings to the United States. Today, K alyáan s Raven headdress is in the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka, loaned by his descendants. His blacksmith s hammer is in the museum collection at Sitka National Historic Park. What was a Creole? During the Russian period in Alaska, the Russians built trading posts, churches, cities, a cathedral, and schools, all patterned after those back in the Motherland. The history books that describe Alaska at that time tell about the people who ran the posts, churches, and schools. Most of these people were men, for in those days in Russia, women s lives were taken up with the hard work of clothing, feeding, and mothering their families. All of these leaders had Russian names. And yet, many of them were not Russians, but rather belonged to an officially recognized segment of the population called Creoles. They were the children or grandchildren of Aleut women and Russian men. They had been brought up in a village, gone to school in the village or sent away to a more advanced school in Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka), and returned to help run Alaska for the Russian-American Company, which also acted as the government. Because so many of the men involved in running the colony for Russia were Aleut Creoles, one historian has suggested that the second half of the Russian period should really be called the Aleut period of Alaska s history. In this section, you will read about a number of Creoles and Natives who brought about important changes in Alaska during the Russian period. But first, you need to know what it meant to be a Creole in Russian America. The Russia of the 18th and 19th centuries was a very stratified society. That is, each person had a rank, no matter what profession he was in. That rank told him whether he should consider himself above or beneath anyone else he came into contact with. There were rules of proper behavior toward both superiors and subordinates that he had to follow. This practice of ranking everyone extended to 10. A L ASK A STUDI ES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

11 Russian America, as well. The fact that there were so few Russian women here meant that most of the men married Native (especially Aleut) women. A new group of people with Russian fathers was growing up, and they needed to be given a rank in society. The Russians dubbed this group of people Creoles and granted them the status of free people. Their status was entirely new; there was nothing exactly like it in Russia. It entitled them to be citizens, but they didn t have to pay taxes. They also didn t have to work for the company, unlike Aleuts who had no Russian ancestry. However, they couldn t move from settlement to settlement within the colony without permission. Also, if they were educated at company expense (and many of them were), they owed from ten to fifteen years of work to the company. This new status was devised because everyone in Russia needed a rank. But it ended up serving another useful purpose. The tsar in Russia wanted to be sure that he had loyal subjects in Russian America. By teaching the Creoles the Russian culture of their fathers and accepting them into that culture, he reasoned that they would feel affection for the country across the Bering Sea. And, in the years after 1818, the Creoles were a readily available work force. Russians did not have to be imported to run the company, for the Creoles had been trained to do it. In the earliest years of Russian involvement in Alaska, there were very few Creoles. By the end of the Russian period, however, most Aleuts had at least one Russian ancestor or family member. Today s Aleut culture is built on a strong base of Creole experience, which includes membership in the Russian Orthodox church and many Russian customs, all melded with an older Aleut culture. During the middle years of Russian America, from the 1820s to 1850, Aleut culture was evolving toward its present mix. There was little distinction made between Aleuts and Creoles in the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak Island, and the Alaska Peninsula. In other parts of Alaska, however, the Creoles experienced a life very different from the Natives among whom they lived. It started with the kind of education these people received. The Russian-American Company had a policy of educating Creoles to be managers. In fact, they preferred them to Russians. It was therefore the Creoles who usually learned to read, write, navigate, make maps, be bookkeepers, and build ships for the company. In contrast, there were relatively few educated Natives. If a Creole child lived in a main post such as Unalaska, Kodiak, or Novoarkhangelsk, he usually went to the company school there (which, though owned by the company, was generally run by the church). Those Creoles who lived in outlying posts or villages were either taught to read and write at home, were taught the knowledge of their Native cultures, or were sent to Novoarkhangelsk for schooling. The most promising students were then sent to Russia for further education. Most of the Creoles whose stories follow were sent to the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers after some sort of Russian schooling. The Yupiit and Athabascans they lived with saw them as representatives of Russia, not as Natives. Still, when Andrei Glazunov first traveled to Anvik in 1833, the Deg Hit an Athabascans were greatly impressed by him. Not only was he polite and persuasive, but he also resembled their grandfathers. It is probable that the Creoles were so successful in maintaining good relations with their hosts because of their Native heritage. They looked and acted in familiar, acceptable, and unthreatening ways. They were self-sufficient and knew how to hunt and make their own clothes. And they understood the Native rules of politeness. On the other hand, these Creoles were used to dealing with money, many lived in wooden houses different from others in the area, they were A L A SKA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 11.

12 firm believers in the Christian religion, and they spoke Russian as well as one or more Native languages. These characteristics can be traced back to their Russian-style education. What follow are the stories of some remarkable people who have left their marks on Alaska. Besides their explorations, maps and missionary work, they left families and family names, common in Alaska even today. They showed one of the most important characteristics an Alaskan can have: They knew how to adapt to different situations, how to be flexible. This overlay a strong knowledge of the land and its people. Some early explorers 1818 Petr Ustiugov was an Aleut who was educated as a mapmaker. He made the maps for the Creole explorer Petr Korsakovskiy when he explored the coast of Alaska to the mouth of the Yukon River. Russians had not explored these areas before that time. Ustiugov had actually come close to being an outlaw rather than a respected mapmaker. He had tried to organize an uprising against the Russians on the Pribilof Islands. He was unsuccessful, but was not punished harshly because his brother, Andrei, was a navigator and explorer. Both men had been brought up on Unalaska Stefan Kriukov was in charge of the Russian-American Company s fur business on Umnak Island (Aleutian Chain), and was in charge of the sealing operations in the Pribilof Islands. He also built the first chapel in Nikolski (Umnak Island) Semeon Lukin, interpreter for Lt. Ivan Yakovlevich Vasilief, traveled up the Nushagak River to Tikchik Lake, the Holitna River and the Kuskokwim. This was the first Russian party to travel the Kuskokwim Semeon Lukin went with Fedor Kolmakov (the former manager of the Fort Alexander post on the Nushagak River) in the first Russian exploration of the Kuskokwim River. The two built a new post for the Russian-American Company on the Kuskokwim. It was later moved across the river and named the Kolmakovskiy Redoubt Andrei Glazunov traveled widely throughout the southwestern part of Russian America. He tried to establish a route through the mountains from the Kuskokwim River to Cook Inlet. His failure to do so convinced the Russians that this was not a feasible route. He is best known as the first Russian to see and explore the Yukon River, although he was a Creole, not a Russian. He went from its mouth inland to Anvik with his guide, a Yup ik Eskimo named Tumachugnak. Glazunov s job was to find out whether the company could make money trading with Yupiit and Athabascans along the Yukon River. He reported that they could, and established a settlement and trading post at Ikogmiut (now called Russian Mission). He was the manager of the post from 1842 until his death in Alexander Kashevarov explored and mapped the North Slope (more on him follows). 12. A L ASK A STUDI ES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

13 1819 The Creole Andrei Klimovskii was sent to the Kronstadt Naval Academy in Russia where he studied to be a pilot. In 1819, he explored the Copper River for the Russian American Company During the disastrous small pox epidemic that struck the Yukon and Kuskokwim valleys, Klimovskii was sent to inoculate the Native people against the disease. Because his coming coincided with the deaths of many people, he was not believed, and was thought to be spreading, rather than preventing the disease Illarion Arkhimandritov was an Aleut Creole born at Bel kovskii and educated in Russia. His career as a mapmaker and naval officer began in That year be began a two-year journey which was to take him around the world. For the next thirty years, most of his life was spent at sea. In 1842, as ship s navigator, he took over command of a ship whose captain had been killed in a violent storm. He brought the ship safely into port. Between 1845 and 1850, he surveyed and made the first reliable maps of the coast of Alaska from the Kenai Peninsula, into Cook Inlet, and south beyond Kodiak. His map of Kodiak became the only map used by the Russians after the 1850s. Despite his experience sailing, Arkhimandritov had his share of accidents. In 1862, as he was skippering a ship loaded with ice for San Francisco, he struck a rock in the harbor on Kodiak Island. His ship sank, but he managed to save himself and his crew. After the United States purchased Alaska, Illarion Arkhimandritov moved to San Francisco, as did several other Aleuts and Creoles. He became one of a number of Alaskans who wrote critical articles about the state of affairs in Alaska and the operations of the Alaska Commercial Company (which bought the holdings of the Russian-American Company and continued most of its policies). He also collected art and other material objects, which were placed in various museums around the world. Arkhimandritov later returned to Alaska where he was asked by the Aleuts in the Pribilofs and Unalaska to act as their spokesman when dealing with the United States government. To the Aleuts he was a respected Aleut spokesman. To the Americans, he was an American citizen of Russian origin Petr Fedorovich Kolmakov (Creole son of Fedor Kolmakov) and Aleksei Matrozov continued the exploration of the Kuskokwim River where Semeon Lukin and Fedor Komakov had left off. They reached the divide between the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers, near the present day village of Shageluk. Matrozov later married Lukin s daughter Irena Peter Vasil evich Malakhov, after completing a journey of exploration to Barrow with Alexander Kashevarov, continued Glazunov s work of exploring the Yukon River. In 1838 he went as far as Nulato. He built a log cabin, and then floated down the Yukon to St. Michael where there was a trading post. He arranged for trade between the Russians at St. Michael and the Athabascans A L A SKA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 13.

14 inland. The next year, Malakhov returned to Nulato and expanded the cabin, making it the first Russian post at Nulato. He was also one of the first explorers of the Susitna River (1834) Aleksei Markelovich Matrozov was one of the explorers with Lieutenant Lavrentiy Zagoskin, who traveled the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers and mapped them for Russia. Zagoskin said, Matrozov is quick witted and brave... it is a shame that he is illiterate, but he is a master with the balalaika (a stringed instrument). The interpreter on the expedition was Grigoriy Kurochkin, from Kodiak. Tatlek, an Athabascan Indian, was also a member of his expedition A Creole named Serebrennikov traveled up the Copper River beyond the point reached by Klimovskii in The Ahtnas apparently killed him, although his body was never found. His notes were handed over to Russians by Ahtnas Ivan Lukin (son of Semeon) was the first to travel from the mouth of the Yukon to the location of Dawson City, Yukon Territory. This family s story is told in more detail starting on the next page. 14. A L ASK A STUDI ES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

15 SEMEON and IVAN SEMEONOVICH LUKIN The Lukins were an amazing father and son pair. Between the two of them, they explored most of the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers for the Russians. The story starts in 1800 when Semeon was born. He was a Creole whose father was killed in He was brought up and educated in Sitka by the governor of Alaska, Alexander Baranov. Semeon s travels began in 1816 when he was sent to Kodiak. From there, in 1819, the Russian-American Company sent him to Fort Alexander (on the Nushagak River) where he met Fedor Kolmakov, who was manager of the post and was to have an important influence on him. In 1832, Lukin and Kolmakov left Fort Alexander to explore the Kuskokwim River for the Russian-American Company. They traveled up the Kuskokwim River beyond the Yup ik areas into Athabascan territory. They built a small post for the Russian- American Company on the Kuskokwim. The new post allowed the Russians to trade with Athabascans for the first time. In later years Lukin built a larger post across the river and named it Kolmakovskiy Redoubt in honor of his mentor. It was located 20 miles east of the present day village of Aniak. Semeon became the manager of that fort in 1841, and was manager until his death 14 years later. It was his job to order trade goods that the Yupiit wanted and then bargain with them for the furs they trapped. He also acted as a lay priest of the Russian Orthodox church. That means that he performed some religious ceremonies but was not an ordained priest. In 1843, Semeon built a chapel at Kolmakovskiy Redoubt. Semeon was well known and liked, and, unlike some of the Russian managers of other posts, lived in peace with the Native people of the area. Only one incident is recorded when he was faced with hostility. In 1838 a disastrous smallpox epidemic swept throughout Alaska. Thousands of Native people died, leaving many orphans and a gap in leadership. In the confusion that followed the catastrophe, the Yupiit around the Ikogmiut post on the Yukon attacked and killed the Russian employees. Apparently they had been subjected to ill treatment by these same men, and finally struck back. The Yup ik men next went to Kolmakovskiy Redoubt, but Petr Kolmakov (Fedor s son) had warned Semeon Lukin of their coming. As the attackers rushed into the building, Lukin quickly grabbed the most hostile one and threw him out the window. The attack ended and Semeon spent the rest of his years in peace with his neighbors. In fact, they called him tyatya, Yup ik for Daddy. He was described as a sort of big brother, and first among the workmen. He was fluent in Yup ik, the language of his second wife Sofia; in fact, almost all the conversation was done in that language. One Russian visitor said, Lukin is available by night as by day; the visitor taps at the window and then enters freely. We don t know Semeon s first wife s name (she was most likely an Athabascan), but we know his son Ivan Semeonovich was born in 1823, probably at Fort Alexander. Another son, Konstantin, was born in Ivan was as amazing as his father. He was trained in Sitka in the seminary (the school for priests). Like his father, he worked for the Russian-American Company, and became manager of Kolmakovskiy Redoubt after his father died in He worked there until After A L A SKA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 15.

16 that, he was often chosen by visiting travelers to guide and translate for them. He spoke at least four languages: Russian, in which he would read and write, Deg Hit an Athabascan, Yup ik, and one other unidentified Athabascan language. Ivan traveled the rivers and trails of the Yu k o n area scores of times. He was an excellent hunter who, like most Natives and Creoles of the day, got his food by hunting. His most famous trip took place in He traveled from the Russian post of St. Michael, where he was by then the chief trader, up the Yukon. The Russians called the lower part of the Yukon, where their posts were located, the Kwikpak. They knew that an English post, Fort Yukon, was on a large river called the Yukon, and believed the two rivers were the same. They wanted to know how much trade the English were doing with the Athabascans and whether it was interfering with their own trade downriver. Ivan went by kayak upriver to Fort Yukon, proving that Kwikpak and Yukon were one. Once there, he pretended to be unhappy with the Russian-American Company that employed him. He pretended that he wanted to begin working for the Hudson s Bay Company instead. In this way, he found out about the trade on the Upper Yukon. He traveled beyond Fort Yukon, all the way to the present site of Dawson City in Yukon Territory, Canada. Ivan was the guide for one American group that was exploring the Yukon from It was he who traveled from Unalakleet to Nulato to tell the Americans that their country had just bought Alaska. We don t know when Ivan died (it was probably in 1886), but during his life he, like his father, was a remarkable man who knew and loved his home territory. 16. A L ASK A STUDI ES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

17 ALEXANDER FILIPOVICH KASHEVAROV Perhaps the most famous Creole explorer was Alexander Filipovich Kashevarov. He was born in Kodiak in His mother was an Alutiiq-Creole woman from Kodiak and his father, Filip, was a former serf who taught at the Russian school there. The couple had nine children, four of whom became navigators and two of whom were managers for the Russian- American Company. Kashevarov grew up speaking two languages: his mother s, Alutiiq, and his father s, Russian. He went to school and learned to read and write both languages. He was a very good student, and was noticed by officials of the Russian- American Company. They realized that he was intelligent and a good leader, and they sent him to the Naval Academy at Kronstadt, Russia. When Kashevarov graduated from the Naval Academy, he sailed home to Alaska by way of Africa and South America. The trip took eleven months. He arrived in Novoarkhangelsk, ready to begin his career for the Russian-American Company, at the age of 19. Through the years, Kashevarov sailed all over the world. He made the first maps of many places. For instance, in 1838 he traveled along the North Slope, past Point Barrow. He went by ship, baidar (a large open skin boat like an umiak), and baidarka (a small skin boat like a kayak). He made detailed maps as he traveled and only turned around when some Inupiat in kayaks of their own showed that his group was not welcome. He continued to sail and map new areas, and published the maps in an atlas. Kashevarov was eventually promoted to the rank of Major General. In the middle of the 19th Century, the Russian government began to realize that Alaska might be too expensive to keep and impossible to defend. Further, the tsar was not sure the Russian-American Company was doing a good job of running it. In any event, the company s charter, or legal right to run the colony, was up for renewal. By this time Alexander Kashevarov was retired and living in Russia. He was obviously still emotionally attached to his native land. He wrote several articles, published throughout Russia, in which he stated that Alaska should be allowed to rule itself, and should not be ruled by a company that cared mostly for making money. Because Kashevarov was a respected general with a lifelong experience in Alaska, his articles were read and discussed. Kashevarov s articles led the Russian government to conduct a new study of the job the Russian-American Company was doing in Alaska. This study was one of the factors in Russia s decision to sell the territory to the United States. Today there are many people in Alaska whose last name is Kashevarov. Alexander Filipovich and his wife Serafima Alekseevna (daughter of the priest at Sitka) had three children. A L A SKA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 17.

18 Native Scholars and Religious Leaders The Russian-American Company built schools in several of the major company settlements. Under arrangements with the church and provisions of the Royal Charter, the schools were run by church officials. A child who went to school learned the four R s: religion, reading, riting, and rithmetic. Because of the church s involvement in education, many of the most brilliant Natives and Creoles became priests, while others volunteered much of their time to the church. Following are the stories of both priests and non-priests (called lay-people) who were involved with the church in Alaska. Orthodox churches and chapels were built in most outposts of the Russian-American Company. The most important churches were located in the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak Island, Cook Inlet, Sitka, and at the Russian trading posts along the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers. IVAN PAN KOV 1778 about 1850 Ivan Pan kov was a 46-year old Aleut chief of Tigalda Island when he began the part of his life that changed Alaska s history was the year that Father John Veniaminov (who later became St. Innocent) first came to the Aleutians from Russia. He was the Russian Orthodox priest for the eastern Aleutians. It was his job to convert Aleuts to his religion, serve those already converted, and instruct the faithful about the religion. When he arrived, Father Veniaminov was surprised to find a number of Aleuts who had already learned to speak Russian. Ivan Pan kov was one of them. He had also become a member of the Orthodox Church, and had learned to read and write in Russian. We don t know who taught him or where he learned; perhaps as a boy he had been taken hostage by a Russian fur trader. Perhaps the trader himself had taught Ivan or had taken him back to Russia for schooling. Although we don t know how Ivan Pan kov became educated, we do know that it was because of his help that the Aleut language was first written down. He worked with Father Veniaminov to develop an alphabet for the sounds in the Unangan language. This was an important event in history for two reasons. First, it made Russian Orthodoxy something that the Aleut people could understand. They felt comfortable with it, and believed that the Orthodox priests cared about them. It was probably one reason that so many Aleuts converted so quickly. The second reason is that the books that Pan kov and Veniaminov wrote were the first writings that most Aleuts learned to read. From the 1820s to the beginning of the 20th Century, 18. A L ASK A STUDI ES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

19 Aleuts were educated in their own language as well as in Russian. There were Aleut journals, newsletters, letters, and poetry. Ivan Pan kov was one of the two men whose work made this possible. IAKOV NETSVETOV Iakov Netsvetov was born and raised in the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands and as a child learned to speak both Unangas and Russian. As a young man he was sent to Russia where he trained to become a priest. In 1829, he finished his training and returned to Atka where he became the first Christian priest in the central and western Aleutians. He was also the first Alaskan Creole to become a Christian priest. As the priest for the central and western Aleutians, Iakov Netsvetov lived in Atka, where he built a church. He traveled to all the islands in his district, journeying as far as 700 miles away to Bering Island in baidarkas and small ships. Netsvetov taught the school at Atka, planted gardens, hunted from his baidarka, and translated parts of the Bible into Unangas. We know about him today because of the daily journals he kept from 1829 to Iakov Netsvetov s duties did not end in Atka. In 1845 he was sent by Veniaminov (who was by then Bishop Innokentii and lived in Novoarkhangelsk) to start a new mission. Netsvetov was to go to Ikogmiut on the Yukon (today called Russian Mission) and begin to convert the Yup ik Eskimos in the area. Netsvetov was chosen over other candidates for several reasons. First, he had done a good job at Atka. Second, his wife had died and he had no family to worry about. And third, he was a good hunter and would be able to get his own food in case the Russian-American Company could not send any to him. Netsvetov s stay in Russian Mission lasted for 18 years. He had a number of worthy assistants while he was there, one of whom was Konstantin Lukin, son of Semeon and brother of Ivan. Netsvetov learned to speak Yup ik and he wrote an alphabet for it. He translated parts of the Bible into Yup ik, thus publishing the first book in that language. He wrote a journal during his years on the Yukon, but for more than a hundred years that journal was lost. Then, in the 1970s some priests began to search the Orthodox churches in Alaska for lost papers. In the bell tower of the old church, they found Father Netsvetov s journal. OTHER RELIGIOUS MEN About 1825 All Russian Orthodox churches contain icons, which are beautifully painted pictures of the saints, Jesus, and Mary. When Father Veniaminov built the church in Unalaska, he found an Aleut artist to paint the icons. That person was Vasilii Kriukov. His icons are still in the church at Unalaska. He also painted portraits of people. Father Veniaminov said of Kriukov, It was enough for him to see a person two or three times, and he would bring that person s image alive on paper, covering the whole gamut of facial expressions Innokenty Shaiashnikov, one of Netsvetov s students, was an ordained priest. He was sent to Unalaska to be the first Native Orthodox priest at that church. He served there for 35 years. [ c o n t i n u e d ] A L A SKA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 19.

20 1840s-1860s Lavrentii Salamatov from Attu was educated by Iakov Netsvetov on Atka. He was ordained and when Netsvetov left the Aleutians for the Yukon, Salamatov became the parish priest for the Atka District. He is also known as the most important Atkan writer. He translated all of the gospels into Atkan Aleut. He also wrote a beginning reader in Unangas. Lavrentii Salamatov s son, Moisei, became the parish priest at Belkovskii and served there for many years. His granddaughter Matriona became a teacher and taught in three languages, Unangan, Russian, and English. There are many other Creole and Native priests in Alaska. Some of them were: Peter Kashevarov, Kodiak, 1850s Zachary Bel kov, Ikogmiut (Russian Mission) after Netsvetov s death Innokenty Lestenkof, St. George (in the Pribilofs), 1880s John Orlov, Kuskokwim Mission (Kolmakovskiy Redoubt), 1890s Peter Kashevarov (son of Peter Kashevarov and grandson of Filip Kashevarov), St. George, Vasily Kashevarov and Nikolai Kashevarov, (sons of Peter Kashevarov, grandsons of Filip Kashevarov), Nushagak, early 1900s Vasily Changsak, Russian Mission, A L ASK A STUDI ES UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History

21 3. EARLY AMERICAN DAYS IN 1867, THE UNITED STATES BOUGHT RUSSIA S HOLDINGS IN ALASKA. The Russians and Creoles living here were told they could either stay or move to Russia. At first, life in Alaska didn t change very much. There were no American governors or laws. There were no American schools. There were not very many American people. American whalers continued to hunt just off the Alaskan shore, but at first they did not settle there. Then starting in the 1880s, gold was found in many places in Alaska and Canada. Americans began to come to Alaska. They began settling the areas that had been Native lands. Many of the Russian trading posts became larger settled villages, the homes of the newcomers. Alaska Natives lives changed quickly. The people described in the following section lived and worked with non-natives. They learned to adapt their traditional cultures to the new one that had come to Alaska. They lived in a mixed economy that combined subsistence hunting and gathering with cash purchases. ERINIA PAVALOFF CHEROSKEY CALLAHAN About Erinia Pavaloff was raised along the Yukon River. Although her mother was an Athabascan, Erinia was not raised in an entirely traditional Native way. Nor was she raised in a Russian culture. Instead, hers was the beginning of the new culture that still persists in the Interior. It is a mixture of living off the land, respecting the Athabascan teachings about the land, and using store-bought goods and depending on money to help meet most basic needs. Erinia Pavaloff was born at Nulato in about 1863, four years before Alaska was sold to the United States. Her mother was an Athabascan woman named Malanka. Her father was Evan Pavaloff (also spelled Ivan Pavlov). He was a Creole from Sitka who was placed in charge of the Nulato fort and trading post in He knew and worked with Ivan Lukin, the explorer. When the Nulato post was taken over by Americans, Pavaloff continued to work there. Erinia married a Creole name Cheroskey Demoski when she was 16 years old. There is now a river, Chiroskey River, near Unalakleet, which was perhaps named after her husband or his family. Erinia was a woman of many skills. She was confident in her ability to meet new situations, and seems to have been nearly fearless. She told of a time, shortly after her marriage, when she single-handedly saved the lives of her father, sister, and another woman. The woman s husband had recently killed a Koyukon Athabascan man. Her father-in-law, named Kosevnikoff, was at that time the manager of the Nulato trading post. One report of the incident indicates that he was a cruel man who had killed several Natives in the past. When Kosevnikoff s son killed the Koyukon man, Kosevnikoff sent him away from Nulato. He knew that Indian law demanded that a person had to give either property or his life for killing someone. The relatives of the slain man soon came to the post. It is unclear whether A L A SKA STUDIE S UNIT 3, Natives in Alaska s History 21.