The part of the United States which is now known as Alaska has been colonised by several European powers in its history. Surprisingly, perhaps, one of these is Russia, which actually played a significant role in the history of Alaska. Contact with the local Native Americans did not always turn out very well for the indigenous groups in the area though.
On the Aleutian Islands, some four fifths of the native Aleuts died as a result of European diseases, against which they had almost no resistance. Other Native Americans got on reasonably well with the Russian traders who began to appear during the 18th century. In other places, though, there was significant conflict, which took its toll on the native population.
Kodiak Island was the site of the first permanent Russian settlement, with Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov landing in Three Saints Bay in 1794. This was in the territory of the Koniag people, who were killed in the hundreds by the invaders. Several Russian settlements were also established on the Alaskan mainland, with Cook Inlet being the site of many of them.
The main economic trigger for this expansion in this particular area was sea otters, which in this region possessed especially fine, high quality furs. A lack of ships and sailors, though, hampered Russian expansion. Despite this paucity, by 1794 the Russians had reached Yakutat Bay, and a year later the settlement of Slavorossiya was established.
They reached Sitka Sound in 1795, with Alexandr Baranov leading the expedition there, and trappers and hunters followed him soon afterwards. By the time of the early 1800s, a vast percentage of the sea otter pelts produced in Russian American had their origins in this part of Alaska. Baranov would go on to found the settlement of Arkhangelsk, though it would be destroyed by the Tlingit nation of Native Americans in 1802.
It was rebuilt though, in 1804, and came to be known as Sitka, once the Americans had established control over Alaska. As Sitka, it would become the capital of Alaska Territory. The Russian presence in the area did not last long though, and by the mid-19th century there were only around 700 or so Russian settlers in the region, as American influence began to grow on trading arrangements, and the Tlingits continued to wage war on the Russians.
This means that the Russian presence did not leave many traces of its presence in Alaska, but one significant cultural legacy was preserved, especially in the Aleutian Islands. The Russian Orthodox faith would maintain a missionary presence in the territory until late in the 1800s, with the sacred texts being translated in Aleut very soon after initial contact. There are still adherents of this form of Christianity in the region.
The Russian influence on the history of Alaska may not be well known, but it was certainly significant. It contributed directly to the depopulation of the native Aleuts, whose numbers plunged in the wake of Russian contact. The most lasting legacy of Russian colonialism here comes in the form of the Russian Orthodox Church.
On the Aleutian Islands, some four fifths of the native Aleuts died as a result of European diseases, against which they had almost no resistance. Other Native Americans got on reasonably well with the Russian traders who began to appear during the 18th century. In other places, though, there was significant conflict, which took its toll on the native population.
Kodiak Island was the site of the first permanent Russian settlement, with Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov landing in Three Saints Bay in 1794. This was in the territory of the Koniag people, who were killed in the hundreds by the invaders. Several Russian settlements were also established on the Alaskan mainland, with Cook Inlet being the site of many of them.
The main economic trigger for this expansion in this particular area was sea otters, which in this region possessed especially fine, high quality furs. A lack of ships and sailors, though, hampered Russian expansion. Despite this paucity, by 1794 the Russians had reached Yakutat Bay, and a year later the settlement of Slavorossiya was established.
They reached Sitka Sound in 1795, with Alexandr Baranov leading the expedition there, and trappers and hunters followed him soon afterwards. By the time of the early 1800s, a vast percentage of the sea otter pelts produced in Russian American had their origins in this part of Alaska. Baranov would go on to found the settlement of Arkhangelsk, though it would be destroyed by the Tlingit nation of Native Americans in 1802.
It was rebuilt though, in 1804, and came to be known as Sitka, once the Americans had established control over Alaska. As Sitka, it would become the capital of Alaska Territory. The Russian presence in the area did not last long though, and by the mid-19th century there were only around 700 or so Russian settlers in the region, as American influence began to grow on trading arrangements, and the Tlingits continued to wage war on the Russians.
This means that the Russian presence did not leave many traces of its presence in Alaska, but one significant cultural legacy was preserved, especially in the Aleutian Islands. The Russian Orthodox faith would maintain a missionary presence in the territory until late in the 1800s, with the sacred texts being translated in Aleut very soon after initial contact. There are still adherents of this form of Christianity in the region.
The Russian influence on the history of Alaska may not be well known, but it was certainly significant. It contributed directly to the depopulation of the native Aleuts, whose numbers plunged in the wake of Russian contact. The most lasting legacy of Russian colonialism here comes in the form of the Russian Orthodox Church.
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