Module IV - Russian America

Essential Question: What was the nature of cultural contact between the Europeans of Russian America and the Natives of Alaska?

One of Russia’s first areas of interest in Alaska was to make contact with the indigenous people who already lived on the land.  As with any two cultures that are meeting for the first time, there were many lessons to be learned and challenges to overcome.  The arrival of the Russians impacted many Native societies’ cultures in several ways, including resources and labor, spirituality, and social culture.

Alaska was bountiful to the Russians in resources.  Furs and pelts were used for profit by doing business with Chinese traders.  However, neither the Russian or Siberian traders hunted the animals.  According to the Alaska History and Cultural Studies website, the Natives were forced to hunt and “the Russians took Aleut [Native] women and children as hostages while the hungers gathered pelts.”  There was resistance from the Native societies’ part, but the traders who dealt with the hostile Natives responded cruelly.  The Russian trading companies in business knew that Native labor was vital to their success, and would at times abuse that knowledge for their own benefit.

Kodiak and Sitka saw its populations grow as trading companies established themselves along the coast.  In the late 1700’s, the first Russian-Orthodox priests began to arrive in Alaska.  The priests had a goal to assimilate the Native culture.  In the Alaska History and Cultural Studies website, “many of the Orthodox missionaries defended Alaska Native people.  The tsar in St. Petersburg had always prohibited the poor treatment of Natives, but many fur traders ignored his orders.”  One of the Russian Orthodox church’s most important missionaries, Bishop Innocent, became a student of Native culture and attempted to communicate openly with Native societies.

Bishop Innocent of Alaska

 Socially, the Russian culture impacted the Alaska Natives’ in many ways.  Russian women rarely made the journey to Alaska.  Therefore, many Russians married Native women.  These connections impacted the languages spoken in Alaska; many spoke the native language and Russian, and later English.  Also, as we’ve already read in Alaska’s earliest history, the contact between the Natives and outsiders (in this case, the Russians) brought about an epidemic of disease that killed many Alaska Natives.

Examine Question: Why were the Russians interested in Alaska? When did the Russians come to Alaska?

In the 15^th Century, many countries of power sent forth explorers in search of new lands.  During this Age of Exploration, many discoveries were made, by Christopher Columbus to Ferdinand Magellan.  Russia also sent forth expeditions in order to be competitive with the Western European powers.

There were several reasons for exploration: finding new trade routes and new people to trade with, discovering new inhabitable lands and sustainable goods, and a desire for geographic knowledge.  In the 1400’s, under the rule of Ivan III the Great, Russia was aggressively pushing to extend its empire in order to increase wealth and population.  Due to its relatively close proximity, the Alaskan lands sounded like a worthwhile investment of Russia’s time and resources to explore.  However, Russia’s “discovery” of Alaska wasn’t recorded until 1741 (Meeting of Frontiers).

The first recorded contact between Russians and Natives on Alaskan land was in 1732 by Mikhail Gvozdev.  While sailing north through the Bering Strait, he landed at Cape Prince of Wales and sailed by King Island.  Vitus Bering is credited with discovering Alaska (Alaska History and Cultural Studies), although in somewhat of a mysterious manner.  After sighting land, Bering sent two separate boats with crewmen to explore the land.  No one ever returned.  However, two Native boats paddled by Bering’s ship, but would not come aboard.  Bering did finally make contact with Alaska Natives while visiting the Shumagin Islands, and was able to exchange items with the people there.

One of the first maps of Alaska, drawn by Vitus Bering.

Evaluation

This module really clarified some parts of Alaska's history for me.  My assumption up to this point was that until America bought the Alaskan land, it was pretty much overrun with the indigenous peoples and Russians - everywhere!  It makes sense that Russia would be closely tied to Alaska, but I never gave it any thought that some inhabitants might also include Swedes, Finns, and Germans.  I was also surprised that the Russian tsar forbade the mistreatment of Alaska Natives.  Maybe it's my cynicism, but for a country that was wanting to expand its wealth and population, you'd think they would take every advantage possible.


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