Alaska Native Claims/Alaska Natives and Their Lands (Ch 10)
When the Russians first came over to look for furs, they found the Aleuts living off the land in a peaceful setting. The Aleuts welcomed them as most all the natives did and the Russian (Barbarians) Trappers took full advantage of their hospitality. They wanted fur bearing animals such as the seal and the prized beaver pelts. They overtook and/or killed the men and took away their women and all their possessions and made them into slaves to hunt for them. (Peter Kostromitin, Makushin, 1878)
The Natives (uncivilized tribes) were unaware of the fact that the Russians had claimed ownership of their lands and most were even unaware of the fact that their land was sold to the United States. They were referred to the name “uncivilized tribes” in the Treaty of the United States. The US Army moved to Sitka where Russia had been posted right after the sale.
The Tlingit chiefs heard about the sale of their lands to the United States by the Russians and talked with the officials. They told them they did not give the permission to the Russians to sell their lands. They had only allowed the Russians the right to hunt or buy their furs. Their land had belonged to their forefathers and was not for sale, but it was already too late. The Americans couldn’t turn back on the deal they made or retrieve their money from the Russians.
Eventually two Tlingit men were killed by the soldiers. According to their way of law, the Tlingit demanded a settlement but nothing happened to repay for the lives lost. They retaliated by killing two white people. (then the Military wipes out a whole village!) The actions of the soldiers and the United States makes me wonder what would have been better for the natives in Alaska of the two evils?
If the Russians stayed, would the Natives have been worse off or better? The Russians established a Fort at Sitka and had a church run by the Archbishop Veniaminov. He taught in the language of the people and did not discourage them from learning in their language. (Of course, my bias is for language preservation) By that time the Russians and Tlingits were becoming more aquainted, so why did they sell off the land? The United States on the other hand wanted to civilize the Natives who they claimed were a part of the plants and fauna, not even human. They wanted to teach them to speak English because they couldn’t understand their languages, so then began the long drawn out saga of destruction for the Native people of Alaska.
(I hope the personal comments I made has not offended anyone. It is not meant to offend, but to share my opinions and bias.)
It's okay Rosebud, I'm not offended.
ReplyDeleteLanguage is important. For those who believe the Bible is valid, the day of Pentecost was the day that language barriers broke down.
I do think it is amazing that language is so diverse even in Alaska, which in comparison to the world is really quite small.
Hypothetically, maybe Americans did try to tell the Alaska Natives that they wanted to purchase Alaska, but they couldn't understand each other. Or maybe Alaska Natives tried to tell them that they disagreed with the purchase, but the message got lost in translation.
Of all the events that took place at the time Alaska was purchased, language must have been the most frustrating aspect.
All of these conversations about the US buying land that wasn't theirs has made me wonder. It appears the Alaska Native tribes were not aware the Russians had claimed their land, then they weren't aware that the Russians sold it. I wonder what would have happened if the Alaskan people fully understood that the Russians claimed the land. Would they have been more angry? Would they have banded together and fought the sale of their land?
ReplyDeleteOnce the "outside" world discovered that there was land with amazing resources here in Alaska, it was, unfortuntely, the beginning of the end of life as the Native Alaskans had known it. I don't agree that this should have been the case, but history has shown this to be the case in lands all over the world. The ones with the most power find a way to get what they want. The injustices that happened to the Alaska Native people should never have happened, especially being denied the right to speak their own language and forbidden to continue their cultural practices. As to which would have been the lesser of the two evils, Russia or America,I don't know. Sadly, I believe in time the end result would have been the same, the Alaska Native people would have lost control of their land.
ReplyDeleteMary
That is a really interesting thought! What if Russia had never sold Alaska to the United States? I wonder what things would be like now? The Russians may have had a better working relationship with the Native Alaskans, but if it was good, why did they sell it?
ReplyDeleteDespite how the Native people were treated and by whom first it was just a matter of time before the taking of the land started. Once the discovery of all the rich resources in Alaska the battle for superiority begins. At least the Russians took the time to learn to speak the language of the Native people.Unlike the American what we do not understand we tend to put label of things (salavages)to justified our selfish greed.
ReplyDeleteI read something in wikipedia, it says because the Crimean War broke out at that time, Russia was afraid Alaska would be occupied by the Great British, so they proposed to sell Alaska to America before that happen.
ReplyDeleteHistory repeats itself over and over. We as a nation are still taking over resources when it suits our needs. The war going on right now is a perfect example. We just have different labels for what is going on today.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to say what would have been better. There are so many accounts in history that demonstrate how one military force goes in to "save" people from another force only to do their own atrocities. Either way we look at it, the damage was done. Hopefully, with the help of teachers like you who work at preserving indigenous language, people can retain or get back in touch their heritage and spread it on to future generations.
ReplyDeleteThe native people definitely have the rights to the land I believe but so did American Indians for the lower 48. I think Russia sold Alaska because they didn't care or know about the other resources Alaska held, they were only there for furs and when the fur trade began to decline they decided it would be better to sell.
ReplyDelete"By that time the Russians and Tlingits were becoming more aquainted, so why did they sell off the land?"
ReplyDeleteThe above quote is from your post.
The Russians had acquired the land for nothing, well maybe for the cost of exploring I suppose. But the Russians were under a financial time of stress, and still are sort of, and made a deal with a "Wealthy Nation" so that Russia could invest what it wanted back into it's own economy. They turned a profit by playing "Finder's Keepers".
I know this is not a rosy picture, nor a detailed one, but it sums up what happened.
I appreciate what you have posted. I know in class we were talking about the relationship between the Russians and the Alaskan natives, but what we did not bring up was how they slaved the natives for their knowledge and resources. I really enjoyed reading this blog, it gives other more information on what was going on at the time. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI think that the language barrier between the Alaskan natives and the American settlers was one of the main springs of discrimination against the indigenous people. If, when the Americans first ventured into Alaska, they had found a group of people who were capable of persuasively defending their rights in English, they would have been more inclined to treat them as equals. Because some time passed, however, before people learned to translate between the native languages and English, the settlers could pretend to be ignorant of the tribes' claims. Ethnocentrism, which sparks the assumption that all languages besides one's native tongue are barbaric, was once again the culprit.
ReplyDeleteOnce natives adopted the language and some of the customs of white people, they gained credibility in the eyes of the American government and court.