fbpx
Wikipedia

Aleut

The Aleuts (/ˌæ.lˈt/ (listen) A-lee-OOT;[4] Russian: Алеуты, romanizedAleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska and the Russian administrative division of Kamchatka Krai.

Aleut
унаӈан (unangan)
унаӈас (unangas)
Attu Aleut mother and child, 1941
Regions with significant populations
United States
Alaska
6,752[1]
Russia
Kamchatka Krai
482[2]
Languages
English, Russian, Aleut[3]
Religion
Eastern Orthodoxy
(Russian Orthodox Church), Animism
Related ethnic groups
Inuit, Yupik, Sirenik, Sadlermiut

Etymology

In the Aleut language they are known by the endonyms Unangan (eastern dialect) and Unangas (western dialect), both of which mean "people".[a] The Russian term "Aleut" was a general term used for both the native population of the Aleutian Islands and their neighbors to the east in the Kodiak Archipelago, who were also referred to as "Pacific Eskimos".[6]

Language

Aleut people speak Unangam Tunuu, the Aleut language, as well as English and Russian in the United States and Russia respectively. An estimated 150 people in the United States and five people in Russia speak Aleut.[3] The language belongs to the Eskimo-Aleut language family and includes three dialects: Eastern Aleut, spoken on the Eastern Aleutian, Shumagin, Fox and Pribilof Islands; Atkan, spoken on Atka and Bering islands; and the now extinct Attuan dialect.

The Pribilof Islands has the highest number of active speakers of Unangam Tunuu. Most native elders speak Aleut, but it is rare for common people to speak the language fluently.

Beginning in 1829, Aleut was written in the Cyrillic script. From 1870, the language has been written in the Latin script. An Aleut dictionary and grammar have been published, and portions of the Bible were translated into Aleut.[3]

Tribes

 
Customary Aleut dress

The Aleut (Unangan) dialects and tribes:[7]

Population and distribution

 
Map of Aleut tribes and dialects
 
Settlement of Aleuts in the Far Eastern Federal District by urban and rural settlements in%, 2010 census

The Aleut people historically lived throughout the Aleutian Islands, the Shumagin Islands, and the far western part of the Alaska Peninsula, with an estimated population of around 25,000 prior to European contact.[8] In the 1820s, the Russian-American Company administered a large portion of the North Pacific during a Russian-led expansion of the fur trade. They resettled many Aleut families to the Commander Islands (within the Aleutsky District of the Kamchatka Krai in Russia)[9] and to the Pribilof Islands (in Alaska). These continue to have majority-Aleut communities.[10][11]

According to the 2000 Census, 11,941 people identified as being Aleut, while 17,000 identified as having partial Aleut ancestry. Prior to sustained European contact, approximately 25,000 Aleut lived in the archipelago.[12] The Encyclopædia Britannica Online says more than 15,000 people have Aleut ancestry in the early 21st century.[8] The Aleut suffered high fatalities in the 19th and early 20th centuries from Eurasian infectious diseases to which they had no immunity. In addition, the population suffered as their customary lifestyles were disrupted. Russian traders and later Europeans married Aleut women and had families with them.[8]

History

After Russian contact

 
Aleut in Festival Dress in Alaska, watercolor by Mikhail Tikhanov, 1818

After the arrival of Russian Orthodox missionaries in the late 18th century, many Aleuts became Christian. Of the numerous Russian Orthodox congregations in Alaska, most are majority Alaska Native or Native Alaskan in ethnicity. One of the earliest Christian martyrs in North America was Saint Peter the Aleut.

Recorded uprising against the Russians

In the 18th century, Russia promyshlenniki traders established settlements on the islands. There was high demand for the furs that the Aleut provided from hunting. In May 1784, local Aleuts revolted on Amchitka against the Russian traders. (The Russians had a small trading post there.) According to the Aleuts, in an account recorded by Japanese castaways and published in 2004, otters were decreasing year by year. The Russians paid the Aleuts less and less in goods in return for the furs they made. The Japanese learned that the Aleuts felt the situation was at crisis. The leading Aleuts negotiated with the Russians, saying they had failed to deliver enough supplies in return for furs. Nezimov, leader of the Russians, ordered two of his men, Stephanov (ステッパノ Suteppano) and Kazhimov (カジモフ Kazimofu) to kill his mistress Oniishin (オニイシン Oniishin), who was the Aleut chief's daughter, because he doubted that Oniishin had tried to dissuade her father and other leaders from pushing for more goods.[citation needed]

After the four leaders had been killed, the Aleuts began to move from Amchitka to neighboring islands. Nezimov, leader of the Russian group, was jailed after the whole incident was reported to Russian officials.[13] (According to Hokusa bunryaku (Japanese: 北槎聞略), written by Katsuragawa Hoshū after interviewing Daikokuya Kōdayū.)

Aleut genocide against Nicoleño Tribe in California

According to Russian American Company (RAC) records translated and published in the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, a 200-ton otter hunting ship named Il’mena with a mixed-nationality crew, including a majority Aleut contingent, was involved in conflict resulting in a massacre of the indigenous natives of San Nicolas Island.[14]

In 1811, to obtain more of the commercially valuable otter pelts, a party of Aleut hunters traveled to the coastal island of San Nicolas, near the Alta California-Baja California border. The locally resident Nicoleño nation sought a payment from the Aleut hunters for the large number of otters being killed in the area. Disagreement arose, turning violent; in the ensuing battle, the Aleut killed nearly all the Nicoleño men. Together with high fatalities from European diseases, the Nicoleños suffered so much from the loss of their men that by 1853, only one Nicoleñan (Juana Maria, the Lone Woman of San Nicolas) remained alive.

Internment during World War II

In June 1942, during World War II, Japanese forces occupied Kiska and Attu Islands in the western Aleutians. They later transported captive Attu Islanders to Hokkaidō, where they were held as prisoners of war in harsh conditions. Fearing a Japanese attack on other Aleutian Islands and mainland Alaska, the U.S. government evacuated hundreds more Aleuts from the western chain and the Pribilofs, placing them in internment camps in southeast Alaska, where many died of measles, influenza and other infectious diseases which spread quickly in the overcrowded dormitories. In total, about 75 died in American internment and 19 as a result of Japanese occupation.[15][16] The Aleut Restitution Act of 1988 was an attempt by Congress to compensate the survivors. On June 17, 2017, the U.S. Government formally apologized for the internment of the Unangan people and their treatment in the camps.[17]

The World War II campaign by the United States to retake Attu and Kiska was a significant component of the operations in the American and Pacific theaters.

Population decline

Before major influence from outside, there were approximately 25,000 Aleuts on the archipelago. Foreign diseases, harsh treatment and disruption of aboriginal society soon reduced the population to less than one-tenth this number. The 1910 Census count showed 1,491 Aleuts. In the 2000 Census, 11,941 people identified as being Aleut; nearly 17,000 said Aleuts were among their ancestors.[18]

Culture

Housing

The Aleut constructed partially underground houses called barabara. According to Lillie McGarvey, a 20th century Aleut leader, barabaras keep "occupants dry from the frequent rains, warm at all times, and snugly sheltered from the high winds common to the area".[citation needed] Aleuts traditionally built houses by digging an oblong square pit in the ground, usually 50 by 20 feet (15.2 by 6.1 m) or smaller. The pit was then covered by a roof framed with driftwood, thatched with grass, then covered with earth for insulation.[19] Inside trenches were dug along the sides, with mats placed on top to keep them clean. The bedrooms were at the back of the lodge, opposite the entrance. Several families would stay in one house, with their own designated areas. Rather than fireplaces or bonfires in the middle, lanterns were hung in the house.

Subsistence

The Aleut survived by hunting and gathering. They fished for salmon, crabs, shellfish, and cod, as well as hunting sea mammals such as seal, walrus, and whales. They processed fish and sea mammals in a variety of ways: dried, smoked, or roasted. Caribou, muskoxen, deer, moose, whale, and other types of game were eaten roasted or preserved for later use. They dried berries. They were also processed as alutiqqutigaq, a mixture of berries, fat, and fish. The boiled skin and blubber of a whale is a delicacy, as is that of walrus.

Today, many Aleut continue to eat customary and locally sourced foods but also buy processed foods from Outside, which is expensive in Alaska.

Ethnobotany

A full list of their ethnobotany has been compiled, with 65 documented plant uses.[20]

Visual arts

 
Men's chagudax, or bentwood hunting visor, Arvid Adolf Etholén collection, Museum of Cultures, Helsinki, Finland
 
Unknown Aleut artist, sea-lyme grass basket and lid embellished with wool embroidery, early 20th century, Brooklyn Museum

Customary arts of the Aleut include weapon-making, building of baidarkas (special hunting boats), weaving, figurines, clothing, carving, and mask making. Men as well as women often carved ivory and wood. Nineteenth century craftsmen were famed for their ornate wooden hunting hats, which feature elaborate and colorful designs and may be trimmed with sea lion whiskers, feathers, and walrus ivory. Andrew Gronholdt of the Shumagin Islands has played a vital role in reviving the ancient art of building the chagudax or bentwood hunting visors.[21]

Aleut women sewed finely stitched, waterproof parkas from seal gut and wove fine baskets from sea-lyme grass (Elymus mollis). Some Aleut women continue to weave ryegrass baskets. Aleut arts are practiced and taught throughout the state of Alaska. As many Aleut have moved out of the islands to other parts of the state, they have taken with them the knowledge of their arts. They have also adopted new materials and methods for their art, including serigraphy, video art, and installation art.

Aleut carving, distinct in each region, has attracted traders for centuries, including early Europeans and other Alaska Natives. Historically, carving was a male art and leadership attribute whereas today it is done by both genders. Most commonly the carvings of walrus ivory and driftwood originated as part of making hunting weapons. Sculptural carvings depict local animals, such as seals and whales. Aleut sculptors also have carved human figures.[21]

The Aleut also carve walrus ivory for other uses, such as jewelry and sewing needles. Jewelry is made with designs specific to the region of each people. Each clan would have a specific style to signify their origin. Jewelry ornaments were made for piercing lips (labrum), nose, and ears, as well as for necklaces. Each woman had her own sewing needles, which she made, and that often had detailed end of animal heads.[21]

The main Aleut method of basketry was false embroidery (overlay). Strands of grasses or reeds were overlaid upon the basic weaving surface, to obtain a plastic effect. Basketry was an art reserved for women.[21] Early Aleut women created baskets and woven mats of exceptional technical quality, using only their thumbnail, grown long and then sharpened, as a tool. Today, Aleut weavers continue to produce woven grass pieces of a remarkable cloth-like texture, works of modern art with roots in ancient tradition. Birch bark, puffin feathers, and baleen are also commonly used by the Aleut in basketry. The Aleut term for grass basket is qiigam aygaaxsii. One Aleut leader recognized by the State of Alaska for her work in teaching and reviving Aleut basketry was Anfesia Shapsnikoff. Her life and accomplishments are portrayed in the book Moments Rightly Placed (1998).[22]

Masks were created to portray figures of their myths and oral history. The Atka people believed that another people lived in their land before them. They portrayed such ancients in their masks, which show anthropomorphic creatures named in their language. Knut Bergsland says their word means "like those found in caves." Masks were generally carved from wood and were decorated with paints made from berries or other natural products. Feathers were inserted into holes carved out for extra decoration. These masks were used in ceremonies ranging from dances to praises, each with its own meaning and purpose.[21]

Tattoos and piercings

The tattoos and piercings of the Aleut people demonstrated accomplishments as well as their religious views. They believed their body art would please the spirits of the animals and make any evil go away. The body orifices were believed to be pathways for the entry of evil entities. By piercing their orifices: the nose, the mouth, and ears, they would stop evil entities, khoughkh, from entering their bodies. Body art also enhanced their beauty, social status, and spiritual authority.[23]

Before the 19th century, piercings and tattoos were very common among the Aleut people, especially among women. Piercings, such as the nose pin, were common among both men and women and were usually performed a few days after birth. The ornament was made of various materials, a piece of bark or bone, or an eagle's feather shaft. From time to time, adult women decorated the nose pins by hanging pieces of amber and coral from strings on it; the semi-precious objects dangled down to their chins.

Piercing ears was also common. The Aleuts pierced holes around the rim of their ears with dentalium shells (tooth shells or tusk shells), bone, feathers, dried bird wings or skulls and/or amber. Materials associated with birds were important, as birds were considered to defend animals in the spirit world. A male would wear sea lion whiskers in his ears as a trophy of his expertise as a hunter. Worn for decorative reasons, and sometimes to signify social standing, reputation, and the age of the wearer, Aleuts would pierce their lower lips with walrus ivory and wear beads or bones. The individual with the most piercings held the highest respect.

Tattooing for women began when they reached physical maturity, after menstruation, at about age 20. Historically, men received their first tattoo after killing their first animal, an important rite of passage. Sometimes tattoos signaled social class. For example, the daughter of a wealthy, famous ancestor or father would work hard at her tattoos to show the accomplishments of that ancestor or father. They would sew, or prick, different designs on the chin, the side of the face, or under the nose.

Aleut clothing

 
Replica of the sax, an Aleut coat made from bird skins and sea otter fur
 
A Kamleika, or sea mammal intestine coat.[24]

The Aleut people developed in one of the harshest climates in the world, and learned to create and protect warmth. Both men and women wore parkas that extended below the knees. The women wore the skin of seal or sea-otter, and the men wore bird skin parkas, the feathers turned in or out depending on the weather. When the men were hunting on the water, they wore waterproof parkas made from seal or sea-lion guts, or the entrails of bear, walrus, or whales. Parkas had a hood that could be cinched, as could the wrist openings, so water could not get in. Men wore breeches made from the esophageal skin of seals. Children wore parkas made of downy eagle skin with tanned bird skin caps.[25] They called these parkas kameikas, meaning 'rain gear' in the English language.[26]

Sea-lions, harbor seals, and sea otters are the most abundant marine mammals. The men brought home the skins and prepared them by soaking them in urine and stretching them. The women undertook the sewing.[25] Preparation of the gut for clothing involved several steps. The prepared intestines were turned inside out. A bone knife was used to remove the muscle tissue and fat from the walls of the intestine. The gut was cut and stretched, and fastened to stakes to dry. It was then cut and sewn to make waterproof parkas, bags, and other receptacles.[22] On some hunting trips, the men would take several women with them. They would catch birds and prepare the carcasses and feathers for future use. They caught puffins (Lunda cirrhata, Fratercula corniculata), guillemots, and murres.[22]

It took 40 skins of tufted puffin and 60 skins of horned puffin to make one parka. A woman would need a year for all the labor to make one parka. Each lasted two years with proper care. All parkas were decorated with bird feathers, beard bristles of seal and sea-lion, beaks of sea parrots, bird claws, sea otter fur, dyed leather, and caribou hair sewn in the seams.[25]

Women made needles from the wing bones of seabirds. They made thread from the sinews of different animals and fish guts.[25] A thin strip of seal intestine could also be used, twisted to form a thread. The women grew their thumbnail extra long and sharpened it. They could split threads to make them as fine as a hair.[22] They used vermilion paint, hematite, the ink bag of the octopus, and the root of a kind of grass or vine to color the threads.[22]

Gender

Russian travelers making early contact with the Aleut mention traditional tales of two-spirits or third and fourth gender people, known as ayagigux̂ (male-bodied, 'man transformed into a woman') and tayagigux̂ (female-bodied, 'woman transformed into a man'), but it is unclear whether these tales are about historical individuals or spirits.[27]

Hunting technologies

Boats

 
Illustration of an Aleut paddling a baidarka, with an anchored Russian ship in the background, near Saint Paul Island, by Louis Choris, 1817

The interior regions of the rough, mountainous Aleutian Islands provided little in terms of natural resources for the Aleutian people. They collected stones for weapons, tools, stoves or lamps. They collected and dried grasses for their woven baskets. For everything else, the Aleuts had learned to use the fish and mammals they caught and processed to satisfy their needs.[28]

To hunt sea mammals and to travel between islands, the Aleuts became experts of sailing and navigation. While hunting, they used small watercraft called baidarkas. For regular travel, they used their large baidaras.[28]

 
Men rowing a baidara (large skin boat)

The baidara was a large, open, walrus-skin-covered boat. Aleut families used it when traveling among the islands. It was also used to transport goods for trade, and warriors took them to battle.[29]

The baidarka (small skin boat) was a small boat covered in sea lion skin. It was developed and used for hunting because of its sturdiness and maneuverability. The Aleut baidarka resembles that of a Yup'ik kayak, but it is hydrodynamically sleeker and faster. They made the baidarka for one or two persons only. The deck was made with a sturdy chamber, the sides of the craft were nearly vertical and the bottom was rounded. Most one-man baidarkas were about 16 feet (4.9 m) long and 20 inches (51 cm) wide, whereas a two-man was on average about 20 feet (6.1 m) long and 24 inches (61 cm) wide. It was from the baidarka that Aleut men would stand on the water to hunt from the sea.[29]

Weapons

The Aleuts hunted small sea mammals with barbed darts and harpoons slung from throwing boards. These boards gave precision as well as some extra distance to these weapons.[30]

Harpoons were also called throwing-arrows when the pointed head fit loosely into the socket of the foreshaft and the head was able to detach from the harpoon when it penetrated an animal, and remain in the wound. There were three main kinds of harpoon that the Aleuts used: a simple harpoon, with a head that kept its original position in the animal after striking, a compound (toggle-head) harpoon in which the head took a horizontal position in the animal after penetration, and the throwing-lance used to kill large animals.[30]

The simple Aleut harpoon consisted of four main parts: the wooden shaft, the bone foreshaft, and the bonehead (tip) with barbs pointed backward. The barbed head was loosely fitted into the socket of the foreshaft so that when the animal was stabbed, it pulled the head away from the rest of the harpoon. The sharp barbs penetrated with ease, but could not be pulled out. The bone tip is fastened to a length of braided twine meanwhile; the hunter held the other end of the twine in his hand.[30]

The compound harpoon was the most prevalent weapon of the Aleut people. Also known as the toggle-head spear, it was about the same size as the simple harpoon and used to hunt the same animals, however, this harpoon provided a more efficient and lethal weapon. This harpoon separated into four parts. The longest part was the shaft with the thicker stalk closer to the tip of the harpoon. The shaft was fitted into the socket of the fore shaft and a bone ring was then placed over the joint to hold the two pieces together, as well as, protecting the wooden shaft from splitting. Connected to the fore shaft of the harpoon is the toggle head spear tip. This tip was made of two sub shafts that break apart on impact with an animal. The upper sub shaft held the razor stone head and attached to the lower sub shaft with a small braided twine loop. Once the tip penetrates the animal the upper sub head broke off from the rest of the shaft, however, since it was still connected with the braided loop it rotated the head into a horizontal position inside the animal's body so that it could not get away from the hunter.[30]

The throwing lance may be distinguished from a harpoon because all its pieces are fixed and immovable. A lance was a weapon of war and it was also used to kill large marine animals after it has already been harpooned. The throwing lance usually consisted of three parts: a wooden shaft, a bone ring or belt, and the compound head that was made with a barbed bonehead and a stone tip. The length of the compound head was equivalent to the distance between the planes of a man's chest to his back. The lance would penetrate the chest and pass through the chest cavity and exit from the back. The bone ring was designed to break after impact so that the shaft could be used again for another kill.[30]

Burial practices

They buried their dead ancestors near the village. Archeologists have found many different types of burials, dating from a variety of periods, in the Aleutian Islands. The Aleut developed a style of burials that were accommodated to local conditions, and honored the dead. They have had four main types of burials: umqan, cave, above-ground sarcophagi, and burials connected to communal houses.

Umqan burials are the most widely known type of mortuary practice found in the Aleutian Islands. The people created burial mounds, that tend to be located on the edge of a bluff. They placed stone and earth over the mound to protect and mark it. Such mounds were first excavated by archeologists in 1972 on Southwestern Unmak Island, and dated to the early contact period. Researchers have found a prevalence of these umqan burials, and concluded it is a regional mortuary practice. It may be considered a pan-Aleutian mortuary practice.[31]

Cave burials have been found throughout the eastern Aleutian Islands. The human remains are buried in shallow graves at the rear of the cave. These caves tend to be next to middens and near villages. Some grave goods have been found in the caves associated with such burials. For example, a deconstructed boat was found in a burial cave on Kanaga Island. There were no other major finds of grave goods in the vicinity.[32]

Throughout the Aleutian Islands, gravesites have been found that are above-ground sarcophagi. These sarcophagi are left exposed, with no attempt to bury the dead in the ground. These burials tend to be isolated and limited to the remains of adult males, which may indicate a specific ritual practice. In the Near Islands, isolated graves have also been found with the remains, and not just the sarcophagus, left exposed on the surface.[33] This way of erecting sarcophagi above ground is not as common as umqan and cave burials, but it is still widespread.

Another type of practice has been to bury remains in areas next to the communal houses of the settlement.[33] Human remains are abundant in such sites. They indicate a pattern of burying the dead within the main activity areas of the settlement. These burials consist of small pits adjacent to the houses and scattered around them.[33] In these instances, mass graves are common for women and children.[33] This type of mortuary practice has been mainly found in the Near Islands.

In addition to these four main types, other kinds of burials have been found in the Aleutian Islands. These more isolated examples in include mummification, private burial houses, abandoned houses, etc.[33] To date, such examples are not considered to be part of a larger, unifying cultural practice. The findings discussed represent only the sites that have been excavated.

The variety of mortuary practices mostly did not include the ritual of including extensive grave goods, as has been found in other cultures. The remains so far have been mainly found with other human and faunal remains.[33] The addition of objects to "accompany" the dead is rare.[32] Archaeologists have been trying to dissect the absence of grave goods, but their findings have been ambiguous and do not really help the academic community to understand these practices more.

Not much information is known about the ritual parts of burying the dead. Archeologists and anthropologists have not found much evidence related to burial rituals.[31] This lack of ritual evidence could hint at either no ritualized ceremony, or one that has not yet been revealed in the archaeological record. As a result, archaeologists cannot decipher the context to understand exactly why a certain type of burial was used in particular cases.

Notable Aleuts

  • John Hoover (1919–2011), sculptor
  • Carl E. Moses (1929–2014) businessman, state representative, who served from 1965 to 1973 as both a Republican and Democrat,
  • Jacob Netsvetov (1802–1864), Russian Orthodox saint and priest
  • Sergie Sovoroff (1901–1989), educator, iqya-x (model sea kayak) builder
  • Eve Tuck, academic, indigenous studies
  • Peter the Aleut (1800 - 1815), Russian Orthodox saint and martyr

In popular culture

In Snow Crash, a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson, a central character named Raven is portrayed as an Aleut with incredible toughness and hunting skill.[34] The story is about revenge due in part to perceived mistreatment of the Aleut.

Alaska by James A. Michener.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The singular form is Unangax̂. The Cyrillic spelling of Unangan and Unangas are Унаӈан and Унаӈас, respectively.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Aleut alone". factfinder.census.gov. US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  2. ^ . gks.ru. Archived from the original on April 24, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Aleut." Ethnologue. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
  5. ^ "Unangam Tunuu/Aleut," February 9, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Alaska Native Language Center.
  6. ^ Marcus Lepola (2010). "The Aleuts and the Pacific Eskimo in the colonial economy of Russian Alaska in the mid 19th century" (PDF). Arctic & Antarctic International Journal of Circumpolar Socio-Cultural. 4.
  7. ^ Unangam Language Pre-contact Tribes and Dialects by Knut Bergland and Moses L. Dirks
  8. ^ a b c "Aleut People". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2011.
  9. ^ Lyapunova, R.G. (1987) Aleuts: Noted on their ethnological history (in Russian)
  10. ^ Corbett, H.D.; Swibold, S. M (2000). "Endangered people of the Arctic. Struggle to Survive". The Aleuts of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. Milton M.R. Freeman.
  11. ^ Bonner, W. N. (1982) Seals and Man: A Study of Interactions, Seattle: University of Washington Press
  12. ^ "Alaskan People: Aleut Native Tribe". alaskannature.com.
  13. ^ Yamashita, Tsuneo. Daikokuya Kodayu(Japanese), 2004. Iwanami, Japan ISBN 4-00-430879-8
  14. ^ Morris, Susan L.Farris, Glenn J.Schwartz, Steven J.Wender, Irina Vladi L.Dralyuk, Boris (2014). "Murder, Massacre, and Mayhem on the California Coast, 1814 –1815: Newly Translated Russian American Company Documents Reveal Company Concern Over Violent Clashes" (PDF). Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology. 34 (1): 81–100. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Madden, Ryan (2000). "'The Government's Industry': Alaska Natives and Pribilof Sealing during World War II". Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 91 (4): 202–209. JSTOR 40492595.
  16. ^ "Evacuation and Internment, 1942–1945 – Aleutian World War II National Historic Area (U.S. National Park Service)". nps.gov.
  17. ^ . The Associated Press via Miami Herald. June 17, 2017
  18. ^ "The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000 Table 5" (PDF). census.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022.
  19. ^ Cook, James (1999). The Voyages of Captain James Cook. Hertfordshire, UK: Wordsworth Editions. p. 377 ISBN 978-1-84022-100-8.
  20. ^ "BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database". naeb.brit.org. from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  21. ^ a b c d e Black, Lydia (2003). Aleut Art Unangam Aguqaadangin. Anchorage, AK: Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association.
  22. ^ a b c d e Turner, M. Lucien. (2008) An Aleutian Ethnography. Ed. L. Raymond Hudson. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press. pp. 70–71. ISBN 9781602230286
  23. ^ Osborn, Kevin (1990). The Peoples of the Arctic. New York : Chelsea House Publishers. p. 52. ISBN 9780877548768
  24. ^ "Kamleika". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  25. ^ a b c d Gross, J. Joseph and Khera, Sigrid (1980). Ethnohistory of the Aleuts. Fairbanks: Department of Anthropology University of Alaska. pp. 32–34
  26. ^ "Home". Aleut Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  27. ^ Murray, Stephen O. (2002) Pacific Homosexualities. Writers Club Press. p. 206. ISBN 9780595227853
  28. ^ a b Antonson, Joan (1984). Alaska's Heritage. Anchorage: The Alaska Historical Commission. pp. 85–95.
  29. ^ a b Durham, Bill (1960). Canoes and Kayaks of Western America. Seattle: Copper Canoe Press. pp. 11–20.
  30. ^ a b c d e Jochelson, Waldemar (1925). Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. p. 145.
  31. ^ a b Veltre, Douglas W. (2001) "Korovinski: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Investigations of a Pre- and Post-Contact Aleut and Russian Settlement on Atka Island". In Archaeology of the Aleut Zone of Alaska, edited by D. Dumond, pp. 251–266. University of Oregon Anthropological Papers, no. 58. University of Oregon, Eugene.
  32. ^ a b Nelson, Willis H.; Barnett, Frank (1955). "A Burial Cave on Kanaga Island, Aleutian Islands". American Antiquity. 20 (4): 387–392. doi:10.2307/277079. JSTOR 277079. S2CID 162015286.
  33. ^ a b c d e f Corbett, Debra G. (2001) "Prehistoric Village Organization in the Western Aleutians". In Archaeology of the Aleut Zone of Alaska, edited by D. Dumond, pp. 251–266. University of Oregon Anthropological Papepers, no. 58. University of Oregon, Eugene.
  34. ^ "Raven a.k.a. Dmitri Ravinoff in Snow Crash". shmoop.com.

Further reading

  • Krutak, Lars (April 24, 2011). (PDF). Quarterly Journal of the Association of Professional Piercers 44 (2008): 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2011. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Lee, Molly, Angela J. Linn, and Chase Hensel. Not Just a Pretty Face: Dolls and Human Figurines in Alaska Native Cultures. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska, 2006. Print.
  • Black, Lydia T. Aleut Art: Unangam Aguqaadangin. Anchorage, Alaska: Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, 2005.
  • Jochelson, Waldemar. History, Ethnology, and Anthropology of the Aleut. Washington: Carnegie institution of Washington, 1933.
  • Jochelson, Waldemar, Bergsland, Knut (Editor) & Dirks, Moses (Editor). Unangam Ungiikangin Kayux Tunusangin = Unangam Uniikangis ama Tunuzangis = Aleut Tales and Narratives. Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 1990.ISBN 978-1-55500-036-3.
  • Kohlhoff, Dean. When the Wind Was a River Aleut Evacuation in World War II. Seattle: University of Washington Press in association with Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Anchorage, 1995. ISBN 0-295-97403-6
  • Madden, Ryan Howard. "An enforced odyssey: The relocation and internment of Aleuts during World War II" (PhD thesis U of New Hampshire, Durham, 1993) online
  • Murray, Martha G., and Peter L. Corey. Aleut Weavers. Juneau, AK: Alaska State Museums, Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums, 1997.
  • Reedy-Maschner, Katherine. "Aleut Identities : Tradition and Modernity in an Indigenous Fishery". Montréal, Quebec: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0773537484
  • Veltre, Douglas W. Aleut Unangax̂ Ethnobotany An Annotated Bibliography. Akureyri, Iceland: CAFF International Secretariat, 2006. ISBN 9979-9778-0-9
  • "Aleutian World War II." National Park Service.

External links

  • Aleut Corporation
  • Aleut Management Services
  • Aleutian Pribilof Island Association
  • Museum of the Aleutians
  • Unalaska Communities of Memory Project Jukebox June 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  • Aleut International Association
  • A Grammar of Fox Island Aleutian Manuscript at Dartmouth College Library
  • Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association

aleut, language, language, other, uses, disambiguation, listen, russian, Алеуты, romanized, indigenous, people, islands, which, located, between, north, pacific, ocean, bering, both, people, islands, politically, divided, between, state, alaska, russian, admin. For the language see Aleut language For other uses see Aleut disambiguation The Aleuts ˌ ae l iː ˈ uː t listen A lee OOT 4 Russian Aleuty romanized Aleuty are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska and the Russian administrative division of Kamchatka Krai Aleutunaӈan unangan unaӈas unangas Attu Aleut mother and child 1941Regions with significant populationsUnited StatesAlaska6 752 1 RussiaKamchatka Krai482 2 LanguagesEnglish Russian Aleut 3 ReligionEastern Orthodoxy Russian Orthodox Church AnimismRelated ethnic groupsInuit Yupik Sirenik Sadlermiut Contents 1 Etymology 2 Language 3 Tribes 4 Population and distribution 5 History 5 1 After Russian contact 5 1 1 Recorded uprising against the Russians 5 2 Aleut genocide against Nicoleno Tribe in California 5 3 Internment during World War II 5 4 Population decline 6 Culture 6 1 Housing 6 2 Subsistence 6 3 Ethnobotany 6 4 Visual arts 6 5 Tattoos and piercings 6 6 Aleut clothing 6 7 Gender 6 8 Hunting technologies 6 8 1 Boats 6 8 2 Weapons 6 9 Burial practices 7 Notable Aleuts 8 In popular culture 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External linksEtymology EditIn the Aleut language they are known by the endonyms Unangan eastern dialect and Unangas western dialect both of which mean people a The Russian term Aleut was a general term used for both the native population of the Aleutian Islands and their neighbors to the east in the Kodiak Archipelago who were also referred to as Pacific Eskimos 6 Language EditAleut people speak Unangam Tunuu the Aleut language as well as English and Russian in the United States and Russia respectively An estimated 150 people in the United States and five people in Russia speak Aleut 3 The language belongs to the Eskimo Aleut language family and includes three dialects Eastern Aleut spoken on the Eastern Aleutian Shumagin Fox and Pribilof Islands Atkan spoken on Atka and Bering islands and the now extinct Attuan dialect The Pribilof Islands has the highest number of active speakers of Unangam Tunuu Most native elders speak Aleut but it is rare for common people to speak the language fluently Beginning in 1829 Aleut was written in the Cyrillic script From 1870 the language has been written in the Latin script An Aleut dictionary and grammar have been published and portions of the Bible were translated into Aleut 3 Tribes Edit Customary Aleut dress The Aleut Unangan dialects and tribes 7 Attuan dialect and speaking tribes Sasignan in Attuan dialect Sasxnan in Eastern dialect Sasxinas in Western dialect or Near Islanders in the Near Islands Attu Agattu Semichi Kasakam Unangangis in Aleut lit Russian Aleut or Copper Island Aleut in the Commander Islands of Russian Federation Bering Medny Qax un or Rat Islanders in the Buldir Island and Rat Islands Kiska Amchitka Semisopochnoi Atkan dialect or Western Aleut or Aliguutax in Aleut and speaking tribes Naahmiĝus or Delarof Islanders in the Delarof Islands Amatignak and Andreanof Islands Tanaga Niiĝuĝis or Andreanof Islanders in the Andreanof Islands Kanaga Adak Atka Amlia Seguam Eastern Aleut dialect and speaking tribes Akuuĝun or Uniiĝun or Islanders of the Four Mountains in the Islands of Four Mountains Amukta Kagamil Qawalangin or Fox Islanders in the Fox Islands Umnak Samalga western part of Unalaska Qigiiĝun or Krenitzen Islanders in the Krenitzin Islands eastern part of Unalaska Akutan Akun Tigalda Qagaan Tayaĝungin or Sanak Islanders in the Sanak Islands Unimak Sanak Taxtamam Tunuu dialect of Belkofski Qaĝiiĝun or Shumigan Islanders in the Shumagin Islands Population and distribution EditFor specific tribal village names see List of Alaska Native tribal entities Map of Aleut tribes and dialects Settlement of Aleuts in the Far Eastern Federal District by urban and rural settlements in 2010 census The Aleut people historically lived throughout the Aleutian Islands the Shumagin Islands and the far western part of the Alaska Peninsula with an estimated population of around 25 000 prior to European contact 8 In the 1820s the Russian American Company administered a large portion of the North Pacific during a Russian led expansion of the fur trade They resettled many Aleut families to the Commander Islands within the Aleutsky District of the Kamchatka Krai in Russia 9 and to the Pribilof Islands in Alaska These continue to have majority Aleut communities 10 11 According to the 2000 Census 11 941 people identified as being Aleut while 17 000 identified as having partial Aleut ancestry Prior to sustained European contact approximately 25 000 Aleut lived in the archipelago 12 The Encyclopaedia Britannica Online says more than 15 000 people have Aleut ancestry in the early 21st century 8 The Aleut suffered high fatalities in the 19th and early 20th centuries from Eurasian infectious diseases to which they had no immunity In addition the population suffered as their customary lifestyles were disrupted Russian traders and later Europeans married Aleut women and had families with them 8 History EditAfter Russian contact Edit Aleut in Festival Dress in Alaska watercolor by Mikhail Tikhanov 1818 After the arrival of Russian Orthodox missionaries in the late 18th century many Aleuts became Christian Of the numerous Russian Orthodox congregations in Alaska most are majority Alaska Native or Native Alaskan in ethnicity One of the earliest Christian martyrs in North America was Saint Peter the Aleut Recorded uprising against the Russians Edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message In the 18th century Russia promyshlenniki traders established settlements on the islands There was high demand for the furs that the Aleut provided from hunting In May 1784 local Aleuts revolted on Amchitka against the Russian traders The Russians had a small trading post there According to the Aleuts in an account recorded by Japanese castaways and published in 2004 otters were decreasing year by year The Russians paid the Aleuts less and less in goods in return for the furs they made The Japanese learned that the Aleuts felt the situation was at crisis The leading Aleuts negotiated with the Russians saying they had failed to deliver enough supplies in return for furs Nezimov leader of the Russians ordered two of his men Stephanov ステッパノ Suteppano and Kazhimov カジモフ Kazimofu to kill his mistress Oniishin オニイシン Oniishin who was the Aleut chief s daughter because he doubted that Oniishin had tried to dissuade her father and other leaders from pushing for more goods citation needed After the four leaders had been killed the Aleuts began to move from Amchitka to neighboring islands Nezimov leader of the Russian group was jailed after the whole incident was reported to Russian officials 13 According to Hokusa bunryaku Japanese 北槎聞略 written by Katsuragawa Hoshu after interviewing Daikokuya Kōdayu Aleut genocide against Nicoleno Tribe in California Edit According to Russian American Company RAC records translated and published in the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology a 200 ton otter hunting ship named Il mena with a mixed nationality crew including a majority Aleut contingent was involved in conflict resulting in a massacre of the indigenous natives of San Nicolas Island 14 In 1811 to obtain more of the commercially valuable otter pelts a party of Aleut hunters traveled to the coastal island of San Nicolas near the Alta California Baja California border The locally resident Nicoleno nation sought a payment from the Aleut hunters for the large number of otters being killed in the area Disagreement arose turning violent in the ensuing battle the Aleut killed nearly all the Nicoleno men Together with high fatalities from European diseases the Nicolenos suffered so much from the loss of their men that by 1853 only one Nicolenan Juana Maria the Lone Woman of San Nicolas remained alive Internment during World War II Edit In June 1942 during World War II Japanese forces occupied Kiska and Attu Islands in the western Aleutians They later transported captive Attu Islanders to Hokkaidō where they were held as prisoners of war in harsh conditions Fearing a Japanese attack on other Aleutian Islands and mainland Alaska the U S government evacuated hundreds more Aleuts from the western chain and the Pribilofs placing them in internment camps in southeast Alaska where many died of measles influenza and other infectious diseases which spread quickly in the overcrowded dormitories In total about 75 died in American internment and 19 as a result of Japanese occupation 15 16 The Aleut Restitution Act of 1988 was an attempt by Congress to compensate the survivors On June 17 2017 the U S Government formally apologized for the internment of the Unangan people and their treatment in the camps 17 The World War II campaign by the United States to retake Attu and Kiska was a significant component of the operations in the American and Pacific theaters Population decline Edit Before major influence from outside there were approximately 25 000 Aleuts on the archipelago Foreign diseases harsh treatment and disruption of aboriginal society soon reduced the population to less than one tenth this number The 1910 Census count showed 1 491 Aleuts In the 2000 Census 11 941 people identified as being Aleut nearly 17 000 said Aleuts were among their ancestors 18 Culture EditHousing Edit The Aleut constructed partially underground houses called barabara According to Lillie McGarvey a 20th century Aleut leader barabara s keep occupants dry from the frequent rains warm at all times and snugly sheltered from the high winds common to the area citation needed Aleuts traditionally built houses by digging an oblong square pit in the ground usually 50 by 20 feet 15 2 by 6 1 m or smaller The pit was then covered by a roof framed with driftwood thatched with grass then covered with earth for insulation 19 Inside trenches were dug along the sides with mats placed on top to keep them clean The bedrooms were at the back of the lodge opposite the entrance Several families would stay in one house with their own designated areas Rather than fireplaces or bonfires in the middle lanterns were hung in the house Subsistence Edit The Aleut survived by hunting and gathering They fished for salmon crabs shellfish and cod as well as hunting sea mammals such as seal walrus and whales They processed fish and sea mammals in a variety of ways dried smoked or roasted Caribou muskoxen deer moose whale and other types of game were eaten roasted or preserved for later use They dried berries They were also processed as alutiqqutigaq a mixture of berries fat and fish The boiled skin and blubber of a whale is a delicacy as is that of walrus Today many Aleut continue to eat customary and locally sourced foods but also buy processed foods from Outside which is expensive in Alaska Ethnobotany Edit A full list of their ethnobotany has been compiled with 65 documented plant uses 20 Visual arts Edit Men s chagudax or bentwood hunting visor Arvid Adolf Etholen collection Museum of Cultures Helsinki Finland Unknown Aleut artist sea lyme grass basket and lid embellished with wool embroidery early 20th century Brooklyn Museum Customary arts of the Aleut include weapon making building of baidarkas special hunting boats weaving figurines clothing carving and mask making Men as well as women often carved ivory and wood Nineteenth century craftsmen were famed for their ornate wooden hunting hats which feature elaborate and colorful designs and may be trimmed with sea lion whiskers feathers and walrus ivory Andrew Gronholdt of the Shumagin Islands has played a vital role in reviving the ancient art of building the chagudax or bentwood hunting visors 21 Aleut women sewed finely stitched waterproof parkas from seal gut and wove fine baskets from sea lyme grass Elymus mollis Some Aleut women continue to weave ryegrass baskets Aleut arts are practiced and taught throughout the state of Alaska As many Aleut have moved out of the islands to other parts of the state they have taken with them the knowledge of their arts They have also adopted new materials and methods for their art including serigraphy video art and installation art Aleut carving distinct in each region has attracted traders for centuries including early Europeans and other Alaska Natives Historically carving was a male art and leadership attribute whereas today it is done by both genders Most commonly the carvings of walrus ivory and driftwood originated as part of making hunting weapons Sculptural carvings depict local animals such as seals and whales Aleut sculptors also have carved human figures 21 The Aleut also carve walrus ivory for other uses such as jewelry and sewing needles Jewelry is made with designs specific to the region of each people Each clan would have a specific style to signify their origin Jewelry ornaments were made for piercing lips labrum nose and ears as well as for necklaces Each woman had her own sewing needles which she made and that often had detailed end of animal heads 21 The main Aleut method of basketry was false embroidery overlay Strands of grasses or reeds were overlaid upon the basic weaving surface to obtain a plastic effect Basketry was an art reserved for women 21 Early Aleut women created baskets and woven mats of exceptional technical quality using only their thumbnail grown long and then sharpened as a tool Today Aleut weavers continue to produce woven grass pieces of a remarkable cloth like texture works of modern art with roots in ancient tradition Birch bark puffin feathers and baleen are also commonly used by the Aleut in basketry The Aleut term for grass basket is qiigam aygaaxsii One Aleut leader recognized by the State of Alaska for her work in teaching and reviving Aleut basketry was Anfesia Shapsnikoff Her life and accomplishments are portrayed in the book Moments Rightly Placed 1998 22 Masks were created to portray figures of their myths and oral history The Atka people believed that another people lived in their land before them They portrayed such ancients in their masks which show anthropomorphic creatures named in their language Knut Bergsland says their word means like those found in caves Masks were generally carved from wood and were decorated with paints made from berries or other natural products Feathers were inserted into holes carved out for extra decoration These masks were used in ceremonies ranging from dances to praises each with its own meaning and purpose 21 Tattoos and piercings Edit The tattoos and piercings of the Aleut people demonstrated accomplishments as well as their religious views They believed their body art would please the spirits of the animals and make any evil go away The body orifices were believed to be pathways for the entry of evil entities By piercing their orifices the nose the mouth and ears they would stop evil entities khoughkh from entering their bodies Body art also enhanced their beauty social status and spiritual authority 23 Before the 19th century piercings and tattoos were very common among the Aleut people especially among women Piercings such as the nose pin were common among both men and women and were usually performed a few days after birth The ornament was made of various materials a piece of bark or bone or an eagle s feather shaft From time to time adult women decorated the nose pins by hanging pieces of amber and coral from strings on it the semi precious objects dangled down to their chins Piercing ears was also common The Aleuts pierced holes around the rim of their ears with dentalium shells tooth shells or tusk shells bone feathers dried bird wings or skulls and or amber Materials associated with birds were important as birds were considered to defend animals in the spirit world A male would wear sea lion whiskers in his ears as a trophy of his expertise as a hunter Worn for decorative reasons and sometimes to signify social standing reputation and the age of the wearer Aleuts would pierce their lower lips with walrus ivory and wear beads or bones The individual with the most piercings held the highest respect Tattooing for women began when they reached physical maturity after menstruation at about age 20 Historically men received their first tattoo after killing their first animal an important rite of passage Sometimes tattoos signaled social class For example the daughter of a wealthy famous ancestor or father would work hard at her tattoos to show the accomplishments of that ancestor or father They would sew or prick different designs on the chin the side of the face or under the nose Aleut clothing Edit Replica of the sax an Aleut coat made from bird skins and sea otter fur A Kamleika or sea mammal intestine coat 24 The Aleut people developed in one of the harshest climates in the world and learned to create and protect warmth Both men and women wore parkas that extended below the knees The women wore the skin of seal or sea otter and the men wore bird skin parkas the feathers turned in or out depending on the weather When the men were hunting on the water they wore waterproof parkas made from seal or sea lion guts or the entrails of bear walrus or whales Parkas had a hood that could be cinched as could the wrist openings so water could not get in Men wore breeches made from the esophageal skin of seals Children wore parkas made of downy eagle skin with tanned bird skin caps 25 They called these parkas kameikas meaning rain gear in the English language 26 Sea lions harbor seals and sea otters are the most abundant marine mammals The men brought home the skins and prepared them by soaking them in urine and stretching them The women undertook the sewing 25 Preparation of the gut for clothing involved several steps The prepared intestines were turned inside out A bone knife was used to remove the muscle tissue and fat from the walls of the intestine The gut was cut and stretched and fastened to stakes to dry It was then cut and sewn to make waterproof parkas bags and other receptacles 22 On some hunting trips the men would take several women with them They would catch birds and prepare the carcasses and feathers for future use They caught puffins Lunda cirrhata Fratercula corniculata guillemots and murres 22 It took 40 skins of tufted puffin and 60 skins of horned puffin to make one parka A woman would need a year for all the labor to make one parka Each lasted two years with proper care All parkas were decorated with bird feathers beard bristles of seal and sea lion beaks of sea parrots bird claws sea otter fur dyed leather and caribou hair sewn in the seams 25 Women made needles from the wing bones of seabirds They made thread from the sinews of different animals and fish guts 25 A thin strip of seal intestine could also be used twisted to form a thread The women grew their thumbnail extra long and sharpened it They could split threads to make them as fine as a hair 22 They used vermilion paint hematite the ink bag of the octopus and the root of a kind of grass or vine to color the threads 22 Gender Edit Russian travelers making early contact with the Aleut mention traditional tales of two spirits or third and fourth gender people known as ayagigux male bodied man transformed into a woman and tayagigux female bodied woman transformed into a man but it is unclear whether these tales are about historical individuals or spirits 27 Hunting technologies Edit Boats Edit Main article Aleutian kayak Illustration of an Aleut paddling a baidarka with an anchored Russian ship in the background near Saint Paul Island by Louis Choris 1817 The interior regions of the rough mountainous Aleutian Islands provided little in terms of natural resources for the Aleutian people They collected stones for weapons tools stoves or lamps They collected and dried grasses for their woven baskets For everything else the Aleuts had learned to use the fish and mammals they caught and processed to satisfy their needs 28 To hunt sea mammals and to travel between islands the Aleuts became experts of sailing and navigation While hunting they used small watercraft called baidarkas For regular travel they used their large baidara s 28 Men rowing a baidara large skin boat The baidara was a large open walrus skin covered boat Aleut families used it when traveling among the islands It was also used to transport goods for trade and warriors took them to battle 29 The baidarka small skin boat was a small boat covered in sea lion skin It was developed and used for hunting because of its sturdiness and maneuverability The Aleut baidarka resembles that of a Yup ik kayak but it is hydrodynamically sleeker and faster They made the baidarka for one or two persons only The deck was made with a sturdy chamber the sides of the craft were nearly vertical and the bottom was rounded Most one man baidarka s were about 16 feet 4 9 m long and 20 inches 51 cm wide whereas a two man was on average about 20 feet 6 1 m long and 24 inches 61 cm wide It was from the baidarka that Aleut men would stand on the water to hunt from the sea 29 Weapons Edit The Aleuts hunted small sea mammals with barbed darts and harpoons slung from throwing boards These boards gave precision as well as some extra distance to these weapons 30 Harpoons were also called throwing arrows when the pointed head fit loosely into the socket of the foreshaft and the head was able to detach from the harpoon when it penetrated an animal and remain in the wound There were three main kinds of harpoon that the Aleuts used a simple harpoon with a head that kept its original position in the animal after striking a compound toggle head harpoon in which the head took a horizontal position in the animal after penetration and the throwing lance used to kill large animals 30 The simple Aleut harpoon consisted of four main parts the wooden shaft the bone foreshaft and the bonehead tip with barbs pointed backward The barbed head was loosely fitted into the socket of the foreshaft so that when the animal was stabbed it pulled the head away from the rest of the harpoon The sharp barbs penetrated with ease but could not be pulled out The bone tip is fastened to a length of braided twine meanwhile the hunter held the other end of the twine in his hand 30 The compound harpoon was the most prevalent weapon of the Aleut people Also known as the toggle head spear it was about the same size as the simple harpoon and used to hunt the same animals however this harpoon provided a more efficient and lethal weapon This harpoon separated into four parts The longest part was the shaft with the thicker stalk closer to the tip of the harpoon The shaft was fitted into the socket of the fore shaft and a bone ring was then placed over the joint to hold the two pieces together as well as protecting the wooden shaft from splitting Connected to the fore shaft of the harpoon is the toggle head spear tip This tip was made of two sub shafts that break apart on impact with an animal The upper sub shaft held the razor stone head and attached to the lower sub shaft with a small braided twine loop Once the tip penetrates the animal the upper sub head broke off from the rest of the shaft however since it was still connected with the braided loop it rotated the head into a horizontal position inside the animal s body so that it could not get away from the hunter 30 The throwing lance may be distinguished from a harpoon because all its pieces are fixed and immovable A lance was a weapon of war and it was also used to kill large marine animals after it has already been harpooned The throwing lance usually consisted of three parts a wooden shaft a bone ring or belt and the compound head that was made with a barbed bonehead and a stone tip The length of the compound head was equivalent to the distance between the planes of a man s chest to his back The lance would penetrate the chest and pass through the chest cavity and exit from the back The bone ring was designed to break after impact so that the shaft could be used again for another kill 30 Burial practices Edit They buried their dead ancestors near the village Archeologists have found many different types of burials dating from a variety of periods in the Aleutian Islands The Aleut developed a style of burials that were accommodated to local conditions and honored the dead They have had four main types of burials umqan cave above ground sarcophagi and burials connected to communal houses Umqan burials are the most widely known type of mortuary practice found in the Aleutian Islands The people created burial mounds that tend to be located on the edge of a bluff They placed stone and earth over the mound to protect and mark it Such mounds were first excavated by archeologists in 1972 on Southwestern Unmak Island and dated to the early contact period Researchers have found a prevalence of these umqan burials and concluded it is a regional mortuary practice It may be considered a pan Aleutian mortuary practice 31 Cave burials have been found throughout the eastern Aleutian Islands The human remains are buried in shallow graves at the rear of the cave These caves tend to be next to middens and near villages Some grave goods have been found in the caves associated with such burials For example a deconstructed boat was found in a burial cave on Kanaga Island There were no other major finds of grave goods in the vicinity 32 Throughout the Aleutian Islands gravesites have been found that are above ground sarcophagi These sarcophagi are left exposed with no attempt to bury the dead in the ground These burials tend to be isolated and limited to the remains of adult males which may indicate a specific ritual practice In the Near Islands isolated graves have also been found with the remains and not just the sarcophagus left exposed on the surface 33 This way of erecting sarcophagi above ground is not as common as umqan and cave burials but it is still widespread Another type of practice has been to bury remains in areas next to the communal houses of the settlement 33 Human remains are abundant in such sites They indicate a pattern of burying the dead within the main activity areas of the settlement These burials consist of small pits adjacent to the houses and scattered around them 33 In these instances mass graves are common for women and children 33 This type of mortuary practice has been mainly found in the Near Islands In addition to these four main types other kinds of burials have been found in the Aleutian Islands These more isolated examples in include mummification private burial houses abandoned houses etc 33 To date such examples are not considered to be part of a larger unifying cultural practice The findings discussed represent only the sites that have been excavated The variety of mortuary practices mostly did not include the ritual of including extensive grave goods as has been found in other cultures The remains so far have been mainly found with other human and faunal remains 33 The addition of objects to accompany the dead is rare 32 Archaeologists have been trying to dissect the absence of grave goods but their findings have been ambiguous and do not really help the academic community to understand these practices more Not much information is known about the ritual parts of burying the dead Archeologists and anthropologists have not found much evidence related to burial rituals 31 This lack of ritual evidence could hint at either no ritualized ceremony or one that has not yet been revealed in the archaeological record As a result archaeologists cannot decipher the context to understand exactly why a certain type of burial was used in particular cases Notable Aleuts EditJohn Hoover 1919 2011 sculptor Carl E Moses 1929 2014 businessman state representative who served from 1965 to 1973 as both a Republican and Democrat Jacob Netsvetov 1802 1864 Russian Orthodox saint and priest Sergie Sovoroff 1901 1989 educator iqya x model sea kayak builder Eve Tuck academic indigenous studies Peter the Aleut 1800 1815 Russian Orthodox saint and martyrIn popular culture EditIn Snow Crash a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson a central character named Raven is portrayed as an Aleut with incredible toughness and hunting skill 34 The story is about revenge due in part to perceived mistreatment of the Aleut Alaska by James A Michener See also EditAdamagan Aleutian Islands Aleutian tradition Alutiiq Indigenous Amerindian genetics Maritime Fur Trade Sadlermiut Shamanism among Alaska Natives Unangan Aleut List of Native American peoples in the United StatesNotes Edit The singular form is Unangax The Cyrillic spelling of Unangan and Unangas are Unaӈan and Unaӈas respectively 5 References Edit Aleut alone factfinder census gov US Census Bureau Archived from the original on February 14 2020 Retrieved February 20 2018 VPN 2010 gks ru Archived from the original on April 24 2012 a b c Aleut Ethnologue Retrieved February 3 2014 Jones Daniel 2011 Roach Peter Setter Jane Esling John eds Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary 18th ed Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 15255 6 Unangam Tunuu Aleut Archived February 9 2018 at the Wayback Machine Alaska Native Language Center Marcus Lepola 2010 The Aleuts and the Pacific Eskimo in the colonial economy of Russian Alaska in the mid 19th century PDF Arctic amp Antarctic International Journal of Circumpolar Socio Cultural 4 Unangam Language Pre contact Tribes and Dialects by Knut Bergland and Moses L Dirks a b c Aleut People Encyclopaedia Britannica 2011 Lyapunova R G 1987 Aleuts Noted on their ethnological history in Russian Corbett H D Swibold S M 2000 Endangered people of the Arctic Struggle to Survive The Aleuts of the Pribilof Islands Alaska Milton M R Freeman Bonner W N 1982 Seals and Man A Study of Interactions Seattle University of Washington Press Alaskan People Aleut Native Tribe alaskannature com Yamashita Tsuneo Daikokuya Kodayu Japanese 2004 Iwanami Japan ISBN 4 00 430879 8 Morris Susan L Farris Glenn J Schwartz Steven J Wender Irina Vladi L Dralyuk Boris 2014 Murder Massacre and Mayhem on the California Coast 1814 1815 Newly Translated Russian American Company Documents Reveal Company Concern Over Violent Clashes PDF Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 34 1 81 100 Archived PDF from the original on October 9 2022 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Madden Ryan 2000 The Government s Industry Alaska Natives and Pribilof Sealing during World War II Pacific Northwest Quarterly 91 4 202 209 JSTOR 40492595 Evacuation and Internment 1942 1945 Aleutian World War II National Historic Area U S National Park Service nps gov US apologizes for WWII internment of Alaska s Unangan people The Associated Press via Miami Herald June 17 2017 The American Indian and Alaska Native Population 2000 Table 5 PDF census gov Archived PDF from the original on October 9 2022 Cook James 1999 The Voyages of Captain James Cook Hertfordshire UK Wordsworth Editions p 377 ISBN 978 1 84022 100 8 BRIT Native American Ethnobotany Database naeb brit org Archived from the original on December 24 2019 Retrieved September 6 2021 a b c d e Black Lydia 2003 Aleut Art Unangam Aguqaadangin Anchorage AK Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association a b c d e Turner M Lucien 2008 An Aleutian Ethnography Ed L Raymond Hudson Fairbanks University of Alaska Press pp 70 71 ISBN 9781602230286 Osborn Kevin 1990 The Peoples of the Arctic New York Chelsea House Publishers p 52 ISBN 9780877548768 Kamleika Google Arts amp Culture Retrieved January 16 2019 a b c d Gross J Joseph and Khera Sigrid 1980 Ethnohistory of the Aleuts Fairbanks Department of Anthropology University of Alaska pp 32 34 Home Aleut Corporation Retrieved December 18 2022 Murray Stephen O 2002 Pacific Homosexualities Writers Club Press p 206 ISBN 9780595227853 a b Antonson Joan 1984 Alaska s Heritage Anchorage The Alaska Historical Commission pp 85 95 a b Durham Bill 1960 Canoes and Kayaks of Western America Seattle Copper Canoe Press pp 11 20 a b c d e Jochelson Waldemar 1925 Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands Salt Lake City University of Utah Press p 145 a b Veltre Douglas W 2001 Korovinski Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Investigations of a Pre and Post Contact Aleut and Russian Settlement on Atka Island In Archaeology of the Aleut Zone of Alaska edited by D Dumond pp 251 266 University of Oregon Anthropological Papers no 58 University of Oregon Eugene a b Nelson Willis H Barnett Frank 1955 A Burial Cave on Kanaga Island Aleutian Islands American Antiquity 20 4 387 392 doi 10 2307 277079 JSTOR 277079 S2CID 162015286 a b c d e f Corbett Debra G 2001 Prehistoric Village Organization in the Western Aleutians In Archaeology of the Aleut Zone of Alaska edited by D Dumond pp 251 266 University of Oregon Anthropological Papepers no 58 University of Oregon Eugene Raven a k a Dmitri Ravinoff in Snow Crash shmoop com Further reading EditKrutak Lars April 24 2011 Tattooing and Piercing Among the Alaskan Aleut PDF Quarterly Journal of the Association of Professional Piercers 44 2008 22 Archived from the original PDF on September 28 2011 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Lee Molly Angela J Linn and Chase Hensel Not Just a Pretty Face Dolls and Human Figurines in Alaska Native Cultures Fairbanks AK University of Alaska 2006 Print Black Lydia T Aleut Art Unangam Aguqaadangin Anchorage Alaska Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association 2005 Jochelson Waldemar History Ethnology and Anthropology of the Aleut Washington Carnegie institution of Washington 1933 Jochelson Waldemar Bergsland Knut Editor amp Dirks Moses Editor Unangam Ungiikangin Kayux Tunusangin Unangam Uniikangis ama Tunuzangis Aleut Tales and Narratives Fairbanks Alaska Alaska Native Language Center University of Alaska Fairbanks 1990 ISBN 978 1 55500 036 3 Kohlhoff Dean When the Wind Was a River Aleut Evacuation in World War II Seattle University of Washington Press in association with Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association Anchorage 1995 ISBN 0 295 97403 6 Madden Ryan Howard An enforced odyssey The relocation and internment of Aleuts during World War II PhD thesis U of New Hampshire Durham 1993 online Murray Martha G and Peter L Corey Aleut Weavers Juneau AK Alaska State Museums Division of Libraries Archives and Museums 1997 Reedy Maschner Katherine Aleut Identities Tradition and Modernity in an Indigenous Fishery Montreal Quebec McGill Queen s University Press 2010 ISBN 978 0773537484 Veltre Douglas W Aleut Unangax Ethnobotany An Annotated Bibliography Akureyri Iceland CAFF International Secretariat 2006 ISBN 9979 9778 0 9 Aleutian World War II National Park Service External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aleut Aleut Corporation Aleut Management Services Aleutian Pribilof Island Association Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska Museum of the Aleutians Unalaska Communities of Memory Project Jukebox Archived June 24 2010 at the Wayback Machine Aleut International Association A Grammar of Fox Island Aleutian Manuscript at Dartmouth College Library Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Aleut amp oldid 1128092107, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.