Aleut

Traditional Aleut dress
Total population
17,000 to 18,000
Regions with significant populations
United States 17,000[1]  Russia 700
Languages
English, Russian, Aleut
Religion
Russian Orthodoxy, Animism
Related ethnic groups
Inuit, Yupik, Sirenik , Sadlermiut

Aleut people (ⁱ/ˈæli.uːt/) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, United States and Kamchatka Krai, Russia.

Name[link]

The name "Aleut" comes from the Aleut word allíthuh, meaning "community."^[2] A regional self-denomination is Unangax̂, Unangan or Unanga, meaning "original people." The name Aleut was given to the Unangan by Russian fur traders in the mid-18th century.^[3]

Population and distribution[link]

Тhe Aleut people were distributed throughout the Aleutian Islands, the Shumagin Islands, and the far western part of the Alaska Peninsula, with an estimated population of around 25,000 before contact with Europeans.^[4] In the 1820s, the Russian-American Company, which administered a large portion of the North Pacific during a Russian led expansion of the fur trade, resettled many families to the Commander Islands (currently, within the Aleutsky District of the Kamchatka Krai in Russia)^[5] and to the Pribilof Islands (currently in Alaska), where there are currently established majority Aleut communities.^[6][7] Their numbers have dwindled to about 2,000 as a consequence of disease and disruption of traditional lifestyles, though people with partial Aleut descent may number around 15,000.^[4]

History[link]

After the arrival of missionaries in the late 18th century, many Aleuts became Christian by joining the Russian Orthodox Church. One of the earliest Christian martyrs in North America was Saint Peter the Aleut.

In 18th century, Russian furriers promyshlenniki established settlements on the islands and exploited the people.

There was a recorded revolt against Russian workers in Amchitka in 1784. It started from the exhaustion of necessities that the Russians provided to local people in return for furs they had made.

In 1811, in order to obtain more of the now 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 nearly all Nicoleño men were killed. This, along with European diseases, so impacted the Nicoleños, that by 1853, only one living Nicoleña person remained. (See Juana Maria, The Lone Woman of San Nicolasa, also known as Karana)

Prior to major influence from outside, there were approximately 25,000 Aleuts on the archipelago. Barbarities by outside corporations and foreign diseases 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 reported they were of Aleut ancestry; nearly 17,000 said Aleuts were among their ancestors.^[8] Alaskans generally recognize the Russian occupation left no full-blooded Aleuts. When Alaska Natives enrolled in their regional corporations under the terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA), the Aleut Corporation attracted only about 2,000 enrolees who could prove a blood quantum of 1/4 or more Alaska Native (including Aleut).

In 1942, during World War II, Japanese forces occupied Attu and Kiska Islands in the western Aleutians, and later transported captive Attu Islanders to Hokkaidō, where they were held as prisoners of war. Hundreds more Aleuts from the western chain and the Pribilofs were evacuated by the United States government during WW2 and placed in internment camps in southeast Alaska, where many died. The Aleut Restitution Act of 1988 was an attempt by Congress to compensate the survivors.

The World War II campaign to retake Attu and Kiska was a significant component of the operations of the Pacific theater.

Recorded revolt[link]

In May 1784, according to Hokusa bunryaku (北槎聞略^?) written by Katsuragawa Hoshū interviewing Daikokuya Kōdayū, local Amchitka people revolted against the Russians. According to what Aleut people told Japanese castaways, otters were decreasing year by year and their share in return of furs they made also were decreasing as Russian ships stopped coming to the island. The castaways felt that the people had a sense of crisis to their situation. There were some negotiations with higher Aleut people about necessities that the Russians had run out of and that they had given to Aleuts in return for furs. After that, by Nevizimov's order, two Russians, Stepano (ステッパノ) and Kazhimov (カジモフ), killed the chieftain's daughter and Nevizimov's mistress, Oniishin(オニイシン), because Russians had doubted that Oniishin pushed islanders' back. That evening, hundreds of Aleuts started gathering on a mountain and marched to the Russians' houses. Five Russians opened fire, and Aleuts ran away. They attempted another attack the next day. They yelled and moved more quickly towards the house. Nevertheless, as Russians opened fire, they started to run away again. After they ran, Russians noticed that all the men were discussing their act on a mountain. The Russians took around forty women and children hostage while the men were not in the village. The Aleuts surrendered. Four higher Aleut people had been executed. After the incident, the Aleuts began to move from Amchitka to neighboring islands. The leader of the Russians, Nevizimov was jailed after the whole incident was reported to Russian officials.^[9]

Culture and technology[link]

Aleuts 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". First a rectangular pit was dug. Then it was covered with logs and poles and then sealed by earth and moss. Inside there would be benches along the side with the hearth in the middle. The bedrooms were at the back of the lodge.

Fishing, hunting and gathering were the only way Aleuts could find food. Salmon, seal, walrus, crabs, shellfish, cod were all caught and dried, smoked or roasted. Caribou, musk oxen, deer, moose, whale and other types of game were eaten roasted or preserved. Berries were dried or often whipped into alutiqqutigaq, which was a mixture of berries, fat and fish. The skin and blubber from a whale which was boiled was a delicacy and so was walrus. These days Aleuts eat their traditional food but also with the new processed foods the outside world brought in.

Art[link]

Traditional arts of the Aleuts include hunting, weapon-making, building of baidarkas (special hunting boats), weaving, figurine making, clothing, carving, and mask making. Ivory and woodcarving were and are prevalent crafts for Aleut men to create, too. 19th 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 ivory. Andrew Gronholdt of the Shumagin Islands played a vital role in reviving the ancient art of building the chaguda-x or traditional bentwood hats.^[10] Aleut seamstresses created finely stitched waterproof parkas from seal gut, and some women still master the skill of weaving fine baskets from dune wildrye grass or Elymus mollis. Aleut arts are still very much alive today and are practiced and taught throughout the state of Alaska. Many Aleuts now live across the state and not only in the Aleutians which has helped to spread the arts of their people and to better develop methods of creating their arts. Many old methods had been lost during the periods of European contact.

Aleut carvings are distinct in each region and have attracted traders for centuries. Including early European traders and other Native Alaskan cultures. Historically carving was a male art and leadership attribute; in today’s world it is an art of both sexes. Most commonly the carvings of ivory and wood were for the purpose of hunting weapons. Other times the carvings were created to depict commonly seen animals, such as: seals, whales, and even humans.^[11]

The Aleuts use ivory in many other types of carvings. Jewelry is one of the most prominent, accompanied by sewing needles. Jewelry of the Aleuts is also specific to which region it hails from. Each clan would have a specific style to signify their origin. The ornaments used as jewelry consisted of: Lip piercings, nose piercings, necklaces, ear piercings, and piercings through the flesh under the bottom lip. Sewing needles were special to the sewer and were custom made, often with a detailed end that had animal heads.^[11]

Aleut basketry is some of the finest in the world, and the tradition began in prehistoric times.The main method of basketry used by the Aleuts was false embroidery (overlay). In this method strands are overlaid upon the basic weaving surface to obtain a plastic effect. Basketry was an art reserved for women.^[11] Early Aleut women created baskets and woven mats of exceptional technical quality using only an elongated and sharpened thumbnail 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 Aleuts 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 whose life and accomplishments are portrayed in "Moments Rightly Placed."^[12]

Masks are full of meaning in the Aleut culture. For instance, the Atka people believed that another people lived in their land before them. These people are displayed through the masks created by the Atka’s. The masks show anthropomorphic creatures that are described in Aleut language. The translation is “like those found in caves” as translated by Knut Bergsland. Masks were generally carved from wood and were decorated with paints made from berries or other earthly products. Feathers were also inserted into holes carved out for extra decoration. These masks were used from ceremonies to dances to praises, each with its own meaning and purpose.^[11]

Tattoos and Piercings[link]

The tattoos and piercings of the Aleut people demonstrated not only their accomplishments in life but their religious views. Their body art was thought to please the spirits of the animals and ward off any evil. The body orifices were believed to be highways that evil entities traveled through. By piercing their orifices, the nose, the mouth, and ears, they would stop evil entities, “Khoughkh”, from entering their bodies (Osborn, 52). Body art also enhanced their beauty, social status, and spiritual authority.

Before the 19th century, tattoos and piercings were very common among the Aleut people, especially among women. Tattooing for women began when they reached maturity, or menstruation, at about age twenty. For men, traditionally, their first tattoo was done when they killed their first animal. Sometimes tattoos signaled social class. For example, the daughter of a rich, 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.

From Russian arrival in the Aleutian Islands in 1786 through the mid-19th century, the Russians invaded and enslaved the natives, and many of the Aleut customs disappeared.^[13] The Russians, although very intrigued by their body art, thought their piercings and tattoos were “hideous” and made the younger women believe that body art did not make them attractive. Even the Christian missionaries said they were savage looking and tried to alter how the Aleuts dressed and groomed themselves.

Piercings such as the nose pin were common among both men and women and were usually performed a few days after birth. The ornament used for the piercing was made out of various materials, a piece of bark or bone, or an eagle’s feather shaft. From time to time, women would decorate the nose pins by hanging pieces of amber and coral from strings that would dangle down to their chins.

Piercing ears was also very 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. The use of birds was very meaningful to these people because birds were seen as defending animals in the spirit world. Sea lion whiskers worn in male’s ears represented a trophy, which meant he was a good 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 would hold the highest respect.

Aleut clothing[link]

Imitation of the sax, a traditional Aleut coat made from bird skins and sea otter fur.

A Kamleika, or seal skin coat

The Aleut people live in one of the harshest parts of the world, so warmth is a priority. Both men and women wore parkas 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. It 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. (Enthnohistory: Gross & Khera pg 33, 34). They called these parkas “Kameikas” for raingear in the English language K (Aleut Corp. Web.).

Sea-lions, harbor seals, and the 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 (Enthnohistory: Gross & Khera pg.32). Gut sewing involved turning the intestines inside out and using a bone knife to remove the muscle tissue and fat from the walls of the intestine. The gut was then cut and stretched and fastened to stakes to dry and then made into waterproof parkas, bags, and other recepticles (Turner Ch. 5 pg. 70). On some trips the men would take several women with them and their duty was to catch the birds and prepare them for future use. They caught Puffins, Lunda Cirrhata, Fratercula Corniculata, Guillemots, and Cephus & Murres (Lucienm M. Turner pg. 70).

One parka took a year to make and would last two years with proper care. It took 40 skins of tufted puffin and 60 skins of horned puffin to make one parka. 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. (Gross & Khera pg. 34).

Women made needles from the wingbones of seabirds and the thread was made of sinews of different animals and fish guts (Gross & Khera pg. 33). A thin strip of seal intestine was also used and was twisted to form a thread. The women would grow their thumbnail extra long so they could split the threads as fine as a hair (Turner pg. 71). Vermilion paint, hematite, the ink bag of the octopus and the root of a kind of grass or vine were used to color the threads(Turner Ch. 5 pg. 71).

Hunting Technologies[link]

The interior regions of the rough, mountainous Aleutian Islands were unable to offer much support to the Aleutian people. From the land they could only meet a few needs, such as stone for weapons, tools, stoves or lamps and grass for their woven baskets. For everything else, the Aleuts turned to the sea.^[14]

In order to hunt sea mammals and to travel between islands, the Aleuts became experts of sailing and navigation. While hunting they used small watercrafts called Baidarkas and during travel they used their large Baidaras.^[14]

The baidara (large skin boat) was a large open walrus skin-covered boat used by Aleut families to travel from island to island, as well as, transport goods for trade and warriors to battle.^[15]

The baidarka (small skin boat) was a small boat covered in sea lion skin that was used for hunting because of its sturdiness and maneuverability. The Aleut baidarka resembled that of an Eskimo Kayak, however, it was designed to be much more aerodynamically fast which was perfect for sea hunting. A baidarka came in only two models, a one person and a two-person seat. 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 sixteen feet long and twenty inches wide, whereas a two man was on average about twenty feet long and twenty-four inches wide. It was from the baidarka that Aleut men would stand on the water to hunt from the sea.^[15]

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.^[16]

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 Aleut’s 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.^[16]

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.^[16]

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.^[16]

The throwing-lance may be distinguished from a harpoon because of the fact that all its pieces are fixed and immovable. A lance is formerly 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.^[16]

Language[link]

While English and Russian are the dominant languages used by Aleuts living in the US and Russia respectively, the Aleut language is still spoken by several hundred people. It is a dying language, and it is not known by many Alaskan Natives. The language belongs to the Eskimo-Aleut language family and includes three dialect groupings: 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 boast the highest number of active speakers of Aleutian. Most of the Native elders speak it, it is very rare for an everyday person to speak the language fluently. Only about 150 people speak Aleut.

See also[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Gross, J. Joseph, Sigrid Khera. Ethnohistory of the Aleuts. Fairbanks: Department of Anthropology University of Alaska, November 4, 1980.
• Turner, M. Lucien. An Aleutian Ethnography. Ed. L. Raymond Hudson. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2008.
• Kevin, Osborn. The Peoples of the Arctic. New York : Chelsea House Publishers, 1990. 52. Print.
• Lars, Krutak. "Tattooing and Piercing Among the Alaskan Aleut." Quarterly Journal of the Association of Professional Piercers 44 (2008): 22. Web. 24 Apr 2011. <http://www.safepiercing.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/thepoint44_web.pdf>.
• 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.

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

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