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The History of Alaska
Ministry of Education of the Ukraine
Section: Area stadies
Topic: Alaska
Done by Lena Kozachenok
201 gr.
Kyev 1998
FROM THE LAND CALLED BERINGIA
Origins of Alaska's Native Groups
No one knows exactly when people first found the land that
would be called Alaska.
Some anthropologists believe that people migrated from Asia
to North America as long as 40,000 years ago. Others argue it was
as recent as 15,000 years ago.
Whenever, the consensus is that they came from Asia by way
of a northern land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska.
That land bridge, now recalled as Beringia, was the first
gateway to Alaska. But these first visitors were hardly tourists
intent on exploring new worlds. Rather they were simply pursuing
their subsistence way of life as they followed great herds of
grazing mammals across the grassy tundra and gentle steppes of
Beringia.
They came sporadically through many millennia.. in waves of
different ethnic backgrounds/generations of people and
animals..hunters and hunted. As the Ice Age drew to an end and
the seas claimed the land, these people moved to higher and drier
places--the land that, as the continents drifted apart, would
become Alaska.
Some groups settled in the Arctic. Others traversed the
mountain passes to other parts of Alaska. While still others
migrated through Alaska, continuing on to distant lands--perhaps
as far as South America!
Those who made Alaska their permanent home make up the
state's four major anthropological group: Eskimos, Aleuts,
Athabascans, and Northwest Coast Indians.
While all four groups shared certain basic similarities--all
hunted, fished and gathered food--they developed distinctive
cultures and sets of skills.
The Eskimos:
Flexible Residents of the Arctic
The Eskimos were primarily a coastal people, setting along
the shores of the Arctic and Bering seas.
For millennia they lived a simple, subsistence life--much as
they still do today--by harvesting the fish and mammals of the
seas, the fruits and game of the land. Somehow they learned how
to thrive despite the demanding conditions of the Arcitc.
Their sense of direction was keen, almost uncanny. Traveling
in a straight line, sometimes through snowstorms and whiteouts,
they found their way around the mostly featureless terrain by
noting wind direction, the position of the stars, the shape and
size of a snowdrift.
And they were resourceful. In a land where the summer sun
stays at eye-level for weeks on end, never setting below the
horizon, the Eskimos fashioned the first sun-visor--which also
doubled as a snowmask to protect their eyes from the wind-driven
snow!
The Athabascans:
Nomads of the Interior
Like the Eskimos, the Athabascans were skillful hunters, but
they depended more on large land mammals for their subsistence--
tracking moose and migrating caribou.
When it came to fishing, the Athabascans were absolutely
ingenious, snaring fish with hooks, lures, traps and nets that
are the fascination of modern day anglers who visit their camps.
Generally nomadic, they lived in small, simply organized
bands of a few families, and whenever possible pitched their
camps in the sheltered white spruce forests of the Interior. Some
adventurous tribes, however, wandered all the way to the
Southwest United States to become kin to the Navajos and Apaches.
Aleuts:
Born of the Sea
For the Aleuts, life centered around the sea as they
distributed themselves among the 70-some islands in the Aleutian
chain across the North Pacfic.
Life here was somewhat more benign that in the Arctic,
though wind storms were sometimes strong enough to blow rocks
around!
Since their food supply was rich, varied and readily
available, the Aleuts had time to develop a complex culture.
Evidence indicates that they practiced surgery and that their
elaborate burial rituals included embalming. Instruments.
utensils, even their boats (baidars) were made with amazing
beauty and exact symmetry. And everything was fashioned for a
specific purpose--the Aleuts used 30 different kinds of harpoon
heads for different species of game!
Skilled navigators and sailors, the Aleuts had the dubious
distinction of being the first to encounter the white
man...Russian fur traders who took them as slaves to harvest the
fur seals in the Pribilofs.
The Northwest Coast Indians:
High Society of Alaska's Southeast
The milder, more temperate climate and an unlimited supply
of salmon and other seafood's enabled the Northwest Coast Indians
to evolve a way of life quite different from the Eskimos, Aleuts
and Athabascans.
They settled in year-round permanent villages, took slaves,
gave lavish potlatches, and lived their lives according to the
strict rules, rituals, and regulations of their respective clans.
Their artwork was nothing less than masterful...beautiful
blankets, finely woven cedarbark and spruceroot baskets
magnificent totem creations.
From the Russian Empire to the United States of America
Treaty of Cession 15 Stat. 539 Treaty concerning the
Cession of the Russian Possessions in North America by his
Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias to the United States of
America; Concluded March 30, 1867; Ratified by the United States
May 28, 1867; Exchanged June 20, 1867; Proclaimed by the United
States June 20, 1867. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Whereas, a treaty between the United
States of America and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias
was concluded and signed by their respective plenipotentiaries at
the city of Washington, on the thirtieth day of March, last,
which treaty, being in the English and French languages, is, word
for word, as follows: The United States of America and his
Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, being desirous of
strengthening, if possible, the good understanding which exists
between them, have, for that purpose, appointed as their
Plenipotentiaries: the President of the United States, William H.
Seward, Secretary of State; and His Majesty the Emperor of all
the Russias, the Privy Councillor Edward de Stoeckl his Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States.
And the said Plenipotentiaries, having exchanged their full
powers, which were found to be in due form, have agreed upon and
signed the following articles: ARTICLE I His Majesty the Emperor
of all the Russias agrees to cede to the United States, by this
convention, immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications
thereof, all the territory and dominion now possessed by his said
Majesty on the continent of America and in the adjacent islands,