The Aleut Internments of World War II

This book, one of the first ever written on its subject, focuses on Russian America and American Alaska and their impact on the native population. From the closing years of the 17th century when the Russians first set foot on the shores of the far-flung Aleutian Islands, through the war years, to the reparations hearings of the late 1970s, it sheds light on the little-known story of the Aleut people and the events in war and peace that shaped their lives.
The actions that led to the internments of the Aleuts are documented through official records, letters, and personal accounts that reveal the experiences of a native people who suffered and died in the camps while posing no threat to national security in time of war. In some cases native Alaskans were held in camps that were almost as bad as the Japanese POW camps.

Russell W. Estlack is the author of four books. He lives in St. George, Utah.

Russell W. Estlack
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 248
Bibliographic Info: 31 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7638-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0587-6
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Foreword by Dimitri Philemonof 1
Foreword by Blackhawk Walters 3
Introduction 5
1.   Clash of Cultures 11
2.   The Russian American Company 28
3.   American Century 44
4.   Missionaries and Miners 57
5.   Alaska, the Last Frontier 68
6.   Prelude to War 77
7.   War Comes to Alaska 80
8.   Blood on the Sand 88
9.   Prisoners in the Land of the Rising Sun 98
10.   Aleuts in Japan 105
11.   War and Evacuation 113
12.   Atka 118
13.   The Pribilofs 123
14.   The Voyage of the Delarof 128
15.   Strangers in a Strange Land 134
16.   Burnett Inlet 140
17.   Ward Lake 144
18.   Funter Bay 150
19.   Killisnoo 159
20.   Employment Opportunities 165
21.   Fur Seal Operations, 1943 169
22.   Home Is Where the Heart Is 174
23.   Homecoming 183
24.   Restitution 198
Appendix 205
Notes 223
Bibliography 229
Index 231

“Offers the first substantive discussion of this topic. It is one that is long overdue”—H-Net Reviews.