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.