Author: Dorothy M. Jones

Source: Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, 1980.

Aleuts

The Aleuts' first contact with western civilization occurred in the mid-18th century when Russian fur hunters occupied their territory. At the time of contact, the Aleuts numbered between 12,000 and 16,000 and inhabited several hundred villages along the Aleutian Archipelago and the western end of the Alaska Peninsula. Today only about 1,800 Aleuts still live in the Aleutian area, and the number of villages has been reduced to 12 —St. Paul, the largest, had a population of 437 in 1977; Squaw Harbor, the smallest, 15.

The Aleuts have occupied the Aleutian area for about 9,000 years, having crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia. This ancient people has a distinctive language, culture, and racial composition, although the Aleuts are closely related to the Eskimos. Living on the edge of the sea, they have relied for subsistence primarily on marine products. They are noted for their outstanding seamanship and sea hunting skills, and at one time they provided the main labor force for the Russian fur companies.

Most Aleuts live in small households. About 20 percent of the households include grandparents and other relatives, but fully half consist of nuclear families (the remainder are incomplete families and single adults). The population is young, with a mean age of 21 years; men slightly outnumber women, probably because more women than men leave the villages. Because of intensive and extensive Russian and later, American, contact, the Aleuts are one of the most acculturated native groups in Alaska. Many of their traditions have either disappeared or been greatly altered as they have incorporated Russian and American cultural elements.

In former times, coastal Aleuts hunted in skin boats called bidarkas, very similar to the Eskimo kayaks. Using darts, spears, and throwing boards, they killed whales, sea lions, sea otters, seals, and birds. With bone hooks, they fished for halibut, cod, greenling, sculpin, mackerel, herring, and salmon. These traditional activities are receding in importance. Many Aleuts now live in commercially developed villages with a money economy; those who do not are still dependent to some extent on fishing and hunting, but they usually spend part of each year working for wages outside their villages. Almost all Aleuts work for cash at least part of the year, laboring in the fur-seal, shellfish, or finfish industries; trapping fur-bearing animals; or working in Aleut village and regional corporations, the tourist industry, retail trade, or community service. Most are unskilled or semiskilled laborers. A recent survey revealed that only 25 percent of the Aleuts in the labor force work full time year-round; 64 percent work less than full time year-round; and 11 percent are unemployed. Annual household income varies considerably according to the availability of local jobs.

Traditional Aleut society was essentially egalitarian and communal. Hunters shared their catches with the entire village, and a system of mutual obligations assured the welfare of every village member. Today Aleuts still share their fish and game, though generally just with friends and relatives rather than the entire village. The old system of mutual aid, however, survives, as the Aleuts continue to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless.

The Aleuts' former political system consisted of chiefs and elders. The village chief was responsible for organizing war parties and communal activities as well as arbitrating disputes; along with other village notables, the chief sat in judgment in cases involving serious crime. Crime and violence, however, were infrequent, and formal authority was rarely invoked. The Aleuts have had a highly developed system of informal social controls directed at avoiding conflict and maintaining village harmony through the use of third-party intermediaries and subtle, indirect modes of communication.

Remnants of this system of social control can still be found in Aleut villages. The formal system has disappeared from all but one village, but other leaders have taken over the chief's functions. In many villages, however, the former system competes with a modern political form—the municipal councils run by both Caucasians and Aleuts. In addition to municipal councils, the Aleuts have organized regional and village corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to operate private profit and nonprofit enterprises.

In earlier times, child rearing involved the entire village. Women, under the supervision of maternal uncles, raised the infants and girls. The uncles trained boys in the discipline of seafaring and inducted them into the adult community through religious ceremonies; the elders transmitted the heritage of the people through myths and stories.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Russian missionaries introduced the Russian Orthodox religion to the Aleuts. Previously, they had had no formal religion, although a belief in spirits pervaded all areas of their life. The Aleuts quickly adopted the Russian Orthodox faith, and today it is an integral part of their cultural identity.

Russian missionaries also established the first schools in the Aleutians. Father Ioann Veniaminov, an early missionary and an authority on Aleut ethnography, codified the language, constructed an Aleut alphabet, and translated primers, liturgical texts, and other literature into Aleut. Along with their own language, many Aleuts learned to read and speak Russian and, later, English.

In 1890 the first American school was founded in the Aleutians, on the island of Unalaska. Currently all but one of the Aleutian villages have an elementary school; three have secondary schools of two or more grades.

The Aleut language has three major dialects, all related to the Eskimo language, although Eskimo and Aleut are no longer mutually intelligible. Aleut is more commonly used in the traditional villages. In Atka, for example, it is spoken in nearly every home; in the more modern village of Sand Point, it is spoken in only a few households. Educators and native organizations interested in preserving the language have now established bilingual programs, however, and for the first time in many decades Aleut children are receiving instruction in their own tongue.

The Aleuts are noted for their intricately designed, tightly woven grass baskets. They also carve tools, toys, and other implements from wood and ivory. They are fond of music and dancing and have enthusiastically adopted modern musical instruments; some villages have their own bands.

Planes are the main means of transportation in the Aleutians, and by now almost every village has an airport, as well as a post office; electricity for heating, lighting, and refrigeration; washing machines and freezers; grocery stores; indoor plumbing and running water; and citizen-band radios. Some villagers enjoy television by satellite or from cassette tapes.

Health care within the villages is provided by health aides and nurses, and emergency care is provided by the Indian Health Service located in Anchorage, 500 to 1,000 miles distant from most of the villages. Some of the more modern villages show signs of social disorganization, mostly in the form of family problems and alcoholism. The Alaska Division of Social Services sends itinerant social-welfare workers once or twice a year, but contact with social service agencies is more apt to be by mail. The villages handle many social service problems themselves. For example, Unalaska has developed a model health and social service program that employs local people to deal with child and family welfare problems.

Bibliography

Useful sources Aleutian Pribilof Islands Regional Study and Five-Year Health Plan (Anchorage, Alaska, 1977); Dorothy M. Jones, A Study of Social and Economic Problems in Unalaska, an Aleut Village (Ann Arbor, Mich.,1969), and Aleuts in Transition: A Comparison of Two Villages (Seattle, 1976).

Also consult Vladimir Jochelson, History, Ethnology and Anthropology of the Aleut (1933; reprint, Atlantic Highlands, N.J., 1969); William S. Laughlin, "Eskimos and Aleuts: Their Origins and Evolution," Science 142 (1963): 633-645; Aleš Hrdlička, The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants (Philadelphia: Wistar Institute, 1945).