The Aleut Evacuation: An Overlooked Injustice

Poised in the midst of Beringia, about 800 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, the tiny volcanic island of St. George, or the "Emerald Isle" as it is affectionately referred to by many of its 150 residents of Aleut-Russian ancestry, rises from the Bering Sea with absolute vertical sheer. Rocky cliffs that tower to 1,000 feet provide safe refuge to 2.5 million nesting seabirds each summer. Below, a green and curling sea washes upon black volcanic beaches. The stark contrast of these merging land and sea forms renders a palette of surrealism. Brown-eyed fur seal pups romp in the surf, while territorial beach-masters, the big daddies, vigorously procreate and guard their harems in rookeries habituated for thousands of years.

Although St. George has a harbor on the west end of the island that services the seasonal crab fishery, the economy is generally limited to subsistence. The seasonal halibut catch is abundant, but revenues are low. From atop Ulakiya ridge, the local fleet can be seen in all directions setting long lines throughout the long summer days. What the islanders don't sell, they put away for subsistence during a protracted winter. A reindeer herd roams the high tundra, and a traditional harvest of bachelor fur seals occurs in June of each year. Residents store meat from the harvest in a community cache and either process the furs for personal use or donate them to the local Native dance group, Ataqan Akun (We Are One).

More than 200 years ago, a Russian fur trader, Gerrassium Pribylov, brought enslaved Aleuts (the indigenous peoples of the Aleutian Chain) to this heretofore uninhabited island. The Russian traders prohibited animistic celebrations of dance and song and "encouraged" the Aleuts to embrace Orthodoxy and to accept Christian surnames and baptism. For nearly 100 years while the Aleut men toiled in the killing fields and blubbering houses, the Russian slave masters had their way with Aleut women. But, as history has demonstrated time and again, conquest led eventually to cultural assimilation. The dynamic blend of native and Russian traditions give our island its distinct character.

At the time of the Alaska Purchase in 1867, the United States government proclaimed the Aleuts "freemen." This status was later upgraded to "wards of the state." In reality, their lives changed little. For harvesting and processing seal furs for U.S. trading companies, they received slave wages. But until 1967, U.S. government agents made weekly inspections of all Native households, use of the native language was forbidden in public or in school, and Natives could not leave the island without the written permission from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

Today, there are 10 closely related families that are descended from those original voyagers. These families are tight-knit and fiercely loyal, and, although spats are not uncommon, long-standing feuds are. I believe the kids -- breathing icons -- make the difference. The saying "It takes a village to raise a child" has poignancy here. St. George, where I have taught grades 4 - 11 for seven years, actively supports the academic, social and moral development of every one of its children.

I remember when I first became aware of this unique sense of community -- its essence. Honored to direct the Native dance group, Ataqan Akun, I took 12 children to perform at the annual Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) conference in Anchorage during the autumn of 1994. One night as the kids lay about a large hotel room watching a movie, I was struck by their personal proximity, the physical closeness, entwinement, and the nurturing effect they had on one another. Generally kids of these ages, 8 to 12, cannot tolerate personal "space invasion," not to mention holding each other. The group reminded me of a litter of puppies -- wide-eyed and far from home, they took comfort and security in an archetypal bonding.

A recent class project illustrated this bond and the students' commitment to their community. As part of an on-line classroom writing exchange project to instill and reinforce in students a "tolerance" for those who are "different," we read Teaching Tolerance's "Home Was a Horse Stall [1]." A single sentence inthe story, which describes the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, hit home: "The law also provided compensation for the Aleut people of Alaska, who were relocated from their island homes after a Japanese invasion."

My students immediately seized upon the question, "Why?" From a 9-page article dedicated to WWII internment, why was the story of their grandparents and elders, who had been likewise interned and treated with raw ambivalence, left out? All 12 students wrote to Teaching Tolerance offering to tell the story of the Aleut evacuation, and the subsequent internment, as it has been handed down to them. The following account, They Left a Part of Themselves With It [2], was written by two of my students.

Norman Milks is a multi-curricular 4th-11th grade teacher at St. George Island School, Pribilof School District, Alaska.

Activities

Complete these activities after reading They Left a Part of Themselves With It [2].

1. Write a journal entry in which you imagine you have one hour to fill a briefcase with important belongings before being sent to an unknown place for an unspecified period of time. What items would you choose and why?

2. Choose a possession that defines you culturally. Bring it to school with you. Explain to the class why this article is important to you and how you would feel if you were forced to part with it.

3. Write a letter to a friend describing the journey aboard the Delaroff and the conditions of the building that is now home to you and your family.

4. What else could the government have done with the Aleuts on St. George instead of sending them to Funter Bay? Pretend you are a U.S. government official involved in wartime evacuations and write a memorandum expressing your objection to the internment plan. Offer alternatives that you think would have been fairer to the Aleut people.

5. Imagine you are the president of the United States. You have decided to offer a formal apology to the Aleuts for their suffering during their internment. Write a 1-page speech to be delivered in front of an audience that includes the survivors.