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Aleut and Alutiiq Native American history - page 1 of 3

The area stretching from Prince William Sound west along the Gulf of Alaska to the Aleutian Islands is home to the Aleut and Alutiiq peoples. The Aleut, or Unangan, as they call themselves, inhabit the Aleutian archipelago, a 1,300-mile-long volcanic island arc extending from the Alaska Peninsula west nearly to Kamchatka. There are also over 300 Aleuts in Nikolskoye on Bering Island, Russia. The Russians first called these maritime hunters "Aleuts," the meaning of which is unknown; their name for themselves Unangan translates "the people".The natural marine environment defines subsistence lifestyles and cultures that date back more than 8,000 years. Although racially and ethnically related to the Eskimo, the Aleuts have their own language and culture. The Aleuts and the Alutiiq differ in language and culture but a commonality was created from the first contact with the Russians in the 18th century that is evident today. The Alutiiq language, called Sugcestun or Alutiiq, is one of the Yupik branches of the Esk-Aleut language family. The Alutiiq are known for being expert boat builders and sailors and for their kayaks or baidarka, as the Russians called it.

Anthropologist classify the Alutiiq as an Eskimo people, as their culture and language are most closely related to those of the Yup'ik and Inupiaq. In prehistoric times, the Alutiiq shared many items of technology with other northern coastal peoples. They built sod houses which were lit by stone oil lamps. They hunted sea mammals from skin covered kayaks equipped with sophisticated harpoons. They wore waterproof clothing stitched from seal intestines, beach grass, and sinew. Additionally, the Alutiiq speak Alutiiq, one of six Eskimo languages.

Linguists estimate that the Aleut language separated from the earlier Eskimo languages 4,000 years ago. Anthropologists have classified the Alutiiq people into three basic groups:Chugachmiut or Chugach of the Prince William Sound area, Unegkurmiut of the lower Kenai Peninsula, and Koniagmiut or Koniag of the Kodiak Island and Alaska Peninsula. The suffix "miut" is added to names signifying “the people of” a certain place. Thus, each village has a name for its people and each regional area has a name for its people. The people of Kodiak Island, for example, were called Qikertarmiut meaning “people of the large island”.

The Aleut and Alutiiq people lived in numerous coastal villages as well as a few inland villages located on rivers and lakes. The Aleut and Alutiiq peoples are maritime people obtaining most of their food and livelihood from the sea. Each settlement had defined territories for harvesting resources such as seals, sea lions, halibut, cod, birds, plants and driftwood. Aleut settlements were, as a rule, located on bays where there was a good gravel beach for landing skin-covered watercraft. Village locations on necks between two bays were preferred, as such locations provided at least one protected landing for any given wind direction and served as an escape route in the event of enemy attack. A good supply of fresh water nearby was a necessity, as a good salmon stream was indispensable; other considerations were availability of driftwood and access to stone materials suitable for tool and weapon-making, mineral paints, sea mammal hauling grounds, and an elevated lookout post from which one could watch for enemies and whales.

• Athabascans,
• Yup'ik and Cup'ik,
• Inupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik people,
• Aleut and Alutiiq peoples,
• Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people.

Alutiiq and Aleut Native American history - page 2

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