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History | Culture | Region Artists
Aleut History and Timeline
 According to some archeologists, the Aleut people inhabited the Aleutian Islands for over 70 centuries. They subsisted in relative peace until the 18th century when Russian fur traders came to harvest pelts from the region's abundant sea mammal population.
At first, the Aleuts resisted the invasion, even resorting to warfare, but were eventually subjugated by the foreigners and forced to hunt furs.
In the late 1700's, the traders found the Pribilof Islands, to the north, were also a rich source of hides, and forced a group of Aleuts to move there to hunt for them. Today, the descendants of those first hunters still live on the two main islands, St. Paul and St. George.
 The Aleuts lives were once again interrupted during World War II when Japanese forces invaded and occupied Attu and Kiska Islands on the western most end of the Aleutian chain. The U.S. Government evacuated most of the people from the Aleutian region and relocated them to interment camps in Southeast Alaska where many of them died due to wretched living conditions. The government began paying back the internment victims with money from the Aleut Restitution Act passed by Congress in 1988.
This timeline of the Unangan is a record of written history. All events have impacted and influenced where we are today. It also helps mold us in the direction we are headed tomorrow.
| THE 1700's |
| 1741 |
Employed by Russia Danish Explorer, Vitus Bering, first sighted the Aleutian Islands (Aleut population estimated at 12,000-15,000)* |
| 1764 |
Massacre of Russians on Umnak Island by Aleuts |
| 1786 |
Gerasim Pribilof discovers Saint George Island |
| 1787 |
Peter and Paul Island discovered (Saint Paul Island today) |
| 1788 |
Russians enslave Aleuts to hunt fur seals |
| 1799 |
Russian-American Company established by Czar Paul |
*Venaminov 1984:246; Lantis, after research, agrees with Venaminov
| THE 1800's |
| 1800 |
Aleut population estimated at 1,200 |
| 1808 |
Unalaska's first Russian Orthodox church constructed |
| 1823 |
Sanak residents relocate to Belkofski/Russians settle Aleuts at Belkofski to harvest sea otters |
| 1834 |
27 Aleut villages remain with an estimated 2,500 Aleut population |
| 1836 |
Russians vaccinate Natives against smallpox |
| 1878 |
Western Fur & Trading Company established a fur storage and trading port at Akutan |
| 1898 |
Sand Point was founded |
| THE 1900's |
| 1910 |
Census reports 1491 Aleuts Lantis 1984:163 |
| 1911 |
King Cove was established |
| 1912 |
Alaska becomes a territory of the United States |
| 1942 |
Japanese made air strikes against Dutch Harbor |
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Attu residents captured by Japanese troops and later transported to Hokkaido, Japan |
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820 Aleuts were relocated from the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands to SE Alaska |
| 1959 |
Alaska becomes a state |
| 1966 |
The Aleut League was formed to become the Aleutian Planning Commission a few years later |
| 1971 |
The Aleut Corporation was formed as a result of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) |
| 1976 |
Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Inc. was chartered as a nonprofit corporation |
| 1980 |
96th Congress of the U.S.A. established a commission on wartime relocation and internment of civilians |
| 1985 |
Commercial seal harvesting ceased on St. Paul Island |
| 1988 |
Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act signed |
| 1990 |
Over 500 restitution payments made to eligible Aleuts |
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Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) signed into law |
| 1992 |
Aleutian and Pribilof Restitution Trust established |
| 1994 |
Amchitka's nuclear testing facility officially closed |
| 1996 |
Aleutian World War II National Historic Area established in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor |
| 1997 |
Adak Naval Air Station closes |
| 1998 |
Aleut International Association was formed |
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