Título: Alaska Natives
Seção: Russian colonial period
Background: Alaska Natives are indigenous peoples of Alaska, United States: Inupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures. They are often defined by their language groups. Many Alaska Natives are enrolled in federally recognized Alaska Native tribal entities, who in turn belong to 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations, who administer land and financial claims. Ancestors of the Alaska Natives are known to have migrated into the area thousands of years ago, in at least two different waves.

Conteúdo: Arriving from Siberia by ship in the mid-eighteenth century, Russians began to trade with Alaska Natives. New settlements around trading posts were started by Russians, including Russian Orthodox missionaries. These were the first to translate Christian scripture into Native languages. British and American traders generally did not reach the area until the nineteenth century, and in some cases missionaries were not active until the twentieth century. In the 21st century, the numerous congregations of Russian Orthodox Christians in Alaska are generally composed mostly of Alaska Natives.  Rather than hunting the marine life, the Russians forced the Aleuts to do the work for them. As word spread of the riches in furs to be had, competition among Russian companies increased and they forced the Aleuts into slavery. Catherine the Great, who became Empress in 1763, proclaimed good will toward the Aleut and urged her subjects to treat them fairly. On some islands and parts of the Alaska Peninsula, groups of traders had been capable of relatively peaceful coexistence with the local inhabitants. Other groups could not manage the tensions. Russians took hostages, families were split up, and individuals were forced to leave their villages and settle elsewhere. The growing competition between the trading companies, merging into fewer, larger and more powerful corporations, created conflicts that aggravated the relations with the indigenous populations. Over the years, the situation became

user: When was the Russian colonial period?

assistant: Arriving from Siberia by ship in the mid-eighteenth century, Russians began to trade with Alaska Natives.

user: What did they trade?

assistant: Rather than hunting the marine life, the Russians forced the Aleuts to do the work for them.

user: What did  they hunt?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: What else was significant during the Russian colonial period?

assistant: Catherine the Great, who became Empress in 1763, proclaimed good will toward the Aleut

user: How did they benefit?

assistant: urged her subjects to treat them fairly. On some islands and parts of the Alaska Peninsula, groups of traders had been capable of relatively peaceful coexistence with the local inhabitants.

user: When did this period end?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: What else is notable about this time period?

assistant: 80 percent of the Aleut population died from Eurasian infectious diseases.

user: What was the impact of this?

assistant: These were then endemic among the Europeans, but the Aleut had no immunity against the new diseases.