The legacy of the Russian Colonization runs deep in Alaska, and no I am not talking about Sarah Palin "seeing Russia from the back yard"... As mentioned in all of my blogs I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska and remember taking my Grandparents to visit the old Russian Orthodox churches as a kid. This brings me to the information in this module.
The first Orthodox priests arrived in Alaska in the 1790's. The Russians started business and expanded their explorations, due to the finding of all of the natural resources that could be used for international trade. Many Russian business men married Native Alaskan women and thus leave behind children with both Russian and Native Alaskan heritage. In many areas throughout Alaska their still are many who are tri-lingual; speaking Native, Russian-Slavic and English.
The Bering Strait, is also a prime example of left behind Russian legacy. It is named after a Russian Navy Captain -Lieutennant. Churches and names of places are not the only legacy Russia left behind, there is also an abundant amount of artwork that be be viewed along with the language that is still spoken in many places throughout Alaska. Many Russian Orthodox missionaries started schools, orphanages and medical facilities. Buildings used by the Russians for fur trade still remain to this day in Kodiak. The Russian Orhodox church continues to be an intrical part of Southeast , Southwest and Southcentral Alaska as indicated in this article:
http ://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/north-america/united-states/west/alaska/alaska-history-heritage.html
On a personal observation, this is the only state that I know that offers Russian immersion classes in our school systems, and at Saturday Market individually painted Russian dolls sold by a lady directly from Russia. I believe the legacy runs deep and goes farther than "seeing it from our back yard" so to speak....
Examine Question: What other nations were interested in Alaska, and why were they interested?
The Spanish were once again interested in Alaska after being thrown out of Florida by the English; they decided to venture back to the North Pacific. Alessandro Malaspina was the last Spanish explorer sent to Alaska in hopes to find a water route from Alaska to the Mississippi River Valley.
The French also sent ships to Alaska for more exploration. Their presence was minimal and the only account left of their expeditions is : a Mountain and Glacier named after La Perouse . The British were also interested in Alaska and have left quite a history. Some examples are cook inlet sound and other places first claimed by the Brittish. Cooks explorations added a lot to mapping the geography of Alaska. The mapping had great significance, since the Russians new little about Alaskas mainland.The British were also intersted in finding the Northwest passage in Alaska, so that travels would be easier.
American's then came in hopes to also capitalize on the trading and profit in Alaska. They continued to participate in whaling and then cod-fishing voyages .Lastly, United States saw Alaska as an opportunity to have more naval outposts. After all the exploring and information gathering of the wealth Alaska could bring to the United States, it was later purchased and a Treaty agreement arranged. http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=164
Extend:How does the history of Alaska as a colony pertain to your community?
The history of Alaska is extremely relevant to present day community. Reading about all the interest and exploration in Alaska throughout history is amazing to me. I almost feel like it parrallels todays community due to the renewed interest in Alaska due to its abundant resources and economic gains. All the commercials I have noticed since returning are geared toward more drilling and more mines in Alaska. I recognize that sometimes we need to look at the economic gains, but do we sometimes lose sight of preserving the beauty and cultural history to gain a buck?
Evaluation:
This section was extremely interesting to me, because as a kid I had always heard about the sell of Alaska and what a steal it was. Although I had heard about the tremendous gain the Untited States made,I was completely unaware of all the background information and what political and historical importance it has. Despite it being an interesting module, I wish there were a few videos to go with it. I also tried looking up information on my own but found little. I am looking forward to the next module and learning more!
Blogs I have visited:
http://teachingtatitlek.blogspot.com/
I really appreciated the thought about what a culture is and perspective
http://crossingalaska.blogspot.com/
It was nice to hear more about the Qwich'in tribe
http://excitedaboutalaska.blogspot.com/
great overview of why Russia was interested in Alaska
I enjoyed your description of the Russian legacy left in Alaska. I have four nieces and nephews from Eastern Ukraine. This border country has had a tremendous Russian culture impact.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely made me smile with your opening line about a certain person seeing Russia from her back yard.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I'm just now trying to figure out how to have each of my modules open up in a separate window, like yours does. It avoids the loooooooooong scroll to the bottom of the page. Seeing this layout on your blog reinforces my decision to do the same. Congratulations on figuring it out already.
In Module IV, Tina Bernoski brought out a good point concerning Alaska's physical location in regards to Russia. Sarah Palin's famous comment about seeing Russia from Alaska got a lot of flack, but technically she was correct, Russia is only two and a half miles away. However, and this is a big however, this is only at one location, between Little and Big Diomede Islands in the middle of the Bering Sea. This is one of the most isolated spots in both Siberia and Alaska! Though we are close, there is little Siberia can offer Alaska in trade that Alaska does not already have, and vise versa.
ReplyDelete