HUM221 -- Aleut (Unangan) art and values

Today (Monday, Jan. 22) we'll follow up on our discussion of Native American values by taking a closer look at how values, history and culture intersect among the Unangan, or Aleut (pronounced Al-yoot) people who live on the Aleutian Islands and the Pribilof Islands between Alaska and Siberia. They aren't typical, but none of the Native peoples are.

They live where the earliest indigenous peoples of America are thought to have migrated from Asia. So they're as good a starting point as any.

Let's start by reading the webpage "VALUES of the Unangan/Unangas" put up by the Alaska Native Knowledge Network at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. You can follow this link or get to it from the ANKN's overview of Alaska Native values linked to our syllabus for Humanities 221. Notice how important it is to them to preserve the language. How many of their values relate to respect? How many relate to other common human values? How many relate to people who traditionally made their living (subsistance) on the sea?

Once you've read through the values, open another window and visit the website of the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association. It is a "non-profit tribal organization of the Aleut people in Alaska providing services including cultural heritage, health, education, social, psychological, employment, vocational training, environment, natural resources and public safety services." It is the federally recognized tribal government.

From the APIA's homepage, click on the "History & Culture" link to get a quick sketch of the Aleuts' history, especially their relations with Russian fur traders and missionaries and what happened to them during World War II. By clicking on the "Culture" link, you will get to an excellent webpage that tells you more about the Russians and, after the U.S. bought Alaska U.S. in 1867, the Americans ... plus how the Aleuts made a living from the sea, how they still do ... their traditional houses ... their baidarkas (in the "lower 48," we call them kayaks) ... their baskets ... their hats ... and their artists. By clicking on the "Region Artists" link at the top of the culture page, you'll see the work of four Aleut artists. How do their paints, prints and carvings reflect their culture? Their traditions of subsistance? Their values?

If you're interested, the Amiq Institute has a 12-page survey of the Aleut people of the Pribilof Islands of Alaska and the the Commander Islands of far eastern Russia and links to several fascinating picture galleries that shows villages, subsistence activities, Russian Orthodox churches, a Fourth of July picnic and a sack race.