Aleut
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{{Infobox Ethnic group
|group = Aleut
|image = [[Image:aleut.jpg|250px]]<br>Traditional Aleut dress
|pop = 17,000 to 18,000
|region1 = {{flagcountry|United States}}
|pop1 = 17,000<ref>including 5,000 part-Aleut{{Fact|date=February 2007}}</ref>
|ref1 =
|region2 = {{flagcountry|Russia}}
|pop2 = 700
|ref2 =
|languages = [[English language|English]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Aleut language|Aleut]]
|religions = Christianity, [[Shamanism]]
|related-c = [[Inuit]], [[Yupik]]
}}
The '''Aleuts''' ([[Autonym|self-denomination]]: '''{{unicode|Unangax̂}}''', '''Unangan''' or '''Unanga''') are the [[Alaska Natives|indigenous people]] of the [[Aleutian Islands]] of [[Alaska]], [[United States]] and [[Kamchatka Krai]], Russia.
==Location==
{{For|specific tribal village names|List of Alaska Native tribal entities}}
The homeland of the Aleuts includes the [[Aleutian Islands]], the [[Pribilof Islands]], the [[Shumagin Islands]], and the far western part of the [[Alaska Peninsula]]. During the 19th century, the Aleuts were deported from the Aleutian Islands to the [[Commander Islands]] (now part of [[Kamchatka Krai]]) by the [[Russian-American Company]].
==History ==
After the arrival of [[missionary|missionaries]] in the late 18th century, many Aleuts became [[Christianity|Christian]] by joining the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. One of the earliest Christian martyrs in [[North America]] was Saint [[Peter the Aleut]].
In 18th century, [[Russia]]n furriers established settlements on the islands and exploited the people. (See [[Amchitka#Early _history|Early history]])
There was a recorded revolt against Russian workers in Amchitka in 1784. It started from the exhaustion of necessities that the Russians provided to local people in return for furs they had made. (See: [[Amchitka#Aleuts.27_revolt|Aleuts' revolt]])
In 1811, Aleuts went to San Nicholas to hunt. There was argument over paying the [[Nicoleño]] for being allowed to hunt on their island, a battle began almost all of the native men were killed. By 1853, only one native was left. (See [[Island of the Blue Dolphins]])
Prior to major influence from outside, there were approximately 25,000 Aleuts on the archipelago. Barbarities by outside corporations and foreign diseases eventually reduced the population to one-tenth this number. Further declines led to a 1910 [[Census]] count of 1,491 Aleuts.
In 1942, during [[World War 2]], Japanese forces occupied [[Attu Island|Attu]] and [[Kiska]] Islands in the western Aleutians, and later transported captive Attu Islanders to [[Hokkaidō]], where they were held as [[prisoners of war]]. Hundreds more Aleuts from the western chain and the Pribilofs were evacuated by the United States government during WW2 and placed in internment camps in southeast Alaska, where many died. The [[Aleut Restitution Act of 1988]] was an attempt by [[United States Congress|Congress]] to compensate the survivors.
The [[Aleutian Islands campaign|World War II campaign to retake Attu and Kiska]] was a significant component of the operations of the Asian theater.
== Culture and technology ==
[[Image:AleuWinterHouse.jpg|right|thumb|333px|A ''barabara'' (Aleut: ''[[ulax]]''), the traditional Aleut winter house]]
Aleuts constructed partially underground houses called ''barabaras''. According to [[Lillie McGarvey]], a 20th-century Aleut leader, ''barabaras'' keep "occupants dry from the frequent rains, warm at all times, and snugly sheltered from the high winds common to the area".
Traditional arts of the Aleuts include [[hunting]], [[weapon]]-making, building of ''[[baidarka]]s'' (special hunting boats), and [[weaving]]. 19th century craftsmen were famed for their ornate wooden hunting hats, which feature elaborate and colorful designs and may be trimmed with [[sea lion]] [[Vibrissae|whiskers]], feathers, and [[ivory]]. Aleut seamstresses created finely stitched waterproof ''[[parka]]s'' from [[Seal (mammal)|seal]] gut, and some women still master the skill of [[weaving]] fine baskets from [[rye]] and beach [[grass]].
Aleut [[basketry]] is some of the finest in the world, and the tradition began in prehistoric times. Early Aleut women created baskets and woven mats of exceptional technical quality using only an elongated and sharpened thumbnail as a tool. Today, Aleut weavers continue to produce woven pieces of a remarkable cloth-like texture, works of modern art with roots in ancient tradition. The Aleut term for grass basket is ''qiigam aygaaxsii''.
=== Language ===
While [[English language|English]] and [[Russian language|Russian]] are the dominant languages used by Aleuts living in the US and Russia respectively, the [[Aleut language]] is still spoken by several hundred people. The language belongs to the [[Eskimo-Aleut language]] family and includes three dialect groupings: Eastern Aleut, spoken on the Eastern Aleutian, [[Shumagin Islands|Shumagin]], [[Fox Islands (Alaska)|Fox]] and [[Pribilof Islands|Pribilof]] islands; [[Atkan]], spoken on [[Atka]] and [[Bering Island|Bering]] islands; and the now extinct [[Attu]]an dialect. The Pribilof Islands boast the highest number of active speakers of Aleutian.
=== In popular culture ===
In [[Neal Stephenson]]'s novel ''[[Snow Crash]]'', the character Raven is an Aleut [[harpoon]]er seeking revenge for the US's nuclear testing on [[Amchitka]]. The Aleut tribes are also the subject of the [[Sue Harrison]]'s Ivory Carver Trilogy that includes ''[[Mother Earth Father Sky]]'', ''[[My Sister the Moon]]'', and ''[[Brother Wind]]'', in addition to being the subject of Irving Warner's 2007 historical novel about the [[Attu Island|Attuans]] held as prisoners of war in Japan, "The War Journal of Lila Ann Smith".
==See also==
*[[Adamagan]]
*[[Aleutian tradition]]
*[[Benny Benson]] {Russian-Aleut-Swedish} designer of the [[flag of Alaska]]
*[[Eskimo]]
==References==
<references />
==Further reading==
<div class="references-small">
* Jochelson, Waldemar. ''History, Ethnology, and Anthropology of the Aleut''. Washington: Carnegie institution of Washington, 1933.
* Kohlhoff, Dean. ''When the Wind Was a River Aleut Evacuation in World War II''. Seattle: University of Washington Press in association with Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Anchorage, 1995. ISBN 0295974036
* Murray, Martha G., and Peter L. Corey. ''Aleut Weavers''. Juneau, AK: Alaska State Museums, Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums, 1997.
* Veltre, Douglas W. ''Aleut Unangax̂ Ethnobotany An Annotated Bibliography''. Akureyri, Iceland: CAFF International Secretariat, 2006. ISBN 9979977809
</div>
==External links==
*{{ru icon}} [http://beringisland.ru/ Commander Islands, Kamchatka, Russia] - About Commander Islands In Russian
*{{ru icon}} [http://beringisland.ru/aleuts/aleuts_lang2.shtm Aleut]
*{{en icon}} [http://www.amiq.org/ The AMIQ Institute] - a research project documenting the Pribilof Islands and their inhabitants
[[Category:Aleuts| ]]
[[Category:Alaska Native ethnic groups]]
[[ca:Aleutians]]
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[[et:Aleuudid (rahvas)]]
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[[fr:Aléoutes]]
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[[hr:Aleuti (narod)]]
[[lt:Aleutai]]
[[nl:Ungangan]]
[[ja:アレウト族]]
[[pl:Aleuci]]
[[pt:Aleútes]]
[[ru:Алеуты]]
[[sh:Aleuti (narod)]]
[[fi:Aleutit (kansa)]]
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