The History of Alaska.
Student: Protopopova N.S., M-111
Teacher: Shipulina O.N.
Barnaul, 2005
Contents:
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……3
1. Origins of Alaska’s Groups……………………………………………………………………..…………4
The Eskimos
The Aathabascans
Aleuts
The Northwest Coast Indians
2. From the Russian Empire to the USA……………………………………………………………7
3. Alaska today………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8
Geography
Government
Business
Transport
4. The most important dates in the history of Alaska……………………….…………11
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..17
The list of literature………………………………………………………………………………………….…18
Introduction.
Undoubtedly, the history is one of the most interesting and most important sciences. It incorporates experience of each person and all mankind. The history acquaints us with process of development of a mankind. Behind acts and decisions of separate people, behind actions of weights there is a bright, many-sided and unique image of the world, different continents, the countries and people. To understand history of the Native land, it is necessary to understand world history. In the exam paper I will tell about history of Alaska – history, which connects two great powers - Russia and the USA. The purpose of the given work is to study political and social life of Alaska, its daily life, material, spiritual and religious culture. I will tell about the reasons and consequences of historical events of Alaska, I will cite statistical data. To be prepared of this exam paper I used the educational and scientific literature and materials of periodic printed editions.
Origins of Alaska’s Native Groups.
No one knows exactly when people first found the land that would be called Alaska. Some anthropologists believe that people migrated from Asia to North America 40,000 years ago. Others argue it was as recent as 15,000 years ago.
Whenever, the consensus is that they came from Asia by way of a northern land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska.
That land bridge, now recalled as Beringia, was the first gateway to Alaska. But these first visitors were hardly tourists intent on exploring new worlds. Rather they were simply pursuing their subsistence way of life as they followed great herds of grazing mammals across the grassy tundra and gentle steppes of Beringia.
Some groups settled in the Arctic. Others traversed the mountain passes to other parts of Alaska. While still others migrated through Alaska, continuing on to distant lands--perhaps as far as South America.
Those who made Alaska their permanent home make up the state’s four major anthropological groups: Eskimos, Aleuts, Athabascans, and Northwest Coast Indians.
While all four groups shared certain basic similarities--all hunted, fished and gathered food--they developed distinctive cultures and sets of skills.
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The Eskimos:
Flexible Residents of the Arctic.
The Eskimos were primarily a coastal people, setting along the shores of the Arctic and Bering seas.
For millennia they lived a simple, subsistence life--much as they still do today--by harvesting the fish and mammals of the seas, the fruits and game of the land. Somehow they learned how to thrive despite the demanding conditions of the Arctic.
Their sense of direction was keen, almost uncanny. Travelling in a straight line, sometimes through snowstorms and whiteouts, they found their way around the mostly featureless terrain by noting wind direction, the position of the stars, the shape and size of a snowdrift. And they were resourceful. In a land where the summer sun stays at eye-level for weeks on end, never setting below the horizon, the Eskimos fashioned the first sun-visor--which also doubled as a snow mask to protect their eyes from the wind-driven snow.
The Athabascans:
Nomads of the Interior.
Like the Eskimos, the Athabascans were skilful hunters, but they depended more on large land mammals for their subsistence--tracking moose and migrating caribou.
When it came to fishing, the Athabascans were absolutely ingenious, snaring fish with hooks, lures, traps and nets that are the fascination of modern day anglers who visit their camps.
Generally nomadic, they lived in small, simply organized bands of a few families, and whenever possible pitched their camps in the sheltered white spruce forests of the Interior. Some adventurous tribes, however, wandered all the way to the Southwest United States to become kin to the Navajos and Apaches.
Aleuts:
Born of the Sea.
For the Aleuts, life centred on the sea as they distributed themselves among the 70-some islands in the Aleutian chain across the North Pacific.
Life here was somewhat more benign that in the Arctic, though wind storms were sometimes strong enough to blow rocks around.
Since their food supply was rich, varied and readily available, the Aleuts had time to develop a complex culture. Evidence indicates that they practiced surgery and that their elaborate burial rituals included embalming. Instruments utensils, even their boats were made with amazing beauty and exact symmetry. And everything was fashioned for a specific purpose--the Aleuts used 30 different kinds of harpoon heads for different species of game!
Skilled navigators and sailors, the Aleuts had the dubious distinction of being the first to encounter the white man...Russian fur traders who took them as slaves to harvest the fur seals in the Pribilofs.
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The Northwest Coast Indians:
High Society of Alaska’s southeast.
The milder, more temperate climate and an unlimited supply of salmon and other seafood’s enabled the Northwest Coast Indians to evolve a way of life quite different from the Eskimos, Aleuts and Athabascans. They settled in year-round permanent villages, took slaves and lived their lives according to the strict rules, rituals, and regulations of their respective clans. Their artwork was nothing less than masterful...beautiful blankets, finely woven cedar bark and spruce root baskets magnificent totem creations. Natives, who make up 15 percent of the state's population, maintain many traditions, such as whaling, subsistence hunting and fishing, and old ways of making crafts and art. Native heritage history and culture can be found in such diverse places as Ketchikan, Anchorage and Kotzebue, as well as in hundreds of villages where people live in traditional ways.
But while Native culture, as a whole, may define much of Alaska's appearance, the state contains a broad mixture of cultures. In Anchorage, for example, the school district has found that its student body comes from homes that speak 83 languages. Anchorage, the state's biggest city, has many Alaska influences but is also sometimes called Los Anchorage for its Lower 48-style architecture and mannerisms. Most residents of Alaska were born outside the state, and when they came to Alaska they brought their own traditions and desires.
There are European influences as well. Petersburg, in the Inside Passage, has a strong Scandinavian heritage. Cordova and Valdez bear names bestowed by a Spanish explorer; Cook Inlet is named for a British explorer; Russians left a legacy of the Orthodox Church in much of the state.
