# Are there any Russians descendants living in Alaska from the original transfer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2016, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539 "2016-07-10T08:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/1 "2016-07-10T08:53:15Z")
Alaska was purchased from the Russians in 1867. Were any Russian citizens from before the transfer allowed to stay and become naturalized Americans or were they all forced to return to Russia? If they were allowed to stay, do we have any descendants from those original Russian colonists? Do any remnants of pre-American Russian culture survive in Alaska? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/2 "2016-07-10T09:26:44Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Are there any Russians descendants living in Alaska from the original transfer? Alaska was purchased from the Russians in 1867. Were any Russian citizens from before the transfer allowed to stay and become naturalized Americans or were they all forced to return to Russia? You realise these are different questions? Even if every Russian citizen was repatriated, there could still large numbers of their descendants living in Alaska. If, for example, a Russian man fathered a child with an Eskimo woman, neither she nor their child would be deported. As such, it’s inconceivable that there wouldn’t be descendants still living in Alaska. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/3 "2016-07-10T09:34:07Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > As such, it’s inconceivable that there wouldn’t be descendants still living in Alaska. And there’s no reason to assume they would all have remained in Alaska. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/4 "2016-07-10T09:50:03Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And there’s no reason to assume they would all have remained in Alaska. Absolutely. Just as all French descendants did not remain in Louisiana. But that wasn’t the question. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/5 "2016-07-10T09:54:44Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Do any remnants of pre-American Russian culture survive in Alaska? The Orthodox Church is still around, with congregations that predate the purchase by the USA. There are a very small number of elderly people in at least one community who speak a [dialect of Russian](http://rbth.com/society/2013/05/29/russian_languages_most_isolated_dialect_found_in_alaska_26519.html). It looks, from that, like a few Russians did remain in Alaska after the purchase. There weren’t ever all that many Russians in Alaska, though, so there won’t have been all that many who stayed either. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/6 "2016-07-10T10:06:09Z")
Since Alaska was Russian territory before the transfer, wouldn’t native Alaskans have been Russians? There are many of them still there. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/7 "2016-07-10T10:08:54Z")
The Russians who lived there were explicitly allowed to stay if they wanted. The [treaty](http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/treatywi.asp) said that any non-natives who remained after three years would become US citizens: > [@](#): > > The inhabitants of the ceded territory, according to their choice, reserving their natural allegiance, may return to Russia within three years; but if they should prefer to remain in the ceded territory, they, with the exception of uncivilized native tribes, shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States, and shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. The uncivilized tribes will be subject to such laws and regulations as the United States may, from time to time, adopt in regard to aboriginal tribes of that country. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/8 "2016-07-10T10:13:43Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Since Alaska was Russian territory before the transfer, wouldn’t native Alaskans have been Russians? There are many of them still there. We know he meant actual Russians, direct from the actual country Russia , not just unidentified residents of remote territories. [http://www.ninilchikrussian.com/pictures/pictures.html](http://www.ninilchikrussian.com/pictures/pictures.html) ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/9 "2016-07-10T10:19:08Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > The Russians who lived there were explicitly allowed to stay if they wanted. The [treaty](http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/treatywi.asp) said that any non-natives who remained after three years would become US citizens: That was my understanding of the situation - they were welcome to stay (and some almost certainly did), or they were free to head back to Russia, which many obviously did. It’s worth bearing in mind the US wasn’t a superpower in the 1860s the way it is now, so the choice between staying and going wasn’t nearly as clear-cut as it would be 100 years later, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/10 "2016-07-10T12:16:31Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > We know he meant actual Russians, direct from the actual country Russia , not just unidentified residents of remote territories. > > [Ninilchik Russian pictures](http://www.ninilchikrussian.com/pictures/pictures.html) You can’t swing a dead salmon on the Kenai Peninsula without hitting a Kvasnikoff or an Oskolkoff. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/11 "2016-07-10T14:54:00Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > We know he meant actual Russians, direct from the actual country Russia , not just unidentified residents of remote territories. > > [Ninilchik Russian pictures](http://www.ninilchikrussian.com/pictures/pictures.html) The native Yupik people had been going back and forth between what is now Russia (Siberia) and what is now Alaska for thousands of years. It was only the onset of the Cold War in the 1940s that stopped this intermixing. Those Yupik people on the “other side” of the Bering Straight were Russians, too. Same as the Europeans who inhabit that country. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/12 "2016-07-10T14:54:22Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > > [@Isilder](#): > > > > We know he meant actual Russians, direct from the actual country Russia , not just unidentified residents of remote territories. > > > > [Ninilchik Russian pictures](http://www.ninilchikrussian.com/pictures/pictures.html) > > You can’t swing a dead salmon on the Kenai Peninsula without hitting a Kvasnikoff or an Oskolkoff. Perhaps that’s what Sarah Palin meant. Not “I can see Russia from my house” but “I can see _Russians_ from my house”. As in the next-door neighbors are descendants of the Russian settlers. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/13 "2016-07-10T15:32:20Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Perhaps that’s what Sarah Palin meant. Not “I can see Russia from my house” but “I can see _Russians_ from my house”. As in the next-door neighbors are descendants of the Russian settlers. I know this is a joke and I hate to defend Bible Spice, but Palin never said that. Tina Fey did AS Palin on SNL. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/14 "2016-07-10T15:50:25Z")
There you go trying to introduce _facts_ into my attempted defense of the most misunderstood woman in America. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/15 "2016-07-11T01:07:22Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The native Yupik people had been going back and forth between what is now Russia (Siberia) and what is now Alaska for thousands of years. It was only the onset of the Cold War in the 1940s that stopped this intermixing. Those Yupik people on the “other side” of the Bering Straight were Russians, too. Same as the Europeans who inhabit that country. But you have to understand, they were uncivilized savages who didn’t deserve the simple dignity of having a nationality. They’re more like the local wildlife. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/16 "2016-07-11T01:12:14Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > But you have to understand, they were uncivilized savages who didn’t deserve the simple dignity of having a nationality. They’re more like the local wildlife. :sarcasm: There does seem to be a certain Eurocentrism in the the way people are looking at this. It’s easy to forget that Native Peoples didn’t recognize boundaries or nationalities in the way we do today, and there movements never had anything to with international boundaries unless such boundaries were enforced by the local authorities. There wasn’t much “local authority” in the places where Yupik contact would have been happening in the 19th and early 20th centuries. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/17 "2016-07-11T02:06:50Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I know this is a joke and I hate to defend Bible Spice, but Palin never said that. Tina Fey did AS Palin on SNL. True, what Palin actually said was something along the lines of “there’s parts of Alaska where you can see Russian land in the distance”. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/18 "2016-07-11T02:47:09Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > True, what Palin actually said was something along the lines of “there’s parts of Alaska where you can see Russian land in the distance”. “You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.” from [snopes](http://www.snopes.com/politics/palin/russia.asp) ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/19 "2016-07-11T03:23:54Z")
The ethnic-Russian population in Alaska was never very large. According to Wikopedia, at the time of the Alaska purchase the Russian population in the territory was only about 700. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian\_America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_America) Another article states the combined Russian and mixed race population was about 2,500.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska\_Purchase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Purchase) In any case, according to both articles, most Russians chose to move back to Russia soon after the transfer. Nonetheless, I suspect that there are some Alaskans alive today who are descended from the original Russian colonists. Most of them are probably descended from Russians who interbred with the local population. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539/20 "2016-07-11T13:45:48Z")
Was there ever a practice of Native Alaskans taking on Russian surnames without having interbred with Russians? If not, it would seem that most Alaskans with Russian surnames would fit the OP. I can’t imagine there was a lot of Russian emigration to Alaska after the purchase… Unless, maybe during the Alaskan God Rush? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-russians-descendants-living-in-alaska-from-the-original-transfer/759539.md?page=2)