Bouncing off this thread, to what extent has Russia made an impact on the culture of Alaska that still remains? Are there any remaining Russian speaking communities, historic Orthodox churches, or anything like that of note?
One of the best know is the Russian Orthodox St. Michael’s Cathedral in Sitka.
There is certainly a religious vestige:
My grandfather grew up on a farm in Southern Illinois. He had two choices in life: farming, or coal mining. He wanted to do neither, so he joined the Army. One of his first assignments was to St Michael, Alaska. He met an exotic, dark-eyed young woman, fell in love, and married her. They traveled the Army life, growing their family. Three uncles were born in Alaska. One died as a child, and is buried in Sitka National Cemetery. My father, the next-to-youngest, was born at Ft Sheridan, Illinois.
My grandmother died from cancer, at the age of 33.
About 40 years ago, during the development of the Alaskan Oil Pipeline, there was an effort to find people of Alaskan Native American descent, to enable them to share in the pipeline profits. My whole extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, my father, my sister, and myself, all filed paperwork. It was determined that my father and his siblings were considered to be one-quarter Alaskan Native American, and therefore entitled to shares in the Bering Straits Native American Corporation.
Daddy died in 2008, and his shares have passed to my sister and me.
A stroll through the family tree shows the Russian influence: my grandmother’s name was Alexandria. Her mother’s name was Anastasia. Her father’s name was Ivan. According to my grandfather, Ivan came from Russia. Grandpa was emphatic that Ivan was “a White Russian.”
And this was not an ethnic label. Grandpa meant that my great-grandfather was NOT a Red, or a Communist.
The St Michael area of Russia was populated by Aleut natives. Grandpa was insistent that our background was Aleut, and not one of the other Native populations. It wasn’t until I read James Michener’s book, Alaska, that I learned how the Aleuts had been transferred from the island chain to the St Michael’s area.
I heartily recommend the book by Michener.
My daughter is pregnant. She found out they are having a girl, and she decided on the name Anastasia.
~VOW
But Alexandria isn’t a Russian name. Are you sure it wasn’t Alexandra?
Alexandria, Alexandra: both originate from Greek. Considering that the Russian Orthodox Church is an offshoot of the Greek Orthodox Church, I don’t think a name of Greek origin is too far out.
Oh, and yes, it was Alexandria.
~VOW
[slight hijack] I teach history and yours is the kind of story that puts dates, places, and people of the past in a real context. I loved the story. [/slight hijack]
This doesn’t directly address the OP’s question, but there is a little-known ‘vestige of Russian influence’ in California, only about 80 miles north of San Francisco.
Thank you so much. I’m happy to share the story.
My grandmother was born in 1899, the fourth child of the marriage. Her oldest sibling was born in 1891, so Ivan obviously immigrated prior to that date. It’s interesting to note that the politics of Russia at that time were divided between Red and White.
“I” probably need to read Michener again!
~VOW
In my town in Alaska, many native families have a painting in their home by Louis Glanzmen called The Battle of Sitka, which depicts the Tlinget Indians fighting off the Russians in their homeland. We have a Russian section in our cemetery, and some native spirit houses with elements of Russian design around the graves, and a dome style Russian Orthodox cathedral in town. Also, Nora Dauenhauer Marks a local native Tlinget speaker, writer and poet has written a book about Russians in Tlinget America.
No, not really, they weren’t. The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (which later split into Mensheviks and Bolsheviks) was founded in 1898. If anything, around 1891 the “left” was split between “narodniki” (populists) and anarchists. And the “red” and “white” designations were not yet created, I don’t think.
Not really germaine to the question, but…
Interesting that the Russian Orthodox influence has endured so long among native Alaskans. Tony Horwitz, in “Blue Latitudes” told of interviewing an older Aleut man who in his younger days had moved to the lower 48 and eventually enlisted in the army. I believe this was some time in the late 1950’s…at any rate, sometime during the cold war years. At the induction center he was asked to state his religious preference. He said “Russian Orthodox”, which caused great consternation among the military paper-pushers. He was finally told “you can’t say that… everyone will think you’re a communist.” With admirable patience, the guy said “OK, just mark me down as Catholic”, and apparently that satisfied the army’s collective mind.
This wouldn’t raise an eyebrow today, of course, but it’s interesting that only 50-odd years ago a Russian Orthodox American was so rare as to be unheard of, even by the U.S. Army.
SS
I wonder what would’ve happened if he said he was an atheist.
My grandfather died 1975, at the age of 84. I don’t remember exactly when he gave me the family history; it was probably when I was in junior high school…so say, 1967.
I truly doubt the designation was something he concocted. And he was emphatic for me to note that Ivan was not only FROM Russia, but that he was a White Russian.
~VOW
It’s possible that he came from White Russia and your grandfather mistakenly conflated that with the anti-Communist White movement
The Russians in those days established some fur-trapping outposts at various places along the Pacific Northwest coast, from Alaska to Fort Ross. (Are there other remaining vestigial Russian outposts, or is Fort Ross the only one?) Along with, they brought Russian Orthodox churches. Today, Russian Orthodox congregations still remain in some of these areas. There are several congregations in San Francisco, for example Saint John the Baptist Serbian Orthodox Cathedral among others.
Thank you so much for the links and the clarification. I do agree, because of the time period in question, my great-grandfather was probably from the Belarus region of Russia. For him to travel the breadth of Russia and then cross the Bering Strait to settle in St Michael, Alaska, is a monumental feat!
I’ve been tinkering with the idea of expanding my Ancestry.com membership to the International level. Who knows? With a target area (Belarus) and a date, I might uncover some documentation of his birth, and could then research my European family history!
~VOW
Yes, but the Russian version of the Greek name is Alexandra, not Alexandria. Lots of languages have given names originating in Greek Christendom. If my grandfather were named Jorge, György, or Yrjö I wouldn’t use that as evidence of our family’s Russian ancestry, even though those names all come from the Greek Γεώργιος, one of the patron saints of Russia.
George <-> Yuri, right?
And a minor nitpick that may help on textual searches: owing to the Cyrillic alphabet, the normal transliteration of the Russian name corresponding to English “Alexandra” is “Aleksandra” – there is no X with a /ks/ sound in Cyrillic.
Yes, that would be the most common modern variant. Georgiy is another (transliteration of a) derivative which is closer to the original Greek, but I think nowadays it’s used mainly to refer to the saint and other historical Georges.