The
Battle of Sitka (1804) was the last major armed conflict between
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
ans and
Alaska NativesAlaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Inupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
, and was initiated in response to the destruction of a
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n trading post two years prior. The primary combatant groups were the
Kiks.ádiThe Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska have two moieties in their society, each of which is divided into a number of clans...
(Frog/Raven) Clan of Sheet’-ká X'áat'l (
Baranof IslandBaranof Island, also sometimes called Baranov Island, Shee or Sitka Island, is an island in the northern Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle, in Alaska. The name Baranof was given in 1805 by Imperial Russian Navy captain U. F. Lisianski to honor Alexander Andreyevich Baranov...
) of the
TlingitThe Tlingit are an Indigenous people of northwestern America. Their name for themselves is Lingít "people"...
nation and agents of the
Russian-American CompanyThe Russian-American Company was a state-sponsored trading company formed largely on the basis of the so-called Shelikhov-Golikov Company of Grigory Shelikhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov The Russian-American Company (The Russian-American Company under Our Highest Protection (“highest” referring...
assisted by the
Imperial Russian NavyThe Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the Bolshevik Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
. Though the Russians' initial assault (in which
Alexandr BaranovAlexander Andreyevich Baranov , sometimes spelled Aleksander or Alexandr and Baranof, was born in 1746 in Kargopol, in St. Petersburg Governorate of the Russian Empire....
, head of the Russian expedition, sustained serious injuries) was repelled, their naval escorts bombarded the Tlingit fort
Shis'kí Noow mercilessly, driving the natives into the surrounding forest after only a few days. The Russian victory was decisive, and resulted in the Sheet’-ká Kwáan being permanently displaced from their ancestral lands. They fled north and reestablished an old settlement on the neighboring
Chichagof IslandChichagof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Alaska Panhandle. At long and wide, it has a land area of , making it the fifth largest island in the United States and the 109th largest island in the world. There was a 2000 census population of 1,342 persons...
to enforce a trade
embargoAn embargo is the prohibition of commerce and trade with a certain country, in order to isolate it and to put its government into a difficult internal situation, given that the effects of the embargo are often able to make its economy suffer from the initiative. It is similar to a blockade, as in...
against the Russians.
Animosity between the two cultures, though greatly diminished, continued in the form of sporadic attacks by the natives against the Russian settlement as late as 1858. The battlefield location has been preserved at
Sitka National Historical ParkSitka National Historical Park is a National Historical Park in Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska...
. In September 2004, in recognition of the Battle's bicentennial, a direct descendant of Russian battle leader Baranov joined with descendants of the Kiks.ádi warriors for a traditional Tlingit "Cry Ceremony" to formally grieve for their lost ancestors.
Previous colonization and resistance
Members of the Kiks.ádi of the indigenous Tlingit people had occupied portions of the
Alaska PanhandleThe Alaska Panhandle, sometimes referred to as South east Alaska, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies west of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of the panhandle's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United...
, including
Sheet’-ká X'áat'l (present-day Baranof Island), for some 11,000 years. Alexandr Baranov (Chief Manager of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, a forerunner of the Russian-American Company) first visited the island aboard the
Ekatarina in 1795 while searching for new
sea otterThe sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
hunting grounds. Baranov paid the Tlingit a small sum for the rights to the land in order to prevent "interlopers" from conducting trade on the island.
On May 25, 1799 Baranov and 100 employees of the Russian American Company (accompanied by their native wives) sailed into
Sitka SoundSitka Sound is a large body of water near the city of Sitka, Alaska. It is bordered by Baranof Island to the south and the northeast, by Kruzof Island to the northwest and by the Pacific Ocean to the southwest....
aboard the cutter
Olga and
sloop-of-warIn the 18th and the earlier part of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a small sailing warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen cannons...
Konstantin of the
Imperial Russian NavyThe Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the Bolshevik Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
; accompanying the Russian settlers was a fleet of some 550
baidarkaBaidarka is the name sometimes used for Aleutian style sea kayak. The word has its origins from early Russian settlers in Alaska.A prominent feature of a baidarka is its forked bow...
s, carrying 600–1,000
AleutThe Aleuts are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, United States and Kamchatka Krai, Russia.The name Aleut was given to the Unangan by Russian fur traders in the mid 18th century.-Location:The homeland of...
escorts. Wishing to avoid a confrontation with the Kiks.ádi, the group passed by
the strategic hilltop encampment-United Kingdom:* Castle Hill, Brighton, a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Brighton, East Sussex* Castle Hill, Cambridge, a hill in Cambridge* Castlehill, Dumbarton* Castlehill, Edinburgh...
where the Tlingit had established
Noow Tlein ("Big Fort") and made landfall at their second-choice building site, some 7 miles (11 kilometers) north of the colony. The location of the Russian settlement at Katlianski Bay, "
RedoubtA redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main line of defense and can be a permanent structure or a...
Saint Michael," is known today as Starrigavan Bay, or "Old Harbor" (from Russian старая гавань) The outpost consisted of a large warehouse, blacksmith shop, cattle sheds,
barracksBarracks are living quarters for personnel on a military post. They are typically very plain and all of the buildings in the housing unit are often uniform structures.-History:...
,
stockadeA stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security.- Stockade as a security fence :...
,
block houseA watchtower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military, and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to provide a high, safe place from which a sentinel or guard may...
, a bath house, quarters for the hunters, and a residence for Baranov.
Though the
Koloshi (the Russian name for the Tlingit, based on the Aleut name for the Tlingit) initially welcomed the newcomers, their animosity toward the Russians grew in relatively short order. The Kiks.ádi objected to the Russian traders' custom of taking native women as their wives, and were constantly taunted by other
Tlingit clansThe Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska have two moieties in their society, each of which is divided into a number of clans...
who looked upon the "Sitkas" as the outsiders'
kalga, or slaves. The Kiks.ádi came to realize that the Russians' continued presence demanded their allegiance to the
TsarTsar or czar , occasionally spelled csar or Tzar in English, is a Slavic term with Bulgarian origins used to designate certain monarchs...
, and that they therefore were expected to provide free labor to the Company. Competition between the two groups for the island's resources would escalate as well.
1802 battle
Despite a number of unsuccessful Tlingit attacks against the post during the winter of 1799, business soon prospered. Urgent matters required that Baranov return to
KodiakKodiak is one of 6 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...
(then capital of
Russian AmericaRussian colonization of the Americas proceeded in several places.-Alaska:Europeans first sighted the Alaskan coast line in 1732; sighting was made by the Russian Ivan Fedorov near Cape Prince of Wales, but he did not land. The first landfall took place in southern Alaska in 1741 during the Russian...
) in 1800. 25 Russians and 55 Aleuts, under the direction of Vasilii G. Medvednikov, were left to staff the post. In spring 1802 ,the population of Redoubt Saint Michael had grown to include 29 Russians, 3 British deserters, 200 Aleuts, and a few Kodiak women. It was rumored that the British (under the auspices of the
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world...
) staged a meeting with the northern Tlingit clans in
AngoonAngoon is a city on Admiralty Island in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 572. The name in Tlingit, Aangóon, means roughly "isthmus town."-Geography:...
in 1801, wherein they offered muskets and gunpowder to the Tlingit in exchange for exclusive fur trading rights.
On June 20, 1802 a group of Tlingit warriors from along
Kaasda HéenIndian River or Kaasda Héen, as known by the local Tlingit, is a roughly eight-mile long watershed that flows through the community of Sitka on Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of Southeast Alaska....
and nearby Crab Apple Island, "painted like demons" and wearing animal masks carved out of wood, attacked the Russian fort. The natives were well-armed with spears and modern firearms (the latter acquired through trade with the British,
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, and Americans, whose ships frequented the waters of the
Inside PassageThe Inside Passage of the Alaska Panhandle and coastal British Columbia is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a series of passages between the mainland and the coastal islands. Ships using the route can avoid some of the bad weather in the open ocean, and visit the many isolated...
). Led by the chief Shk'awulyéil, the raiding party massacred all of the men (20 Russians and close to 130 Aleut workers), looted and burned the barracks and storehouses, destroyed a ship under construction, and enslaved the surviving women and children.
A few Russians and Aleuts who had been away from the post hunting, or who had fled into the forest, subsequently reached safety and relayed news of the attack to two foreign ships at anchor in the Sound. After brief negotiations, the Tlingit agreed to ransom a few of the survivors to the commander of the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ship
Alert out of Boston. Captain
James BarberJames Barber was a Canadian cookbook author and host of Urban Peasant, a CBC cooking show.Born in the United Kingdom, Barber worked as an engineer before becoming a food critic for the Vancouver Sun. His lifelong interest in food and writing and his increased knowledge in these areas naturally led...
of the British ship
Unicorn, also anchored nearby, lured Shk'awulyéil and several of his raiders aboard and placed them in the
brigIn nautical terms, a brig is a vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and maneuverable and were used as both naval war ships and merchant ships. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
, subsequently exchanging them for the remaining lone Russian and 18 Aleut captives (along with some 4,000 sea otter pelts that had been plundered during the raid).
The
Unicorn then set sail for Kodiak, where it delivered the survivors and the news of the attack to Baranov on June 24. Barber extracted a ransom of 10,000
rublesThe ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It is Fiat money. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire prior to their breakups...
for the return of the colonists — a mere 20% of his initial demand.
Russian reprisal
Following the Kiks.ádi victory, Tlingit
ShamanShamanism comprises a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. It is a prominent term in anthropological research. A practitioner of shamanism is known as a shaman, , noun...
Stoonookw (confident that the Russians would soon return, and in force) urged the Clan to construct a new fortification that was capable of withstanding cannon fire, and provided an ample water supply. Despite strong opposition, the Shaman's will prevailed, and the Kiks.ádi made preparations for war. The Sitkas sent messages to their allies requesting assistance, but none was forthcoming; they would face the Russian fleet on their own.
The Tlingit chose to construct the roughly 240 feet by 165 feet (73 by 50 meters)
Shis'kí Noow (the "
Fort of Young Saplings") at the high water line near the mouth of the Indian River to take advantage of the long gravel beach flats that extend far out into the bay; it was hoped that the shallows would prevent the Russian ships from attacking the installation at close range. Some 1,000 native
spruceThe Sitka Spruce is a large coniferous evergreen tree growing to 50–70 m tall, exceptionally to 100 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 5 m, exceptionally to 6–7 m diameter. It is by far the largest species of spruce, and the third tallest conifer species in the world...
logs were used in the construction of 14 buildings (
barabaras) and the thick
palisadeA palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized trunks of trees aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks would be sharpened or pointed at the top...
wall that surrounded them. The Kiks.ádi battle plan was a simple one: they would gauge the Russians' strength and intentions at
Noow Tlein, then strategically retreat to the perceived safety of the new fort. Baranov returned to Sitka Sound in late September, 1804 aboard the
sloop-of-warIn the 18th and the earlier part of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a small sailing warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen cannons...
Neva under the command of
Lieutenant CommanderLieutenant Commander
is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a Lieutenant and subordinate to a Commander...
Yuri Feodorovich Lisyansky.
Neva was accompanied by the
Ermak and two other smaller, armed
sailing shipSailing ship is now used to refer to any large wind-powered vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage "ship" became associated with all large sailing...
s, manned by 150
promyshlenniks (fur traders), along with 400–500 Aleuts in 250
baidarkas.
In this engagement, fortune favored the Russians from the outset. On September 29, the Russians went ashore at the winter village. Lisyansky dubbed the site "Novo-
Arkhangel'skayaArkhangelsk , formerly called Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina river near its exit into the White Sea in the far north of European Russia. City districts spread for over along the banks of the...
Mikhailovskaya" (or "New Archangel Saint Michael"), a reference to the largest city in the region where Governor Baranov was born. Baranov immediately sent forth envoys to the Tlingit settlement with offers of negotiation for the
Noow Tlein site, all of which were rebuffed. The Tlingit merely hoped to stall the Russians long enough to allow the natives to abandon their winter village and occupy the "sapling fort" without the enemy fleet taking notice.
However, when the Kiks.ádi sent a small, armed party to retrieve their gunpowder reserves from an island in nearby
Shaaseíyí Aan (Jamestown Bay), the group (electing not to wait for the cover of darkness, instead returning in broad daylight) was spotted and engaged in brief a firefight with the Russians. An errant round struck the
canoeA canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes usually are pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over .In its human-powered form, the canoe is propelled by the use of...
in which the Tlingit were transporting the gunpowder, igniting the cargo and causing it to explode. When the smoke cleared, it was evident that none of the expedition, made up of upper-
casteA caste is a combined social system of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, and political power. Caste should not be confused with class, in that members of a caste are deemed to be alike in function or culture, whereas not all members of a defined class may be so alike.Although Indian...
young men from each house (all future Clan leaders) and a highly-respected elder, survived the encounter. Baranov's emissaries notifed the Tlingit that the Russian ships would soon begin firing on the new fort.
Day One
On or about October 1, the
Neva was towed into the shoals near the mouth of the Indian River. A Russian landing party, led by Baranov and accompanied by 400 Aleuts acting as
light infantryTraditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
, assaulted the Tlingit compound, only to be met by continuous volleys of gunfire. The Aleuts panicked and broke ranks, retreating to the shore where their
baidarkas waited.
The Kiks.ádi warriors, led by their new War Chief
K'alyaan (Katlian) — wearing a Raven mask and armed with a blacksmith's hammer, surged out of
Shis'kí Noow and engaged the attacking force in hand-to-hand combat; a second wave of Tlingit emerged from the adjacent woods in a "
pincerPincer may refer to:*Pincer *Pincer, part of an animal*Pincer ligand, a terdentate, often planar molecule that tightly binds a variety of metal ions....
" maneuver. Baranov was seriously injured and the Russians fell back to the water's edge, just as the
Neva opened fire to cover the retreat. Twelve of the attackers were killed and many others injured during the melee, and the Russians were forced to abandon several small artillery pieces on the beach.
That night, the Tlingit rejoiced at having repulsed the Russian onslaught.
Day Two
Inasmuch as Baranov’s battlefield wounds prevented him from continuing the battle, Lieutenant Commander Lisyansky assumed command, ordering his ships to begin shore
bombardmentA bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. In its strict sense the term is only applied to the bombardment of defenceless or undefended objects, houses, public buildings, etc., by an assailant with the object of disheartening his...
of the Tlingit position. The initial
barrageA barrage may be* barrage , a line or barrier of artillery or depth charge fire* barrage , a weir or artificial obstruction at the mouth of a tidal watercourse...
consisted mainly of "ranging shots" as the vessels attempted to determine the optimum firing range. Unable to breach the fort's walls, the Russians ceased fire in the early afternoon and sent a messenger ashore under a flag of truce.
- It was constructed of wood, so thick and strong, that the shot from my guns could not penetrate it at the short distance of a cable's length
A cable length or cable's length is a nautical unit of measure equal to one tenth of a nautical mile or 100 fathoms, or sometimes 120 fathoms. The unit is named after the length of a ship's anchor cable in the age of sail...
— from the log of Yuri Lisyansky, Captain of the Neva.
Much to the Kiks.ádi's amusement, the message demanded their surrender, which they rejected out of hand. The Tlingit replied with their own demand that the Russians surrender, which was also rejected. The Russian cannon fire resumed until nightfall. After dark, the Kiks.ádi met to consider their situation. They all believed that the Russians suffered too many losses the day before to mount another ground attack. The Tlingit's goal had been to hold out long enough to allow the northern clans to arrive and reinforce their numbers, but the shortage of gunpowder limited their ability to remain under
siegeA siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit"....
, a factor that
made ultimate victory seem less likely. The Tlingit concluded that a change in tactics was in order: rather than suffer the ignominy of defeat on the battlefield, they formulated a strategy wherein the Clan would disappear into the surrounding forest (where they felt that the Russians could not engage them) and establish a new settlement on the northern part of the island.
Day Three
The
Neva and her escorts resumed their day-long bombardment of the Tlingit fort at sunrise. The Kiks.ádi responded with offers of a truce, hostage exchanges, promises of more talks, and even the possibility of surrender. Unbeknownst to the Russians, the Clan's elderly and young children had already begun the trek to
Gájaa Héen (Old Sitka). At nightfall, the House Chiefs met again to discuss their planned march across the island. Mothers with infant children were to depart in the morning.
Day Four
The naval cannon fire began at daybreak, halting periodically to allow the Russians to extend offers of peace to the Kiks.ádi, which were in turn rejected. That afternoon, the Tlingits' response was that they had tired of battle, and would accede to the Russian demands to evacuate
Shis'kí Noow the following day. Once the sun had set, the natives held their last gathering in the sapling fort. The elders offered praise for their clansmen who had defended the Kiks.ádi homeland against a formidable enemy. The Clan gathered together for a last song, one that ended with a loud drum roll and a wail of anguish (which the Russians interpreted as a sign of their surrender).
The Tlingit then departed undetected under the cover of darkness.
Aftermath
It wasn't until October 7, days after the Kiks.ádi put forth their tragic "
swan songThe phrase "swan song" is a reference to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan is completely mute during its lifetime until the moment just before it dies, when it sings one beautiful song....
," that the Russians landed a large contingent of troops to secure the beachhead and to reconnoiter the area in and around
Shis'kí Noow. To their great surprise, none of the natives were to be found (unbeknownst to the Russians, the Tlingit had embarked on what is now referred to as the "Sitka Kiks.ádi Survival March").
On October 8, Captain Lisianski visited the abandoned Tlingit fortification and recorded his impressions of what he saw as follows:
- Having come ashore, I observed the most barbaric sight that could bring even the most hardened heart to tremble and recoil. Assuming that we could trace them in the woods by the voices of infants and dogs, the Sitkans put them all to death...the entire set of circumstances led us to conclude that the fortress had contained no less than 800 persons of male gender.
The fort was razed to preclude the possibility of its being used as a stronghold against the Russians and their allies ever again.
Neva sailed out of Sitka Sound on November 10.
"Sitka Kiks.ádi Survival March"
The first leg of the Tlingit's sojourn entailed a hike west from
Gajaa Héen to
Daxéit (the Clan's fishing camp at Nakwasina Sound, where each May the Kiks.ádi harvested
herringHerring are relatively small oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Two species of Clupea are currently recognized, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring , each of which may be...
eggs, a traditional native food). From there, the group's exact path across the mountains north to
Cháatl Káa Noow (the Kiks.ádi "Halibut Fort" at Point Craven in the
Peril StraitPeril Strait is a strait in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. It is between Chichagof Island to its north and Baranof Island and Catherine Island to its south. The strait is 80 km long and reaches from Salisbury Sound on the west to the Chatham Strait on the east...
) is a matter of some conjecture. However, a coastal route around the bays of northwest Baranof Island appears to be the most likely course as it would have allowed the travelers to circumvent the Island's dense forests, based on significant firsthand research into the event conducted by Herb and Frank Hope of the Sheet'ká Kwáan —
Sitka Tribe of AlaskaThe Sitka Tribe of Alaska is the federally recognized tribal government for more than 4,000 Alaska Natives living in or near Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska. The tribal government was created through the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934....
. Canoes fashioned out of
red cedarWestern red cedar , also Western redcedar, is a species of Thuja, an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae. In the American horticultural trade, it is also known as the Giant Arborvitae, Arborvitae being another name for its genus...
trunks facilitated the ocean crossing to
Chichagof IslandChichagof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Alaska Panhandle. At long and wide, it has a land area of , making it the fifth largest island in the United States and the 109th largest island in the world. There was a 2000 census population of 1,342 persons...
.
Several warriors remained in the vicinity of
Noow Tlein after the Battle as a sort of rear guard, in order to both harass the Russian settlers and to prevent them from pursuing the Kiks.ádi during their flight north. Shortly thereafter, eight Aleut trappers were killed in Jamestown Bay and another was shot in the woods adjacent to New Archangel. From that point forward, Russian hunting parties went out in force, ever alert to the possibility of attack. The Kiks.ádi encouraged other Tlingit clans to avoid contact with the Russians by any means possible.
Russian Alaska
Atop the
kekoor (hill) at
Noow Tlein, the Russians constructed a fortress (
krepost') of their own, consisting of a high wooden palisade with three
watchtowerA watchtower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military, and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to provide a high, safe place from which a sentinel or guard may...
s (armed with 32 cannon) for defense against Tlingit attacks. By the summer of 1805, a total of 8 buildings had been erected inside the compound, including workshops, barracks, and the Governor's Residence. Aside from their annual expeditions to "Herring Rock" near the mouth of the Indian River, the Kiks.ádi by-and-large steered clear of the ever-expanding settlement until 1821, when the Russians (who intended to profit from the natives' hunting prowess, and to put an end to the sporadic attacks on the village) invited the Tlingit to return to Sitka, which was designated as the new capital of
Russian AmericaRussian colonization of the Americas proceeded in several places.-Alaska:Europeans first sighted the Alaskan coast line in 1732; sighting was made by the Russian Ivan Fedorov near Cape Prince of Wales, but he did not land. The first landfall took place in southern Alaska in 1741 during the Russian...
in 1808.
The Tlingit who chose to return were allowed to reside in a part of the village just below the heavily-guarded stockade on "Blockhouse Hill" (an area known as the
Ranche until around 1965). Russian cannon were constantly trained on the natives as a reminder of their defeat at
Shis'kí Noow. The Kiks.ádi supplied the Russians with food (including corn, or
maizeMaize , is a herbaceous plant domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents...
, which the settlers taught them how to cultivate) and otter pelts, while the colonists introduced the Tlingit to the various aspects of Russian culture and the
Russian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church ; or The Moscow Patriarchate , also known...
. Occasional acts of Tlingit aggression continued until 1858, with one significant uprising (though quickly quelled) occurring in 1855. After Russian America was sold to the U.S. in 1867, all of the holdings of the Russian–American Company were liquidated. Following the transfer, many elders of the local
TlingitThe Tlingit are an Indigenous people of northwestern America. Their name for themselves is Lingít "people"...
tribe maintained that "Castle Hill" comprised the only land that Russia was entitled to sell. Native land claims were not addressed until the latter half of the 20th century, with the signing of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
The 1880
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
reported a population of 43 Tlingit living in and around the Indian River, the Kiks.ádi's traditional summer fishing camp.
Tributes
U.S. President
Benjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States, serving one term from 1889 to 1893. Harrison was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at the age of 21, where he became a prominent state politician...
set aside the
Shis'kí Noow site for public use in 1890.
Sitka National Historical ParkSitka National Historical Park is a National Historical Park in Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska...
was established on the battle site on October 18, 1972 "...to commemorate the Tlingit and Russian experiences in Alaska." Today, the K'alyaan
PoleTotem poles are monumental sculptures carved from large trees, usually cedar, but mostly Western Red Cedar, by cultures of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America...
stands guard over the
Shis'kí Noow site to honor the Tlingit casualties.
Ta Éetl, a memorial to the Russian sailors who died in the Battle, is located across the Indian River at site of the Russians' landing. In September of 2004, in observance of the Battle's bicentennial, descendants of the combatants from both sides joined in a traditional Tlingit "Cry Ceremony" to formally grieve their lost ancestors. The next day, the Kiks.ádi hosted a formal reconciliation ceremony to "put away" their two centuries of grief.
Historic designations
- National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
#NPS–66000162 — "Baranof Castle Hill" site
- National Register of Historic Places #NPS–66000164 — "Battle of Sitka" site
- National Register of Historic Places #NPS–66000166 — Old Sitka ("Redoubt Saint Michael") site
See also
External links