The Archaeology of a Russian Period Alutiiq Work Camp on Kodiak Island, Alaska

Summary

The site of Mikt’sqaq Angayuk (KOD-014) on eastern Kodiak Island provides an intimate view of Native Alutiiq responses to the colonial labor regime imposed by 19th century Russians in Alaska. Recent excavation of KOD-014 through the Alutiiq Museum’s Community Archaeology Program revealed a well-preserved Alutiiq style sod house and associated faunal midden dating to the 1830s. The midden was rich in cod remains, and the artifacts comprised mostly colonially-introduced products including metal hunting and trapping gear and European ceramics. These finds dovetail with Russian historical evidence to suggest the site’s use as an odinochka: a small seasonal encampment where Alutiiq workers were conscripted to fish, hunt, and trap on behalf of the Russian-American Company. Yet the workers’ economic strategies likewise involved a measure of individual autonomy as revealed in the distinctly Alutiiq ways some imported products were used, and evidence that residents also pursued subsistence aims of their own.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage