Sitkalidak Island

Sitkalidak Island (Russian: Ситкалидак) is an island in the western Gulf of Alaska in the Kodiak Island Borough of the state of Alaska, United States. It lies just off the southeast shore of Kodiak Island, across the Sitkalidak Strait from the city of Old Harbor. The island has a land area of 300 square kilometers (120 sq mi) and no resident population.[1]

Alutiiq Tribe

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The Awa'uq Massacre[2][3] or Refuge Rock Massacre,[3] Wounded Knee of Alaska[4] was a 1784 massacre of native Alutiiq people on Refuge Rock (Awa'uq in Alutiiq language) by Russian fur trader Grigory Shelikhov. The Russians slaughtered 500[5] (or 2000[6]) men, women and children on Refuge Rock.[7] This massacre was an isolated incident, and the Alutiiq were completely subjugated by Russian traders thereafter.[8]

A community nonprofit, the Old Harbor Alliance, was formed by the Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor, the city of Old Harbor and the Old Harbor Native Corporation. In 2017, they acquired a free-ranging herd of plains bison and released them on the island.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "G001 - Geographic Identifiers - Block 1448, Block Group 1, Census Tract 1, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska". 2010 Census Summary File 1. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12.
  2. ^ Sven Haakanson, Jr. (2010), Written Voices Become History. In Being and Becoming Indigenous Archaeologists. George Nicholas (editor). Left Coast press, Inc., 2010 (pp 118-9: Many of the survivors of the Awa'uq massacre died within the first twenty years Russian conquest, and those who lived chose not to pass the news of this horrible event on the next generation)
  3. ^ a b Afognak Village Timeline (1784 Gregorii Shelikof arrives, and Awa'uq (Refuge Rock) massacre)
  4. ^ John Enders (1992), Archaeologist May Have Found Site Of Alaska Massacre, The Seattle Times, Sunday, August 16, 1992
  5. ^ Korry Keeker, What it means to be Alutiiq / State museum exhibit examines Kodiak-area Native culture, Friday, April 25, 2003
  6. ^ Ben Fitzhugh (2003), The Evolution of Complex Hunter-Gatherers: archaeological evidence from the North Pacific, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2003
  7. ^ Reuters : Grounded Shell Oil Rig Off Alaska Coast Still Has No Flooding Or Sheening, Despite Damage. By Yereth Rosen (January 3, 2013, Anchorage)
  8. ^ Aron L. Crowell (2001), Looking Both Ways, Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2001
  9. ^ Laputka, Woodruff (2021-08-17). "In the Company of Bison". The Revelator. Retrieved 2021-08-18.

57°07′37″N 153°10′46″W / 57.1269444°N 153.1794444°W / 57.1269444; -153.1794444