The Sugpiat people have lived in the Kodiak Archipelago for at least 7,500 years, but suffered extraordinary pressure on their cultural identity beginning with violent Russian conquest in 1784 and followed by Russian and American colonisation. Recognising that drastic actions were needed to preserve Sugpiaq heritage, the Kodiak Area Native Association began a cultural revitalisation movement. The centrepiece was a Native-owned state-of-the-art museum that opened in 1995. This essay recounts the stories of three participants in the beginning of a process that has transformed the cultural landscape of Kodiak.La présence sugpiaq dans l’archipel Kodiak remonte à au moins 7500 ans. Les Sugpiat ont cependant subi d’intenses pressions sur leur identité et leur culture avec la violente conquête russe de 1784 suivie par la colonisation russe et américaine. Consciente qu’il fallait recourir à des moyens radicaux pour préserver le patrimoine sugpiaq de l’île Kodiak, la Kodiak Area Native Association a entrepris un mouvement de revitalisation culturelle, dont la pièce maîtresse fut l’ouverture, en 1995, d’un musée autochtone d’avant-garde. Cet essai relate l’expérience de trois participants au début d’un processus qui a transformé le paysage culturel de l’île Kodiak
A Creole social group or estate, primarily the offspring of Russian men and Native women, was established in Alaska by the 1821 Russian-American Company charter. The Creoles enjoyed special rights and privileges in Russian America until the United States took over the jurisdiction of Alaska from Russia in the 1867 Treaty of Cession. Creoles then lost their privileged status and were positioned at the bottom of the American socioeconomic ladder. Many Creoles then began to deny their Native heritage and identify as Russians in attempts to avoid discrimination. Under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, anyone with one-quarter Native blood quantum could participate. Most descendants of Creoles met this requirement and enrolled, angering many Natives who had not identified as Russians. This paper examines the history of the Creoles on Kodiak Island through the eyes of the author, a descendant of Creoles, Natives, and Russians of the Russian America era.
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