Richard L. Bland

Holocene prehistory of the northernmost north Pacific

We examine evidence for Holocene contact between Asia and North America across what is now the Bering Strait, emphasizing maritime adaptation. After ∼10,000 B.P. residual influence of the Siberian Paleolithic is clear, and derivative Americans were moving southward along the open Pacific coast and settling in the eastern Aleutian Islands. By 6000 B.P. maritime adaptation is evident in the Kodiak Island region, and expansion westward brought colonization of the entire Aleutian chain of islands before 3000 B.P. In Asia there was marine subsistence on Hokkaido by 6000 B.P, but in the lower Amur River region, the southern and northern regions of the Okhotsk Sea, the coast of Kamchatka, and the Chukchi Peninsula no major maritime interest can be dated until after 2700 or even 2500 B.P In north Alaska, the mainland was cut off from Siberia by 6000 B.P with the rise of postglacial seas, but contact was reestablished ∼5000 B.P at the cultural level of the nonmaritime Siberian Neolithic. Pronounced marine orientation appears intrusively in north Alaska somewhat before 3000 B.P, when the only known source for the technology was the region extending from the Gulf of Alaska through the Aleutian Islands. Thereafter developed the maritime culture of the historic Eskimo people.

Another Look at the Pegtymel' Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs are a relatively common form of prehistoric communication, in the sense that those who drew the petroglyphs knew what they meant, as no doubt did many of their fellow tribesmen who viewed them. The meaning or significance of these images, however, was generally specific to the individual or group that created them. There was never a cross-cultural standardization of symbols and as a result much of the meaning of many petroglyph series has been lost. But has it been entirely lost for all groups of petroglyphs? This article takes a close look at the Pegtymel’ petroglyphs of Northeast Asia with that question in mind.

Reflections on the Fate of Alexei Chirikov's Missing Men

The Russian crew from Captain Alexei Chirikov’s ship Sv. Pavel went missing on the American shore in 1741. This article examines the question of their fate, arguing that the men sought refuge among the Tlingit, who occupied the Alaskan coastline where the men went ashore. The article hypothesizes on the fate of the crew, using historic documents, modern sources written in Russian and English, as well as Tlingit oral history.

Cultural Borrowings of Russians from the Natives of Alaska in the 18th and 19th Centuries

This article is dedicated to an analysis of Russian cultural borrowings from the Natives of Alaska and Aleutian Islands during the second half of the 18th century until 1867, when these territories were sold to the USA. As this research shows, the Russians, in the process of their colonization of the New World, borrowed objects of a predominantly utilitarian character in the sphere of material culture. Most of these borrowings took place in the 18th century, when the Russians had weak connections with the metropolis and there was a scarcity of European goods. The spiritual culture of the Natives, with the exception of some linguistic borrowings, chiefly of a toponymic character, remained outside the cultural circle of the immigrants from Russia.

Some Aspects of Warfare of the Reindeer Lamut in the 17th Century

Various aspects of warfare among the Reindeer Lamut (Even) of 17th-century Russia are examined with emphasis placed on reindeer-mounted archers. The Even were famous archers whose main long-range weapons were composite bows and various arrows, while spears and palmy were weapons used for close battle. Warriors were protected by two kinds of lamellar armor as well as a plate helmet. The militia from various Even clans consisted of 300 to 1000 warriors who were between 16 and 60 years of age. They formed a lose array divided into two flanks. The main battle tactics employed involved long-range archery assaults on the enemy. Some of the possible tactics of reindeer riders on the battlefield and their role during the course of military action are discussed, as well as the origin of these tactics from horse-riding neighboring groups.

Petr Pavlovich Doroshin in Russian America

In the early 1800s the Russian-American Company was in search of valuable minerals, especially gold, to bolster its waning economy based on furs. Geologist Petr P. Doroshin was sent to Alaska to find these minerals. While there he spent time in the community of Nuchek in the Gulf of Alaska, where he heard and recorded various accounts by the local natives. These accounts vary from traditional stories about sea monsters to the narrative of the recently annihilated exploration party of Ruf Serebrennikov.

The Fate of the Eyak Indians in Russian America (1783–1867)

This article is dedicated to the dramatic history of the small tribe of Eyak Indians during the period when Alaska belonged to the Russian Empire. The article was written with the use of archival data, published documents, notes of contemporaries, the use of statistics, materials of field research of ethnographers, native legends, and a broad circle of scholarly literature in the Russian, English, and German languages. The article examines controversial questions on the topic, and erroneous, from the author’s point of view, versions are critiqued. The work presented to the reader is the most complete outline of the ethnic history of the Eyak, who were a kind of “Mohicans” of Alaska, the last full-blooded representative of which died in 2008.