The Legacy of Unjust and Illegal Treatment of Unangan During World War II and Its Place in Unangan History © 2011 Carlene Arnold Submitted to the graduate degree program in Global Indigenous Nations Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. ________________________________ John Hoopes, Chair ________________________________ Jay T. Johnson ________________________________ Dixie West Date Defended: October 21, 2011 The Thesis Committee for Carlene Arnold certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: The Legacy of Unjust and Illegal Treatment of Unangan During World War II and Its Place in Unangan History ________________________________ Chairperson John W. Hoopes Date approved: December 16, 2011 ii Abstract This thesis discusses the relocation of Unangan during World War II, and the effect that it had on them. It uses personal interviews and secondary sources to provide the Native American and scientific communities with historical information about the Unangax prior to WWII. I hope to offer the school systems new ideas for educating Unangan and other students about the Unangan past and present. At the same time, telling my story about reconstructing my roots may provide inspiration for others like me to find their roots. In 1942, Japan bombed and invaded the Aleutian Islands in Alaska as a diversionary tactic. After the Japanese took control of Attu and Kiska, they took the people of Attu to Hokkaido, Japan as prisoners. Within days after the invasion, other Unangan were taken from their homes and relocated to canneries, mining camps and a Civilian Conservation Corps site in Southeast Alaska, under the orders of United States government officials. Japanese-Americans had been taken to internment camps in the Western states that same year. What makes the case of the Aleuts similar to that of the Japanese is that both represent forcible internment of legal residents of the U.S. and its territories during wartime. The Japanese-Americans were thought to have a posed a threat to the U.S. and were said to have been interned for security reasons. The Unangax, on the other hand, were said to have been interned for their protection. The internment began a story of the Unangan removal and relocation that remains largely unknown to most of the world. This sad incident resulted in the death of approximately ten percent of the Unangan population. The government seems to have ignored the Unangan basic human rights, causing them to suffer from lack of food, heat, plumbing, and medical attention. Prior to their internment, the Russian Orthodox Church had played a big part in the Unangan everyday life; however, those who were interned had to leave their churches behind. Only a few communities managed to bring their sacred icons with them to Southeast Alaska. iii When Unangan returned to their villages, they discovered their homes and churches had been ransacked by the American military or non-Unangan civilians. The Unangax found themselves refugees on their own land, struggling to reestablish the lives they had before the internment. It was not until several years later that the Unangax decided to bring suit against the U.S. government for the unjust treatment that they had received. While the damage caused by Japanese-American internment is well-documented, the internments of the Unangax had even more profound effects on the families, culture, and consciousness of these Alaska Natives and their descendants. This multidisciplinary thesis will draw upon official government and military documents, journals, books, documentary films, oral histories, and personal interviews. It will benefit from perspectives offered by the Unangax themselves in the context of accounts by government officials, attorneys, historians, filmmakers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and others. Each chapter will be organized in a historical sequence in order to better illustrate the significance of the ordeal that the Unangax endured. The thesis will address the significance of World War II internment in Unangan history, giving special attention to how it is regarded by the Unangan internees and their descendants today. iv Table of Contents List of Figures iii List of Appendices iv Dedication ix Acknowledgements x Preface 1 Introduction 8 Chapter One: The Aleutians and Their People 12 Introduction 12 Geography 12 Language 14 Climate and Environment 15 Traditional Unangan Culture 16 Social Customs and Social Complexity 18 Religion and Politics 19 Rites of Passage 20 Unangan Adaptation 22 Chapter Two: Invasion 24 Introduction 24 Russian Occupation 24 Post-Russian Unangan Affairs 29 Government Attitudes toward the Unangax and the Decision to Relocate Them 32 The Japanese and World War II 34 Chapter Three: Conditions in and the Effects of the Unangan Internment Camps 38 Introduction 38 Leaving the islands and the Arrival in the Internment Camps 38 Returning the Unangax to their Villages 42 The Return to the Islands 44 The Four Abandoned Villages 45 The Impact of the Evacuation and Subsequent Internment of the Unangax 47 Geographic Dispersion after the Evacuation 48 The Japanese Internees 50 Chapter Four: Taking a Stand 53 Introduction 53 Understanding Mistreatment of the Unangax 53 Taking a Stand 55 Today 59 Chapter Five: Lost Villages 62 Introduction 62 The Lost Villages Project 62 The 2010 Lost Villages Trip to Kashega and Biorka 65 The Trip to Kashega 67 The Trip to Biorka 70 Post Trip 75 Grandparents 77 v Epilogue 78 Anchorage Interviews 85 Chapter Six: Presentation of Unangan History in Schools 89 Bibliography 93 vi List of Figures Fig. 1.1. Map of Aleutian Islands 12 Fig. 1.2. Women making baskets 17 Fig. 5.1. Kashega before WWII 68 Fig. 5.2. Survivors, Descendants Exploring Kashega 69 Fig. 5.3. George Gordaoff Directs Placement of Cross 69 Fig. 5.4. Biorka before WWII 72 Fig. 5.5. Kathy Dirks by Grandfather‘s House (Andrew Makarin) 73 Fig. 5.6. Inside of Andrew Makarin‘s House 74 Fig. 5.7. Group Photo at Dutch Harbor 74 Fig. 5.8. Evonne Mason, Mary Diakanoff 79 Fig. 5.9. Tiĝlax crew, Mary Diakanoff, George Gordaoff 80 Fig. 5.10. Descendants exploring Kashega 81 Fig. 5.11. Former site of church at Biorka 82 Fig. 5.12. Ceremony Biorka 83 Fig. 5.13. Departing Tiĝlax Dutch Harbor 84 Fig. 5.14. Nellie Yatchminoff Grave Unalaska 84 Fig. 5.15. Peter Yatchminoff Grave Unalaska 84 Fig. 5.16. Alice Petrivelli 86 vii List of Appendices Appendix A Adult Informed Consent Statement 96 Appendix B Interview Questions 100 Appendix C Statement of Interviews 103 Appendix D Interview George Gordaoff 104 Appendix E Interview Alice Petrivelli 126 Appendix F Interview Mary Diakanoff 151 Appendix G Interview Nick G. Golodoff 166 Appendix H Drawn Map of Kashega 178 Appendix I Kashega before Evacuation 179 Appendix J Mausoleum List 180 Appendix K Mausoleum Diagram 184 Appendix L Nick Golodoff and Mr. Kamani 186 Appendix M Mr. Kamani and Nick Golodoff 187 viii Dedication To those who were interned in Southeast Alaska, to my ancestors (who were with me throughout my research), and for the future generations of the Unangax. ix Acknowledgements This thesis has helped me to realize why my mother was the way she was. She really did not disclose this part of her life to her family or at least to her children. I had no idea that these events in the history of the Unangax had taken place, not to mention that my mother‘s family was a part of them. I now know why I did not get a chance to know my mother‘s side of the family. The diaspora of the Unangax and my family after World War II made it difficult to know or understand why people chose to leave these memories or experiences to themselves. I hope that this thesis will help others to understand the Unangan elders and maybe why there was such a diaspora of families after the war, also to let others know of this history of the Unangax. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my committee chair, Professor John Hoopes, without whose guidance and persistent help completion of thesis would have not been possible. His direction is very much appreciated. I know that my writing was poor, his patience and assistance in finding ways to improve my writing was a bigger task for him than the content. Thank you for your great patience with me. I would like to thank committee member Dr. Dixie West, who had knowledge of and worked with the Unangax. She also gave me ideas about whom I could contact for my thesis. This was very beneficial to my research. In addition, her direction in the writing of my thesis was very helpful. Thank you for your input and for assisting and sending me information that was pertinent for my thesis. I would also like to thank committee member Professor Jay Johnson for helping me with maps and for his input to my thesis. I would further like to thank Professor Margaret Pearce for her advice on maps. I am also grateful to Professor Michael Crawford for his assistance with my research. x I owe my deepest gratitude to Debbie Corbett and Rachel Mason, for without their great support and their assistance I could not have completed this research. Both have gone out of their way to assist me with my research. I cannot express my appreciation for all that both of them have done for me. I thank them for their time and effort with my trip to Alaska and for including me in on the Lost Villages Project. Thank you, Debbie, for letting me stay in your home and for driving me around Anchorage for my research.