Aleut Museum

The Aleut are the native people of these islands. Highly skilled hunters, they fished the seas using crude weapons to sustain their subsistence lifestyle. Aleut basketry is considered some of the finest in the world. In WWII, the Aleut were interned by the US and Japanese forces and were evacuated from their native villages. Their homes were burned and they were transported to SE Alaska and Japan with few belongings and housed in substandard conditions. Many Aleut died during this internment. Despite their poor treatment, the Aleut remained fiercely patriotic. In 1988 the US awarded restitution. The Aleut were once considered to be on the verge of extinction, but they have proven that they can adapt and survive against overwhelming odds.Read more