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

• Published in: International journal of cultural studies Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 395 - 401
• Main Authors: Grinëv, Andrei V, Bland, Richard L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-07-2017; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: 18th century; 19th century; Colonization; Culture; Immigrants; Indigenous peoples; Islands; Material culture; Scarcity; United States > US; Alaska; cultural exchange; Russian-American Company; cultural contacts; Natives of Alaska; Russian colonization of America
• ISSN: 1367-8779; 1460-356X
• DOI: 10.1177/1367877916629732

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.