Promyshlenniki

The Promyshlenniki were a group of Russian and native Siberian contract workers (from the Russian "промышленникь"= a manufacturer) drawn largely from the State serf and townsman class engaged primarily in the fur trade in Siberia and Alaska in the 1790's. Although not all fur hunters, (many were sailors, carpenters, and craftsmen) they were the backbone of Russian trading operations in Alaska. By the early 1820's, when the share system was abandoned and replaced by salaries, their status remained in name only; they became employees of the Russian-American Company and their duties and activities became less and less involved in the fur-gathering activities of the Company.

Beginnings

The Lebedev-Lastochkin Company sent the first Russian promyshlenniki to investigate the resources of the lower Yukon River in 1790. The party, led by the hunter Ivanov, traveled from Iliamna Lake to the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers. Ivanov reported on the extensive fish and game resources and the many people inhabiting the region. [cite web|title = Alaska History and Cultural Studies: 1800-1869 The Russians and English Meet|url=http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=57|accessdate = 2007-11-18 ] At first the traders returned to Kamchatka after every season but eventually trading posts were established in the territory. [cite conference | first = Nancy | last = Gross | title = From Promyshlenniki to Pollock and Beyond | booktitle = Trade and commerce in Alaska's past : papers presented at the annual meeting of the Alaska Historical Society. | pages = 6-19 | date = 1994-11-03 | location = Kodiak, Alaska | accessdate = 2008-01-07] These posts began in the Aleutians and moved eastward toward the Alaska Peninsula rather than north to the Yukon delta and Bering Strait. [cite web|title = Alaska Regional Profiles : Yukon Region : The People|url=http://www.alaskool.org/resources/regional/yukon_reg_profile/people.html|accessdate = 2008-01-07]

Alutiiq persecution

Promyshlenniki were adept at hunting on land but they lacked the skills to hunt on water, where sea otters lived. The Promyshlenniki then turned to the Alutiiq to do their hunting for them. The Alutiiq were trained at a young age to hunt sea otters. The Russians took the women and children of the Alutiit hostage and forced the men to hunt for them to ensure the safety of their families.cite web|url=http://www.common-place.org/vol-05/no-02/miller/|title=Russian Routes
author=Gwenn A. Miller|accessdate=2007-11-18|year=2005]

Lifestyle

As time passed many of the Russian promyshlenniki took Aleut partners, had children, and adopted a native lifestyle during their time in the Aleutian Islands. [cite web|title = Alaska History and Cultural Studies: 1743-1867 Era of Russian Violence|url=http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=94|accessdate = 2007-11-18 ] In 1794, with direct authorization from Catherine II, the Siberian governor Ivan Pil sent instructions that company managers at Kodiak should "encourage" single Russian men to marry native women.

References