Длина острова 69 км, ширина 37 км, площадь 1812 км². В его еловых лесах обитают бурый медведь , лось и чернохвостый ситкинский олень ( Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis ). На побережье есть морские львы .
Морские львы на побережье Афогнака
Program Background
At the same time, the former Soviet Union made available collections gathered during the days of the Russian American Company, and our people saw for the first time in more than two hundred years, beautiful and elaborate bird-skin parkas, painted and decorated bentwood hunting visors, and mask regalia. Our hearts were deeply touched by the work of our ancestors and we determined that we needed to take responsibility for the excavation of sites located on our Native lands.
Through our direction, archaeologists worked alongside Native landowners, which promoted sensitive handling of culturally significant materials. Artifacts and information recovered are housed and curated in the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository in Kodiak. To make the research circle complete, we invited tribal members and the visiting public to join us as Dig Afognak participants.
As the program developed, traditional cultural activities and youth camps joined the itinerary. Now, Dig Afognak has transformed into a haven for cultural exploration. The upcoming season heralds a series of cultural immersion programs for our community. So join us to light the past and spark the future as we reveal the life ways of our Alutiiq ancestors.
Internships
Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums Grant
To embrace, protect, develop, and enhance Alutiiq culture, protect our traditional use areas and encourage unity among the Alutiiq of the Kodiak Archipelago
The people of Native Village of Afognak are the descendants of the original Alutiiq inhabitants of the village of Ag’waneq, which was located on the island of Afognak, three miles off the shore of Kodiak Island. We are a federally recognized tribe. Members of our tribe inhabited our ancestral village until the Great Earthquake and Tsunami of 1964. Today many of our members live and work in the City of Kodiak, the village of Port Lions, Anchorage, and the Lower 48 states.
The Prehistoric Period
The Alutiiq believed that all things, be they living or not, possess a spirit, which they honored. Shamans, who were highly regarded, communicated with these spirits and with the spirits of the five levels in the universe above earth.
The Russian Period
Our written history began with the arrival of the state-chartered Russian American Company in 1784. The Russians, in need of a labor force, coerced many Ag’wanermiut men to leave our village to harvest sea otters for European markets. Many people died as a result of the Russians’ mistreatment. Later, the smallpox epidemic of 1837-1840 killed a great number of our ancestors. When the Russian Orthodox Church and the Czar intervened on our behalf, we were baptized and gathered, along with other Alutiiq people, into seven large communities, one of which was Ag’waneq, or, as it came to be known, Afognak. These years of disease and domination decimated the archipelago’s Native population and significantly changed our social, economic, and governance arrangements.
Both the Native people of Afognak and the Russian immigrants continued to live off the land—hunting, fishing, and gathering what our island offered. Despite tensions between the Russian American Company and our people, many Alutiiq people learned Russian, married Russian workers, and converted to Russian Orthodoxy. In so doing, our ancestors did not abandon Alutiiq tradition, but added on to it, retaining their Native identity. The Russian workers who married into the Alaska Native community grew accustomed to life in Alaska. When they retired, many opted to move into retirement communities that the Russian American Company built. One of these communities, Russian Town, was located adjacent to Aleut Town on Afognak Island, and, over time, the two communities combined became known as Afognak. Many of the Alutiiq residents of Aleut Town became fluent in Russian.
The American Era
When the U. S. bought the occupation rights to Alaska, it turned a blind eye to our Native traditions, cultural practices and lifestyle, instituting a policy of zero tolerance for any language other than English in its schools. Nonetheless, our people continued to live a life that blended aspects of each of the cultures to which we were exposed; by the turn of the century, many young Ag’wanermiut were trilingual, speaking Alutiiq, our ancestral language, at home, Russian at church, and English at school. Когда в конце 1800-х годов под влиянием бизнеса США начало процветать коммерческое рыболовство, в Кадьяке открылось множество консервных заводов, и прибыла еще одна группа людей — рыбаки из Скандинавии. В то время как многие из наших людей нашли работу на консервных заводах или поставляли рыбу на консервные заводы, мы начали сталкиваться с новым вызовом нашему натуральному образу жизни. Спрос консервных заводов на экспортную рыбу конкурировал с нашими собственными потребностями в продовольствии.
Вулкан, Землетрясение и Цунами
Первая половина двадцатого века принесла с собой стихийные бедствия. Извержение вулкана Катмай в 1912 году покрыло деревню Афогнак тремя футами пепла. В 1964 году Великое землетрясение и цунами на Аляске практически уничтожили деревню Афогнак. С помощью федерального правительства и Клуба львов выжившие восстановили поселение в новом месте на острове Кадьяк и назвали деревню Порт-Лайонс. Многие члены племени вместо этого предпочли переехать в город Кадьяк или в «Нижние 48», возвращаясь домой как можно чаще для натурального использования племенных земель.