Native interpreters in Russian America
Andrei V. Grinëv | Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University
This article analyzes the formation of a special professional group of indigenous translator-interpreters in the
Russian colonies of America (including Mestizos-Creoles). They shared with the Russians all the hardships of opening up new lands,
acted as mediators between the new arrivals and the natives, settled conflicts, warned the Russians about dangers, and sometimes
perished during shipwrecks and attacks by hostile locals. Some of the interpreters participated in creating a written language for
the native inhabitants of Alaska.
Keywords: Russian America, indigenous population of Alaska, interpreters, Creoles, Russian colonization of the New World
Published online: 13 November 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.19063.bla
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.19063.bla
References
References
Adams, G. R.
1982 Life on the Yukon 1865–1867. Limestone, Ontario: Limestone Press.
Andreev, P. P.
1887 “Russkaya Amerika 1862–1863” [Russian America 1862–1863]. Russkaya starina [Russian Antiquity] 12: 681–696.
ARGO – Arkhiv Russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva
Archive of the Russian Geographic Society]. Razr. 60, Op. 1, D. 2, 61.
AVPRI – Arkhiv vneshnei politiki Rossiiskoi imperii
Archive of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire]. F. RAK, Op. 888, D. 5.
Dall, W. H.
1898 The Yukon Territory. The Narrative of W. H. Dall, Leader of the Expedition to Alaska in 1866–1868. London: Downey & Co.
Durov, V. A.
1999 “Osvoenie Severo-Vostoka Rossii i Russkoi Ameriki v nagradnykh medalyakh vtoroi poloviny XVIII v.” [The Opening Up of Northeastern Russia and Russian America in the Award Medals of the Second Half of the 18th Century]. Rossiya + Amerika = 200 let. K yubileyu Rossiisko-Amerikanskoi kompanii (1799–1999) [Russia + America = 200 Years. On the Jubilee of the Russian-American Company (1799–1999)], 55–68. Moscow.
Fëdorova, S. G.
1979 “Shturmany Ivany Vasil’evy i ikh rol’ v izuchenii Alyaski (pervaya polovina XIX v.)” [Navigators Ivan Vasil’ev and Their Role in the Study of Alaska (First Half of the 19th Century)]. Letopis’ Severa [Annals of the North] IX: 167–210.
Grinëv, A. V.
2003 “Amanaty: Native Amanaty in Russian America.” European Review of Native American Studies 17(1): 7–20.
2005a “Reflections on the Fate of Chirikov’s Missing Men.” Arctic Anthropology 42(2): 1–8. 
2005b The Tlingit Indians in Russian America, 1741–1867. Trans. by Richard Bland and Katerina G. Solovjova. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
2009 Kto est’ kto v istorii Russkoi Ameriki. Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’-spravochnik [Who’s Who in the History of Russian America. An Encyclopedic Reference Dictionary]. Edited by N. N. Bolkhovitinov. Moscow.
Holmberg, H. J.
1855 Ethnographische Skizzen über die Völker des Russischen Amerika [Ethnographic Sketches on the Peoples of Russian America]. Helsinki. Vol. I.
IRA
1997 Istoriya Russkoi Ameriki (1732–1867) [History of Russian America (1732–1867)]. Vol. 1. Osnovanie Russkoi Ameriki (1732–1799) [The Development of Russian America (1732–1799)]. Edited by N. N. Bolkhovitinov. Moscow.
1999
Istoriya Russkoi Ameriki (1732–1867)
[History of Russian America (1732–1867)]. Vol. 3. Russkaya Amerika: ot zenita k zakatu (1825–1867) [Russian America: From Zenith to Twilight (1825–1867)]. Edited by N. N. Bolkhovitinov. Moscow.
K istorii RAK
1957 K istorii Rossiisko-Amerikanskoi kompanii [On the History of the Russian-American Company]. Edited by A. I. Blinov, I. M. Kuraev, O. N. Mukhina, P. I. Pavlov (editor-in-chief). Krasnoyarsk.
Kashevarov, F. A.
1986 “ ‘Otvety’ Filippa Kashevarova / Sitnikov L. A. Materialy dlya istorii Russkoi Ameriki” [“Responses” of Filipp Kashevarov / L. A. Sitnikov. Materials for the History of Russian America]. Novye materialy po istorii Sibiri dosovetskogo perioda [New Materials on the History of Siberia of the Pre-Soviet Period], 82–103. Novosibirsk.
Kliment, Metropolitan (Kapalin)
2009 Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov’ na Alyaske do 1917 goda [The Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska before 1917]. Moscow.
Korsun, S. A.
2006 “Rol’ aleutskikh toenov v mezhetnicheskikh kontaktakh s russkimi v XVIII–nachale XIX veka” [The Role of Aleut Toyons in Intra-Ethnic Contacts with the Russians in the 18th–Beginning of the 19th Century]. Vlast’ v aborigennoi Amerike [Power in Native America], 545–574. Moscow.
Lyapunova, R. G.
1987 Aleuty. Ocherki etnicheskoi istorii [The Aleuts. Essays on Ethnic History]. Leningrad.
Makarova, R. V.
1968 Russkie na Tikhom okeane vo vtoroi polovine XVIII v. [Russians in the Pacific Ocean in the Second Half of the 18th Century]. Moscow.
NARS – National Archives and Record Service, Records of the Russian-American Company
Record Group 261, microfilm Roll. 26, 27, 31, 33, 34, 38, 41, 52, 55, 57, 58.
Ogloblin, N. N.
1892 “Putevye zapiski morekhoda I. M. Solov’eva, 1770–1775 gg. Epizod iz istorii russkikh otkrytii v Vostochnom okeane” [The Log of Mariner I. M. Solov’ev, 1770–1775. An Episode from the History of Russian Discoveries in the Eastern Ocean]. Russkaya starina [Russian Antiquity] 10: 183–214.
Pallas, P. S.
1781 “O rossiiskikh otkrytiyakh na moryakh mezhdu Azieyu i Amerikoyu” [On Russian Discoveries in the Seas between Asia and America]. Mesyatseslov istoricheskii i geograficheskii na 1781 god [Historical and Geographic Menology for 1781], 1–150. St. Petersburg.
Pamyatniki
1873 Pamyatniki novoi russkoi istorii. Sbornik istoricheskikh statei i materialov [Memorabilia of New Russian History. Compilations of Historical Articles and Materials]. Compiled by A. P. Barsukov and others. St. Petersburg. Vol. III.
RA
1994 Russkaya Amerika. Po lichnym vpechatleniyam missionerov, zemleprokhodtsev, moryakov, issledovatelei i drugikh ochevidtsev [Russian America. Based on the Personal Impressions of Missionaries, Explorers, Mariners, Researchers, and Other Eyewitnesses]. Compiled by R. G. Lyapunova and others. Editors-in-chief A. D. Dridzo and R. V. Kinzhalov. Moscow.
RAK
2005 Rossiisko-Amerikanskaya kompaniya i izuchenie Tikhookeanskogo Severa, 1815–1841 [The Russian-American Company and the Study of the North Pacific Ocean, 1815–1841]. Edited by N. N. Bolkhovitinov. Moscow.
RE
1984 Russkie ekspeditsii po izucheniyu severnoi chasti Tikhogo okeana v pervoi polovine XVIII v. Sbornik dokumentov [Russian Expeditions for the Study of the Northern Part of the Pacific Ocean during the First Half of the 18th Century]. Moscow.
1989 Russkie ekspeditsii po izucheniyu severnoi chasti Tikhogo okeana vo vtoroi polovine XVIII v. Sbornik dokumentov [Russian Expeditions for the Study of the Northern Part of the Pacific Ocean during the Second Half of the 18th Century]. Moscow.
RO
1948 Russkie otkrytiya v Tikhom okeane i Severnoi Amerike v XVIII veke [Russian Discoveries in the Pacific Ocean and North America in the 18th Century]. Edited and introduction by A. I. Andreev. Moscow.
RP
1988 Russian Penetration on the North Pacific Ocean. A Documentary Record. 1700–1797. To Siberia and Russian America: Three Centuries of Russian Eastward Expansion. Ed. and transl. by B. Dmitrishyn, E. A. P. Crownhart-Vaughan, T. Voughan. Portland 1988 Vol. 2.
RTE
1979 Russkaya Tikhookeanskaya epopeya [The Russian Pacific Ocean Epic]. Compiles by V. A. Divin and others. Khabarovsk.
Sarychev, G. A.
1952 Puteshestvie po severo-vostochnoi chasti Sibiri, Ledovitomu moryu i Vostochnomu okeanu [Voyage along the Northeastern Part of Siberia, the Arctic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean]. Moscow.
Shelikhov, G. I.
1971 Rossiiskogo kuptsa Grigoriya Shelikhova stranstvovaniya iz Okhotska po Vostochnomu okeanu k Amerikanskim beregam [The Travels of Russian Merchant Grigorii Shelikhov from Okhotsk along the Pacific Ocean to the American Shores]. Edited with preface and notes by B. P. Polevoi. Khabarovsk.
Simpson, G.
1848 Narrative of a Journey round the World during the Years 1841 and 1842. London 1847 Vol. 1.
Tikhmenev, P. A.
1863 Istoricheskoe obozrenie obrazovaniya Rossiisko-Amerikanskoi kompanii i deistvii eya do nastoyashchago vremeni [A Historical Review of the Formation of the Russian-American Company and Its Activities up to the Present Time]. St. Petersburg. Pt. II.
Zagoskin, L. A.
1956 Puteshestviya i issledovaniya leitenanta Lavrentiya Zagoskina v Russkoi Amerike v 1842–1844 gg. [The Journey and Investigations of Lavrentii Zagoskin in Russian America from 1842 to 1844]. General editor, notes, and comments by M. B. Chernenko, G. A. Agranat, and E. E. Blomkvist. Moscow.