The Aleut social system: 1750 to 1810, from early historical sources

Lantis, Margaret

essay

The Aleut social system: 1750 to 1810, from early historical sources

Ethnohistory in southwestern Alaska and the southern Yukon; method and content [by] Robert E. Ackerman and others • Lexington • Published In 1970 • Pages: 139-301

By: Lantis, Margaret.

Abstract
Lantis bases this ethnohistory of Aleutian society and culture on historical records of explorers, travelers, traders, naval officers, naturalists, physicians, and missionaries from Russia, Germany, and England. The major sources are those of the missionary Veniaminov (1825-1834) and the explorers Krenitzin and Levashev (1764-1771). She refers to the archeology and ethnography of the 19th and 20th centuries, and her own field work to verify the earlier historical accounts. Much of the early record focuses on material culture, however, Lantis's interest is the Aleut social system. The topics she covers include home life, bathing, hospitality, division of labor, birth, marriage, death, kinship, social structure, political authority, warfare, and trade. In the first part of the book, she reviews all the historical sources.

Historical and archival research

Population

Composition of population

Marriage

Community heads

Informal in-group justice

External relations

Warfare

Burial practices and funerals

Aleut

HRAF PubDate

2007