PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Grinëv, Andrei V.
AU  - Bland, Richard L.
TI  - Russian Resistance to Human Sacrifice among the Tlingit Indians (1819–1867)
AID  - 10.3368/aa.57.1.22
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - Arctic Anthropology
PG  - 22--34
VI  - 57
IP  - 1
4099  - http://aa.uwpress.org/content/57/1/22.short
4100  - http://aa.uwpress.org/content/57/1/22.full
AB  - Sacrifice of slaves among the Tlingit Indians, who lived in southeastern Alaska, had a ritual character and was part of their traditional culture. Slaves were sacrificed during special ceremonies—potlaches. Initially, the Russians, coming into the lands of the Tlingit at the end of the 18th century, did not interfere in their customs or try to prevent ritual slayings. Only at the end of the 1810s, when rather well-educated and humane naval officers took command in the Russian colonies in America, were attempts undertaken to ease the lot of the doomed slaves. Russian missionaries also played a definite role in keeping the Tlingit from ritual slaying. Of course, the Russians’ campaign, as well as the ransom of the slaves and prohibition against killing them at the walls of the colonial capital Novo-Arkhangel’sk, exerted influence primarily on the Tlingit living in the vicinity of the community of Sitka. Nevertheless, due to the endeavors of the Russians, several dozen people were saved from death. Resistance to human sacrifice among the Tlingit became one of the specific aspects of the social policy of the colonial administration, influencing in some ways the character of Russian-Tlingit relations.ARGOArkhiv Russkogo Geograficheskogo obschestva [Archive of Russian Geographic Society]. Razr. 99. Op. 1. D. 113. L. 53 ob. (L. A. Chernoviki, Zagoskina [Draft Copies of L. A. Zagoskin]).NARSNational Archives and Record Service. Washington, D.C. RG 261. RRAC, roll. 44:169–170. Donesenie A. K. Etolina v GP RAK ot 27 sentyabrya 1840 g. za № 138 [Report of A. K. Etolin to the RAC Board of Directors of 27 September 1840, № 138].NARSNational Archives and Record Service. Washington, D.C. RG 261. RRAC, roll. 48:211–213 ob. Donesenie A. K. Etolina v GP RAK ot 8 maya 1844 g. za № 273 [Report of A. K. Etolin to the RAC Board of Directors of 8 May 1844, № 273].NARSNational Archives and Record Service. Washington, D.C. RG 261. Records of the Russian American Company, Correspondence of the Governors-General, roll. 52:241–241 ob. Poslanie M. D. Teben’kova upravlyayushchemu ostrovom Urupom Stepanu Govorovu ot 20 aprelya 1847 g. za № 109 [Message of M. D. Teben’kov to manager of Urup Island Stepan Govorov of 20 April 1847, № 109].NARSNational Archives and Record Service. Washington, D.C. RG 261. Records of the Russian American Company, Correspondence of the Governors-General, roll. 17:116–116 ob. Depesha GP RAK M. D. Teben’kovu ot 15 marta 1848 g. za № 338 [Dispatch from the RAC Board of Directors to M. D. Teben’kov of 15 March 1848, № 338].NARSNational Archives and Record Service. Washington, D.C. RG 261. Records of the Russian American Company, Correspondence of the Governors-General, roll. 55:334. Svidetel’stvo tolmachu koloshenskago yazyka Niktopoleonu Gedeonovu ot 22 dekabrya 1849 g. za № 530 [Certificate for interpreter of Tlingit language Niktopoleon Gedeonov of 22 December 1849, № 530].NARSNational Archives and Record Service. Washington, D.C. RG 261. Records of the Russian American Company, Correspondence of the Governors-General, roll. 63:121–122. Donesenie I. V. Furugel’ma v GP RAK ot 9 oktyabrya 1861 g. za № 424 [Report of I. V. Furuhjelm to the RAC Board of Directors of 9 October 1861, № 424].