Unangax̂ (Aleut) Relocation and Internment, 1942-1945
In June 1942, Japan bombed Dutch Harbor and invaded the westernmost Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska. The US military responded by evacuating over 880 Unangax̂ from the Aleutian Islands to six relocation camp sites in southeast Alaska. 10% of the Unangax̂ died at these camps due to the deplorable housing conditions, rampant epidemics, medical neglect, and a lack of potable water. The Unangax̂ returned to their home islands in the successive years of 1944 and 1945.
During the war, a majority of the Unangax̂ remained confined to relocation camps in southeast Alaska. However, a few Unangax̂ like the men pictured to the right worked for the Aleutian Livestock Company. They lived alongside US troops while they tended to the Nikolski ranch. When Larry Chercasen (featured below) saw this photograph, he identified the full names of these men from Nikolski. Oftentimes, when researching Native history scant photographs of Native people exist in the archives. Usually, their full names are missing. Once I learned the full names from Larry, I shared this with the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Alaska Anchorage. UAA updated their finding aid.
Daniel Krukoff, George Chercasen, and Antone Bezezekoff. During Unangax̂ relocation, these three men remained on the Aleutian Islands as employees at the Nikolski ranch. Photo courtesy of: Lawrence Knight World War II photograph album, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Larry at his home in Vancouver, Washington. Photo by Holly Guise, 2019.
Lawrence “Larry” Chercasen was born and raised on the island of Nikolski in the Aleutian Islands. He survived Unangax̂ internment as a child. Here, he shares stories about the day Japan invaded his home islands. He describes hiding at the Nikolski ranch with his family. He reflects on the stress of his father and other villagers not knowing would happen during invasion followed by relocation from the US military. Rest in power- he passed away in 2021.
Lobby at the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association in Anchorage, Alaska, where Jake’s interview was hosted.
General Jake Lestenkof was born and raised on St. George Island, a Pribilof Island north of the Aleutian Chain. In this interview, he speaks about memories of the relocation camp at Funter Bay in southeast Alaska. To escape the camp conditions, Jake’s grandparents moved to Juneau. Jake is a Korean War veteran, he attended the Carlisle Barracks, he was the executive director for Cook Inlet Native Association (now called Cook Inlet Tribal Council), he served as the Alaska Area Director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and he later became the head of the Alaska National Guard. Jake preferred an audio-only interview.
Marie at the Alaska Humanities Forum, August 2022. Photo by Haida filmmaker and videographer 'Wáats'asdiyei Joe Yates.
Marie Matsuno (Aleut/Japanese American) was born in 1943 at the Minidoka Camp, an incarceration camp for Japanese Americans. Following Executive Order 9066, signed by President Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, the US government incarcerated 120,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps in the US mainland. The US government removed 240 Japanese Alaskans to these concentration camps including Minidoka. Marie’s story highlights the links between Indigenous communities and Asian immigrant communities in Alaska. Marie’s mother, an Aleut woman, wrote a letter to the US government asking if she could join her Japanese American husband at the camp. At the time, she had a baby (Marie’s older brother), and she did not know how long incarceration would last. Marie’s father served in the segregated 442nd Infantry Regiment.