Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land

by Walter R. Borneman

Clauses in the charter provided that Natives who did not profess the Christian faith would be permitted to carry on their devotions according to their own rites. In making converts among the Natives, the Russian clergy was to use only conciliatory and persuasive measures, in no case resorting to coercion. The company was charged with seeing that the Natives were not embarrassed under the pretext of conversion to the Christian faith. And Natives professing the Christian faith who, through ignorance, transgressed ecclesiastical regulations, were to be given remedial training rather than be subjected to fines and punishment. Most important, Bishop Innocent received permission to open a seminary and begin training a local clergy.24 Perhaps all of this was a long overdue apology for the actions of the promyshlenniki a century before.