Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land

by Walter R. Borneman

And then there were the Aleuts. They were scattered in tiny villages about the Aleutians from Unalaska to Attu and in the Pribilofs on St. George and St. Paul. Few questioned their American patriotism, but the Aleuts were clearly in the way of the buildup of military bases around Dutch Harbor and any future military operations throughout the Aleutian chain. Many in the military looked upon the Aleuts as a nuisance to be eliminated—from villages impeding the construction of airstrips and other facilities to the complications of social interaction with military personnel. Overlying these concerns was the same decided tone of racism that was being applied to Americans of Japanese ancestry. After much indecision between Alaska’s military and civilian authorities, 881 Aleuts were evacuated from the Pribilofs and the villages of Akutan, Biorka, Kashega, Makushin, Nikolski, and Unalaska during June and July of 1942.24