See Also: Aleut(dictionary)
Aleut(encyclopedia)
Aleut health(health)
Eskimo-Aleut languages(encyclopedia)

Aleut (sh)




Any native of the Aleutian Islands and western portion of the Alaska Peninsula.

The name Aleut, used in 1745 by Russian fur traders from the Kamchatka Peninsula, refers primarily to the people of the Aleutian Islands, who call themselves Unangan or Unangas, but also by extension to the Pacific Yupik, who call themselves Alutiit (plural of Alutiiq), an adaptation of the Russian name. Aleuts speak two main dialects and are physically and culturally closely related to the Eskimo. Traditional Aleut villages were located on the seashore near fresh water, where the people hunted marine mammals, fish, birds, caribou, and bear. Aleut women wove fine grass basketry; stone, bone, and ivory were also worked. After the arrival of the Russians in the 18th century, their population declined drastically. Some 6,600 people claimed sole Aleut ancestry in the 2000 U.S. census.