Sitkalidak Island (russian: Ситкалидак) is an island in the western

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, ...

in the

Kodiak Island Borough Kodiak Island Borough (russian: Остров Кадьяк) is a borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2020 census, the population was 13,101, down from 13,592 in 2010. The borough seat is Kodiak. Geography The borough has a total are ...

of the state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, United States. It lies just off the southeast shore of

Kodiak Island Kodiak Island (Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second larges ...

, across the Sitkalidak Strait from the city of Old Harbor. The island has a land area of and no resident population.

Alutiiq Tribe

The

Awa'uq Massacre The Awa'uq Massacre Sven Haakanson, Jr. (2010)"Written Voices Become History" In ''Being and Becoming Indigenous Archaeologists''. George Nicholas (editor). Left Coast press, Inc., 2010 or Refuge Rock Massacre, or, more recently, as the Wounde ...

Sven Haakanson, Jr. (2010)
Written Voices Become History
In ''Being and Becoming Indigenous Archaeologists''. George Nicholas (editor). Left Coast press, Inc., 2010 (pp 118-9: Many of the survivors of the Awa'uq massacre died within the first twenty years Russian conquest, and those who lived chose not to pass the news of this horrible event on the next generation)Afognak Village Timeline
(1784 Gregorii Shelikof arrives, and Awa'uq (Refuge Rock) massacre) or Refuge Rock Massacre, '' Wounded Knee of Alaska''John Enders (1992)
Archaeologist May Have Found Site Of Alaska Massacre
''The Seattle Times'', Sunday, August 16, 1992 was a 1784

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

of native

Alutiiq people The Alutiiq people (pronounced in English; from Promyshlenniki Russian Алеутъ, "Aleut"; plural often "Alutiit"), also called by their ancestral name ( or ; plural often "Sugpiat"), as well as Pacific Eskimo or Pacific Yupik, are a sout ...

on Refuge Rock (''Awa'uq'' in

Alutiiq language The Alutiiq language (also called Sugpiak, Sugpiaq, Sugcestun, Vocabulary comparison The comparison of number terms and month names in the two dialects: References Further reading * Bass, Willard P., Edward A. Tennant, and Carl Anahona ...

) by Russian fur trader

Grigory Shelikhov Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov (Григо́рий Ива́нович Ше́лихов in Russian) (1747, Rylsk, Belgorod Governorate – July 20, 1795 (July 31, 1795 New Style)) was a Russian seafarer, merchant, and fur trader who perpetrated the ...

. The Russians slaughtered 500Korry Keeker
What it means to be Alutiiq / State museum exhibit examines Kodiak-area Native culture
Friday, April 25, 2003 (or 2000Ben Fitzhugh (2003)
The Evolution of Complex Hunter-Gatherers: archaeological evidence from the North Pacific
Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2003) men, women and children on Refuge Rock.

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

Grounded Shell Oil Rig Off Alaska Coast Still Has No Flooding Or Sheening, Despite Damage
By Yereth Rosen (January 3, 2013, Anchorage) This massacre was an isolated incident, and the Alutiiq were completely subjugated by Russian traders thereafter.Aron L. Crowell (2001), ''Looking Both Ways, Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People''. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2001 A community nonprofit, the Old Harbor Alliance, was formed by the Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor, the city of Old Harbor and the Old Harbor Native Corporation. In 2017, they acquired a free-ranging herd of

plains bison The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone ...

and released them on the island.

References

* Islands of the Kodiak Archipelago Islands of Alaska {{KodiakIslandAK-geo-stub