The Baptizers

The following text is exerpted from the book A Land Owned by Russia, by Isai Belenkin and Alexander Tropkin, to be published in Russia later this year. The book describes the assimilation of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and northern California by Russian explorers in the 17th-19th centuries, and the work of traders and missionaries in that period. Illustrations from the personal archives of Alexander Tropkin.

Russians came to the Americas in the 17th century. The following few hundred years was rife with the inevitable clash of cultures: Russian and Aleutian, Russian and American (native and non-), Russian and Spanish. An important chapter in this conflict centers on Russia’s first Orthodox missionaries to Alaska. From the 1790s to the 1830s, a devoted and ambitious group of Russian missionaries sought to make their mark on America. Yet, as was wont to happen on the great frontiers, missionary zeal was often misguided by human foibles.

The missions to Alaska were set in motion by the ‘Russian Columbus,’ Grigory Shelikhov.^* In 1793, Shelikhov authored a ‘Petition’ to the country’s leadership. In it, he called for ‘a good priest and clergy’ to be dispatched to America. This initiative served to trigger the penetration and rapid spread of Orthodoxy across the whole of Russian America and the United States. As he resolved to submit his petition to the Holy Synod, Shelikhov linked the need to baptize the aboriginals of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands closely with the task of enlightening these tribes and giving them access to Russian culture.

But the story of Russia’s missionaries began well before Shelikhov. For hundreds of years of Russian history, as they went to remote areas to set up shrines and monasteries deep in the wilderness, these missionaries focused on education as well as spiritual change.

Examples abound: Bishop Stephen of Perm preached on the Northern Dvina river in northern Russia amongst the Komi people, creating an alphabet for them and translating the Gospels; the Reverends Sergius and Herman established the Transfiguration Monastery on Valaam Island in Lake Ladoga, and baptized and preached to Karelian tribes; and St. Theodore of Kola baptized and wrote an alphabet for the Finnish Lapps. (His mission was continued throughout the mid-16th century by St. Triphon of Pechenga, who established a monastery on the northern seaboard of the Kola Peninsula.)

The monasteries grew to be major centers of enlightment and spirituality. Admittedly, the Russian Orthodox Church also produced hundreds of other selfless missionaries whose exploits may not have been so great or widely known, and whose accomplishments are yet to be truly appreciated by posterity. Amongst these are the pioneer missionaries of Russian America.

First came a Cossack

The chronicles of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands mention the Cossack Andreyan Tolstykh and layman Ivan Glotov. In 1743 Tolstykh discovered in the heart of the Aleutian Archipelago a string of islets later called the Andreyan Islands. He befriended the Aleutians, taught them many useful skills and baptized them. In 1759, Glotov also mixed closely with the aboriginals and converted them to Orthodoxy. He took a son of a local toyon (chieftain) with him to Kamchatka where he taught him the Russian language and a basic knowledge of other subjects. On returning home, Glotov’s godson was quickly elevated to chief toyon and was sometimes referred to as ‘the firstling of the Unalaska Church.’

The first ordained priest was brought to that remote wilderness by a government expedition headed by British seafarer Joseph Billings. Billings was a volunteer in the Russian Navy who, with Gavriil Sarychev, commanded the 1785-1794 expedition exploring, surveying and charting the northeastern Siberian coastline. A priest, Vassily Sivtsov, was also part of the expedition. In his message to the Holy Synod of July 4, 1792 he reported:

 

“While visiting Unalaska and Kanyaga Islands in the Fox chain and the western side of Kodiak Island in 1790 and 1791, I baptized a total of 93 male and 33 female aboriginals, and married 14 couples. Some of the locals have already been baptized by Russian trappers and traders arrived here before us.”

 

It was about this time that Grigory Shelikhov made his petition to the Holy Synod. His personal missionary experiences and the knowledge gathered by his predecessors were sufficient to convince the ‘Russian Columbus’ that specially trained priests rather than people like himself or settlers in the New World should be baptizing the aboriginals. He argued that priests would contribute to bettering the morals and manners of the Russian trappers themselves. As he concluded the petition, Shelikhov added: “I hereby vow to meet all costs relating to the construction of church buildings, the provision of any necessary furniture and appliances, as well as the upkeep of the clergy.”

The concluding sentence in the petition seems to have particularly pleased the Holy Synod’s Chief Prosecutor, and he personally reported the matter to Empress Catherine II, who was known to be especially supportive of the American projects pushed by Shelikhov. This venture was no exception, and an imperial instruction was issued immediately to have Shelikhov’s scheme supported and implemented.

Shortly afterwards, on May 4, 1793, the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod articulated the supreme authority’s decision: “The Petition shall be satisfied and Metropolitan Gabriel of St. Petersburg shall be charged to take care of the matter.”

From one Island to Another

Within days of the pronouncement, Gabriel received Shelikhov in his residence. Gabriel welcomed the idea of sending an Orthodox mission to remote Russian lands, and said he had chosen the monks of the Valaam monastery for the undertaking, as they were best equipped to accomplish the assignment. They discussed in detail the question of the size of the mission and finally agreed that it should include eight clerics, and that they should be ready to travel by the fall.

When it came to individual choices, Abbot Nazarius of the Valaam cloister unhesitatingly named Archimandrite Ioasaph (Bolotov) to be head of the mission. The other clergy were Father Macarius (Aleksandrov), Father Juvenal (Govorukhin), Father Athanasius (Mikhailov), Father Nektary (Panov) and three lay brothers — Stephen, Ioasaph and Herman. The selected missionaries were mature men, each over thirty years of age, and each willing to set out on the journey.

Only scant information is available about the individual monks. Archimandrite Ioasaph, for one, is said to have been smart, educated and stately in appearance. Having agreed to head the Orthodox mission to the New World, he clearly cherished hopes of rising one day up the ladder of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

Father Macarius, the oldest of the missionaries, came from serf stock. He had ended up on Valaam following his mysterious dismissal from a position in the Oryol diocese.

Father Juvenal had been on active service in the Russian Engineering Corps at the grade of junior officer before resolving to take monastic vows. On Valaam, he was distinguished for being zealous at prayer and for his readiness to do heavy labor in the monastery.

Just like Father Macarius, Father Athanasius came from poor peasant stock. Far away in Alaska, he would never manage to overcome his secret passion for hard liquor, which eventually killed him.

Little is known about Father Nektary, except that he was a frail man born into a merchant family.

Of special interest is Brother Herman, for he and Father Juvenal were destined to become the first Orthodox Church saints in Russian America.

The life story of Brother Herman, put together by his church biographers, contains little information about his virtuous deeds. Herman was born in 1757 into a merchant family in the town of Serpukhov just south of Moscow. His parents, believed to be called Zyrianov, baptized him Gerasim. It was a large, devout family, which worked hard and never failed to attend matins and all-night masses at the local church. So little Herman was constantly exposed to the good examples provided by his pious parents, elder brothers and sisters.

Moscow, with its ‘forty times forty’ churches and cathedrals also played a crucial role in the life of the would-be saint. Even more important was the Trinity St. Sergius Lavra (monastery), to which both generations of Zyrianovs would often undertake pilgrimages on foot. At the age of 16, Gerasim found himself a new home at the Trinity St. Sergius Pustyn (small monastery) near St. Petersburg on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. It was there that he took monastic vows and was given the name Herman.

According to the accounts of his contemporaries, even in his youth he was inclined to solitude and seclusion, and to strict adherence to all of the church rites. Yet, on at least two occasions, Herman was reported to have tried to flee the monastery. The first time he tried to get to Persia, but at Astrakhan was apprehended and brought back to the cloister. His second attempt to escape with two other monks up north to Valaam Island seems to have been successful. The reasons for Herman’s flights have not been discovered.

Abbot Nazarius of the Transfiguration Monastery on Valaam welcomed the fugitive in a quiet manner and soon became good friends with him. Nazarius enjoyed Herman’s company when discussing spiritual matters, and when he was asked to name members of the upcoming mission to Russian America, Herman was selected as one of the first candidates.

The community of the Valaam cloister, surrounded by virgin forests and pristine waters, was not large, and the monks spent most of their time striving to improve conditions in the monastery, laying roads, and tending a large orchard and vegetable garden. Anyone who has been to Valaam Island will have heard stories about fabulous fruits and vegetables grown by the monks in this northern Russian sanctuary. We can only imagine what tremendous efforts had to be made to produce all these incredible gifts of nature on bare rocks. Visitors can admire the monastery buildings, designed to blend in with the unforgettable geography of the island, another focus of the loving attention of the monastic community.

To bid farewell to the missionaries, a special church service was held and bells rang far out over the waters of Lake Ladoga until the sailing boat carrying the missionaries passed out of sight. Stopovers were made in St. Petersburg and Moscow for the missionaries to pick up church plate and sacred books. At the Holy Synod, the missionaries were briefed appropriately, including on how to develop relationships between the Russian clergy and the aboriginals:

 

“Caution needs to be exercised when initiating the aboriginals into prayer and fasting. When the locals are assembled for communion, you should do your best to explain the Gospels most clearly and convincingly. Take heed of their everyday circumstances and offer help to the best of your ability. Those baptized earlier by visiting Russian laymen shall be taught the Word of God in keeping with these instructions ...”

The Mission Begins

After several delays, the mission finally departed Moscow on January 22, 1794, the eve of Epiphany, as severe frosts set in. They had a long road ahead of them across the Siberian wastes to Okhotsk, with the final leg to Kodiak Island expected to be covered aboard a decrepit boat. The route across Russia to the Pacific Ocean was relatively well-trodden in those days and traveling to these remote parts was virtually a routine affair — by boat from Irkutsk to Yakutsk on the Lena river, and then overland on the Okhotsk road right to the coast.

The unusual thing about the journey was that Shelikhov himself volunteered to escort the mission all the way down to Okhotsk. He considered it his duty to get to know each missionary as best as he could and ‘enlighten’ them about the traditions, customs, beliefs, lifestyles and other specifics of the natives of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.

Here is an excerpt from a letter written by Archimandrite Ioasaph, where he reminisces about his long journey:

 

“We celebrated Holy Easter at Irkutsk, where we stayed for about a month. Then we took a boat down the Lena river for over 200 versts^* — the journey was very pleasant. From Yakutsk to Okhotsk we rode over 1000 versts on horseback, our supplies carried by a train of 100 horses. It was fun sailing down the river, but the horseback ride was even more fascinating — our impressions were tremendous and varied as we moved through the forests, hills and ravines. The days have just been perfect throughout May, June and July. We saw bears feeding on whatever they could find. It is impossible to describe it all. The bears here, by the way, are peaceful beasts, though they’re certainly very good at fooling the horses.”

 

In August 1794, a Shelikhov company boat left Okhotsk and set sail for Kodiak Island. Besides the missionaries, aboard the boat was a party of Russian trappers and traders, and cargoes and requisite supplies filled the ship’s hold. Shelikhov himself stayed ashore — urgent business forced him to go back to Irkutsk. Meanwhile, he took advantage of the opportunity to send Alexander Baranov, his trusted associate in the colonies, a few messages, including about the reception for the Russian Orthodox mission. In particular, he requested that Baranov “set up as soon as possible a monastery on Kodiak Island and build a church, so that the monks can’t see what the Russian settlers are doing and the settlers can’t see what the monks are doing.”

It seems that mission head Father Ioasaph had kept Abbot Nazarius on Valaam Island routinely informed about developments, and shortly after the missionaries had set foot on Alaskan soil, he dispatched yet another account to Valaam:

 

“With Yakutsk behind us, we have been baptizing eager Yakuts all along the way. And as we took just two days to sail to the Aleutian Islands, we went ashore on Unalaska Island and had more than a hundred natives baptized. On reaching Kodiak Island, we immediately set about building a church and lodgings for the mission, conducting sermons with the help of translators and Russian-speaking natives, and holding baptisms. Praise be to God, we have already baptized over 7,000 Americans and married more than 2,000 couples. Father Herman is in charge of the bakery. Father Macarius has exceeded all expectations and is now doing very well here. I feared he would never reach our destination, but now he has been out to see nearly half the island and has done some baptizing and marrying. Athanasius is learning to hold services, though most of the time you’ll find him digging in the kitchen garden and tending the crops and seedlings. Juvenal has been displaying plenty of enthusiasm. Your sacred prayers have obviously been heeded, for the Lord has provided me with a loving and kind-hearted community...”

 

Recently discovered are two letters written by Brother Herman to his superiors at Valaam, where he describes his activities in between labors at the bakery and participation in church services. He writes of a settlement of Novgorodians who fled Tsar Ivan the Terrible’s persecutions in the late 16th century, and refers to the remains of log cabins and utensils, “that could only be found on mainland Russia,” according to the accounts of seafarers coming from the Alaskan shores.

The First Martyr

No sooner had the missionaries settled on Kodiak Island than some of them became enthusiastic about going to the continent and converting American Indians, who were known to be particularly hostile to all newcomers. The Governor of the Russian colonies was supportive of such schemes and promised to provide the necessary transportation and guides. However, he kept warning them of the risks of any contacts with the Americans.

Father Juvenal fell an unexpected victim to mainland natives. In 1795, he secured Father Ioasaph’s blessing to go to mainland Alaska to conduct a series of sermons amongst the aboriginals. Juvenal had been busy baptizing natives in the area of Nuchen and the Kenai Peninsula. Within a year the Russian monk reached as far inland as Lake Iliamna where he “ended his apostolic service and his own days in this world, while upholding the cause of the Russian Orthodox Church more devoutly than anybody else in his community,” according to Metropolitan Innocent, the ‘Apostle of Alaska.’

The circumstances of Father Juvenal’s death are believed to be as follows: members of a native American tribe agreed to let their children be taught by the monk, but soon changed their minds, condemned the Russian preacher, went after him and eventually put him to death. Though Father Juvenal was armed, he never used his musket.

The Russian Orthodox Church evaluated Juvenal’s deeds to be selfless and worthy of canonization. Thus, when visiting Orthodox churches in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, one can see icons depicting Juvenal’s haloed image against the backdrop of the American wilderness.

Admittedly, there is a different perception of the monk’s missionary activities amongst the natives in the area of Lake Iliamna. Nikolai Rezanov, who headed the Russian-American Trading Company following the death of Shelikhov in 1795, investigated Juvenal’s death and in his customary straightforward and candid manner concluded:

 

“Trading operations with the local Alaskan mountain tribes have been launched and promise a bright future. The monk Juvenal rushed to the region to conduct his sermons, forcefully baptized the natives and held forced weddings, often marrying brides off against their will. The Americans had their fill of his violent manners and beatings. Having suffered long enough, they recovered their wits and conspired to get rid of this monster. The escapade ended in the preacher’s death. We should not really be sorry for him. Local bitterness was only appeased at great cost, i.e. the lives of all the Russian settlers and Kodiak islanders in the region...”

 

Following three years of service in Alaska, Archimandrite Ioasaph was made Bishop of Kodiak — the first Russian Orthodox bishopric in America. Ioasaph took Father Macarius and Brother Stephen along with him for the ordination at Irkutsk. Yet they never returned to their Kodiak diocese: the Russian-American Trading Company’s frigate Phoenix set out to sea from Okhotsk with the newly-ordained bishop and clergy aboard, was caught up in a violent hurricane, and disappeared under the waves without trace.

Seeds of Scandal

By now, only four monks of the original mission were left in Alaska: Father Nektary, Father Athanasius, and Brothers Ioasaph and Herman. Chroniclers of later years depict them all as earthly angels constantly engaged in prayers and labors.

“With their pastor gone,” reads a church document published in 1894, “they focused exclusively on their activities within the confines of Kodiak Island. They conducted scheduled services at the local church, taught Russian and the basics of Christianity to the younger aboriginals, and shared their knowledge of farming, kitchen gardening, fishing and assorted handicrafts.”

However, Father Ioasaph’s tragic death was followed by a most trying period for the Russian Orthodox mission, from which not all of the clerics emerged with their honor unblemished. Hidden behind the tall palisade, some wrote compromising reports to the higher authorities on the then Governor Alexander Baranov, and others engaged in endless drinking bouts, with not infrequent noisy quarrels and fist fights. Only Brother Herman kept above this and strove for solitude.

An Imperial decree was issued in 1799 by Tsar Paul which finally ‘legitimized’ the Russian-American Trading Company. Soon afterwards, the governing board of the company decided to move the head office from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg, which precipitated a meteoric rise of the company’s stock. At this time, the capital’s palaces and mansions were humming with talk about the exciting prospects for Russia’s American colonies, the promised riches of Alaska and the exotic seal fur trade.

Another event at this time also reached the public’s attention — Paul retired Metropolitan Gavriil. In the meantime, numerous grievances against Governor Baranov and the governing board of the Russian-American Trading Company soon caught the attention of the new St. Petersburg Metropolitan Amvrosy, all of them from the Alaska missionaries. The Holy Synod sided with the plaintiffs and moved fast to defend the honor of the Orthodox mission before the new Russian Emperor, Alexander I, in 1801.

The ruler of Russia’s American colonies [Baranov] was alleged to have “schemed to chain up the missionaries and have them locked and boarded up in their quarters. As a result, they were scared to go to church and were forced to conduct religious services at home. Preaching and baptizing were totally abandoned, and no native American would dare approach their residence.”

Yet the new tsar was generally known to be wholly supportive of the company’s operations from the outset. More important, he established himself as one of its first shareholders, thereby getting Russian high society increasingly interested in Russia’s lands in America. At this point the Holy Synod grievances came to light, though the response of the company’s leadership was reserved:

 

“The board of governors report for the year 1803 hereby announces that the Orthodox missionaries in the Russian colonies have committed a most excusable mistake and boosted the numbers of newly-baptized Christians, with whole families of Aleutians being twice or even three times registered, baptized under different names.”

 

This was one of the most impartial messages sent by the company representatives. Other statements accuse the holy fathers of drinking and other vices. At this historical distance, it is difficult to tell who was telling the truth.

In fact, nobody really wanted a big scandal just then. So the Holy Synod looked for an excuse to arrange for an inspection tour of Russian America, for which Father Gideon of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra was quickly selected. Sending him on a solo mission was regarded to be risky and costly, but soon an ideal opportunity presented itself.

In 1803, preparations began at the Kronstadt naval base near St. Petersburg for Russia’s first round-the-world voyage. It was initiated by the Russian-American Trading Company and supported by the young tsar, and was to be accomplished on the company’s vessels Nadezhda and Neva. The principal goal of this huge project was to deliver the requisite cargoes and, most important, food supplies to Russia’s colonies in the New World. The captains appointed were distinguished seafarers, known today to all Russian school kids — Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky. Nikolai Rezanov, Chamberlain of the Court of His Imperial Majesty, was appointed head of the expedition by the tsar. His mission was not only to visit the Russian colonies, but also to establish diplomatic ties with Japan.

As soon as he arrived at Kodiak, Gideon had a meeting with Baranov and listened to his unflattering revelations about the missionaries. Though harsh and self-willed, Baranov certainly had a perfect grasp of his duties. He worked tirelessly and demanded the same of others. He regarded the missionaries primarily as his spiritual assistants and his counselors in the matters of educating the aboriginals, their younger generation in particular. He did not have the time or strength to deal with everything. Gideon received a written statement from Baranov expressing displeasure at the missionaries’ doings, which he later sent on to Saint Petersburg.

“Father Nektary and Father Athanasius,” read the letter, “would not take heed of the commands of my executives. I had them punished for disobedience and impertinence in various ways. They were made to bow, fast, and do other things to fit their crimes. In order to prevent a repeat of their violent conduct, I kept them chained until they repented and asked for forgiveness.”

The clash between the governor and the missionaries was plain to see, and the protracted face-off had a negative effect on the local schools. At the time there were two schools on Kodiak. One was for girls, and run by Natalya Banner, wife of a company employee. The other was a boys’ school, where a trapper called Yudin provided the instruction. Gideon noticed something odd at the boys’ school — that the monks pretended to have nothing to do with it despite it being on the mission’s grounds. Being aware of the colony’s acute educational needs, Gideon attempted to set up a school for boys on the nearby Afognak Island with a curriculum focused on farming. He charged Father Athanasius with conducting classes. However, the school lasted only as long as Gideon stayed on Kodiak Island. Athanasius obviously failed as a school teacher.

An unexpected assessment of missionary activities in the New World was found in the writings of Neva captain Yuri Lisyansky. He navigated Alaska’s southern and central coastlines and explored the shores of some of the islands along the way. This is what he recorded in the ship’s log:

 

“On April 12, 1805, before sailing out of Kenai Bay, we talked to a local trapper who informed us that the natives in the area had been rather quiet, but then warned that they had demanded that no missionaries be brought to their townships. If this warning was not heeded, they would kill the first cleric who dared to set foot on their soil.”

 

Nikolai Rezanov was more explicit in his writings relating to the Russian Orthodox mission. Following his failed diplomatic pitch to Japan and thorough investigation of the Russian-American Trading Company’s affairs on-site, he set about writing a detailed account for the tsar. This is what he wrote in one of the messages he dispatched to St. Petersburg:

 

“Of the church mission I have this to say. A few thousand locals have been baptized so far. But this is only for the records. The Kodiakans, admittedly, have had their ways and morals somewhat refined, but credit for that should be given to their own abilities and the changing times rather than to the missionaries. Our monks have never sought to educate the natives, nor enter into the plans of the government and the company. They just baptized the local Americans en masse, and considered it a conversion whenever a native learned to cross himself properly. They would never attempt to develop the capacities of these people, but concentrated solely on bodily movements in the belief that nothing else was required.”

 

After 1810, the Orthodox mission was associated with the quiet but persistent efforts of Brother Herman, who was destined to be remembered in the New World for his truly good work. Neither Athanasius, nor Nektary, nor Ioasaph left good or lasting memories in the new land. The ailing Nektary was the first to leave the Russian Alaskan mission in 1806. He returned to the Kiren Monastery in Russia where he passed away eight years later. Athanasius left for home in 1825 and disappeared without trace. Brother Ioasaph died on Kodiak in 1823.

Brother Herman

While Governor Baranov could not stand Athanasius or Nektary, he took most kindly to the docile Herman. They developed a warm and even close friendship. It was not by chance, of course, that Baranov entrusted Herman with the schooling of his children Antipater and Irina.

While Baranov was still alive, the company had Navy Captain 1st Rank Leonty Gagemeister (1780-1834) sent in as his replacement. In the meantime, as the Russian-American Trading Company’s ship Kutuzov in 1819 set out on a long voyage back to Russia with the great Baranov aboard, another naval officer, Lieutenant-Captain Semyon Yanovsky (1789-1876) was charged with managing the colonies in the New World. It is primarily to Yanovsky that we should be grateful for any reminiscences left about Herman of Alaska, with whom the former maintained close links on matters spiritual. Admittedly, the good captain was not quick to appreciate the elder’s inner world, and he initially treated Father Herman with a dose of irony.

He fell in love with Baranov’s daughter, a dark-complexioned Creole-like beauty called Irina, and soon afterwards he sought her hand in marriage. As it happened, it was Herman who married them in the Kodiak church. The newlyweds started visiting Herman first on Kodiak and then at his humble log hermitage, called New Valaam, on the tiny Spruce Island. It was there that Yanovsky and Herman hid themselves away for long hours of confession and discourse.

“Following those regular conversations and prayers with the holy elder,” admitted Yanovsky years later, “I eventually embarked on the true path of God and became a devout Christian.”

People who knew Herman and confided their darkest secrets to him would often call him a miracle worker and a seer. It seems a well-regarded fact that he predicted the future for at least two people that he loved very dearly. They were Irina and Antipater, Governor Baranov’s children, whom he had taught and mentored.

Before they left Alaska for Russia, Irina and her husband had gone to see Father Herman on Spruce Island to bid him farewell. The parting was very difficult and tearful: Herman begged the young couple to stay in Alaska, as he sensed trouble for his goddaughter on mainland Russia. But their minds were already made up, and the Yanovskys left for St. Petersburg. Three years later Irina was taken seriously ill, and the capital’s best medical minds could do nothing to save her. Even at her death the doctors were unable to identify the disease that killed her.

His wife’s death was a heavy and fateful blow to Semyon, and it prompted him to make the choice of his life: he retired to Tikhvin Monastery in Kaluga Province, where he soon took monastic vows. Each of his children, a son and three daughters, later followed their father’s difficult path to God.

Antipater Baranov’s life, also foretold by Father Herman, ended just as tragically. He died suddenly and unexpectedly, having lived in St. Petersburg for a little over two years following his departure from Alaska.

In the course of his service in Alaska, Father Herman set up an orphanage on Spruce Island, or rather a convent for orphaned Aleutian and Creole girls. He taught them not only the art of prayer but also manual skills, like tending kitchen gardens, growing crops, sewing and basket weaving. At New Valaam, Father Herman constantly received the suffering, treated the sick and consoled the repentant, whether they were Russians, Aleutians, Indians or Eskimos.

Father Herman died in 1837 at the age of 81, and a century and a half later he was canonized as the first Russian Orthodox Saint in America.

The Fourth Saint

In Orthodox churches on the Aleutian Islands and in Alaska icons are frequently displayed depicting the four haloed figures of Russian America’s Orthodox saints. Three of them are easily recognizable: Saint Herman of Alaska, the Miracle Worker; Saint Juvenal, the Martyr, who perished at the hands of the Native Americans in the area of Lake Iliamna around 1796; and Saint Innocent, the Metropolitan.

But who is the fourth Russian saint? Do we know anything about him? He is normally depicted as a mousey-haired young man, little more than a boy, wearing standard Slavic dress, against the backdrop of Alaskan scenary. In fact he is Saint Peter the Aleutian, known as the Martyr, who was believed to have been killed by Catholic missionaries from the Franciscan Order.

Until recently, the life story of Saint Peter the Aleutian was little known even in Alaska, and could only be partially pieced together from fragmental publications and stories of members of the Valaam Society of America. As it turns out, the life of Saint Peter the Aleutian, or Chuganak as he is also known, had been closely intertwined with the activities of Russia’s pioneers and Orthodox missionaries who operated in Northern California.

In 1812, a convoy of ships from the Russian-American Trading Company commanded by Ivan Kuskov left New Arkhangelsk (now Sitka) in Alaska for Northern California. It was Nikolai Rezanov who first came up with the idea of turning plentiful California into a Russian colony. An 80-strong party of Russian pioneers and newly-baptized Orthodox Aleutians set up the now-famous Fort Ross on the steep shores of the Bodega Bay. It then featured a log fortress, cabins, warehouses and a chapel.

The well-meaning colonists had initially planned to cultivate the fertile land to grow fruits and vegetables, and raise cattle to provide food supplies for Russian America. However, the Spanish rulers of California objected to these plans, afraid that Russia’s continuing expansion could put San Francisco directly at risk. Skirmishes broke out now and again between the Russian colonists and Spanish troops. In 1815, the Spanish even took a few Russians and Aleutians prisoner, and some of them were thrown into San Francisco jail, where they were at the mercy of the Jesuits. This is what Semyon Yanovsky recalls telling Father Herman in 1819 on Spruce Island about the prisoners’ fate:

 

“One day I told him of how the Spanish in California captured fourteen of our Aleutians, and the Jesuits tried to convert them all to Catholicism, in the process torturing one of them to death. The Aleutians courageously resisted, displaying their crucifixes and exclaiming: ‘We are Christians, we are baptized.’ The merciless Jesuits just replied: ‘No, you are heretics and schismatics, and you are going to be tortured unless you repent and accept Catholicism.’

“Then the prisoners were split into twos and locked up in dungeons for the day. As night set in, they were brought out again to be questioned by candlelight and told to convert to Catholicism. The Aleutians stood firmly by their beliefs and adamantly rejected the Jesuits’ threatening demands. Then the torturing began, with one Aleutian as a target and another a witness. The butchers cut off the Aleutian’s toes joint by joint, with the victim only given respite to allow him to repent. But the Aleutian stood firm, saying: ‘We are Christians, we shall not change.’ Then the executioners started to cut off the victim’s fingers joint by joint, finger by finger. Then they cut off his feet and hands, shedding large amounts of blood. The martyr stayed calm till the end, dying of loss of blood.

“The next day, the Jesuits were due to proceed with the torture, but suddenly a message arrived from Monterrey with orders for the captured Russian Aleutians to be brought there. All the remaining prisoners were rushed south. I heard this story from an Aleutian who had witnessed the horror but fortunately then managed to escape from prison. I immediately reported it to the company’s head office in St. Petersburg.

“When I was through with my account, Father Herman asked:

‘What was the name of that tortured Aleutian?’

‘His Christian name was Peter, but I don’t remember his surname,’ I replied.

Then he rose, went up to his favorite icon, piously crossed himself and said:

‘Saint Peter, the new martyr, pray to God that we will be saved!...’”

 

Saint Peter the Aleutian has often been revered as the patron of San Francisco. In California, one of the first icons with his image has been preserved — he is depicted wearing the standard Aleutian headgear and a feathered cape. Dark-complexioned and brown-eyed, he can be seen holding a scroll saying: “I am a Christian and I shall not betray my faith.”

 

Isai Belenkin is a World War Two veteran, former teacher and journalist in the Russian Far East, and a member of the Center for Studies of Russian America and Russian-American Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

 

Alexander Tropkin is a journalist and former deputy editor of Soviet Life and is currently General Director of the publishing house Russkaya Zhizn. He is the author of several books and a member of the Center for Studies of Russian America and Russian-American Relations.

 

 

 

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Important Events in the Later History of the Orthodox Church in Alaska

 

1812 — The founding of Fort Ross in California. Bishop Innocent blessed the Trinity Chapel in Fort Ross. The former Russian settlement is currently a museum, but public prayers and services are held there several times a year.

 

1816 — Arrival in New Arkhangelsk in 1816 of Father Alexei Sokolov, the first regular priest to go there. Since then, the spiritual needs of the settlers and aboriginals of Russian America have for the most part been satisfied by regular priests rather than by monks.

 

1824 — The Ascension Mission headed by Bishop Innocent Veniaminov arrived on Unalaska Island in the Aleutians. Preserved on the island is the grave of Bishop Nestor, who is reported to have been drowned by the enemies of the Orthodox Church. At present, a functioning parish church can be found there.

 

1825 — On his arrival in Alaska in 1825, Father Yakov Netsvetov had part of the Gospels and Psalms translated into the local Akhtin language.

 

1844 — Father Ilya Petelin established three Russian Orthodox Church missions in the estuaries of the Nushengak and Kukonvim rivers, and on the shores of Bristol Bay, and baptized 315 natives overall. He also opened a church school in the American Indian township of Nushengak.

 

 

 

 

* Grigory Shelikhov (1746-1795), a merchant from the town of Rylsk in Kursk Province, spent much of his life in Irkutsk in Siberia. He was participant and co-owner of several projects which served as a base for the creation of the Russian-American Trading Company in 1799 and founded the settlement of Three Saints’ Harbor on Kodiak Island in 1784.

 

* A verst is an old Russian measurement,
equal to 1.06 km.