By any account the name Alaska was derived from Native languages to describe the land. Alaska ALWAYS had a range of Native populations present on and occupying the land. The Russian Empire in much the same way as European monarchies was involved in colonization of lands they had no claim to. And having established a negligible presence with a couple settlements, Russia claimed title to the land in typical Doctrine of Christian Discovery fashion. Very few Russians ever settled in Alaska which was primarily occupied by original
Indigenous peoples.
In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire for $.02 an acre. No Native people were compensated or involved in the transaction.
- Before Alaska would be made a US state, Americans were already extracting resources from lands occupied by Native peoples.
- In 1955 the Tee-Hit-Ton sued the United States for taking trees/lumber from their lands with no compensation.
- The Supreme Court ruled against the Tee-Hit-Ton saying they were entitled to NO compensation for lands seized or resources extracted from their lands they occupied.
- This was the same court that ruled only a year earlier in Brown v Board of Education.
- While recognizing racism in Brown, the court affirmed racism against the Tee-Hit-Ton.
This was the same period of time that the Senecas had the NYS Thruway run through their lands and 10,000 acres condemned for the Kinzua dam.
Coincidence?
More of what you were never taught!
Learn More: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/alaska-purchase