Baranof Island is an island in the northern Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle, in Alaska. The name "Baranof" was given to the island in 1805 by Imperial Russian Navy captain Yuri Lisyansky in honor of Alexander Andreyevich Baranov. It is called Shee in Tlingit language. Spelled "Shi" in Orth's citation of Hodge. It is the smallest of the ABC islands of Alaska. The indigenous group native to the island, the Tlingit, named the island Shee Atika. Baranof island is home to a diverse ecosystem, which made it a prime location for the fur trading company, the Russian American Company. The Russian occupation of Baranof Island impacted not only the indigenous population and the ecology of the island, but also led to the United States' current ownership over the land.
As with many of its previously colonized territories, the Russian government instated a tribute system wherein the heads of Indigenous groups were responsible for paying Russian tribute collectors. Because it is difficult to trap sea otters and Tlingit men, the men of the Indigenous group to Baranof Island, had become skilled at doing so, the Russians chose sea otter pelts as the item of tribute. This secured labor allowed the Russians to establish the Russian-American Company. The Russian American Company was responsible for the governing of Baranof Island and all of Russian Alaska, including the indigenous group, the Tlingits. The Company remained profitable until sea otter and other hunted mammals had their populations severely diminished, and the company could no longer rely on the sale of pelts for profit. During this time, Russia was forced to surrender its war efforts against France and Britain in the Crimean War, which led to significant financial strains for the Russian government. Thus, the Russian Tsar sold the entire territory of Russian-Alaska to the United States government in 1867. The United States government was eager to expand and create a rapport with Russia, so Alaska was purchased at an approximate cost of two cents per acre, or $7.2 million exactly.
Around 1900, Baranof Island was subject to many small-scale mining ventures, especially centered on Sitka and on the north side of the island around Rodman Bay. Canneries, whaling stations, and fox farms were established on Baranof Island and smaller islands around it, though most had been abandoned by the beginning of World War II. The remains of these outposts are still evident, though most exist in a dilapidated condition.
In February 1924 the Alaska Territorial Game Commission hired Charlie Raatakainen to transplant mainland mountain goat from near Juneau to Bear Mountain. Raatakainen hired a group of Finns aboard his boat the Pelican to complete the job, though one of the group died in the process.
The 1939 Slattery Report on Alaskan development identified the island as one of the areas where new settlements would be established through immigration. This plan was never implemented.
Almost the entire area of the island is part of the City and Borough of Sitka (Sitka also extends northward onto Chichagof Island). The only part of Baranof that is not in Sitka is a tiny sliver of land (9.75 km2) at the extreme southeast corner, which is in the Petersburg Borough, and includes the town of Port Alexander. This section had a 2000 census population of 81 persons. The towns of Baranof Warm Springs, Port Armstrong, and Port Walter are also located on the eastern side of the island. Goddard, a now-abandoned settlement about south of Sitka, features a few private homes and hot springs with two public bathhouses. There are also five year-round salmon hatchery, one located just north of Port Alexander at Port Armstrong, another located just north of Baranof Warm Springs at Hidden Falls, two are located in the city of Sitka one at the Sitka Sound Science Center, and another in the Sawmill Cove Business Park; the other just south of Sitka near Medvejie Lake. The latter is accessible by private road from Sitka. All of these communities, except for Port Alexander and Port Armstrong, are under the jurisdiction of the City and Borough of Sitka, of which, Sitka serves as the borough seat. The people indigenous to Baranof Island are the Tlingit, which is called Shee in Tlingit language. The name for Sitka in Tlingit is Sheetʼka, meaning "on the outside of Shee (Baranof Island)".
The Tlingit people fished, hunted, trapped, and traded goods with neighboring Indigenous groups. Items of trade mainly included furs such as sea otter and fur seal pelts, copper, and dried fish. It was the Tlingit that the original Russian explorers first colonized, forcing the native men into labor by taking native women and children as hostages. The Tlingit were seen as useful to the Russians, as Tlingit hunters could kill sea otters with ease, a task that proved particularly difficult for Russian fur trappers themselves because of the natural agility of the otters, as well as their aquatic habitat. The Tlingit were subjected to exploitative practices by the Russians, and in 1802, the group rebelled against Russian forces by attacking the Russian outpost, Redoubt Saint Michael, just northwest of Baranof Island.
The native's success did not last long after this rebellion, and the Russians with Aleut allies took back the fort and the land that the Tlingits then occupied in a six-day-long effort. The Russians were victorious, as the Tlingit had fled their land, and were not to return until 1821. By this time, the Russian-American Company was in need of the Tlingit hunting abilities, and invited the native group back to their original land on Baranof Island with the agreement of no more raids into Russian territory. Hostility between the Russians and the Tlingit continued as late as 1855. Tlingit culture is still prevalent on Baranof Island today, and their culture is kept alive through the continuation of several indigenous practices, such as making otter pelt goods.
Fishing, seafood processing, and tourism are important industries on the island, which is also famous for and Sitka deer.
The island features prominently in James A. Michener's multigenerational novel Alaska.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a 2007 alternate-history novel by Michael Chabon about a Jewish Yiddish-speaking territory in Sitka, including most of Baranof Island." Novel involving Alaska Jewish colony is rooted in history ," Tom Kizzia, Anchorage Daily News. The novel proceeds from the counter-factual premise that the Slattery Report had actually been implemented.
Local author John Straley has written a number of mystery novels set on and around Baranof Island.
The Sea Runners, a 1982 novel by Ivan Doig.
Sitka is a setting in the 2009 film The Proposal, although the scenes were filmed in Rockport, Massachusetts.
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