Om de russiske kreolere

 

Dette blogindlæg skal handle om de russiske kreolere. 

Kreoler-begrebet bliver brugt  forskelligt rundt om. 

I russisk Amerika blev det brugt på sin helt egen måde.

Her dækkede ordet kreolere i starten, fra omkring 1799, oprindeligt over folk, der var halvt indfødte og halvt russere. Men begrebet udviklede sig til noget andet og mere, så det ikke længere var  en racekategori, men en social betegnelse  - en social klasse.

Blogindlægget bliver ikke en letflydende fortælling. Jeg synes faktisk selv, det mere bærer præg af at være noget så fint som en historisk undersøgelse.

Det betyder, at det kommer til at bestå af mange  citater, gengivelser og uddrag af artikler - ofte på engelsk.

Artiklerne, jeg har benyttet mest, er:

 Susan Smith-Peter: "Creating a Creole Estate in early nineteenth-century Russian America." 

Andrei Grinyov: "Social Mobility of the Creoles in Russian America."

James R. Gibson: "Russian America in 1821." 

Hjemmesiden "Education Under Russian Colonization."

A clearinghouse of Kodiak Alutiiq educational resources, designed for educators, families, and students of all ages to gain access to information and learning.

 

Det russiske zardømme havde en praksis med at inddele befolkningen i forskellige klasser med forskellige pligter og rettigheder.

Kreolerne fik deres helt egen klasse, og den gav dem en forholdsvis høj social status. 

"The 1821 charter to the RAC provided the legal structure for the creole estate. It stated: “Creoles are Russian subjects. As such, they have a right to governmental protection on the same basis as all subjects belonging to the burgher estate."

Den blev dog ikke oprettet af menneskelige hensyn til kreolerne. Hensigten var at sikre det russisk amerikanske kompagni (RAC) et tilstrækkeligt befolkningsgrundlag og en villig arbejdsstyrke. Oprettelsen af kreolerklassen var udtryk for en kulturpolitik, der skulle  sikre de indfødtes loyalitet - ikke som vanlig over for kirke og stat - men over for RAC.

Alle kreolere født i Alaska kunne søge gratis uddannelse.  At være kreolsk blev et spørgsmål om uddannelse, ånd og selvidentitet.  

Men i bytte for den gratis uddannelse krævede kolonistyret, at de i mindst 10 år arbejdede for RAC - i nogle tilfælde 15. Herefter var de frie til at migrere, hvorhen de ønskede - evt. til selve Rusland, hvilket dog kun få gjorde.

Om man var kreolsk var ikke umiddelbart til at afgøre ud fra udseendet bortset fra, at kreolerne havde tendens til at være mere tilbøjelig til at klæde sig i russisk stil end indfødte.

I de første mange år, hvor russerne var aktive i russisk Amerika, var deres behandling af de indfødte umenneskelig - og det lige fra begyndelsen. Da en gruppe indfødte aleutere i 1784 chikanerede en gruppe russere,  besvarede Shelekov det ved at dræbe hundredvis af indfødte og tage gidsler for at fremtvinge lydighed fra resten. Hændelsen betegnes Awa-massakren eller Wounded Knee of Alaska.

I 1794 ankom de første munke udsendt fra Valaam og Konevsky-klostrene nær den finske grænse efter en rejse på 293 dage til  Three Saints Bay.  

Valaam kloster i dag

Munkene blev chokerede over forholdene. Ikke over levevillkår, dårligt vejr eller de oprindelige folks skikke. Men over deres landsmænds voldelige og udnyttende adfærd. Inden for et par uger  sendte lederen af missionen, Archimandrite Joasaph  omfattende rapporter tilbage til Shelikov i håb om, at han ville gribe ind. Men Shelikov reagerede ikke. Herefter rejste Joasaph sammen med to af de andre munke tilbage til Irkutsk for at rapportere førstehånds om situationen. På vej tilbage til Alaska i 1799 sank deres skib og alle ombord omkom.

I starten af 1800-tallet ankom hieromunken Gedeon til Sitka for at undersøge forholdene udsendt af den russisk-ortodokse kirke. En hieromunk er en munk, der også er præst, hvorfor de også kaldes præstemunke.

Gedeon mødte lænkede aleutere, der blev tvunget ud på lange fangstrejser. Fangstrejser, der forhindrede dem i at sørge for kvinder og børn derhjemme, som så døde af sult. Han så mødre, der dræbte deres 8 -10 årige børn, så de ikke skulle blive tvunget til at arbejde for russerne.

Lederen af RAC lokalt og senere guvernør over russisk Alaska, 

Alexander Andreyevich Baranov, forbød munkene at tage kontakt med de indfødte, men munkene prøvede fortsat at støtte aleuterne.  I en hemmelig rapport fortalte Gedeon om, hvordan kompagniet  beordrede de indfødte at tage på en lang jagtekspedition, der ville ødelægge dem fysisk. Men aleuterne nægtede og forberedte sig på at dø med det samme. Deres familier var allerede døde af sult, når de havde været væk på tidligere jagt-ekspeditioner. 

Indfødt i en baidarka - en fangstkano af skind

Munkene fik dem til at aflægge troskabsed mod zaren, hvilket skulle give dem en politisk beskyttelse.

Baranov, den russiske guvernør ansat af RAC, råbte og skreg. Han truede med at banke munkene eller holde dem indelukket i deres mission, så de kunne sulte til døde. I mere end et år holdt de forskrækkede munke gudstjeneste i deres hus uden at turde at gå til kirken. Og Gideon skrev: " As for the poor Aleuts, the company's hunters committed "angry, violent and shameful acts against the islanders, too shameful to mention."

Den russisk-ortodokse kirkes spektakulære ritualer faldt godt i tråd med de indfødtes riter, og missionærerne var opmærksomme på de indfødtes behov. Mange indfødte traditioner overlevede inden for den lokale russiske ortodokse tradition.

 En kilde skriver: "When the Orthodox missionaries arrived, they defended Native peoples from the fur traders and taught them Jesus Christ’s lessons of grace, kindness and salvation.

 and compared to later Protestant missionaries, the Orthodox policies in retrospect proved to be relatively sensitive to indigenous Alaskan cultures."

A depiction of the initial contact between Alaskan natives and Russian settlers in 1723. After local species were driven to extinction and smallpox devastated their communities, the locals were less than happy with the Russian presence in their territory. 

Behandlingen af de indfødte førte til en alarmerende  befolkningsnedgang, især under Alexander Andreyevich Baranovs styre. Noget måtte der gøres.

I 1805 blev Nicolai Rezanov,  en af grundlæggerne af russisk-amerikansk kompagni, sendt til russisk Amerika som kejserlig inspektør og befuldmægtiget for at rette op på de overgreb, der blev rapporteret om, og som ødelagde RACs virksomhed. Han iværksatte foranstaltninger til forhindring af særligt hensynsløse slagtning  af pelsdyr - især på Pribilof-øerne. Han straffede eller forviste russere, der overtrådte RACs regler.  Selv oprettede han flere skoler og biblioteker og donerede nogle af sine egne bøger.

Men han friholdt Baranov for ansvaret for misgerninger, og han frikendte ham for dårlig ledelse af kolonien.

Om de sibirsk-russiske - etniske russere, der kom til russisk Amerika ( promyshlenniki eller grænsemænd, som de blev kaldt), skrev  Rezanov,: "... most of the men who come here are depraved, drunk, violent and corrupted to such an extent that any society should consider it a great relief to get rid of them." 

Rezanov proposed, after his return here, to propose to the government that creoles (børn af russere og indfødte kvinder) be made use of for the good of the fatherland and the Company in such a way, so that all of them who are capable of being military men would make up a company garrison for the defense of the ports and fortresses there. And for this several of them would be called to Russia and be taught various forms of service at the front, the beating of drums and so on, while those with other abilities be used for navigation, for written work or for trade and whatever forms of artisanship are needed there, or for the cultivation of the land and in this way create a proper colonial citizenship (sobstvenno kolonial´noe grazhdanstvo), which might be paid by salaries from the Company for the fulfillment of duties in it or by workmanship or by the profits from their works in agriculture. 

Allerede Rezenov havde altså fundet ud af,  man ikke kunne undvære de indfødtes arbejdskraft, og at man kunne udnytte den bedre ved at give dem uddannelse og visse rettigheder.

In practice, Rezanov’s idea of colonial citizenship meant that a class of people would be created whose duty and purpose was to serve the company, not to pay taxes to the government. Rezanov’s original proposal envisioned the promyshlenniki at the center of a new agricultural society in a Russian America in which they would legally have permanent residence and would be assisted by creoles, but this proposal was rejected by the State Council in 1808 due to fears, not only that tax revenue would be lost, but also that the permanent residents of Russian America would place excessive burdens on peasants in their original communes, as they would no longer perform rural duties (zemskie povinnosti), such as the upkeep of roads, nor would they provide recruits for the army. As a result, the Company turned to the creoles as an alternative tax-exempt group.

Oprettelsen af en særlig kreolerklasse med skattefritagelse kom først til at ske i 1821.

I starten havde der som beskrevet ovenfor været konflikter mellem ledelsen af RAC i russisk Amerika og den russisk-ortodokse kirke. To ting var de to parter dog enige om.   Den ene var vigtigheden af at lære at læse. 

Allerede i 1786 havde Shelikov oprettet en skole i Three Saints Bay på Kodiak Island.

Hans begrundelse for skolen var:

Education is useful and necessary. Only literate people can be good and accurate interpreters, so needed in this country...For this purpose I am taking with me about forty Americans (Kodiak Alutiiq), male and female, both children and adults, some of their own free will and some as war prisoners. After they see Russia, our buildings and customs, I will reward one third of them and send them back. The other third I will attempt to present to the Imperial Court and the remaining third, the children, we are going to educate in Okhotsk or Irkutsk, and after their education is completed, if they wish it, we will return them here. From them their relatives and countrymen will learn about the law, order, and prosperity in Russia and will want to improve conditions here. (Shelikhov, 1786/2006, p. 1)

Et spansk dokument fortæller også om Shelikovs skolingsaktiviteter:

“[The Russian American] Company has schools for Creoles and natives, has spent 37,000 rubles. In 1787 Shelikhov took 12 Creoles to Irkulsk. Half died in Siberia. Remaining returned good musicians. R. A. Co. recently brought eight to Kronstadt. Half died. Of other four 3 navigation, 1 ship building, and have returned to Alaska. Four girl creoles taken to Okhotsk. About seven years ago - one survived.”

Shelikov udvidede sine planer for assimilering af de indfødte ved at anmode om en mission af russisk-ortodokse munke, som ankom den 24. september 1794. 7 munke, to novicer og 10 indfødte, som tidligere var blevet sendt af Shelikov til Rusland for at gå i skole. Den gruppe, jeg omtalte ovenfor, og som ikke levede op til Shelikovs forventninger, da de opponerede mod russernes behandling af de indfødte.

Munkenes hovedformål var naturligvis at udbrede den kristne tro, men de fik stor betydning  for de indfødte også på skoleområdet. 

Hieromunken Gideon, som jeg også omtalte ovenfor, var også aktiv på skoleområdet. 

As other churches were built around the island, so too were schools started and run by the clergy. The influence of the church and schools was pervasive, as Lydia Black (1977) describes.

Lydia Black var en amerikansk antropolog, professor og oversætter. Hun voksede op i Kyiv. Hendes far blev henrettet i 1933, hendes mor døde af tuberkulose i 1941. Under 2. verdenskrig blev hun sendt i tysk arbejdslejr. Efter krigen blev hun hvervet af amerikanerne som oversætter i FN's nødhjælps- og rehabiliteringscenters administration for fordrevne børns lejr, da hun kunne tale 6 sprog. Hun giftede sig med Igor Black og immigrerede i 1950 til USA.

Hun har skrevet bøgerne Russians in Alaska, 1732-1867 og Russians in Tlingit America og har oversat  The journals of Iakov Netsvetov: The Yukon years 1845-1863 og oversat og katalogiseret de russiske arkiver om Saint Herman's Orthodox Theological Seminary. Saint Herman var den sidste overlevede af den første mission af munke i Alaska i 1794. Også han bedrev undervisning af de indfødte. På nettet ligger en spændende beskrivelse af hans liv og virke. 

Lydia Black skrev videre:

 Gideon established the first ‘Russian-American’ school at Kodiak in 1805 and by the time of his departure in 1807 at least two creoles and possibly one native were teaching in the school. Gideon presided over end-of-school-year exercises, and he could command attendance not only of various important Russians (including Rezanov) but also of all the skippers of foreign vessels in the port. (p. 81)

In Kodiak, Hieromonk Gideon had nearly a hundred students in his school (Dauenhauer, 1997). Dauenhauer describes that “...bilingual schools were paralleling the bilingualism that was the norm for the homes on Kodiak” (p. 28). However, Davydov (1997 reprint) describes the stability of the school as fluctuating during its early years when he writes,

Only those Koniagas who are brought up by the priests from childhood have learnt to read and write and receive the necessary understanding of Christian morality from daily example. A school has been re-established to take one hundred boys and could of course help to spread the Faith were the means available for the upkeep of this establishment. But in 1805 many children there died of hunger and scurvy and this will almost certainly happen again. (Davydov, 1977 reprint, p. 181)

En vigtig del af den moderne indfødte identitet blev alfabetet og grundlaget for skriftlig litteratur i næsten alle de etnisk-sproglige grupper i den sydlige halvdel af Alaska. Mange kreoler blev tosprogede.

Det var missionærerne, der bragte skriftsproget til Alaska og hjalp unangax-folket med at skabe et alfabet til deres sprog. 

En af de præster, der fremhæves er Fader Ivan Veniaminov, som senere blev kanoniseret.

I løbet af ganske kort tid lærte han sig seks lokale dialekter, og han udvalgte de mest udbredte, og med udgangspunkt i dem udtænkte han et alfabet med kyrilliske bogstaver Han oversatte Matthæusevangeliet og de mest brugte salmer og bønner. Han skrev artikler på Unangan-dialekten og de første skolebøger for Alaskas indfødte befolkning, og han skrev det videnskabelige værk Notes on the Kolushchan and Kodiak Tongue and other dialects of the Russo-American Territories.

Efter ham fulgte  præsten Jacob Netsvetov i 1828. Noget af det, der var særligt for Netsvetov, var, at han selv var kreoler. Også han lærte sig selv adskillige dialekter og udviklede en ordbog med hundredvis af ord på Unangan-dialekten. Han selv var  fuldt ud tosproget og tokulturel.

I 1831  oprettede han en skole, hvor børnene skulle lære at læse og skrive både russisk og Unangan-aleut. Der var 20 elever og baron Ferdinand von Wrangel, der på det tidspunkt var den nye guvernør for russisk Amerika, udpegede John Galactionov - som også var kreol - til at hjælpe med undervisningen. Netsvetov underviste i katekismus, etik og bibelstudier, og Galactionov underviste i læsning. Det russisk-amerikanske kompagni leverede en del af den økonomiske støtte i begyndelsen.

Hvis jeg skal være helt ærlig, så er der lidt forvirring omkring, hvem der gjorde hvad,  omkring det med at lære så mange sprog / dialekter og fremstille et alfabet og en ordbog -  Ivan Veniaminov eller  Netsvetov. Begge kaldes også The enlightener of Alaska på forskellige sites. Men i min sammenhæng er det for mig at se ikke så vigtigt, om det bliver blandet lidt sammen.

RAC forstod tidligt vigtigheden af at skole og uddanne kreolerne. I en rapport i 1818 skriver de:

“RAC are providing schools for study by creoles of the male sex of the Russian language, God’s law, arithmetic and navigation. This last is usually taught by one of the navigators in the service of the company, for which they are given a special salary, and other subjects are taught by the promyshlenniki, whoever has the abilities for this, and also receive a special reward for these activities. Girls are taught various handicrafts and works necessary for domestic life, under the surveillance of Russian female overseers. This position was first occupied by titular councilor Banner but after her death the post was to have been occupied by the request of the administration of the Company by the wife of the priest resident there, to be helped by the creole woman sent there in the past year who married the creole Burtsev, who was sent there with the title of senior ship’s carpenter.”

Artiklen  fortsætter:

"The educational status of the creoles was also emphasized in a decree sent to the chief manager of the colonies, M.I. Murav´ëv, by the Board of Directors, dated February 28, 1822. “The administration of the Company directs you to take note of the fact,” the decree stated, “at all times and in all places, that creoles born of legal marriages who are left without a father, as well as those born of a non-legalized union, are without exception to be educated at the Company’s expense, wherever and however possible."

In contrast, the company had no responsibility to provide for the education of their promyshlenniki. No wonder then that the creoles were resented by Russians of lower estates, and their just pride in their status and achievements provoked resentment directed at ‘upstarts’ on the part of visiting Russians of higher ranks.”

Den anden ting, som kirken og RAC var enige om, var bekæmpelsen af  de indfødtes utugtige liv.

"Khlebnikov also felt that the creoles should remain separate from native society, partly in order to provide a model of monogamous domesticity he found sadly lacking in native customs."

De indfødtes livsstil i storfamilier bekom ikke de kristne velt

"Khlebnikov saw the spread of monogamy among creoles as a means of preserving their civilized identity as well as a way of gradually changing certain customs of the Aleuts, which he identified as savage. In 1825 he wrote: “The Aleuts should not be alienated from their native habits and customs, but nevertheless efforts should be made to educate them regarding their characters and physical fitness, to eradicate laziness and harmful habits, such as a woman having several husbands or a man having several concubines and especially the unnatural usage of sodomy. A settled way of life and domesticity may help a little to gradually accustom them to work and tidiness, while supervision and attention of the authorities may keep them from depravity.”

Kirill Khlebnikov kom til New Achangel (Sitka) i russisk Amerika i 1817 sammen med L.A. Hagemeister. Hagemesister kom i 1818 til at efterfølge Baranov som guvernør, og han ansatte Khlenikov som assistent. 

I en rapport november 1818 skrev Khlebnikov at: 

" ... Promyshlenniki should be hired “with good qualities and who know arts or crafts, so that at such a distance they might be an example for the islanders [natives] and useful for them and the Company, but one meets such people extremely rarely, not even enough to fill the places of those who have left […] and this happens because good people and artisans find work and sustenance at home and do not seek them in a distant country and do not expose themselves to the dangers of the sea and other events. This lack of Russian people in the colonies can be made up by the above-mentioned creoles, raised and educated at the expense and effort of the Company […] The council considers it useful to leave them as free citizens of those places where they were born, allowing them to work in company posts or in their own households.”

Oprindelig var kreolere børn af blandede forhold, men på et tidspunkt blev det muligt for alle indfødte at blive optaget i kreolerklassen, blot de sværgede troskab mod den russiske zar. 

Alle kreolere fik tilbud om en gratis grunduddannelse, der kunne gøre dem til faglærte arbejdere som f.eks.  smede, låsesmede, skibsbyggere, tømrere.

Andre, som var særligt begavede og flittige blev sendt til Sankt Petersborg for yderligere uddannelse - helt op på universitetsuddannelse.

Om en sådan kvik kreoler,  Kondratii Ivanovich Burtsov, fortæller artiklen Creating a Creole Estate in early nineteenth-century Russian America, som jeg her bringer uddrag af.

On February 4, 1816, the Main Board of the Russian-American Company (RAC) ordered the return to Russian America of the creole Kondratii Ivanovich Burtsov and the creole woman Matrëna Semënovna Kuznetsova, who had both been sent to St. Petersburg for schooling. Due to the length of the journey, they stated that Burtsov, 26, and Kuznetsova, 17, should marry: “And so that the maiden will not return here alone, with their mutual agreement they are being united in matrimony and from its side the Company is providing them, as is decent, with all that is necessary in terms of clothes, shoes and so on.” This seems like less of a concession to the feelings of the young pair than an order motivated by the needs of the company. This was typical of the RAC’s attitude toward creoles, who were the offspring of Russian men and native women living in Russian America and were given the status of a separate estate in 1821. The Company saw them as a group that would be trained to serve the RAC both in their work and in their family life by having children who would be future employees, thus increasing the population in Russian America and spreading the Russian way of life.

2Burtsov studied shipbuilding at the Okhta Admiralty wharf on funds provided by the government and the RAC, while Kuznetsova learned how to run a Russian home in the family of the manager of the RAC’s main office in St. Petersburg, Ivan Osipovich Zelenskii. According to the comments of the Main Office of the RAC in the January 1818 proposal to create the creole estate, Kuznetsova, while in St. Petersburg, “learned all that is necessary for domestic life: she is able to bake bread, make kvass [a mildly alcoholic drink made of bread], cook cabbage soup (shchi), wash clothes, clean and iron, embroider in a hoop and by hand, also to sew clothes and in addition knows how to read and write.” Upon their return to Novo-Arkhangel´sk (now Sitka, Alaska), Burtsov was to become a senior ship’s carpenter, for which he would receive the not inconsequential salary of 1000 rubles a year, with the promise of 200 more for good work. In contrast, in 1818, the promyshlenniki, or Russian subjects working for the Company, agreed to a salary of 300 rubles a year, while artisans were to receive a minimum of 400; both were to receive a monthly ration of flour as well. Thus, Burtsov would receive more than three times as much as a common worker, suggesting the high value the RAC put on the newly trained creoles.

A set of instructions from the Main Office to chief manager of the colonies Aleksandr Andreevich Baranov dated March 22, 1817, stated that “you will have in [Burtsov] a new, and hopefully an educated, citizen who may become an example to others.” The 1816 document noted that Kuznetsova was to “supervise and teach young and orphaned creole girls like her and, if she is successful in this, then in measure with [her successes] do not omit to give her a special reward if possible.” In 1817, the Main Office asked Baranov, “If the wife of the priest who has been sent to you is able to provide education in household management even to only a few orphaned creole girls, and if perhaps Matrëna Burtsova can also do this, please build a schoolhouse for these women and help them as much as you can. It would be desirable to assign several young females from among the kaiurs [native slaves for the Russians] to assist them.” Burtsov and his wife were to serve as models of a new Russian civilization in Russian America, one that was orderly, monogamous and productive. Rather than relying upon promyshlenniki, the RAC saw creoles as the potential bearers of Russian culture and values.

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På sin vis blev promyshlennikierne (de tidlige etnisk russiske)  i kolonien efterhånden betragtet som nødvendige gener eller i hvert fald som problematiske.  RAC skulle betale skatter af sine promyshlennikere og transportere dem til og fra Sibirien, for at de kunne forny deres pas hvert 7. år. Desuden blev kreolerne, skønt de ofte var de etnisk russere overlegne med hensyn til uddannelse, dårligere aflønnet. 

At erstatte disse russiske arbejdere med kreolere kunne spare RAC for betydelige udgifter. En yderligere fordel var, at kreolerne havde skattefritagelse fra det kejserlige Rusland, så længe de blev og boede hjemme i det koloniale Alaska.  En skat, som  RAC ellers ville have skullet betale for deres kreolere.

Efter de første blandede ægteskaber, blev det senere (meget) mindre velset fra RACs side, at russere giftede sig med kreolere. 

For hvad ville der ske, når den russiske ægtemand ønskede at vende tilbage til moderlandet? Nej, kreolere skulle gifte sig med kreolere og blive i "kreolerland". Den reelle grund til, at man ikke ønskede, at kreolerkvinder forlod deres hjemland, var, at det jo var her, man havde brug for, at de fødte børn og dermed sikrede et godt befolkningsunderlag til udvikling af kolonien. De skulle fungere som fødekøer.

Khlebnikov believed that creoles should remain a separate group, staying in Russian America, and not intermarrying with Russians or going to Russia. In particular, he was opposed to Russian men marrying creole women, writing that “it would be a good thing, and helpful toward increasing population, if a prohibition were instituted against Russians marrying creole women and taking them to Russia, where they experience the change of climate and do not live long, or where they are abandoned by their husbands and are miserable. It would be very desirable to tie this estate with bonds of marriage and homemaking; only in this way can permanent citizens be created.”

In about 1825, Khlebnikov restated his belief that Russian men should not marry creole women. He stated, “At a suitable age [creoles] must be married to creoles or Aleuts. Although this should be done at their choice, it should be seen to that persons of great difference in age should not be united, that healthy people should not be mixed with those infected with an illness or who are subjects to fits, beauty with ugliness, stupidity with cleverness, or depravity with mildness and modesty.” Making it even clearer that promyshlenniki were seen as unfit to marry creoles, Khlebnikov stated that they should be denied permission to marry creole women, who, upon returning to Russia, “suffer poverty due to impoverished conditions and dissipation of their husbands. In addition the colonies are deprived of inhabitants.” Khlebnikov suggested that, “If this prohibition cannot be made on the basis of general government laws, then the local authorities can refuse to sanction such ties for various reasons (pretexts), such as the obligations of employees, their behavior, health, etc.”

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Forbidding Russian men to marry creoles would also help to increase the permanent population of Russian America, as we see here that Khlebnikov is especially concerned at the position of creole women in Russia. Not only would their position there be shaky, but they would no longer be capable of increasing the population in the colonies, which was a key interest of the RAC. There was also a strong economic motivation for the company to prevent Russian men from marrying creole women, as such marriages would make the men more likely to remain in Russian America in their old age and to become a burden on the company, as we see in an official decree, approved by Emperor Nicholas I on April 2, 1835, which “sanctioned the establishment in the colonies of permanent settlers from the Russian lower class and peasants who were married to Creoles or Natives and because of advanced years, bad health, and lack of close relatives in Russia decided to remain in America.”

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They were to become farmers, and the company was responsible for setting them up in a place chosen by the RAC, which would have required expenditures. The decree stipulated: “The Company must build adequate living quarters for them and supply them with the necessary equipment for hunting and farming, and with livestock, domestic fowl and seed grain. It must also provide them with provisions adequate for one year, and further, the Company must see to it that these persons are not in want in the future.” The decree also stated that creoles who left company service and wished to become farmers would also receive the same assistance. Thus, it would have been in the interest of the RAC to have everyone in service rather than be farmers.

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42På den anden side ville det også være godt at få nogle kreolske landmænd i gang:

"Khlebnikov noted in 1825 that the company should get creoles interested in husbandry by giving “them cattle on the condition that they are able to get hay for them with their own effort, but they cannot keep more than two milk cows and one bull. The surplus calves are to be given to the company at set prices, and they should give a written promise that they will not sell animals on the side or kill any for their own use until the number of animals is increased to local requirements.” Such measures would of course benefit the company more than the creoles by providing the RAC with extra meat, which was often hard to come by and expensive. Similarly, he notes, “With assistance from the company give them the opportunity to breed pigs, goats and chickens.” Khlebnikov saw animal husbandry as part of a civilizing process, writing, “These measures are necessary because people who do not care about husbandry, or the dissolute, are capable of squandering all of their own and that of others to satisfy their inclinations.”

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40

 Den løn på 1000 rubler, som blev nævnt, som Burtsov skulle modtage som skibsbygger, var en helt ekstraordinær høj løn, men den var stadig lavere end den, som russere i samme stillingskategori modtog. Lønnen for faglærte kreolere var meget lavere end promyshlennikiernes.

I artiklen "Social Mobility of the Creoles in Russian America" opstiller artiklens forfatter, Andrei Val’terovich  Grinyov, professor ved Department of Social Sciences ved St.Petersburg State Polytechnical University, en oversigt over de jobs, som blev besat af kreolere. Bemærk at kategorien common workers, unskilled labourers med 230 kreolere er den absolut største. Herefter kommer sømænd med 101.

Nautical

Office workers

Craftsmen

Religious

Medical

Economic discrimination

Artiklen Russian America in 1821 bygger på indberetninger skrevet af Kirill Khlebnikov.

Khlebnikov inddeler russisk Amerika i 5 zoner og gør minutiøst rede for deres økonomiske forhold og dermed mængden af skind og andet, der er indsamlet, bygninger og indbyggere. Om New Archangel redegøres f.eks. 

New Archangels

 Han gør også rede for lønninger.

Til sammenligning lidt om aflønning af indfødte jægere.

Og Khlebnikov gør rede for RACs indtægter og udgifter, aktiver og passiver og konkluderer lakonisk ...

Koloshes er det russiske navn for de indfødte langs Alaskas kyst.

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3

Kreolerbørn helt ned til 7-års alderen blev sendt til Sankt Petersborg på skoleophold. Og når RAC skulle retfærdiggøre de lave  lønninger til kreolere blev det hovedsageligt begrundet med de udgifter selskabet havde haft til børnenes skolegang og uddannelse.

Professor Grinyov forklarer desuden, hvordan kreolerne ofte blev fanget i et gældsfængsel og reelt kom til at leve i et slavelignende forhold.

Selv med de lave lønninger, RAC egenhændigt selv kunne fastsætte for både kreolerne og de indfødte jægere, og selv med deres egne butikker, hvor indfødte og kreolere var nødt til at handle, og hvor RAC egenhændigt kunne fastsætte priserne, så gav kolonien efter de første udbytterige år ikke det ønskede overskud.

Though the Alaskan colony was never very profitable because of the costs of transportation, most Russian traders were determined to keep the land for themselves. 

Til sidst førte det til salget af Alaska.

Russian Alaska initially prospered from the fur trade, but by the mid 19th century, overhunting and logistical challenges led to its gradual decline. With most settlements abandoned by the 1860s, Russia sold its last remaining possessions to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million - 2 cent pr. acre!

The signing of the Alaska Treaty of Cessation on March 30, 1867. Left to right: Robert S. Chew, William H. Seward, William Hunter, Mr. Bodisco, Eduard de Stoeckl, Charles Sumner, and Frederick W. Seward.

Treasury warrant in the amount of 7.2 million dollars for the purchase of Alaska

At det var et økonomisk selvmål at sælge Alaska, blev senere evident. I dag er Alaska en af de rigeste US stater takket være dens rige mængde af kobber, zink, platinium, tømmer, fisk, hvalolie, skind og ikke mindst guld og olie. Så rige mængder, at indbyggerne i Alaska i flere år ikke har betalt statslig indkomstskat eller skat af vareomsætning. Derimod modtager hver indbygger et årligt stipendium, blot de forbliver i staten.

Forhandlinger i 1863

U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward (far right) and diplomats, including Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl (center, sitting)

I starten blev købet kritiseret af  en del amerikanere, der kaldte købet for Seward's Folly. William H Seward var udenrigsministeren, der forhandlede aftalen om købet.

Some Americans mocked the purchase as “Seward’s Folly”, “Seward’s Icebox”, “Walrussia” and a “polar bear garden”. However, as early as 1852, Seward, who was from New York, had the foresight to declare: “The Pacific Ocean, its shores, its islands, and the vast regions beyond, will become the chief theatre of events in the World's great Hereafter.” Most Americans supported the purchase.

Portrait of William H. Seward
24th Secretary of State for the United States under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

When gold was first discovered in Alaska, in Juneau in 1880, the Far North quickly became the new Wild West. Little could Seward have known.

Engelske kolonister derimod var betænkelige ved Sewards planer.

British colonists worried the Alaska Purchase would lead to an American annexation of British Columbia. “For years — even before the war — [U.S. Secretary of State] Mr. Seward had fixed his attention on the British Dominions as a worthy object of ambition for American statesmen,” wrote the Montreal Gazette a few years later. “In purchasing Alaska, Mr. Seward did not for the first time turn his thoughts northward, and that his interest in our as yet unopened Northwest was neither casual nor superficial.”

DATE:1890

SOURCE:Montreal Gazette, September 13, 1890, p4

I dag fejres underskrivelse af Alaska Purchase Treaty, 30. marts 1867, hvert år den sidste mandag i marts, som kaldes  Seward's Day.  Dagen er fridag i Alaska.

Alaska Day, som er en fridag for hele USA, fejres 18. oktober - dagen for den formelle overgivelse af russisk Amerika til USA.

Navnet Alaska blev valgt af amerikanerne, fra et Aleut-ord, alashka eller alaesksu, der betyder "stort land" eller "fastland". I den russiske æra var navnet blevet brugt om Alaskahalvøen, som russerne havde kaldt Alyaska  (Аляска) eller Alyeska, men hele territoriet kaldte de russisk Amerika.

Undervejs har jeg undret mig over, hvor mange kreolere, der egentlig var tale om.

 Ifølge en opgørelse fra RAC i 1818 i forbindelse med selskabets ansøgning om at gøre kreolerne fri for skat opgøres antallet til  280 kreolere, 180 mænd og 100 kvinder (børn inklusive)

Da Alaska blev overdraget til USA i 1867 var antallet opgjort til 1.421 kreolere, 483 russere og antallet af indfødte anslået til 50.000.

I en tale af Charles Sumner til Senatet i forbindelse med købet nævnes lidt andre tal. Og her er antal af russere og kreolere slået sammen

"... about 2,500 Russians and those of mixed race (that is, a Russian father and native mother), and 8,000 indigenous people, in all about 10,000 people under the direct government of the Russian fur company, and possibly 50,000 Inuit and Alaska Natives living outside its jurisdiction." 

Sumner fortsætter:

"The Russians are settled at 23 trading posts, placed at accessible islands and coastal points. At smaller stations, only four or five Russians are stationed to collect furs from the natives for storage and shipment when the company's boats arrived to take it away. There are two larger towns. New Archangel, now named Sitka, was established in 1804 to handle the valuable trade in the skins of the sea otter and now  contains 116 small log cabins with 968 residents. St. Paul in the Pribilof Islands have 100 homes and 283 people and are the center of the seal fur industry."

St. Paul

St. Paul nævnes som den næststørste by. Det, synes jeg, er lidt sjovt at læse, nu jeg har skrevet et helt indlæg om St. Paul's og St. George's Islands.

Antallet af russere i russisk Amerika har på intet tidspunkt oversteget godt 600.

Da Alaska i 1867 blev solgt til USA, efterlod det kreolerne i en udsat position.

I Alaska Treaty of Cession  blev russere og kreolere garanteret valget mellem enten at blive amerikanske statsborgere med fuld beskyttelse af ejendom og frihed eller at emigrere til russisk territorium - for nogen et  land, hvor de i deres ungdom havde opholdt sig i  en kortere uddannelsesperiode, for mange flere et land, de aldrig nogensinde havde mødt.

Alaskas koloniregering fastsatte 3 år til at transportere alle russiske undersåtter, der ønskede at forblive i det russiske imperium til moderlandet. Men ikke alle, der ønskede at flytte til Rusland, nåede at benytte sig af den treårige henstandsperiode til at evakuere, for i 1869, blot to år efter salget, blev denne garanti trukket tilbage. 

Alaska Treaty of Cession  gav også fuld beskyttelse af ejendom, men amerikanerne ignorerede garantien for flertallet af kreolere.  Den amerikanske regering gav kun garanticertifikater til 20 alaska-kreoler.

Kun den russisk-ortodokse kirkes ejendom og dens juridiske rettigheder forblev fuldt beskyttet.

I løbet af den time, hvor overførslen af Alaska til USA fandt sted, mistede alaskanerne alle rettigheder til deres jord og ejendom.

Nogle kreolere blev opført i et register, der nævnte deres ejerskab af et hus, men de mistede alle rettigheder til deres jord.

Ejendomsoverdragelsen blev foretaget hurtigt og hårdt.

Ikke kun kreolerne blev ramt. I Sitka blev russerne straks beordret ud af deres hjem med begrundelsen, at amerikanerne havde brug for boligerne.  Den amerikanske brigadegeneral Jefferson J. Davis, som overvågede overførelsen på Baranof Island / Sitka, bemærkede: "Russerne skyndte sig at rydde alle bygninger, der var udpeget til overførsel til den amerikanske regering. Denne hurtige afståelse  af de bedste boliger medførte betydelige gener for den øverste administrator og for de mennesker, der måtte ud af deres huse i regnvejret. De fleste flyttede ud på skibe."

Sitka vist i en avis i anledning af købet af Alaska 1867

The Purchase of Alaska. The formal change-over of ownership
was conducted with due ceremony at Sitka on 18 October 1867.

Pomp and Ceremony
On October 18, 1867 at 11:00 a.m., representatives for the U.S., Russia, and the RAC arrived in Sitka on the USS Ossipee. At 3:00 p.m., 150 Russian troops in flat glazed caps and dark uniforms trimmed with red assembled on the parapet in front of the governor's house. Two hundred American troops marched up the hill to the beat of their own boots.

En finsk smed, der havde arbejde i Sitka, nedskrev en beskrivelse af selve overdragelsen.

We had not spent many weeks at Sitka when two large steam ships arrived there, bringing things that belonged to the American crown, and a few days later the new governor also arrived in a ship together with his soldiers. The wooden two-story mansion of the Russian governor stood on a high hill, and in front of it in the yard at the end of a tall spar flew the Russian flag with the double-headed eagle in the middle of it. Of course, this flag now had to give way to the flag of the United States, which is full of stripes and stars. On a predetermined day in the afternoon, a group of soldiers came from the American ships, led by one who carried the flag. Marching solemnly, but without accompaniment, they came to the governor's mansion, where the Russian troops were already lined up and waiting for the Americans. Now they started to pull the [Russian double-headed] eagle down, but—whatever had gone into its head—it only came down a little bit, and then entangled its claws around the spar so that it could not be pulled down any further. A Russian soldier was therefore ordered to climb up the spar and disentangle it, but it seems that the eagle cast a spell on his hands, too—for he was not able to arrive at where the flag was, but instead slipped down without it. The next one to try was not able to do any better; only the third soldier was able to bring the unwilling eagle down to the ground. While the flag was brought down, music was played and cannons were fired off from the shore, and then, while the other flag was hoisted, the Americans fired off their cannons from the ships equally many times. After that American soldiers replaced the Russian ones at the gates of the fence surrounding the Kolosh [i.e. Tlingit] village.

Flag of the Russian-American Trading Company.

 

De nu rettighedssløse og arbejdsløse kreolere blev underlagt amerikansk militærs tilsynsførende.

Russisk og indfødte sprog blev bekæmpet. Børnene kom i engelsksprogede skoler, og der blev iværksat et omfattende amerikaniserings-projekt. 

Som et kuriosum kan fortælles, at samtidig med ejerskiftet blev den internationale datolinje flyttet mod vest, og  Alaska skiftede fra den julianske kalender til den gregorianske kalender. Derfor blev fredag den 6. oktober 1867 for beboerne efterfulgt af fredag den 18. oktober 1867 - et kunstigt spring på 12 dage pga. kalenderskiftet og to fredage i træk på grund af datolinjen.

Professor ved University of Alaska og  tidligere senatsmedlem og grundlægger af Alaska Federation of Natives, Willie Hensley, skriver i en artikel "What Rights to Land Have the Alaska Natives?" (harmdirrende) om, hvordan de indfødte blev undtaget fra de garantier, som russere og kreolere fik i Alaska Treaty of Cession.

       The inhabitants of the ceded territory, ***if they should prefer to remain in the ceded territory, they, with the exception of uncivilized native tribes shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States and shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. The uncivilized tribes will be subject to such laws and regulations as the United States may, from time to time, adopt in regard to aboriginal tribes of that country. 

            Thus, from the beginning of American occupancy of Alaska, the status of the Natives in regard to land was left in limbo. Their citizenship, the opposite side of the coin in private land ownership, was also left in a highly confused state in that “uncivilized native tribes” were excepted from the enjoyment of privileges, rights, and protections granted the white citizens, Russians, and Creoles who chose to remain in Alaska and become citizens.

Det viste sig jo, næsten før blækket i dokumentet var tørt, at de flotte formuleringer og garantier overhovedet ikke var det papir værd, de var skrevet på.

Det kæmpestore landområde blev til Department of Alaska under jurisdiktion af Department of War og administreret af hærofficerer indtil 1877.

Hæren trak sig ud et årti senere og overlod først Alaska til det amerikanske finansministerium og derefter til flåden. Først i 1884 fik Alaska, efter 17 års amerikansk besættelse, endelig en civil regering

For three decades after its purchase the United States paid little attention to Alaska, which was governed under military, naval, or Treasury rule or, at times, no visible rule at all. 

Først sent genvandt kreolerne deres statsborgerskab - nu amerikansk.

Alaskan Creoles did eventually gain enfranchisement. The following is a passage from Alaska's Governor in 1885 considering enfranchisement of Creoles in the Aleutian Islands:

"The brightest among the creoles and Aleutian boys were carefully trained in navigation, ship building, and the mechanical arts, while the girls were taught housekeeping, and thus fitted to become wives, and I am reliably informed by old Russian residents that there are now in the Russian army and navy officers of very considerable rank, and a good many who hold high positions in the civil service of the Empire, who are the progeny of creoles. My most reliable information is to the effect that the Aleuts are a keen, bright, and naturally intelligent people, industrious and provident, the larger portions being educated to a greater or less extent in the Russian language, and that they are well advanced in civilization is evidenced by the fact that they live in comfortable houses, are given to finery in their dress, and are, with scarcely an exception, devout members of the Russian Orthodox Church. So far, therefore, as these peoples are concerned, I do not hesitate in my opinion as to the consideration to which they are justly entitled, politically or otherwise. They are fully competent to comprehend and discharge the duties of intelligent citizenship."

Jeg kan faktisk ikke helt finde ud af, hvornår kreolerne genvandt deres borgerlige rettigheder. Mon ikke det skete ret kort tid efter denne tale, og efter at Alaska havde fået en civil regering i 1884? 

De indfødte - dem der ikke var blevet kreolere -  fik dem først i 1924. 

Afslutning

Ved de første søgninger, jeg lavede på de russiske kreolere, blev det gentagne gange fastslået, at kreolerne kom til at udgøre en respekteret klasse med udprægede privilegier og med erhverv som  navigatører, kartografer. skibsbefalingsmænd, administratorer, lærere og  gejstlige. 

Da jeg nåede dybere ind i stoffet, skulle det vise sig, at  omtalen af dem som en respekteret klasse måske nok skulle tages med et gran salt. Kun få nåede op over middelklasse-status, dog med enkelte undtagelser. Søfart gav de bedste muligheder. De to højest-placerede blev en generalmajor og en oberstløjtnant.

Inden for administration var der to, der udmærkede sig. Nikolai Klimovskii, der bestred en sekretærpost for guvernøren, og særligt Grigorii Terent'ev, som blev leder af et helt distrikt og kom til at modtage en  sølvmedalje for sin tjeneste.

 


, 

 

   

Men med Ruslands salg af Alaska mistede kreolerne den status og de privilegier, de trods alt havde opnået. 

Amerikanerne så ned på kreolerne med foragt, fordi de associerede udtrykket kreolere med betydningen blandet race. 

Kreolerne blev placeret på bunden af den socioøkonomiske rangstige. 

Og de kom til at tænke tilbage på tiden under russerne som The Golden Times.

Efterkommere af de tidlige kreolere fremhæver gerne de bidrag til videnskaben, især inden for hydrografi, geografi og kartografi, som kreolere har bidraget med. Bidrag som amerikanerne kom til at anerkende.

Kreolere foretog ekspeditioner til det indre af Alaska for at få kontakt med indfødte stammer for at handle med dem og for at introducere dem til kristendommen. De to ting fulgtes ofte ad rundt omkring i verden i de tider.

 

Tebenkhov, en kreolsk printer og borger i New Archangelsk samlede i 1852 alle data fra disse ekspeditioner i et videnskabeligt atlas med titlen "Atlas of the Northwest Coasts of America."

Tebenkhos atlas kom til at tjene som navigationshjælp til at sejle gennem Alaskas territorium, og det blev grundlaget for amerikansk kartografi i Alaska i årtier efter salget af Alaska.

Amerikanske opdagelsesrejsende i Alaska brugte et stort antal russiske videnskabelige artikler fra Alaska og bragte dem frem i lyset.

En anden , som kreolerne er stolte af at nævne, er Kathryn Dyakanoff Seller (1884–1980). Hun var en alaska-kreolsk lærer, der sammen med sin mand byggede og åbnede den første regeringsstøttede skole på Atka-øen i Aleuterne i 1909. 

Hun blev født på Unalaska i en aleut-familie, men som barn boede hun på Missionary Jesse Lee Home for Children. Hun blev sendt til Carlisle Indian Industrial School i Pennsylvania, hvor hun dimitterede i 1906 og derefter til Westchester State Normal School, hvor hun afsluttede sine studier. 

Hun startede med at undervise i Sitka i 1908 for Bureau of Indian Affairs.  

Skolebygningen, som hun og hendes mand opførte året efter på Atka, var også deres hjem, og de var aktive i lokalsamfundet. De hjalp med at bygge en fællesgård, erhvervede en båd til fællesbrug og købte symaskiner til eleverne, som så etablere en lille kommerciel systue.

Parret underviste på flere af øerne, før de vendte tilbage til Anchorage i 1920. 

Som enke vendte Kathryn tilbage til at undervise på fjerntliggende skoler i Alaska. Hun udviklede sine færdigheder som kurvemager, og tjente på forskellige tidspunkter som jordemoder,sundhedsarbejder, reservationsinspektør (hvad det så er) og fotograf. - En alsidig dame. I 1950 blev hendes virke anerkendt med en pris fra indenrigsministeriet og en medalje fra den amerikanske kongres.

Kathryn med sine 3 døtre.  2 sønner døde tidligt.

Og så er der  Loren Leman, som voksede op i Ninilchic, Alaska i en russisktalende familie. Hans aner går tilbage til et ægteskab mellem en russisk skibsbygger og en aleut-kvinde.

Fra 1988 til 1993 var han medlem af Alaska State House, hvor han repræsenterede  West Anchorage. Han blev kendt som socialkonservativ, pro-udvikling, pro-buiseness, miljøbevidst og tilhænger af Alaskas militær. I perioden 1993-2002 var han indvalgt i Amerikas senat, og i den sidste periode var han valgt som Senatets flertalsleder.

I 1999 blev han tildelt National Civil Government Award  fra American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), verdens førende civilingeniørsammenslutning, for sit arbejde med at forbedre uddannelse, udvikle ressourcer og forbedre transporten i Alaska.

Da han i 2002 blev valgt som lieutenant governor (hvad skal jeg kalde det på dansk - vice-guvernør, vel?) var han den første af Alaska-native herkomst, der blev valgt til et statsdækkende embede. Ved dette valg var han oppe mod Sarah Palin, som blev nummer 2.

Ved periodens udløb spekulerede man i, om han ville stille op til guvernørposten, men han forlod politik og koncentrerede sig om sit arbejde som civilingeniør, bl.a. som rådgiver inden for anlæg,  miljøteknik og fiskeri.

Ærgerligt, at han er republikaner. Men Alaska er jo Sarah Palin-land.

Og hermed slut og ikke mere om de russiske kreolere.