-
Russia's First Contact
Vitus Bering commissioned by Peter the Great of Russia. Northwestern North America claimed by Russia. -
Sea Otter Sought
Russians begin hunting the sea otter in large quantities. -
Spain discovers land
Juan Perez explores the west coast and discovers Prince of Wales Island and Dixon Sound. -
James Cook Explores
Looks for the Northwest Passage. Finds Cook Inlet in 1778, King Island, Norton Sound, Unalaska. -
Russian Port
Gregoril Shelikhov and his group created the first permanent Russian post in Alaska. This allowed them to save on travel costs and work in partnership with the natives. Located at Three Saints Bay, Kodiak -
Russian Orthodox Missionaries arrive in Alaska
First Russian Orthodox missionaries came to Alaska. They taught the natives and ways of Christianity. The missionaries typically defended and supported the natives and accepted their culture and language when teaching them -
Russian American Company
Old Sitka created as a Russian post. Trade charters give exclusive rights to RAC. -
Old Sitka destroyed
by Tlingits. Counter attack by Russians in 1804. Trading post is re-established. -
Russian Fur Trading
First trip sent to China for trade. -
Regulations
No foreigners allowed in Russian-American waters, except at regular ports of call. -
Natives begin creating written records
Veniaminov worked with the Native leaders to develop alphabets for their languages. They translated different Russian texts to their language. While learning more about their culture, he taught the Natives skills such as carpentry and brick laying. Veniaminov moves to Sitka in 1834 -
Russian Exploration
Discovered: Nushagak, Kuskokwim, Yukon, Koyukuk Rivers. -
Oil Seeps found
Found by Russian explorer-trappers in Cook Inlet -
Coal Mining Begins
Coal Harbor on the Kenai Peninsula -
Gold Discovered
on Stikine River near Telegraph Creek -
Russian Schools Closed in Alaska
-
America acquires Alaska from Russia
Russia realizes Alaska is more of a liability than a helpful resource.
Russia sells Alaska to America. The natives were not pleased of the sale since the Russian never technically owned the land. The US saw the benefits of expanding America's trade and influence in Asia along with the opportunities of whaling, fishing, and fur trade. -
Russia sells America to US
Financial struggles force the sale for 7.2 million or 2 cents an acre. -
Civil government formed-school opened for short period
Residents of Sitka formed a civil government and bought a building and a teacher for the school. It quickly shut down once the teacher was notified of a pay cut from $75 to $20 a month. -
Gold mining
Sitka, British Columbia, Juneau -
Gold found near Sitka
-
Presbyterian Mission Schools
Sheldon Jackson initiated policies to change the educational system. He was able to setup six Presbyterian mission schools and encourage other missionaries to create schools. The ultimate goal was to convert Alaska Natives into American Protestant Christians. -
US troops withdrawn from Alaska
-
First Canneries Opened
First in Alaska at Klawock and Sitka -
Two Different public schools
One for natives and one for non-natives. -
Commercial Fishing
First commercial herring fishing begins at Killisnoo.
1st two central Alaska salmon canneries build
US navy bombs and burns Tlingit village of Angoon -
Organic Act
Law that brought civil government to Alaska and allowed for public education. Sheldon Jackson helped create the law and wanted integrated schools but felt pressure to keep schools segregated. Native Languages were looked down upon. -
Jackson appointed Agent of Education
Jackson's role in Alaska was to supply education to the children. Several schools were created, but separated for white and Native children. Jackson believed the Native children needed to become civilized and started by banning use of Native Languages in all schools. -
60,000+ people arrive in Alaska in search of gold
-
Corporate Salmon Canneries begin to appear
-
Beginning of Alaskan Forest Service System
Afognak Reserve established -
Period: to
Klondike Gold Rush
Brought over 100,000 people to northern part of Alaska; doubling the state's population. -
Period: to
Klondike Gold Rush
-
Nome gold rush begins
-
Capitol changed from Sitka to Juneau
-
First Oil Production
-
Tongass National Forest
President Theodore Roosevelt established the Tongass National Forest -
Submarine cables led
From Seattle to Sika to Valdez which links Alaska to the outside -
Tanana Railroad build
Telegraph links Fairbanks and Valdez. Alaska Railroad Commission established -
Native Allotment Act
Natives given land -
Gold, Chugach
Gold discovered at Ruby
Chugach National Forest, largest US forest, created by presidential proclamation. -
International Agreement
US, UK, Canada, Russia, Japan for fur seals and sea otters. -
Alaska Native Brotherhood organizes (ANB)
-
Women's Voting rights granted
-
AK Railroad authorized
Only one owned and operated by US government. -
Beginning of the fight for statehood
Alaskans vote in favor of prohibition 2 to 1 -
Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines
School opens operating out of one building and having six students. later in 1935 it becomes known as the University of Alaska. -
Native voting rights established
-
Completion of AK Railroad
-
Citizenship to all Indians in US
William Paul (Tlingit) elected to AK legislature. Airmail delivery begins in AK -
Meriam Report
A study to see how education in Alaska has been going since America has been involved. It detailed many of the failures seen and offered many suggestions for remediating the issue, but to this day many of the policies have not been enacted. -
Native children allowed to attend public schools
-
Native childrens right to public education
Resolved by court case -
Radio telephone communications
Juneau, Ketchikan, Nome -
Indian Reorganization Act
provided for Indian political self-government and economic self-determination by allowing tribes to organize and incorporate. -
John O'Malley Act
The government worked with local entities to provide federal funds to help defray expenses incurred for the education of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Not entered until 1952 -
Alaska Reorganization Act
Alaska Native tribes were granted special permission to establish "village" governments and constitutions since they were not the same as Natives in the Lower 48. -
Military base created in Anchorage
Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Force Base -
Japan Attacks Aleutian Islands
Alaska Highway built as a result in 8 months. Links Anchorage with the rest of the nation -
Multiple Naval Strikes from islands of Alaska
-
Gold Mine closes, Oil and Gas exploration begin
-
Anti-Discrimination Act
1st legislation in US since post-Civil War. -
Mt. Edgecombe boarding school established
-
First land claim suit filed by Tlingit and Haida
-
Fish Traps abolished
10-1 vote -
Well drilled near Eureka
plywood begins in Juneau
pulp mill in Ketchikan
1st AK TV channel -
State constitution adopted
2 senators and 1 rep under the TN plan -
Impact Aid
There was legislation passed in the 1950s that did provide additional financial assistance to public schools -
Statehood bill passed
-
Alaska officially becomes a state.
The state and federal school systems were still a dual presence in rural Alaska -
Period: to
Federal Programs for American Indians and Alaska Natives
Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, appointed a Task Force on Indian Affairs in 1961, a White House Task Force on the American Indian was appointed in 1966, and a special Senate subcommittee investigation in 1968 and 1969 was initiated to examine "the failure of the public schools to educate and assimilate Indian students" -
Creation of the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO)
Provided not only Headstart and Community Action Programs (e.g., RuralCAP) in which many Alaska Native people and village governments participated but it also created a model for collaboration between the federal government and local communities. -
Good Friday Earthquake
Now most infrastructure in AK can withstand stronger quakes. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
It was designed to meet the special needs of children in low-income families, and it included special appropriations to public school districts enrolling American Indian and Alaska Native children. Created a National Advisory Council on Indian Education who were responsible for advising about the education of Natives Americans. -
AFN organized
"Land freeze" to protect Native lands -
Title VII Bilingual Education
The first United States federal legislation that recognized the needs of limited English speaking ability (LESA) students. -
Fairbanks Flood
-
Period: to
U.S. Office of Education funded a National Study of American Indian Education
The study provided a comprehensive examination of the status of Indian education at that time. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1968
Titles II through VII comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which applies to the Native American tribes of the United States and makes many, but not all, of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights applicable within the tribes -
Oil Discovered in Prudhoe Bay
-
Prudhoe Bay Oil discovered
-
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
The discovery of oil and the subsequent passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act provided the State of Alaska with a great deal of money, and provided Native people with power and economic status they had not previously held. The discovery of the rich oil fields finally provided the impetus for the state and federal governments to enter into serious negotiations on a comprehensive settlement of the long-standing land and compensation disputes with the Native people of Alaska. -
Indian Education Act
It provided grants to Indian tribes, institutions, and organizations, or to state and local agencies, to develop and implement projects to improve educational opportunities for Indian children and to establish adult education programs. -
Lawsuit against State of Alaska
The class-action suit, charging discriminatory practice on the part of the state, was filed by Alaska Legal Services, on behalf of rural secondary-aged students, for not providing local high school facilities for predominantly Native communities when it did for same-size, predominantly non-Native, communities. During the year after settlement of the case nearly 30 new high schools were established -
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
Had the outward intent of providing increased opportunities for local control (i.e., authority for tribes to contract directly with the BIA to conduct or administer all or part of the Indian programs conducted by the federal Department of the Interior). Twenty-one separate rural school districts, Regional Educational Attendance Areas (REAAs), were established. REAAs are involved in establishing policies for budgets, hiring, curriculum development and assessment and gove't funding. -
Alaska Permanent Fund
Created to insure long term benefits from oil revenues. -
Satellites
Established statewide satellite communications network -
PFD established
receive at least 25% of all state oil revenues and related income -
Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline Finished
Runs 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez to transport oil. -
Federal Education Amendments Act of 1978
In Alaska, these amendments further increased federal incentives favoring community control of BIA day schools, including the hiring and firing of teachers and the design of curriculum. -
Congress passes Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)
-
One single AKST time zone (except the western most islands)
-
Crab stocks low- runs cancelled
-
State purchases railroad from US gov't
-
Oil <10/barrel, revenue plummets
New subsistence hunting and fishing bill -
Exxon Valdez oil spill
-
The Alaska Natives Commission (officially, the Joint Federal-State Commission on Policies and Programs Affecting Alaska Natives)
Conducted a comprehensive study of the social and economic status of Alaska Natives and the effectiveness of the policies and programs of the United States and of the State of Alaska that affect Alaska Natives. Conducted public hearings and to recommend specific actions to Congress and the State of Alaska that might help assure that Alaska Natives have life opportunities comparable to other Americans. -
Mining is fastest growing industry
Subsistence still an issue for state gov't, taken over by federal.
Exxon Valdez settlement -
Period: to
Current School Make-ups
Today, nearly all Alaska students attend elementary and secondary school in one of three settings: village schools, rural regional centers and/or road system/marine highway schools, or urban schools. Alaska's educational history has essentially been one of a gradual movement toward self-determination and local control. The paradox in a system that requires the government to provide education for Native Americans while at the same time promoting self-determination has not yet been resolved. -
Final Report of 1990 Commission
Described a blueprint for changes regarding the way in which the federal and state governments dealt with Alaska Native issues. -
Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative
For the first time in the history of schooling in Alaska, Native people are defining education in their own terms. Cultural standards, relevant curriculum, Native educators, elders responsible for policies, reform that is meaningful to tradition and language. -
Period: to
rifts widened in regard to issues of sovereignty, subsistence, and education for Alaska Native people
The conflicts escalated as a result of actions ranging from the U.S. Supreme Court's 1998 decision to deny two Athabascan villages their request for Indian country status, to a significant legislative change in the state's funding formula that negatively impacted rural schools and communities where the population is primarily Alaska Native. -
Period: to
No Child Left Behind/Every Student Succeeds Act
Creates a rift between the reform by Native Alaskans and the state legislature. Students are required to pass state exams to receive a diploma, complete benchmark testing, provide quality educational experiences