History of Alaska

By nbarker
  • 14,000 BCE

    People being crossing into Alaska via the Bering land bridge

    People Event
  • 9770 BCE

    The Mesa Site is th earliest evidence of human occupation in Alaska

    People Event
  • Danish navigator Vitus Bering Spies Alaska

    People Event
  • European "discovery" of Alaska

    Major Event
  • Russian fur trader Grigory Shelikhov founds Three Saints Bay

    Land Event
  • Grigory Shelikhov creates missions and has scholars work to translate the bible in Aleut

    Education Event
  • Aleksandr Baranoc established the Russian American Company

    People Event
  • Father Ioann Veniaminov transferred to Sitka from the Russian Orthodox Church

    People Event
  • Veniaminov appointed Bishop of Sitka and Alaska

    People Event
  • Bishop Veniaminov published his works on the geology, botony, and anthropology of Alaska and parts of the Aleut language translated.

    Education Event
  • Period: to

    Veniaminov begin to translate the bible into Tlingit and creates a bilingual education system in Russian and Tlingit

    Education Event
  • Bishop Veniaminov opens New Archangel Seminary which taught six years of Aleut, Tlingit, and Yupik.

    Education Event
  • Period: to

    Alaska controlled by U.S. Army

    Major Event
  • Period: to

    Churches become the main source of education in Alaska

    Education Event
  • United States Purchases Alaska from Russia

    Land Event
  • U.S. Flag Raised for the first time, creating Alaska Day

    Land Event
  • Sheldon Jackson arrives in Alaska

    Person Event
  • Dr. Sheldon Jackson begin missionary work in Alaska stating that education and missionary work are the same thing.

    Education Event
  • Period: to

    Alaska controlled by Department of Treasury

    Major Event
  • Sarah Dickinson becomes translator to Rev S. Hall Young and becomes advocate for the mission in Wrangell

    People Event
  • A new canning technique comes to Alaska but causes many canneries to be built on important Native fishing grounds

    Land Event
  • Period: to

    Alaska controlled by U.S. Navy

    Major Event
  • Sarah Dickinson and her husband starts a school for the Chilkat Tlingit group in Haines

    Education Event
  • Tillie Kinnan Paul and her husband commissioned to open a school in Klukwan and became part of the first experiments to send Native teachers to remote villages

    Education Event
  • Jackson helps create the "First Organic Act" to establish a civil government in the frontier

    People Event
  • Period: to

    Alaska is reorganized in the District of Alaska and remains occupied by U.S. Military

    Major Event/ Land Event
  • Jackson becomes the federal education agent in Alaska

    Education Event
  • Schools are now run by the Bureau of Education

    Education Event
  • Pail became mistress of Sitka Industrial Training School and along with her fellow teachers helped preserve Tlingit language and culture.

    Education Event
  • Frances Willard becomes the "first Alaskan with sufficient training and education" after leaving Alaska for her own education and returning to teach

    Education Event
  • Period: to

    Sheldon Jackson forced to segregate schools and create parallel school systems

    Education Event
  • Gold Discovered in Alaska (Nome)

    Land Event
  • Alaska Railroad being construction

    Land Event
  • Native population severely declines due to disease and land loss reported as 25,331 persons

    People Event
  • Alaska becomes a territory

    Land Event
  • Railroad finally connected, uniting Alaska

    Land Event
  • U.S. government closes the Orthodox Church on St. Paul Island signifying the 'dark ages' of Native culture and language which lasted until the 1970s.

    Education Event
  • Snyder Act grants U.S. citizenship to "all noncitizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States" without terminating their tribal rights.

    People Event
  • “The Problem of Indian Administration,” more commonly known as the “The Meriam Report,” details “the social and economic conditions of the American Indians” in 26 states, with a brief mention of the Alaska territory.

    Education Event
  • Paul becomes the first woman in the US to an elder of the Presbyterian Church

    People Event
  • Congress passes the Johnson O’Malley Act, authorizing programmatic federal funding for Native students; however, Alaska does not enter into its first contract under the law until 1952.

    Education Event
  • Congressional legislation passed laws authorizing the Tlingit and Haida to pursue land claims

    People Event
  • Period: to

    Native Attuans and other Aleuts interned by U.S. Military, many die and few are able to return home after their towns were burned by U.S. military to prevent Russian invasion

    People Event
  • Alaska Enters World War 2 by Japanese Occupation of Kiska and Attu

    Land Event
  • Attu regained by U.S. Military

    Land Event
  • Alaska becomes a state

    Land Event
  • Major Earthquake, causing tsunamis which affected a majority of Alaska

    Land Event
  • Discovery of Oil on North Slope

    Land Event
  • The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) is passed giving Alaska Natives land and capital, as well as establishing the Native Corporations.

    People Event
  • Molly Hootch Case: Twenty-seven Alaska Native students file a suit against the state for not offering local high schools in Alaska Native Villages, which forced students to attend boarding schools.

    Education Event
  • Oil is discovered in Prudhoe Bay, leading to construction of the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline

    Land Event
  • he Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) passes creating the huge public lands system in Alaska.

    Land Event
  • Exxon Valdez oil spill, affecting 1,100 miles of shoreline

    Land Event
  • The State Board of Education passes regulation for local schools, requiring them to teach English, math, science, geography, history, government, citizenship, fine arts, technology, work languages, and skills for a healthy life.

    Education Event
  • University of Alaska-Anchorage which has the states largest teaching college loses it accreditation for teachers.

    Education Event
  • COVID 19 virus begin affected Alaskan education, highlighting the issues in communication and technology as schools moves to online systems

    Education Event

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