TIME AND CHANGE

Van^Ston°1

CROW

VILLAGE,

ALASKA 77 However,

the truly impressive characteristic of the

Crow

Village collection is not the imported goods or their use but rather the re-

markable

continuity represented, with emphasis on the retention of traditional forms.

The

fact that traditional

Eskimo

material cutiu-e should

loom

as large as it does in this collection

from

a site that apparently

was

occupied ^only during the contact period seems to suggest a single important fact: Diu"ing the middle

and

late 19th century, in an area of Alaska exploited

by American and

Russian traders for three-quarters of a century,

Eskimo

material culture retained its traditional orientation.

When

this is considered in light of the change thathas taken place in the areasince then, it is possible to appreciate the rapidity with

which

the

Eskimos have

been

drawn

into the

mainstream

of

American

life since the turn of the century.

78

routes,

and

unquestionably they returnedto their

homes

with Russian imports.

1830-1866

A

Russian party under ^{Vasil'ev in} 1830 ascended the

Nushagak

River to a stream flowinginto the

Kuskokwim. They

ascended the

Kuskokwim

for an

unknown

distance

and

then followed the river

downstream

^to the seacoast (Tikhmenev, 1861, pp. 340-341). This exploration

was

piu-sued in order to

expand

the fur trade into the in- terior of southwestern Alaska,

and

one of the

immediate

goals of the trip appears to

have

been the founding of a

Kuskokwim

trading sta- tion. In 1832 such ^{a post}

was

established at the Holitna

and Kus- kokwim

River junctions.

The

following year it

was abandoned and

a

new

one erected at

Kwigiumpainukamiut

(Zagoskin, _1956, p. 258;

VanStone, 1959, p. 46).

The

finalRussian trading establishment be-

gan

to function at

Kolmakov Redoubt

in 1841 (Zagoskin, _{1956, p.}

258). Subsidiarystores atOgavik, Vinasale,

and Mumtrekhlagamiut

Station

(modern

Bethel) represent therangeof

known

Russiantrading posts along the river (for details see Oswalt, 1963 b).

The

imported

manufactured

goods found at

Crow

Village were analyzed^{earlier in} an attempttodatethe various tradeitems.

There

is littlethatcan be

added

onthissubject,

and we must

be content with the general observation that the tradematerials, taken asawhole, ap- pear ^to belong to thelatterpart of the 19th century. This statement doesnot, however, answerall questions concerning thematterofdating unless

we

^{are preparedto}saythat allthe tradegoods

from

thesite be- long to the period of

American

^{influence, that is, the period after the} purchase. Since

Crow

Village

was

occupied at thetime ofZagoskin's visitto the central

Kuskokwim

ⁱⁿ 1843

and

1844,

and presumably

for

some

time before these dates, it is to be expected that materials be- longing to the Russian period

would

occur in the collection. In fact, prior to the excavation of the site, the authors

had

anticipated that their

work would make

itpossible to arrive at definiteconclusions con- cerning thenature^ofboth Russian

and American

tradeinfluences.

A

clear

dichotomy

did not emerge,

and

therefore a

major problem

is to determine

which

tradegoodsare of Russianorigin

and which

wereob- tained

from American

traders.

In order to answer this question, or at least to

make

a reasonable attempt atansweringit,

we must

turntothehistorical sources,

namely

Zagoskin. According to

him

the specific tradegoods

which

the

Rus-

sians introduced to the

Kuskokwim

included black

and

white beads, tobacco, Aleutian axes, copper

and

cast iron dishes, flannel blankets,

and

itemsof

European

^{clothing. Otheritems}offered fortrade

by

the Russians in southwestern Alaska,

which

probably were introduced along the

Kuskokwim

^{River, included small white beads,} "long"

virston°e1

CROW

VILLAGE,

ALASKA 79

beads, small red

and

blackbeads, steel-colored

and

blue beads, knives, spears ofiron, steel for striking a fire, needles, combs, pipes, tin

and

cast iron pots, large cups, mirrors, copperrings, earrings, small bells,

and navy

buttons (Zagoskin, 1956, pp. 137, 153, 164, 252-253).

It

would

bedesirable^ifthelistofRussian tradegoods

was more

ex- plicitly descriptive, but thisis theonly laiown inventory. It isclear

from

thislist that there are at least a few Russian trade itemsin the

Crow

Village collection.

Most

notable in this regard are the beads.

An

earlieranalysis of thebeadsstressedthe general19th-ceutuiy char- acter ofthe assemblage, although verylittle

was

said about the pos- sible origin ofthe variousformsof beads. It

was

possible toidentify with afau-degree ofcertaintyonlythe faceted bluebeads asRussian, but likewise^{it is}true that

any European-made bead

could

have

been obtained

by

the RussiansfortheirAlaskan trade.

The

difficultyhere

is that the sale or trading of beads to the

Kuskokwim Eskimos

has continued^right

down

tothepresent time. Itisundoubtedlytruethat various shapes,colors,

and

sizesof beadswere tradedat specifictimes, but our

knowledge

ofthe

bead

trade

on

the

Kuskokwim,

or

anywhere

elseinAlaskaforthatmatter,isnotdetailed

enough

topresenta chro- nology based on bead types. All that can be said is that Zagoskin

listsfourcolors of beadsthatoccurin the

Crow

VUlage collection

and

there is the possibility that thesewere Russian trade items.

The

single copper bracelet in the collection is, with the exception of the beads, the object

most

likely to be considered as of Russian

origin. Itispossiblethat

some

of the castironfragments

may

be

from

the types ofdishes

and

pots described

by Zagoskm, and

the

same

ap- pliestotheiron strike-a-light

and

knife blade. Inspite ofthe existence of these

presumably

Russian artifacts, however, it is clear that the bulk of the imported

manufactured

goods

from Crow

VUlage belong to the

American

period

and

were obtained

from

the traders

who

suc- ceeded those of the Russian-American

Company on

the

Kuskokwim.

This can

mean

only that the Russian influence at

Crow

VUlage

was

slight, atleast in terms of materialculture, in spite of the nearness of the

Kolmakov

trading station

and

the acknowledged influence of the Russian

Orthodox Church

in the vUlage.

Thissituationisdifficulttounderstand,

and

perhapstheonlyreason- ableexplanationliesinthereemphasis ofa point thathasalreadybeen

made: The

actual periodof Russian influence along themiddle

Kus- kokwim was

not oiUy relatively short

but

lacked intensity.

The

rarityofpublishedaccountsdating

from

theRussian occupation

makes

it difficult to assess the influence the Russians exerted

on

thelives of the

Kuskokwim

Eskimos. It hasbeenstated that, initially, the

Rus-

sians

came

to theriver for the pm'pose of expanding their inland fur trade.

They

werefewin

number, and

they appearto

have

established