Description
Aleuts are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska and the Russian administrative division of Kamchatka Krai. There are 13 federally recognized Aleut tribes in the Aleut Region of Alaska. The earliest people in this region, the Paleo-Aleuts, arrived in the Aleutian Islands from the Alaskan mainland about 2000 bce. Ancient Unangaxx (Aleut) villages were situated on the seashore near fresh water, with a good landing for boats and in a position safe from surprise attack. Village placement in such locations persisted over the long term, as did many other cultural characteristics.
Language
They speak mutually intelligible dialects and are closely related to the Inuit in language and culture.
Culture
Traditionally, the men hunted seals, sea otters, whales, sea lions, sometimes walrus, and, in some areas, caribou and bears. One-man and two-man skin boats, known as kayaks and baidarkas, as well as large open boats covered with skins and called umiaks (umiaqs, or umiats), were used. Unangax? women gathered fish, birds, mollusks, and wild plant foods such as berries and wove fine grass basketry. Stone, bone, and ivory were fashioned into containers, needles and awls, oil lamps, and other objects.