Alaska (><) Philippines Connection 1

We have Much in Common to Share

[1]Bering Strait Land Bridge Migration Theory

To understand what Alaska has in common with Philippines one must look back in history, before the 18^th Century to what is now the State of Alaska (665,400 mi²). This vast area was inhabited by Natives believed to have crossed the Arctic/Polar Zone land bridge from Russia and adapted to Polar-Subpolar-Temperate climates to build distinct cultures and a unique civilization. The more than 7,000 Philippines island (115,831 mi²) archipelago was originally inhabited by other Asian Native people who were quite comfortable in their Tropical Climate Zone abundance.

First documented European contact with Philippines was made in 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan in his circumnavigation expedition, during which he was killed in the Battle of Mactan.

Forty-four years later, a Spanish expedition led by Miguel López de Legazpi left modern Mexico and began the Spanish conquest of Philippines. Legazpi's expedition arrived in the Philippines in 1565, during the reign of Philip II of Spain, whose name has remained attached to the country.

[2]Early Mapping of Southeast Asia, Suaraz, Thomas, 1999.

Spanish claims to the Alaska region dated to the Papal Bull of 1493, but never involved colonization, forts, or settlements. Instead, Madrid sent out various naval expeditions to explore the area and to claim it for Spain. In 1775 Bruno de Hezeta led an expedition; the Sonora, under Bodega y Quadra, ultimately reached latitude 58° north, entered Sitka Sound and formally claimed the region for Spain. The 1779 expedition of Ignacio de Arteaga and Bodega y Quadra reached Port Etches on Hinchinbrook Island, and entered Prince William Sound. They reached a latitude of 61° north, the most northern point attained by Spain.

Russian expeditions of exploration reached Alaska by the early 18th century, and colonial traders (especially fur-traders) followed. On some islands and parts of the Alaskan peninsula, groups of Russian traders proved capable of relatively peaceful coexistence with the local inhabitants. Other groups could not manage the tensions and perpetrated exactions.  Hostages were taken, individuals were enslaved, families were split up, and other individuals were forced to leave their villages and settle elsewhere. In addition, during the first two generations of Russian contact, eighty percent of the Aleut population died of Old World diseases, against which they had no immunity.

Aleut People perform traditional dance in the Aleutian Archipelago.

[3]The Aleut Corporation. Aleut History.

Life for Indigenous Peoples Occupied by Invaders

Before the Spaniards came to Philippines, aboriginal people enjoyed the fruits of the lands. They tilled the lands and lived in abundance since the lands were fertile and every plant could grow. Food was sufficient and no native went hungry.

Sounds almost Biblical, doesn’t it?

Everything changed with coming of the Spaniards. They divided the archipelago into the encomiendas, an economic ststem which resulted in exploitation of the Natives. Over some 333 years of occupation, the Spaniards awarded lands they usurped as royal grants to the colonial officials and Catholic religious orders in exchange for their conquest of the Natives. The encomenderos extended the scope of their royal grants by usurping ownership of the lands previously developed by the people. More lands were turned into agricultural lands and feudal exploitation of the natives became worse.

[4]Understanding Philippine History; Readings and Discourse

The Alaska Experience was Similar--with Russian conquests.

In 1784 Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov arrived in Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island, operating the fur-trading Shelikhov-Golikov Company. Shelikhov and his group killed hundreds of indigenous Alaskan  Koniag, then founded the first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska – on the island's Three Saints Bay. By 1788 Shelikhov and others had established a number of Russian settlements over a large region, including the mainland areas around Cook Inlet.

Numerous Russian Orthodox Churches around Alaska have unique steeples. This one is located on the Kenai Peninsula of Southcentral Alaska.

[4]A History of the Russian-American Company.

Russian fur-traders informally introduced the Russian Orthodox Church (with its rituals and sacred texts translated into Aleut at a very early stage) in the 1740s–1780s. During his settlement of Three Saints Bay in 1784, Shelikov introduced the first resident missionaries and clergymen.

Russian Orthodox Church in Manila.

The United States of America was founded in 1776 by mostly Anglos from Europe. Manifest Destiny would ultimately conquer Native "Indian" frontier inhabitants to conclude its Westward Expansion in Alaska and Hawaii. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867.

5]Manifest Destiny, Encylopedia Britanica