St. Pachomius Library

Alaska

Site of the first large-scale Orthodox missions in America. The American Diocese was based in Alaska until after the US purchase. With the arrival of large numbers of Orthodox immigrants in the Lower Forty-Eight, the Diocese shifted its attention southwards, but the Church survived and a uniquely indigenous American Orthodox culture developed, largely among Native peoples and in the face of low-level persecution by the white Protestant establishment.

Official:
- OCA Diocese of Alaska: --- OCA
- Homepage of St. Herman's Seminary, Kodiak: --- St. Herman's
General Historical: Articles:
- In the Beginning Was the Word: The Russian Church and Native Alaskan Cultures Library of Congress exhibit. --- LOC
- Meeting of Frontiers: The Russian Colonization of Alaska: Library of Congress Exhibit. --- LOC
- Fr. Martin Ritsi: Alaska: the Last Frontier: --- OCMC
General Historical/Theological: Books:
- Alaskan Orthodox Texts. A remarkable collection of texts in the Aleut, Tlingit, and Yupik languages. --- All Saints of North America, Hamilton
- Lydia T. Black: Russians in Alaska, 1732-1867, (2004). Fairbanks: Univ. of Alaska, 2004. A somewhat revisionist history of Russian America, intended to counteract Russophobic stereotypes. The chapter on Orthodox history is particularly interesting, and stresses figures often on the sidelines in other accounts.
- Bp. Gregory Afonsky: A History of the Orthodox Church in Alaska, 1794-1917, (1977). Kodiak: St. Herman Seminary, 1977.
- Soterios A. Mousalimas: The Transition from Shamanism to Russian Orthodoxy in Alaska, (1992). Providence: Berghahn, 1995.
- Fr. Michael Oleksa: Alaskan Missionary Spirituality, (1987). New York: Paulist Press, 1987.
- Fr. Michael Oleksa: Orthodox Alaska -- A Theology of Mission, (1992). Crestwood: SVS, 2002.
- A Monk of Valaam: The Russian Orthodox Religious Mission in America, 1794-1837, (1894). Translated by Colin Bearne. Kingston, Ont.: Limestone, 1978. Also includes extensive correspondence by or about St. Herman, and the writings of Fr. Gideon.
- Andreia A. Znamenski: Shamanism and Christianity -- the Native Encounter with Russian Orthodox Missions in Siberia and Alaska, (1999). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1999.
Alaskan Orthodox Cultures:
- Old Believers:
  
  Matt Volz: Alaska's Russian dissidents integrate with American life. Feature in Juneau Empire, July 2004. --- Yahoo Orthodox News
PEOPLE:

Official Alaskan Saints: Herman; Innocent; Jacob Netsvetov; Joasaph Bolotov [not yet canonized]; Juvenaly; Olga [not yet canonized]; Peter the Aleut;
Some other people associated with Alaska: Amos Wallace; Fr. Gerasim Schmaltz; Hieromonk Gideon; Bp. John Mitropolsky; Bp. Nestor Zass;
PLACES: Spruce Island;

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