St. Pachomius Library

St. Peter the Aleut

(Aleut CUNGAGNAQ)
XIX Century
Native Alaskan seal-hunter captured by the Spanish in California during the period of tension between Russia and Spain and killed for refusing to convert from Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism. Those who deny that such an event could have taken place as late as 1815 have, in my opinion, a naive conception of the treatment of Native Americans on the California frontier.
Norman Hugh Redington

ABOUT:
- St. Peter the Aleut: --- U. Mich. OCF
- Raymond A. Bucko, SJ: St. Peter the Aleut: Sacred Icon and the Iconography of Violence, (2007). Journal of Religion and Society, (Series 2). Strongly attacks the historicity of the story, which Fr. Bucko clearly views as detrimental to Orthodox-Catholic relations. But much of the article is devoted to irrelevant comments on the evils of Russian imperialism and the violent character of Aleut society. Valuable nonetheless for its quotation of primary sources and extensive bibliography. --- Creighton University
- Prof. Edward D. Castillo: A Short Overview of California Indian History: Scroll to the section entitled "Native Resistance" to find out what was happening between whites and Indians on the Mission Frontier ca. 1815, when St. Peter and his friends went hunting there. --- CNAHC

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