Native Relations

Natives were essential to the Russian colony workforce, and Baranov sought to improve relations with them. In his first year, he toured Kodiak, visiting native villages and meeting with chiefs to win their support. 

Baranov also worked to improve the treatment of Native women. He recognized allowing his men to have relations with Native women was important for their morale and difficult to prevent. But this had also been a source of much abuse and trouble between Russians and Natives. To solve these problems, he created a set of rules regarding relations between Russian men and Native women. 

Prostitution was forbidden. A man could take a Native woman as a wife, but only if she and her parents agreed. The man was expected to provide presents to her parents to win this consent. Once a Russian took a Native woman as his wife, he was obligated to provide for her, even if they separated. Mixed Russian-Native children (called Creoles) were recognized as belonging to the mother and could not be taken back to Russia. At the end of their contracts, many Russian men decided to stay in Alaska with their families rather than return to Russia.