Among some Alaskan Natives, there is a tradition that Goozekwan, the Great White Raven, was once sighted. As the raven drew near, it turned out not to be Goozekwan. The white sails of European ships had been mistaken for the raven's wings. This tradition probably began in the eighteenth century when non-Natives first came to the North Pacific. These first non-Natives were Russians.

The Russians began a period of great change for Alaska. The first phase of this change came between 1725 and 1867 when Russia established a colony in Alaska. The number of Russians who came to Alaska was remarkably small. There were never more than 700 Russians in Alaska at any time.  There were also even smaller numbers of Americans, British, French, and Spanish, who also came to explore and trade in Alaska. Native Alaskans outnumbered the newcomers about 60 to 1. Many Natives never saw any of the Russians or other Euro-Americans. But the Aleuts' world was turned upside down, and other Alaskan Natives that lived along the Pacific coast, such as Alutiiq, Athabaskan, and Tlingit, were also greatly changed by the newcomers to Alaska. In this chapter, we look at why it was Russia that discovered Alaska and learn more about the first Alaskan voyages of discovery.

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