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2.4.1.wavAleuts are descendants of the third and final prehistoric migration to Alaska. At least 8,000 years ago, and likely earlier, their ancestors crossed from Asia to Alaska, along with the ancestors of the Inupiaq, Yupik, and Alutiiq peoples (collectively known as Eskimo peoples). Linguists estimate that the Aleut language separated from Eskimo languages 4,000 years ago.
The Aleuts settled on the southern part of the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. Archaeological evidence suggests they lived in the eastern Aleutian Islands for at least 6,000 years. The earliest known settlement, a village at Anangula, suggests they lived on the islands as early as 8,500 years ago.
The Aleutian archipelago is a 1,300-mile-long arc of volcanic islands that extend from the Alaska Peninsula in the east to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia in the west. The Aleutians contain 167 named islands (and 57 volcanoes). The largest one, Unimak Island, is the 8th largest island in the U.S. (Unalaska Island, where Dutch Harbor is located, is the 13th largest). The furthest western Aleut settlement was Attu. Aleuts never made the over 200-mile-long crossing to the Commander Islands that are today part of Russia.
Since it is surrounded by the ocean, the climate is maritime and relatively constant year-round. It rarely gets below freezing in winter or over 50 in the summer. It is often damp, rainy, and windy.
The land of the islands is relatively desolate: steep, mountainous, windswept, and devoid of trees or large mammals. But the ocean around these islands is full of life and supported a large Aleut population. Aleuts established settlements on every major island with fresh water. In 1700, as many as 15,000 to 18,000 Aleuts lived on the islands in the Aleutian chain. The Aleuts of the central and western islands spoke Atkan and Attuan. Those of the eastern islands spoke Fox or Unalaskan.
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