13 posts tagged “alaska”
LIFE OF
ST. HERMAN OF ALASKA
- (c.1756 - 1837)
- Feast Days: August 9th (canonization)
- & December 13th (repose)
In 1994 the 200th anniversary of Orthodoxy in America was celebrated — the bicentennial of the establishment of a Russian Orthodox mission on Kodiak Island, Alaska. On September 24, 1794, ten missionaries from the Valaam Monastery in the St. Petersburg (Russia) diocese, who had traveled for a year across 7,000 miles, finally reached their harsh new mission land in Alaska, or "Russian America," which had been a part of the Russian Empire until its sale to the United States in 1867. Only one of these original missionaries survived and remained in America—Holy Father St. Herman.
American Orthodoxy today owes a great
debt to these ten missionary monks, most especially to the simple and humble ascetic monk,
Father Herman. Truly the "North-Star of Christ’s Holy Church," and the last
survivor of the original 1794 mission, he worked among the Alutiiq people for 43
years, teaching them by word and by the example of
his holy life and great deeds. For most of those years he lived on Spruce Island—his
"New Valaam"—teaching and caring for the natives as his beloved children,
frequently defending them against the exploitation of the Russian fur traders. The people
quickly grew to love him and came to him with all their problems. He lived the most
ascetic life possible, eating and sleeping little, wearing the same ragged clothes
year-round, feeding the birds and wild animals (even bears), and in continual prayer with
his constant companions—God, the saints and the angels. When smallpox, brought by the
European ships, ravaged the native Alaskans, Father Herman personally ministered to them,
and brought all the orphans to his New Valaam, where he took care of them. He built an
orphanage, school and chapel. He grew food in his garden, caught fish and baked cookies
for the children. He taught them in his school, and showed them by his example how to live
a godly life. Indeed, the children and adults loved their dear Apa (grandfather),
and the native people have maintained their devotion to their beloved holy man until
today. (Most native Alaskans are Orthodox). St. Herman was a clairvoyant wonder-worker,
who saw into people’s hearts and into the future. Once, when a tidal wave (sunami)
threatened the island, the saint put an icon near the sea, and said that the water would
not come past the icon: it didn’t. Another time there was a similar experience with a
forest fire.
click here for the rest of the article
After leaving the Fjord, we counted about 15 whales. I suppose they were humpback. They were very hard to capture with the shutter delay.
Skagway experienced two booms. One when gold was discovered in 1896 in the Canadian Yukon which was only accessible by sea and a grueling trek across White (Dead Horse) Pass.
Today it's mostly a historic tourist town keeping the past alive. This photo was in a museum in back of a store.
"Of the twenty mushers who rushed the serum from Nenana to Nome, 674 miles away, the man who drove the furthest in perilous conditions was Alaska's great sled dog racer Leonhard Seppala. And the dog that led Seppala's team on a loop of two hundred and sixty miles, including a long stretch over the fracturing ice of Norton Sound was the same dog with an impressive record of race victories over the previous decade -- a small, feisty Siberian Husky named Togo, the real hero of the serum run. It wore Togo out and he was unable to race much after that." Please read the rest of this dog's story here.
Getting to St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church,
After visiting in their book store/gift shop and spending some time in the Church, where we met Father Michael who had recently moved from California, we took a tour of the State Capitol Building.
We headed back downtown and had delicious freshly made chocolates for lunch and stopped in a few tourist stores
The Mount Roberts Tram is owned and operated by the Tlingits. Since the sort of steep ticket price includes the museum tour and an award winning movie about native culture, combined with the views, it was all worth while.
I'll add some more pictures here at the bottom and in my photo's and put them all in my Juneau Collection.
This was the first sight we saw on dry land.
When we crossed ourselves upon entering the Cathedral,
Just as it was closing, we arrived at the Bishop's House where St. Innocent lived. The Ranger allowed us to tour the ground floor anyway, which is full of artifacts from the historic and lovingly successful Orthodox mission effort to Alaska. I'll post some more pictures in my photo's. I also have a Collection, accessible at the bottom of the sidebar on the right, called Way Out West Vacation, both of which have a slideshow type option again in the right sidebar if you click on a picture. It's chronological if you click on the last photo first.
Because of the high winds and waves the evening of departure, that continued into the next day, our progress to Sitka was delayed. We were supposed to be there from 12p - 6p Thursday. The ship didn't drop anchor at the Sitka harbor until around 2pm, and then we all had to draw a number for "tender transport". We drew numbers 540 - 547, but the numbers continued to around 1000. The people who had booked a shore excursion didn't have to draw a number and were transported off the boat first. Thus we didn't set foot on Sitka shores until 4pm! and they said we still had to come back by 6. This was quite the bummer as Sitka, home of St. Innocent of Alaska, was our premier destination.
More about St. Innocent from oca.org:
St. Innocent of Alaska
Evangelizer, Teacher, Visionary
Equal to the Apostles, Enlightener of North America
1797 - 1879
 |
| Drawing of St. Innocent by the Very Rev. L.P. Koulos which appeared on the cover of the 1997 OCA Desk Calendar and the OCA Sourcebook. |
Born on August 26, 1797, in a remote village in Siberia, John Popov (who later assumed the surname of Veniaminov) studies for pastoral service at the seminary in Irkutsk. After his marriage to Catherine Sharina (1817) and ordination to the priesthood (1821), Fr. John volunteered for missionary work in Alaska.
Arriving with his family in Unalaska in the Aleutian island chain (1824), Fr. John began his remarkable career as a missionary priest and bishop in the far-reaches of the Russian Empire -- Siberia and Alaska. Following the death of his wife (1839), he entered monastic life by taking the name Innocent and was elected the first resident bishop of Alaska (1840-58).
A person with many skills and interest, Fr. John carefully studied the traditional cultures of his flock and well as their natural environment. He also designed and built churches including the Mission House and St. Michael's Cathedral in Sitka.
An accomplished linguist, Fr. John learned the various native Siberian and Alaskan languages of his diverse flock. While serving in Unalaska, he learned Unangan, the Fox Island dialect of the Aleut people. Along with Aleut leader Ivan Pan'kov, he devised a written grammar and alphabet, translating the Gospel of St. Matthew and liturgical texts. His spiritual treatise Indication of the Pathway into the Kingdom of Heaven was first published in Unangan and was the first Aleut book.
Later in his life he was appointed Metropolitan of Moscow (1868).
However, Metropolitan Innocent's evangelical zeal never diminished --
establishing in 1868 the Orthodox Missionary Society. He died in Moscow
on March 31, 1879, and was canonized a saint of the Orthodox Church on
October 6, 1977.
Our Matushka let me preview the new Saints of North America Activity Book before it went to the presses. All six kids, 6-18 years old, enjoyed it as the stories, along with interesting and engaging icons (drawn by Matushka Christine!), maps, and puzzles, introduce the Orthodox Saints who helped evangelize North America. It's release is just in time to give us a historical background for our upcoming trip to Russian America - Alaska!
It looks like in Sitka we're going to do the unofficial walking tour so that we can be more at our leisure and save money. I've read a couple of reviews that say Sitka is plenty small enough to walk around from end to end, and that you waste an hour boarding and unboarding the bus. I just hope we don't miss the Russian Dancers.
Our next stop will be Juneau. Two of the star attractions are Mendenhall Glacier and Mount Roberts Tramway which takes you 1800 feet to the top. They have a bald eagle center and other things at the top. In the glacier excursion, you aren't allowed on the glacier, but you hike around Tongass National Forest. We'll need to check and see if that will be our only glacier viewing or educational opportunity, which I doubt as Alaska's inside passage has lots of them. I know we'll be sailing pretty close to Glacier Bay National Park.
This site
from the Library of Congress with it's series of archives in the
continuing pages gives a very moving account of Russian Orthodox
America in Alaska. I can't help but note the contrast between how the
Russian Christians treated the Natives and the way the western
Europeans treated Native peoples. The Alaskan Aleuts and Tlingits were
never forbidden to speak their native language, they were not coerced
into Christianity nor forced into adopting "Christian", much less
European behaviors, and they held high ranking positions in government
and in the church from the outset. The Priests provided the delicate
balance of keeping the church pure from paganism and shamanism, while
maintaining respect for people made in God's image and who possess God
given free will.
