Our History
The location of Old Harbor has its origins in the era of the Russian invasion. The initial contact with the Russian-European's threatened the physical and cultural survival of the Alutiiq people. In 1784, Russian traders massacred several hundred Alutiiq men, women and children at Refuge Rock, a tiny island off the eastern coast of Sitkalidak Island. In Alutiiq, this sacred place is known as Awa'uq - to become numb. This event represented a dramatic turning point in the Alutiiq Native history. The loss of political sovereignty and traditional lands, along with hunger and epidemics of new diseases under Russian subjugation resulted in drastic population decline. After the battle, the Russians established a settlement in the nearby Three Saints Bay. This became the first Russian colony in Alaska where Alutiiq people were forced to hunt and prepare food for Russian use. The Alutiiq people were skillful in all forms of hunting and familiar with the winds and currents of the ocean. Ironically, it was these very skills that caused the eventual disruption of their culture by the Russian hunters in search of fur. Incapable of mastering the Alutiiqs’ astonishing hunting skills, the Russians captured and enslaved the majority of the Native population for the procurement of sea otter pelts and other marine resources.
In 1793, the Russian colonists moved their settlement to Pavlovskaia Gavan - Paul's Harbor - the present location of Kodiak. The Native community they left behind became known as Old Harbor, Nuniaq in Alutiiq and "Starrie Gavan" in Russian. Before Russian conquest, there had been about 10,000 Alutiiq people spread among the numerous villages in the Kodiak Archipelago. By the mid-1800s, epidemic diseases introduced by the Russian's, along with overwork and starvation reduced the Alutiiq population of Kodiak to approximately 2,000 inhabitants.
Old Harbor’s Alutiiq residents moved several times, finally settling in the present location of Old Harbor. Throughout its history, Old Harbor residents have made their living from the sea. In the late nineteenth and twentieth century residents worked in area canneries processing fish for Western markets and they also participated in whaling at Port Hobron, a whaling station located several miles from Old Harbor. The first American school was opened in Old Harbor in 1925 and the Old Harbor Post Office was opened in 1931.
On March 27, 1964 Old Harbor was badly damaged by the tsunamis that followed the Great Alaskan Earthquake, which registered between 8.4 and 8.6 on the Richter scale. Old Harbor was destroyed by the tsunamis that followed the earthquake; only the community's Three Saints Russian Orthodox Church survived the flood. To the local residence this was considered a miracle considering the entire surrounding town site was washed away. Families were forced to evacuate to Anchorage for several months until conditions were safe to return, and the decision to rebuild was made.
Since the earthquake, the village has expanded into three distinct neighborhoods- Downtown (the original town-site), Middle Town (Uptown), and New Town. A gravel road system was built which extends approximately four miles from the downtown area.
Commercial fishing continued as the economic mainstay in the village and in 1988 with the commercial fishing industry booming the population was estimated to be 400 residents. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill of 1989 was a complete economic disaster for the community as all herring and salmon fisheries were closed for a full season. Many fishing families faced bankruptcy as a result of the loss of income and others never fully recovered from the financial loss. Many fishermen believe that the oil spill was the primary cause of the downward spiral of the fish prices because of the complete fisheries closure. Not only did the oil spill affect the fisheries but it also negatively impacted the subsistence way of living for the people. People feared that beach foods, birds, fish and sea mammals had been contaminated and the subsistence harvests declined dramatically. Presently, our community has continued their pre-spill consumption of these foods but notice a reduced amount mammals and seafood.
Old Harbor is an area rich in culture with spiritual ties to the land, bonds of kinship and belief, respect for Elders and community and the shared practices of a subsistence lifestyle. It is a community of survivors and by working together in unity with their visions and goals they will continue to survive and prosper into the future.
History Timeline
1784 - First contact with Europeans
1795 – The first Russian Orthodox priests arrived on Kodiak Island in the 1790s. A church established at Three Saints Bay was later moved to “Old” Harbor, gaining its name because the area represented the previous harbor now moved to Kodiak city
1867 – America purchases Alaska from Russia
1920 – A whaling station is set up at Port Hobron, on Sitklaidak Island across from the village of Old Harbor. Established by North American whaling merchants, the station employed some Old Harbor residents.
1925 – The first American school is established in Old Harbor. Previous to that, a system of church elders provided education for young people wanting to learn to read and write in both Slavonic and Alutiiq.
1937 – The whaling station is shut down, one of the last in North America.
1964 – The Good Friday Earthquake and Tidal Wave of March 26, 1964 destroys most of Old Harbor and neighboring Kaguyak Village. The village is rebuilt and many Kaguyak residents relocate to Old Harbor.
1966 – The City of Old Harbor is incorporated under the State of Alaska
1971 – The Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act is passed by the U.S. Congress
1973 – The Old Harbor Native Corporation is formed
1989 – The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill occurs on Good Friday
1993 – The Old Harbor Native Corporation celebrates its 20th anniversary
1993 – The OHNC makes an agreement with Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Council to protect lands damaged in the oil spill through a conservation agreement that resulted in the Old Harbor Native Corporation Settlement Trust.
2003 – The Old Harbor Native Corporation celebrates its 30th anniversary
