Self-name: Aleut, Unangan

Numeracy: 397 people.

The Aleut language belongs to the Eskimo-Aleut family.

Place of residence. In Russia Aleuts live in the Commander Islands (Medny, Bering islands) and most of the Aleuts live in the USA (Alaska, the Aleutian Islands).

Origin and settlement.

The history of studying the Aleuts dates back to the discovery of the Aleutian Islands in 1741 by the Second Kamchatka Expedition (1732-1743). Russian mariners, explorers, and industrialists collected data on the culture of the people. For a long time there were two hypotheses of their origin. According to one, the Aleuts came from the north-eastern Asian coast, according to the other - from Alaska. Research proves that the formation of anthropological type, language and culture took place 6000-4600 years ago.

There is an assumption that the Aleuts were a southern group of Eskimos, according to other sources - they became an independent ethnos quite a long time ago.

That's interesting:

The Orthodox missionary I. Veniaminov (later Metropolitan Innokenty of Moscow and Kolomna), who lived among the Aleuts and overcame many obstacles in his missionary work, wrote: 'The most terrible sufferings will not elicit a groan or a cry from an Aleut. When caught in a snare, the Aleut will wait motionless until the teeth that have entered deeply into his body are removed from his leg. The Aleut is utterly fearless. He considers it a disgrace to be surprised at anything. Nothing will please him, nothing will frighten him, nothing will make a strong impression on him'.

One of the Aleuts, Peter Aleut, is honoured as a martyr by the Orthodox Church.

Clothing

Kamleyka — blind, waterproof garment made from the guts of marine animals with sleeves, closed collar and hood (a prototype of the European windbreaker).

Footwear — Torbasa — are soft boots made from the skin of sea animals.

Commercial headgear: wooden hat of conical shape with a strongly elongated front part, decorated with polychrome painting, carved bone, feathers, and sea lion whiskers.