A few years ago I posted a (now broken) link to a collection of old photos of the Aleutian village of Akutan that I found in an old box in my possession. I had come across these years ago in the village, and after scanning them I sent digital copies to various people and organizations in Alaska that might add them to their archives.
They document some aspects of village life and also the building and operations of a whaling station that was in operation on the island between around 1915 and 1940. The earliest pictures, which show something of the building of the station, date from 1912. I still find them fascinating and quite remarkable (and in some cases quite beautiful) given the island's remoteness and the difficulties that must have confronted the photographer.
Building the whaling station, 1912. (The captions are from notes on the backs of the prints that I scanned.)
Unloading a boiler
A busy day at the station
A blue whale
Atop a finback whale
General view of the station
Local men working at the station. The man in the middle is wearing a traditional seal gut parka.
Future village chief in the middle. I worked with his great grandson.
Baidarka and drying salmon
Skin covered baidarka with village elder
Villagers and livestock
Hiding in the shrubbery
Old Orthodox church with village in the distance.
Inside the church (wedding?)
The master of the ship.
The lookout.
