Finding Common Ground

Finding Common Ground. . Russians and Native Alaskans took the first tentative steps toward mutual understanding in the Russian Bishop's House. The bishop lived here alongside Tlingit students and Native and Kryol (mixed ancestry) men studying to become Orthodox priests., Russian priests in Alaska learned the Native languages, often helping to develop the first written form. They translated religious texts and taught Native children to read and write in their own language., Native Alaskans found similarities between their customs and ceremonies and Russian Orthodox traditions and beliefs. These similarities allowed clan members to continue to practice Native traditions in a Christian world and help to explain why the Orthodox Church in America remains strong in Alaska today., Captions , (Top, left to right): , . The Russian imperial government expected the Russian Orthodox Church to oversee native education. Alaska Native schoolchildren pose near here at the main entrance to the Russian Bishop's house. , . Clergy and congregation pose with a model of St. Michael's Cathedral in the front yard of the Russian Bishop's House around 1900. The cathedral and the Russian Bishop's House symbolize Alaska's living Orthodox heritage. , . An Orthodox priest and Native Alaskans pose with beehives behind the Russian Bishop's House around 1900. Russians , many from northern Siberia , and Natives shared their techniques for growing and gathering food in this challenging climate. , . Interior of the newly-built Schoolhouse around 1900, one of many schools in Sitka at the time. Notice the image of Russian Czar, Nikolai II that faced the class. , (Background photo) View of Russian Bishop's House from beach by E.W. Merrill, around 1900. (Noted on the photo is the Russian Bishop's House having been built in 1842 and the adjacent schoolhouse in 1897).