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==Establishment of the First Orthodox Churches==
On [[September 24]], 1794, a group of [[monk]]s from [[Valaam Monastery]] (numbered between eight and ten) arrived to evangelize the native population thus beginning the spread of Orthodox Christianity in the New World. Among these were St. [[Herman of Alaska]], and St. [[Juvenaly of Alaska]]. (The others named are Archimandrite [[Joasaph (Bolotov) of Kodiak|Joseph (Bolotov)]], the Hieromonk Macarius, Hieromonk Athanasius, Hieromonk Stephen and Hieromonk Nectarius as well as Hierodeacon Stephen, and Hierodeacon Nectarius.) They landed at Kodiak, and while this would serve as a central point of their missionary activities, it was from this point that they traveled all around southern Alaska, travelling thousands of miles, going as far as the Aleutians. It was in Kodiak that the first Russian Orthodox Church was constructed in Alaska, in 1795, [[Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Kodiak, Alaska)|Holy Resurrection Church]].
By this time, Russians had been in Alaska for many years, and some evangelization had been made among the native Alaskans by laypeople who were members of the Russian American Company. Some of these, such as Osip Prianishnikov, worked very hard to spread the Gospel among the Alaska natives, even learning the Kodiak, Aleut, and Chugach Yupik languages. However, the attitude toward the Church and the Native Alaskans was not shared by all.
For many years, the Russians and the Alaskans battled for primacy over the territory. Eventually, the Russians were able to exert more control, and the Russian American Company eventually became the dominant player in the fur trade in Alaska, which at that point was the major economic reason that Russia had interest in the territory. Shelikhov himself, despite calling for the missionaries to Alaska, was known for his cruelty toward Alaskans. For many, the Christianization of the native people had more to do with trying to pacify, control, and Russianize them rather than actually bringing them the Faith. Furthermore, baptisms were sometimes performed for the purpose of appointing Russians as godparents, thereby giving them much more influence on the families of the Alaskans, whose culture, in general, directed them to be very reverent towards ancestors, including godparents.
By 1800, although there were very few official Orthodox churches established, there were numerous communities that had come into contact with the Orthodox church, and thousands had been baptized. Besides the church in Kodiak, a church had been constructed in Karluk prior to 1800, and one in Old Harbor was constructed soon afterwards. Sitka would follow in 1808. Assessing the situation in 1796, the Holy Synod decided to create an auxiliary see and named Archamandrite Joasaph to lead it as bishop.
==Missionaries and Martyrs==
The first martyr in the Alaskan territory was one of the group of monks from Valaam, Juvenaly, who was murdered in 1795 or 1796. Most of the group that arrived from Valaam would never return to their homeland of Russiadie in Alaska, dedicating having dedicated the rest of their lives to spreading the Word of Christ. Archimandrite Joasaph returned to Irkutsk to be consecrated Bishop of Kodiak, and was consecrated on [[April 10, 1799]]. Hieromonk Makary and Hierodeacon Stephan had accompanied him on the journey; unfortunately all three perished at sea on the return trip, as it neared the Alaskan coast in May of 1799. (St. Herman was the last of the group to fall asleep in the Lord; reposing on Spruce Island in 1837. )
Tsarina [[w:Catherine the Great|Catherine II of Russia]] refused to grant Shelikov's Russian American Company exclusive right to business in Alaska, but after her death in 1796, her son [[w:Paul I of Russia|Paul I]] granted that right in 1799. The Russian American Company, for most essential purposes, became the government of Alaska, and they were in charge of managing the territory, including the spiritual needs of Russians, Creoles (those of mixed Russian and Alaskan ancestry) and the Alaska natives.
*[[Juvenaly of Alaska]]
*[[Peter the Aleut]]
*[[Joasaph (Bolotov) of Kodiak]]
*[[Russian Orthodox Church Sites in Alaska Survey]]
'''Wikipedia'''
