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→Establishment of the First Orthodox Churches: clarifying sentence
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. (The first church which was located on [[Ss. Peter and Paul Church (St. Paul Island, Alaska)|St. Paul Island]] is believed by many to have been built by Russian sailors date back to in 1779, though ascertaining this precisely is difficult.) Assessing the situation in 1796, the Holy Synod decided to create an auxiliary see in Kodiak and named Archamandrite Joasaph to lead it as bishop.
==Missionaries and Martyrs==
