On the coast of California, a couple of hours north of San Francisco is a remarkable place, rich in history. Fort Ross is the southernmost outpost of the Russian Empire on the West Coast of the United States.
Now Fort Ross State Historic Park, Fort Ross was established in 1812 as a trading entrepôt by its director, Grigory Shelikhov, under the auspices of the Russian-American Company. The company sent a recommendation to the emperor, Alexander, endorsing the settlement at Fort Ross.
“This settlement has been organized through the initiative of the Company. Its purpose is to establish a settlement there or in some other place not occupied by Europeans, and to introduce agriculture there by planting hemp, flax and all manner of garden produce,” the founding document read. “They also wish to introduce livestock breeding in the outlying areas, both horses and cattle, hoping that the favorable climate, which is almost identical to the rest of California, and the friendly reception on the part of the indigenous people, will assist in its success.”
Russian Orthodoxy also figured into the settlement.
Today, a reproduction of a Russian Orthodox chapel is part of Fort Ross State Historic Park. The original chapel was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and was reconstructed ten years later. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1969, although a fire destroyed it the following year. It was rebuilt in 1973.
No contact between Native Americans and colonizers in North America was entirely benign, but the Russian missionaries did better than most.
Catherine the Great authorized a mission to Alaska. When Father Herman and nine monks from the Valaam Monastery in Russia arrived in Kodiak, Alaska, on September 24, 1794, they immediately took the part of the Alaska Natives, who had been abused by Alexander Baranov, manager of the Kodiak Island settlement.
Baranov and the Russian-American Company forced Alaska Natives to hunt for sea otters, even during the harsh winters. He and his compatriots abused Native women and children. Many colonists working for the Russian-American Company took Alaska Native women as concubines.
Father Herman’s advocacy on the part of Alaska Natives placed him at odds with Baranov and the company. After the monk reported those abuses to authorities in Russia, Baranov complained that Father Herman was “a hack writer and chatterer.”
The monk eventually retreated to Spruce Island, where he constructed a hermitage and chapel, although he continued to “commute” to Kodiak by kayak. In 1970, the Orthodox Church in America elevated Father Herman to sainthood.
Today, the Orthodox Church in Alaska is overwhelmingly populated by Alaska Natives, both clergy and laity. Liturgies are conducted in English, Slovak and various Native languages.
Priests in Alaska no longer refer to their church as Russian Orthodoxy. It is merely Orthodoxy – and part of the Orthodox Church in America.
Although the practice was paused during the coronavirus epidemic, Fort Ross hosts an Alaska Native Weekend every other year. Alaska Natives – Tlingit, Haida and Unangax – travel down to the southernmost Russian settlement in North America, demonstrate Native crafts, eat traditional foods and perform Native dances and ceremonies.
When my son and I visited Fort Ross to film as part of our documentary about Orthodoxy in Alaska, we encountered mixed views about the impact of Orthodoxy on Alaska Natives.
Some voices were critical, claiming that Orthodox missionaries engaged in cultural genocide. Others expressed appreciation that the Orthodox Church defended Alaska Natives and, as a whole, respected their cultures.
What do we learn from Fort Ross and the history of Orthodoxy in North America?
First, Orthodoxy in North America is one of the few religious traditions, along with Buddhism and some Asian religions, that migrated from the West to the East.
Second, and more importantly, although no contact (as I said) between colonizers and Native Americans was entirely benign, some religious traditions— the Quakers and the Dutch Reformed, for example— did better than others.
There is no historical evidence of forced conversions by Orthodox missionaries, and Father Herman and the missionaries from Valaam clearly defended Alaska Natives from exploitation at the hands of Baranov and the Russian-American Company.
Consequently, Orthodoxy in Alaska identifies today as Orthodox, no longer as Russian Orthodox. That in itself is worthy of comment.
An Episcopal priest, Balmer is John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College and the author of more than a dozen books, with commentaries appearing in newspapers across the country. He is a contributing correspondent at Good Faith Media.
