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For centuries The Aleutian Islands have been a stage for invasion and upheaval. This film reveals the storm-lashed islands and the 9,000-year-old culture that was forever changed by fur-seeking outsiders-first the Russians, then later the Americans.
Russian fur traders both abused and massacred the Aleut people. In addition, they brought their diseases to the Aleuts, eliminating native opposition in a less direct, but far more insidious way.
The Americans were aware of the abundance of fish, minerals and other resources that lay waiting on the islands, most of all...the fur. After purchasing Alaska from Russia, the Americans were even more aggressive at plundering the environment than their Russian predessors and continued hunting sea otters right to the edge of extinction.
Under the new owners of Alaska, the Aleut people were once again treated as inferiors whose rights were often violated. They would not escape the american influences and their calm would be shattered once again.
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