Agattu Island

Agattu is a mountainous, treeless island in the Near Islands at the western end of the Aleutian chain. Its shores and surrounding sea have long been home to seabirds and marine mammals. The Sasignan, the Unangan people of the Near Islands, lived on Agattu and neighbouring Attu, travelling between islands in skin boats and drawing much of their food from the sea.

Russian fur hunters arrived off Agattu in 1745, but withdrew to Attu after encountering armed islanders on shore. In the decades that followed, hunting parties returned repeatedly to the Near Islands. As sea otters became scarce, the traders moved farther east, yet continued to demand tribute and compel islanders to hunt for them. The fur trade brought violence and profound changes to the communities of this remote archipelago.