North Pacific High Sea

The western Aleutian seas lie in the path of storms that cross the North Pacific, bringing wind and heavy weather to the islands at the edge of the Bering Sea. The Near Islands were home to the Sasignan, a western Unangan people who crossed the channels in skin boats. Russian fur hunters reached this island group in the 1740s; their pursuit of sea otters soon brought violence and demands for tribute and forced labour.