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To be honest, when I began the reading about the “Final Frontier”, (appropriately named by Mitch Han) I had hope that at least one European nation was relatively benevolent and respectful to their fellow humans. As we’ve discussed, an argument could be made for the French but they had their fair share of cultural imposition. As I should have foreseen, the Russians were arguably as bad as the rest if not worse than even the Spanish. Taylor argues the Russian were brutal, viscous adversaries with specific goals to make as much money as possible and to show the world that they belonged in the elite European nation group. Taylor the Russian promyshlenniki as “…notorious for their brutality to native peoples and for the rapidity with which their operations harvested wild animals to local extinction” (Taylor 447). The statistics he provides would be shocking to anyone who hasn’t read the rest of the chapters of this book. I am numb to the numbers because of all of the decimation we’ve read about in Mexico but in reality, the decline of population experienced would easily rank as genocide-like in today’s world. The Russians, like the other Europeans, brought many diseases that killed off the Natives but Taylor stressed the venereal diseases given to Native women more than in other chapters. The Russian explorers, “held the native women and children [at gunpoint] for ransom, while releasing the Aleut men to fill a large quota of furs (which took months). Once the furs were delivered, the promyshlenniki released the children and the women. In the interim, the Russians exploited the Aleut women as sex slaves. Upon departing, the traders left behind venereal diseases and some trade goods…” (Taylor 451). Though we can be almost sure that this is not the first time such practices had occurred (the Siberian natives come to mind), Taylor chooses to describe this instance specifically and in detail. This makes me think that this interaction ranked as one of the worst on the North American continent.
The Spanish arrival in California contrasted with the Russians in that they put more money into the operation than what they ever expected to get out. As we mentioned in class today, the missions had to be constantly re-supplied and invested in. As Mitch Han discussed, the Spanish were spread thin and tried to create somewhat of an agriculture based, mission directed colony. They built permanent housing and brought in livestock. The Russians did the opposite, simply exploiting the natives hunting skills and leaving once they could fill the hulls of their ships and satisfy their hunger and pleasure. This stark difference can probably be easily attributed to the landscape of Alaska and the surrounding areas but the Russians also didn’t have the Catholic Church and an enormous amount of claimed land already producing profit for the home country.