Peter the Aleut
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Cungagnaq (Born circa 1800 - d. 1815) is venerated as a martyr and saint (as Peter the Aleut) by the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was presumably a native of Kodiak Island (Aleutian Islands), and is said to have received the Christian name of Peter when he was baptized into the Orthodox faith by the monks of St. Herman's missionaries operating in the north.² He is alleged to have been captured by Spanish sailors near Fort Ross and tortured and killed at the instigation of Roman Catholic priests at Mission Dolores,³ near San Francisco.⁴ At the time of his death, California was Spanish territory, and Spain was worried about Russian advances southwards from Alaska.⁴ The historicity of Peter's death and the manner of his death remain a matter of dispute. Hubert Howe Bancroft, in his multi-volume History of California, writes that Russian sources accused "the Spaniards of cruelty to the captives, stating that according to Kuskof’s⁵ report one Aleut who refused to become a Catholic died from ill-treatment received from the padre at San Francisco. The Spanish records are somewhat voluminous on this affair, but not very important, being largely repetitions of the same statements by different officials or minor details respecting the transportation or examination of the captives."⁶

Martyrdom

In 1815 a group of Aleut seal and otter hunters, including Peter, was captured by Spanish sailors, who took them to Los Angeles for interrogation (some evidence points to a Southern California connection because the group was captured off San Pedro - a well known landmark offering a harbor for Los Angeles, although some modern sources claim the capture occurred near San Francisco)⁴ With threats of torture, the Roman Catholic priests attempted to force the Aleuts to deny their Orthodox faith and to convert to Roman Catholicism.²

When the Aleuts refused, the priest had a toe severed from each of Peter's feet. Peter still refused to renounce his faith and the Spanish priest ordered a group of Native Americans indigenous to California to cut off each finger of Peter's hands, one joint at a time, finally removing both his hands.² They eventually disemboweled him, making him a martyr to the Eastern Orthodox faith. They were about to torture the next Aleut when orders were received to release them.

Historicity

The account of the martyrdom of St. Peter the Aleut is contained in a lengthy letter written on Nov. 22, 1865, by Semyon Ivanovich Yanovsky to Damascene, abbot of the Valaam Monastery in Russia.⁷ Yanovsky (1789-1876), who is also one of the chief sources of information about St. Herman of Alaska, was chief manager of the Russian colonies from 1818-1820. In the letter he was reporting on an incident that had taken place in 1815, that is, a half a century earlier; he adds, "At the time I reported all this to the Head Office in St. Petersburg." And indeed, the latter communication, his official dispatch to the company's main office, dated Feb. 15, 1820, also relates the story of St. Peter's martyrdom.⁸ Having himself been profoundly affected by his acquaintance with St. Herman, he spent the latter part of his lifetime in a Russian monastery.⁹

Another witness is a Russian-Alaskan of more dubious reputation, perhaps with the name of Keglii Ivan^{citation needed}). It should be noted that no similar occurrence ever took place in the history of the Spanish mission in California^{citation needed}. Bancroft, in his multi-volume History of California, briefly notes this story, as mentioned above.

This story is perhaps much more a statement of the distrust and competition that was transpiring between Russian and Spanish interests along the California coast line. It is also very reflective of similar stories that have become part of the hagiography of Christendom throughout the centuries (e.g. St. Victorinus - feast day: February 25, d. 284; St. Arcadius; Sts. Anastasia and Cyril¹⁰; Saint James Intercisus). There are, however, numerous accounts of Russians and Aleuts who escaped brutal treatment aboard Russian ships to the relative safety of the Spanish missions, some of whom even accepted baptism,¹¹ for example, at Mission San Buenaventura. Bancroft also confirms this.⁶

Veneration

According to tradition, upon receiving the report of Peter's death, St. Herman back on Kodiak Island was moved to cry out, "Holy new-martyr Peter, pray to God for us!")⁴

Peter the Aleut was formally declared a Saint as the "Martyr of San Francisco" in 1980. His feast day is commemorated in the Orthodox faith on September 24.

There are a number of churches dedicated to him in North America, for example at Minot, North Dakota;¹² Calgary;¹³ and Abita Springs, Louisiana.¹⁴

Notes

Sources

• Bancroft, Hubert Howe, History of California 1801-1824 vol II (History Company, 1886).
• Farris, Glenn, "The Strange Tale of Saint Peter, the Aleut: A Russian Orthodox Martyr on the California Frontier". Paper presented at "The Spanish Missions and California Indians Symposium," D-Q University, 3 March 1990.
• Ogden, Adele, The California Sea Otter Trade 1784-1848 (Berkeley: University of California Publications in History, 26).
• The Russian Orthodox Religious Mission in America, 1794-1837, with Materials Concerning the Life and Works of the Monk German, and Ethnographic Notes by the Hieromonk Gedeon. Originally published in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1894. Translated from the Russian by Colin Bearne; ed. by Richard A. Pierce (Kingston, Ont., Canada: Limestone Press, 1978).
• Tarakanoff, Vassili Petrovitch, Statement of My Capitivity Among the Californians (Los Angeles: Glen Dawson Press, 1953).
• Tikhmenev, P.A, A History of the Russian-American Company. Translated and edited by Richard Pierce and Alton Donnelly (Seattle: Univ. of Washington Press, 1978).