So here's something I've been working on for a while.
@HongCanucker deserves the credit for introducing me to the
OTL Alaskeros. I also may now have have been inspired to make a Yukon infobox
It's worth pointing out that a lot of Alaskans have Slavic heritage from outside Russia, but they aren't considered separate ethnic groups due to the level of intermarriage between groups. These notable minorities are generally defined by their linguistic or cultural differences, but a lot of mainstream Alaskans are descended from a mixture of Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, English, Native and Cossack ancestors.
Anglo-Alaskans, also known as
English-speaking Alaskans,
English Alaskans,
Anglophone Alaskans, or
Yukoners, are the English Canadian or English-speaking residents of the Canadian province of Alaska. Anglo-Alaskans are the largest minority group in the province, distinguished by their use of the English language compared to the official status of Alaska as a Russian-speaking (russophone) province. Under Alaskan, Canadian and Imperial law, the English-speaking community in Alaska constitutes an official linguistic minority population. At the 2011 census, 314,854 residents of Alaska declared English as their mother tongue, approximately 14.2% of the provincial population.
The origins of the English-speaking Alaskans include immigration from other parts of British America, particularly large emigration from other Canadian provinces in the late 19th century, especially following successive gold rushes. The Anglophone population is heavily concentrated in the east of the province, specifically the governorates of Stikine, Tongass, and Yukon – where English-speakers make up a majority of the population. The strong English language education program in Alaskan schools has made estimating the population of English-speaking Alaskans difficult, with growing urban communities in Juneau, Sitka and Vasiliya. In the late 20th century, with the rise of Alaskan nationalism, there has been an awakening of the Anglophone political consciousness, with a rise in support for more autonomy in Yukon, or even a separate province. In 1991, the Alaskan government devolved significant powers to Yukon as an “autonomous governorate” with its own legislature.
Alaskan Cossacks are ethnic Cossacks who settled in Alaska during its period of Russian colonisation, with the first Cossacks arriving in Russian Alaska during the 1800s, primarily to protect the growing colony from Native Alaskan attacks. By 1818 the Alaskan Cossack Host was formally established by imperial decree and by 1830 nearly 6,000 Cossacks had arrived in the colony, establishing holds across the northern frontier to pacify the area, protect settlers and interact with the indigenous peoples, many of whom were integrated into the Cossack hierarchy through intermarriage.
In 1837, the city of Novo-Cherkassk-on-the-Yukon was established as the administrative centre of the Alaskan Cossack Host, which largely operated independently as the
de facto government in northern Alaska. The semi-nomadic Cossacks played a key role in settling the interior, and interacted with British fur traders travelling overland from Rupertsland, establishing the first overland networks between Alaska and British America. During the War for Alaska, the Cossacks took to raiding British positions and then vanishing into the wilderness, but under the terms of the Treaty of Paris the British agreed to respect their traditional lifestyle if they recognised British suzerainty, and the relationship between successive governments and the Alaskan Cossacks has been one of semi-autonomy ever since. Alaskan Cossacks played a key role in the liberation of the interior city of Chena during the Alaskan Uprising, where they routed revolutionary forces, and for their actions, King-Emperor George V created the Royal Cossack Battalion as a permanent fixture of the British Army, which persists to this day.
In the 21st century, the Alaskan Cossacks are a polyethnic group of mixed Slavic and Native Alaskan descent, who primarily reside in semi-autonomous holds along the Tanana River, the lower Yukon River and throughout the Kuskokwim Mountains, centred on the city of Novo-Cherkassk-on-the-Yukon. Traditional hold culture remains strong amongst Alaskan Cossacks, although many in the younger generations have opted to leave the conservative hold lifestyle to live in the more cosmopolitan coastal cities. Regardless, Cossacks maintain a unique status in Alaska distinct from the province’s other inhabitants, with the number of Cossacks numbering at 282,475 at the 2011 census, making up 12.8% of the provincial population
The
Alaskeros (Filipino:
Mga Alasqueros) are a polyethnic group in Alaska, who can trace their descent from Filipino seasonal migrant workers who first arrived in the province in the 1870s, many of whom eventually settled in towns and cities along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska and intermarried with the indigenous Eskimo peoples. At the 2011 census there were 95,424 residents of Alaska who reported their ethnicity as Alaskero, 4.3% of the total population of the province, as ethnicity is based on self-identification the actually number of Alaskeros may be much higher. The Philippine Islands became part of the British Empire in 1868, and the first Filipinos came to Alaska in 1878 to work in the province’s salmon canneries, farms and mines, with many taking advantage of their status as British subjects to settle permanently in the province, marrying Eskimo women and establishing their own communities.
Despite discrimination throughout the 20th century, and actions limiting continued Filipino immigration, the Alaskero population has survived and thrived in the coastal regions of Alaska. In the 21st century, Alaskeros are the largest population of Asian descent in Alaska and western Canada, with a unique cultural identity formed from the blending of Flipino, Alaskan and Eskimo cultures. Alaskero communities are most prevalent in the larger coastal cities, where they form close-knit neighbourhoods, the most notable being the “Little Manila” districts of Juneau and Vasiliya.
The
Doukhobors in Alaska are a Spiritual Christian religious group of Russian origin that emigrated to Alaska in the 1880s fleeing persecution in the Russian Empire. Although the ancient origin of the Doukhobors is uncertain, they were first recorded in 1701 and were categorised as “Spiritual Christians”, forming a non-Orthodox ethno-confessional faith that was harshly oppressed in Imperial Russia by both the state and church authorities. Doukhobor communities in Russia were persecuted and forcibly resettled numerous times until the 1880s, when the Russian government, under international pressure, agreed to allow the Doukhobors to leave the country, subject to them never returning. Although they first emigrated to the Colony of Cyprus, the Alaskan government offered more land, transportation and aid to resettle in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, and by 1900 nearly 10,000 Doukhobors had migrated from Russia to Alaska.
As they were mostly of peasant origin, the Doukhobor immigrants adapted to life in agricultural communes throughout the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, working as farmers, loggers, and lumbermen, and establishing communal hamlets. During the Alaskan Uprisings, the Doukhobors refused to take up arms, citing their pacifist views, and were targeted by communist and anarchists, who attacked and destroyed many communities. Following the uprising, Doukhobor leader Pyotr Verigin founded the Alliance 19 party, to campaign for a return to home rule and land reform amongst other issues, and he served as State Minister from 1923 until his assassination in 1924. At the 2011 census, there were 45,772 self-reported Doukhobors in Alaska, 2.1% of the total provincial population, and the majority continue to reside in communities throughout the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the city of Nelchinevka.
Franco-Alaskans (French:
Franco-Alaskiens) are French Canadians or French-speaking residents of the Canadian province of Alaska. The 2011 census identified 26,577 residents of the province as francophone, 1.2% of the province’s total population, and approximately 155,000 residents, or nearly 7% of the total population, are of at least partial French descent. Alaska was founded as a Russian colony, and is geographically the farthest-removed province from Canada’s historic francophone population, thus it is not surprising to find that francophone Alaskans are few in number. The first francophones came to Alaska in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during the gold rushes, primarily from Quebec and Acadiana, who settled in the eastern governorates of Stikine, Tongass, and Yukon. Successive immigrants came from Europe and Africa, making the Franco-Alaskan community a diverse one encompassing many places of origin with a unique culture compared with other French Canadian populations.
