View source for Pribilof Islands

{{Short description|Group of volcanic islands off the southwest coast of mainland Alaska, United States}}
{{redirect|Pribilof|the ship|MV Pribilof|people with the surname sometimes spelled "Pribilof"|Pribylov}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2007}}
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[[Image:PribilofIslands.jpg|thumb|Map of the Pribilof Islands]]
The '''Pribilof Islands''' (formerly the '''Northern Fur Seal Islands'''; {{langx|ale|Amiq}},<ref>{{Cite book |last=Geoghegan |first=Richard Henry |title=The Aleut language |publisher=United States Department of the Interior |year=1944 |location=[Washington, DC] |pages=102}}</ref> {{langx|ru|Острова Прибылова|Ostrova Pribylova}}) are a group of four [[volcanic island]]s off the coast of mainland [[Alaska]], in the [[Bering Sea]], about {{convert|200|mi|km}} north of [[Unalaska, Alaska|Unalaska]] and 200 miles (320&nbsp;km) southwest of [[Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site|Cape Newenham]]. The islands are part of the [[Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge]]. The [[Siberia]]n coast is roughly {{convert|500|mi|km}} northwest. About {{convert|77|sqmi}} in total area, they are mostly rocky and are covered with [[tundra]], with a population of 572 as of the [[2010 United States census|2010 census]].

==Principal islands==
The principal islands are [[Saint Paul Island (Alaska)|Saint Paul]] and [[St. George Island (Alaska)|Saint George]]. The former was named for the [[Feast of Saints Peter and Paul]], on the day of which the island was first encountered by the Russian explorer [[Gavriil Pribylov]]; the latter was probably named for the ship sailed by Pribylov.<ref name="eb1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Pribilof Islands}}</ref> The [[Otter Island, Alaska|Otter]] and [[Walrus Island, Pribilof Islands|Walrus]] islets are near St. Paul. The total land area of all the islands is {{convert|75.072|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}. The islands are part of the Bering Sea unit of the [[Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge]].<ref>[http://alaskamaritime.fws.gov/units/BeringMAIN.htm Bering Sea Unit, AMNWR] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827203849/http://alaskamaritime.fws.gov/units/BeringMAIN.htm |date=August 27, 2008 }} U.S. Fish and Wildlife</ref>

==Fur trade==
[[File:Fur seals in rookery Pribilof Islands 1950s.PNG|thumb|[[Fur seal]]s in a [[rookery]] in the Pribilof Islands in the 1950s.]]
While oral traditions of the [[Aleut people]] maintain the islands were sparingly visited, "no ethnohistoric or archaeological evidence points to the use or occupation of the Pribilof Islands... by any native people before the Russian period in Alaska."<ref name=Veltre>Veltre, Douglas W. and Allen P. McCartney. ''Russian Exploitation of Aleuts and Fur Seals: The Archaeology of Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth-Century Settlements in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska.'' Historical Archaeology 36, No. 3 (2002), pp. 8–17.</ref> The seasonal migrations of the [[northern fur seal]] became known by the Russians in the 1780s. Swimming north through the [[Aleutian Islands]], the seals returned in the autumn with newly born pups. The unknown northern breeding grounds became a focus of Russian trappers. An employee of the [[Pavel Lebedev-Lastochkin|Lebedev-Lastochkin Company]], [[Gavriil Pribylov]], sailed in 1786 to discover the location, after disobeying orders to retrieve company property in the [[Kurile Islands]].<ref name=LLC>Solojova, Katerina and Aleksandra Vovnyanko. ''The Rise and Decline of the Lebedev-Lastochkin Company: Russian Colonization of South Central Alaska, 1787–1798.'' The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 90, No. 4 (1999), pp. 191–205.</ref> The rookeries Pribylov visited held upwards of four million seals, for which they became famous.<ref name=Veltre/> The islands became the site of the LLC's first [[artel]] in what later became [[Russian America]].<ref name=LLC/>

With the creation of the [[Russian-American Company]], a monopoly, Russian operations continued on the islands. Under the [[Alaska Purchase]] sovereignty was passed to the United States in 1867. From 1870 to 1890, the U.S. government leased them to the [[Alaska Commercial Company]]. From 1890 through 1910, the [[North American Commercial Company]] held the monopoly on seal-hunting there, but the industry shrank considerably owing to seal-hunting on the open sea.

The [[North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911]] was signed by the [[United Kingdom]], [[Japan]], [[Russia]], and the [[United States]] to restrict hunting in the area. Under the [[Fur Seal Act]]<ref>Fur Seal Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 1151–1187, P.L. 89-702, November 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1091)</ref> of 1966, hunting of the seals was forbidden in the Pribilofs, with the exception of subsistence hunting by native [[Aleut]]s.

[[Ambrose Bierce]] suggested that the island should adopt for its motto 'locus sigilli' ("Place of the [[Seal (emblem)]]") in his ''[[The Devil's Dictionary]]''.

A [[post office]] was established for the Pribilofs in 1948 at St. Paul, with Mrs. Ruth Anderson as [[Postmaster|postmistress]].<ref name=posmist>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7VopAAAAIBAJ&pg=5584%2C4864435 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=Pribilofs get a postmistress |date=November 14, 1948 |page=2}}</ref>

==Seal Island Historic District==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2025}}{{main|Seal Island Historic District}}
Naturalist and paleontologist [[Roy Chapman Andrews]] visited the islands in 1913 aboard the [[schooner]] ''[[Adventuress (schooner)|Adventuress]]'' on her maiden voyage with John Borden and crew. His films of fur seals led to efforts to protect the animals. The buildings on St. George and St. Paul Islands related to the hunting of the [[northern fur seal]] make up the [[National Historic Landmark District|national historic district]].

==Today==
Residents are concentrated in the towns of [[St. Paul, Alaska|St. Paul]] and [[St. George, Alaska|St. George]], each on the island of the same name. Many of the residents of the islands are related. St. Paul and St. George each have small airports; air service is provided from the Alaskan mainland.

St. Paul has a population of 479 (2010 census), with its economy heavily dependent on the annual taking of the [[snow crab]] and on subsistence and commercial [[halibut]] harvests. Support services to commercial fleets plying the waters of the Bering Sea also contribute to the economy. The balance of economic activity on the island relates to working for the [[United States Government]]. The [[United States Coast Guard|U.S. Coast Guard]] maintains a base on St. Paul, but no longer maintains a [[LORAN-C]] master station, as LORAN technology has been replaced by [[satellite navigation]]. The [[National Weather Service]] has a station on the island, and the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] maintains a presence.

St. George has a population of 102. Its economy is similar to that of St. Paul.

The Pribilof Islands are a [[birdwatching]] attraction, home to many species that do not fly in [[North America]] beyond Alaska.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Drew |first=Emily |date=2018-10-02 |title=Big leap: Birding the Pribilofs |url=https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/locations-travel/featured-destinations/big-leap-birding-the-pribilofs/ |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=BirdWatching |language=en-US}}</ref>{{clarify|date=April 2013}} More than 210 species have been identified,<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. Paul {{!}} |url=https://www.apiai.org/tribes/st-paul/ |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association |language=en-US}}</ref> and an estimated two million [[seabird]]s nest there annually. [[St. Paul, Alaska|St. Paul]] is particularly popular, having a high cliff wall, known as [[Ridge Wall]], above the [[Bering Sea]].

==See also==

*[[Harrison Gray Otis (publisher)|Harrison Gray Otis]], chief government agent in 1879
*''[[Seal Island (film)|Seal Island]]'', an Oscar-winning documentary short film about the seals that come to the Pribilof Islands for mating season

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Pribilof Islands}}
*[http://www.amiq.org/ The AMIQ Institute] – a research project documenting the Pribilof Islands and their inhabitants
*[http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/FURSEAL.HTML FURSEAL.HTML] – summary of the Fur Seal Act at U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service web site. Retrieved on April 16, 2008.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080511231033/http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title16/chapter24_.html 16 U.S.C. CHAPTER 24—CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF NORTH PACIFIC FUR SEALS] – text of the U.S. Code on the U.S. Government Printing Office web site. Retrieved on April 16, 2008.
*[http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/history/facilities/pribilofs.htm Alaska Fisheries Science Center Historical Corner: The Pribilof Islands] Retrieved on July 23, 2014.
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/3005 Pribilof Islands Seal Trade Collection] at Dartmouth College Library

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{{Islands in the Bering Sea}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}

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[[Category:Pribilof Islands| ]]
[[Category:Islands of the Aleutian Islands]]
[[Category:Islands of the Bering Sea]]
[[Category:Islands of Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska]]
[[Category:Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska]]
[[Category:Islands of Alaska]]
[[Category:Islands of Unorganized Borough, Alaska]]