A Kodiak Island native, Peter Chukagnak worked for the Russian American Company hunting sea otters on the California coast. He was taken to San Nicolas Island with a hunting group in 1815. The hunters paddled in kayaks from the island to San Pedro where they were captured by Spanish soldiers. According to an eyewitness account, a priest had Chukagnak killed because he refused to convert to Catholicism.
DATE OF BIRTH: Unknown
PLACE OF BIRTH: Kaguyak, Kodiak Island, Russian Alaska
DATE OF DEATH: 1815
PLACE OF BURIAL: Los Angeles, Alta California, New Spain
References
Gibson, James R. and Alexei A. Istomin with the assistance of Valery A. Tishkov. Russian California 1806–1860: A History in Documents, Vol. 1. London: Ashgate (2014): 407.
Istomin, Alexei A., James R. Gibson, and Valery A. Tishkov. Russia in California: Russian Documents on Fort Ross and Russian-Californian Relations in 1803–1850. Moscow: Nauka, 2005: 318–19.
Morris, Susan L., Glenn J. Farris, Steven J. Schwartz, Irina V. L. Wender, and Boris Dralyuk. “Murder, Massacre, and Mayhem on the California Coast, 1814–1815: Newly Translated Russian Documents Reveal Company Concern Over Violent Clashes.” Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 34, 1 (2014): 83, 86, 88, 93–95, 97.
Pierce, Richard A. Russian-America: A Biographical Dictionary, 297–98. Kingston, Ontario: The Limestone Press, 1990.
DATE OF BIRTH: Unknown
PLACE OF BIRTH: Kaguyak, Kodiak Island, Russian Alaska
DATE OF DEATH: 1815
PLACE OF BURIAL: Los Angeles, Alta California, New Spain
References
Gibson, James R. and Alexei A. Istomin with the assistance of Valery A. Tishkov. Russian California 1806–1860: A History in Documents, Vol. 1. London: Ashgate (2014): 407.
Istomin, Alexei A., James R. Gibson, and Valery A. Tishkov. Russia in California: Russian Documents on Fort Ross and Russian-Californian Relations in 1803–1850. Moscow: Nauka, 2005: 318–19.
Morris, Susan L., Glenn J. Farris, Steven J. Schwartz, Irina V. L. Wender, and Boris Dralyuk. “Murder, Massacre, and Mayhem on the California Coast, 1814–1815: Newly Translated Russian Documents Reveal Company Concern Over Violent Clashes.” Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 34, 1 (2014): 83, 86, 88, 93–95, 97.
Pierce, Richard A. Russian-America: A Biographical Dictionary, 297–98. Kingston, Ontario: The Limestone Press, 1990.
Last updated: November 17, 2018