Unalaska, Alaska: Memory and denial in the globalization of the Aleutian landscape

Abstract

This paper explores the history and globalization of the landscape of Unalaska, Alaska, an island in the Aleutian chain. The history of the area is characterized by successive waves of occupation and resource extraction by the geopolitical powers of Asia and North America, which began with Russian colonization. Unalaska's landscape is littered with World War II debris that still echoes of Japanese attacks and the bitter memory of US-ordered evacuation and relocation to distant interment camps of the entire indigenous Aleut population. Unalaska's adjacent Port of Dutch Harbor has grown to become the Nation's busiest commercial fishing port, ironically due to the demand of the Japanese market for fishery products and substantial investment by Japanese companies. Applying post-colonial theory to Unalaska's history suggests that territorial acquisition has been succeeded by the dynamics of economic globalization in this American periphery. The Aleutian landscape is shaped by its history of foreign and domestic exploitation, wartime occupation and displacement, economic globalization, and the historical narratives and identities that structure the relationship of past and present through place.