PETER THE ALEUT

'Cungagnaq', presumably a native of Kodiak Island (Aleutian Islands) 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. 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, (the bulk of evidence points to a Southern California connection because the group was captured off of San Pedro - a well known landmark offering a harbor for Los Angeles although some modern sources claim the capture occurred near San Francisco). With threats of torture, the Roman Catholic priests attempted to force the Aleuts to deny their Orthodox faith and to convert to Roman Catholicism.
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 California Indians to cut off each finger of Peter's hands, one joint at a time, finally removing both his hands. They eventually disemboweled him, crowning his life with martyrdom. They were about to torture the next Aleut when orders were received to release them.
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!" Peter the Aleut was formally declared a Saint as the "Martyr of San Francisco" (sic) in 1980. His feast day is commemorated in the Orthodox faith on September 24.
It should be noted that there are substantial questions as to the veracity of this story. The entire scenario is based on the testimony of a single witness (a Russian-Alaskan of dubious reputation, perhaps with the name of Keglii Ivan), no similar occurrence ever took place in the history of the Spanish mission in California and there is no independent historical text or confirmation of this event having taken place. Bancroft, in his multi-volume History of California briefly notes this story, but there is ample reason to be suspicious of the events of St. Peter's martyrdom.
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 (See St. Victorinus - Feb. 25th, D. 284; St. Arcadius - Jan. 12, D. 304?; Sts. Anastasia and Cyril - Oct. 28 D. ?; St. James Intereisus - Nov. 27 D. 421). There are, however, numberous 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 (see [1] for example, at Mission San Buenaventura.

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External links

External links

★ http://www.umich.edu/~ocf/saint_peter_the_aleut.htm
Bancroft, Hubert Howe: History of California 1801-1824 vol II published 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 University of California Publications in History 26/Berkeley
Tarakanoff, Vassili Petrovitch: Statement of My Capitivity Among the Californians Glen Dawson Press/Los Angeles 1953
Tikhmenev, P.A: A History of the Russian-American Company Translated and edited: Richard Pierce and Alton Donnelly Univ. of Washington Press/Seattle 1978