During World War II, the US government forcibly displaced 881 Indigenous people from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to camps in Southeast Alaska due to Japanese military raids. The Aleuts faced miserable conditions in the camps and remained silent for years. The US apologized in 1988 and provided reparations.
Most Americans are familiar with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s infamous Executive Order 9066, which singled out “resident enemy aliens” in the United States during World War II. Famously, this included 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry, as well as US residents with Italian and German ancestry. Less known is the 1942 decision to round up 881 Indigenous people living in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, who were forcibly displaced from their homes and taken to camps in Southeast Alaska. As the Japanese military made regular raids on the islands, the US government decided that the Aleuts would be safer elsewhere. But even though their evacuation was carried out in the name of safety, the conditions the Aleuts faced in the camps were miserable. The Aleuts remained silent about their ordeal for years, fearing they would be considered unpatriotic. The United States finally apologized formally in 1988 and provided some reparations.
A Forgotten Chapter in America’s Past:
After the move, the US military destroyed Aleut homes in nine villages to prevent invading Japanese troops from using the housing.
The evacuation was considered hasty and traumatic. Residents could only pack one suitcase before being herded onto crowded boats. They were sent to live in abandoned canneries and other camps with decaying structures and no plumbing, electricity or sanitation facilities.
The Aleuts had little drinking water, no warm winter clothing, and very little edible food. Nearly 10 percent of the displaced died in the camps.
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