Shifting Identities: Alaskan Creoles and the Russian Orthodox Church in Post-Purchase Alaska
Abstract
This article examines the relations between the Creole community and the Russian Orthodox Church after the 1867 transfer of Alaska to the United States, analyzing how Creole identity and ‘Russianness’ were reconfigured when imperial power receded, and American governance and missions expanded. Drawing on Homi Bhabha’s concept of mimicry, the study explores the Russian Church’s periodicals and the archival materials, showing how Creole mimicry redirected the group away from the ROC toward American institutions, producing growing mutual indifference and reshaping Orthodox Alaska’s social and religious ecology.
Submitted: Oct. 6, 2025 | Accepted: March 17, 2026 | Published April 30, 2026 | Language: en
Keywords Indigenous population • Mimicry • Creole • Russian Orthodox Church • Alaska
Copyright © 2026 Aglaia Gulakova. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/JoMaCC/2785-6046/2026/01/004