Aleuts
indigenous ethnic group of the Aleutian Islands
Aleuts ( AL-ee-OOT; Aleut: Unangan (west) or Unangas (east) Russian: Алеуты, romanized: Aleuty) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the U.S. state of Alaska and the Russian administrative division of Kamchatka Krai. This group is also known as the Unangax̂ in Unangam Tunuu, the Aleut language. There are 13 federally recognized Aleut tribes in the Aleut Region of Alaska. In 2000, Aleuts in Russia were recognized by government decree as a small-numbered Indigenous people.
Etymology
In the Aleut language, they are known by the endonyms Unangan (eastern dialect) and Unangas (western dialect); both terms can be translated to "original people". Unangax̂ is considered to be the best collective term for the people of the region as it is correct in both the eastern and western dialects. The Russian term "Aleut" was a general term used for both the Native population of the Aleutian Islands and their neighbors to the east in the Kodiak Archipelago, who were also referred to as "Pacific Eskimos" or Sugpiat/Alutiit.
Language
Aleut people traditionally speak Unangam Tunuu, the Aleut language, although nowadays most speak English and Russian in their respective countries as a result of colonization. An estimated 150 people in the United States and five people in Russia speak Aleut, although there are ongoing revitalization efforts.
The public source identifies “Aleuts” as indigenous ethnic group of the Aleutian Islands. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Aleuts, indigenous and ethnic.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q191710. The Library of Congress control number is sh85003361. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000.
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This entry incorporates text from “Aleuts” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.