Editing Orthodox Church in America (section)

=== Missionary work ===
The first [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Eskaleut peoples]] to become Eastern Orthodox Christians were the [[Aleut]]s living in contact with Siberian fur traders in the mid 18th century. They had been baptized mostly by their Eastern Orthodox trading partners or during occasional visits by priests serving aboard exploring vessels of the Russian navy. A [[Russian colonization of the Americas|Russian colony]] in Alaska was established in 1784 by merchant [[Grigory Shelikhov]]. Shelikhov's attempt to colonize Kodiak Island was met with resistance by the native population. He returned to Russia and installed [[Alexandr Baranov]] as director of the colony. In order to convince the Russian imperial court of the seriousness of his colonial ambitions, Shelikhov recruited volunteers from the [[Valaam Monastery]], an environment that appears strikingly similar to the Kodiak archipelago's landscape, as well as the [[Konevsky Monastery]], to travel to the new colony.{{refn|name="stokoe"|{{Cite book |last1=Stokoe |first1=Mark |url={{GBurl|id=LGaQAAAAMAAJ}} |title=Orthodox Christians in North America 1794–1994 |last2=Kishkovsky |first2=Leonid |date=1995 |publisher=Orthodox Christian Publications Center |isbn=978-0-8664-2053-2 |language=en-US |lccn=95032128 |ol=796242M |access-date=2022-04-18}}}}

The volunteers, led by [[Archimandrite]] [[Joasaph Bolotov]], departed [[Saint Petersburg]] on 21 December 1793, and arrived at Kodiak Island on 24 September 1794. When they arrived, they were shocked by the [[Awa'uq Massacre|harsh treatment]] of the Kodiak natives at the hands of the Russian settlers and Baranov. They sent reports to Shelikhov detailing the abuse of the local population, but were ignored. In response, however, the [[Most Holy Synod|Holy Synod]] created an auxiliary [[episcopal see]] in Alaska in 1796, and elected Fr. Joasaph as [[bishop]].{{refn|name="joasaph"|{{Cite web |title=His Grace, Bishop Joasaph (Bolotov): Bishop of Kodiak, Auxiliary of the Irkutsk Diocese |url=https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/past-primates/joasaph-bolotov |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807223136/https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/past-primates/joasaph-bolotov |archive-date=2020-08-07 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=OCA |language=en-US}}}}  Fr. Joasaph and a small party returned to Russia in 1798 for his consecration and to offer first-hand accounts of what they had seen. During their return voyage to the colony in May 1799, their ship sank and all aboard died.{{r|joasaph}} In 1800, Baranov placed the remaining monks under [[house arrest]] and forbade them to have any further contact with the local population.{{r|stokoe}}

Despite the lack of leadership, the Eastern Orthodox mission in Alaska continued to grow. In 1811, however, the Holy Synod officially closed the episcopal see.{{r|joasaph}} It was not until 1823 that the Holy Synod sent instructions for a new priest to travel to Alaska. John Veniaminov of [[Irkutsk]] volunteered for the journey, and left Russia in May 1823. He and his family arrived at [[Unalaska Island]] on 29 July 1824.{{refn|name="innocent"|{{Cite web |title=His Grace, Bishop Innocent (Veniaminov) of Alaska: Equal to the Apostles of North America |url=https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/past-primates/innocent-of-alaska |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403174052/https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/past-primates/innocent-of-alaska |archive-date=2022-04-03 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=OCA |language=en-US}}}}  In 1840, after the death of his wife, Veniaminov accepted monastic [[tonsure]] and, taking the name Innocent, ordination as the Bishop of Kamchatka, the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, making him the first ruling bishop of the Alaskan mission since Bishop Joasaph. [[Innocent of Alaska|Bishop Innocent]] was elevated to [[archbishop]] in 1850. For his missionary and scholarly work that had focused on blending indigenous Alaskan languages and cultures with Orthodox tradition, Innocent became a [[saint]] of the Eastern Orthodox Church in America in 1977, and is referred to as the Enlightener of the Aleuts and Apostle to the Americas.{{r|stokoe}}