Aleutian Islands World War II National Historic Area

In September 2009, Nick Lekanoff, Sr., former Makushin resident, traveled with his daughter and other descendants of Makushin on the Tiglax to visit the village site, which had been left behind in the evacuation of 1942 and never permanently resettled.
The remote Aleutian Islands, home to the Unangax̂ (Aleut) people for over 8,000 years, became a fiercely contested Pacific battleground in World War II. Some Unangax̂ were taken from their homelands as Japanese prisoners of war while the others were evacuated from the islands by the government. Both groups suffered greatly during the war, and some would never return to their villages.
Map showing location of park.
Group of people around a Russian cross in tall grass
Photo by NPS Photo
People crowd at the railing of a ship
Photo by Photograph courtesy National Archives
Six men with guns carry a person on a stretcher in a valley.
Photo by Photo courtesy National Archives
A uniformed man holds up a broken Russian cross
Photo by Photo courtesy National Archives
a rusty, large gun sits on a grassy bank overlooking a coastal bay.
Photo by NPS Photo