Orthodoxy in Alaska from CBC North (Fr. Michael Oleksa's visit to Yukon)
November 1, 2015
Father Oleksa has been documenting Alaskan Native history for 45 years.
When Father Michael Oleksa started documenting the Native history of Alaska decades ago, he was met with resistance from other academics.
"I was accused by other historians of fabricating it, that I was making it up," he says.
The Orthodox Christian priest had learned that, contrary to practices elsewhere in the United States, early missionaries in Alaska taught indigenous people to build and sail ships, and to run stores, schools and hospitals.