St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church

The St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Juneau, Alaska, United States, was built in 1893 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.HistoryRussians did not settle in the Juneau area while this territory was a Russian colony (1784–1867). Nor did the Russian Orthodox Church send missionaries to Juneau when the mining settlement started in 1881.But the Orthodox Church became strongly established here through the efforts of the local Tlingit leaders. In 1890, the Taku leader Anathahash traveled to Sitka to be baptized into the Orthodox faith. More traditional Tlingit gravitated toward the Orthodox Church among Christian offerings, as it had used local languages in worship since about 1800 in Kodiak and 1824 in the Aleutian Islands. The Holy Scriptures and much of the Divine Liturgy (as the Orthodox call the Mass, or Lord's Supper) had been translated into Tlingit by St. Innocent (Veniaminov) during his years as a priest in Sitka (1834–40) and later as Bishop of Alaska (1842–50).Anathahash returned from Sitka in 1890 with the Rev. Vladimir Donskoy, the first Russian Orthodox priest to conduct services in the area. During Fr. Vladimir's stay, he instructed and baptized many of the local Tlingit people. That year Alexei Yaakwaan, son of a Tlingit leader, converted to the Orthodox Church and encouraged his father, Yees Gaanaalx, leader of the L'eeneidí (Dog Salmon) people of Auke Bay, to be baptized. Sitka Chief Khlantych told the church that Yees Gaanaalx wanted to convert to Orthodoxy and that Tlingit would follow his example.