Most anthropologists believe that early Aleutian Islands' inhabitants came across from coastal Asia with the early Eskimos. There is proof that Aleuts lived in the eastern Aleutian Islands for at least 6,000 years, and the village at Anangula suggests a history 2,500 years older. The term Aleut was first applied to the inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands by the Russians in the mid-eighteenth century.
Aleuts densely populate the Aleutian Islands
By 1700 as many as 15,000 Aleuts lived on the islands in the Aleutian chain. Every major island with fresh water was inhabited.
The Aleuts of the central and western islands spoke Atkan and Attuan. Those of the eastern islands spoke Fox or Unalaskan.
Food from the sea is plentiful
Interiors of the rough, mountainous Aleutian Islands did not offer much to support human life. The people could meet only a few needs, such as stones for knives or lamps and grass for woven baskets from the land. For everything else, they turned to the sea.
Aleut territory. The Aleuts particularly relied on seals, sea lions, and fish. From seals they ate the meat and burned the fat in stone lamps for heat and light. They used seal intestines to make waterproof clothing and used bristles of the seal's beard for ornaments. The Aleuts also hunted sea otters, porpoises, and whales.