One of the highlights at the last Bering Sea Days was learning more about the historical link between the Commander and Pribilof Islands from Aquilina Lestenkof, director of Cultural Affairs at the Pribilof Islands Aleut Community of Saint Paul Island.
Aquilina met with students from the 4-5th, and 6-8th grade and gave a riveting story using pieces of paper for the different islands along the Aleutian chain to trace the history of the fur-seal trade and the movement of people between islands. Thank you to Aquilina for both her knowledge and passion in sharing this story.
This full story can be heard below, in 5 short segments. Please listen in sequence.
Many thanks to Gregory Fratis for these recordings.
Gregory has been interested in sound and music from a very young age. His dream was to open a sound and video studio on St. Paul Island, and go back to college to learn more about sound, recording, and music. In 2015, Raymond Warner, Shawn Owens, and Gregory founded Polovina Studios on St. Paul Island. Polovina Studios is the western most recording facility in North America.