Why were some Unangan people moved to the Commander Islands and Pribilof Islands?

In 1788, Russian colonizers forcibly relocated Unangan (Aleut) people to the previously uninhabited Pribilof Islands specifically to hunt northern fur seals for the commercial fur trade.1

This relocation was part of a broader, often brutal, colonial effort to exploit Indigenous expertise in harvesting marine mammals. During this period, Russian trading companies treated the Unangan as serfs, tying their labor directly to fur production. By forcing the Unangan to relocate and work as hunters, the colonizers sought to secure a steady supply of pelts for international trade, particularly with China. This system of forced labor caused immense hardship, contributing to a drastic decline in the Unangan population due to malnutrition, disease, and the disruption of their traditional subsistence lifeways.23