Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska

The word Aleutian and the name “Aleut” was given to the indigenous people of the Aleutian archipelago by the first Russian explorers after their visit to the Aleutian Islands. However, present-day Natives of Unalaska and most of the Aleutian Islands prefer to call themselves Unangan. As the indigenous Alaskan Native regional self-denomination of the Aleutian region, this group of hunters, whalers, and fishers are the original inhabitants of the Aleutian Island Chain, predating the Russian settlement of the region by thousands of years. The words Unangax̂, Unangan or Unanga, meaning "original people" can also be translated to "Seasider.”