English & Literature

Who is Cidaq from Alaska and what is their importance? Alaska_(novel) English & Literature Cidaq | Alaska

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Cidaq was the great-granddaughter of the Old One on Lopak Island. Her mother was Innuwuk. In 1789, the Russian fur traders removed all of the men from the island, leaving the women to fend for themselves. Cidaq was fourteen years of age at this time, and she helped the women kill a whale so they could survive. The following year, she was sold to a group of Russians who raped and abused her and then released her on Kodiak Island. She survived by staying with different families, but was still raped and abused by various Russian traders. The shaman Lumasaq found her and tried to help her. She vowed revenge on the Russians. When the man who purchased her, Yermak Rudenko, was facing a return to Seal Island, he told the officials that he was married to Cidaq, who, when informed of this, saw it as a way to achieve her revenge. She must convert to Christianity. The priest who converted her was Father Vasili Voronova, the grandnephew of Marina Zhdanko. Cidaq went through with the marriage and was given the Christian name of Sofia Kychovsjkaya. Rudenko continued to beat her after their marriage and was warned by Baranov about beating her. When the shaman tried to help Sofia after a beating, he was killed by Rudenko. Baranov wanted the marriage dissolved and Rudenko to be sent to Seal Island. An earthquake occurred, causing a tsunami in which Rudenko was killed. Sofia then ran the orphanage established by Baranov and became the wife of Voronov and had a child, Arkady. She died in 1837.