Russian fur traders in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries depended in large part on native hunters to actually harvest the peltry. Aleut Indians worked closely with the early Russians in hunting sea otter, seal, porpoise, and sometimes even whales. When hunting sea otter, the Aleuts used one or two man walrus skin covered boats called baidarkas by the Russians. Their weapon of choice was a barbed dart propelled by a throwing stick. As the Russians moved further and further south they took their Aleut hunters with them until finally a few of them were hunting off of the southern California coast in the nineteenth century. The Aleut Indians were excellent hunters and they nearly drove the sea otter to extinction. Today the specie has recovered somewhat, but is not yet out of danger. Hopefully the fact that he is a cute little rascal and that we have other choices for warm coats will improve his chances.
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