Alaska Territorial Guard

The Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG), more commonly known as the Eskimo Scouts, was a military reserve force of the US Army. It was organized in 1942 in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and the occupation of parts of Alaska by Japan during World War II. The ATG operated until 1947, with 6,368 unpaid volunteers being enrolled from 107 communities throughout Alaska, and 21 paid staff, according to an official roster. For the first time, the ATG brought together members of the Aleut, Athabaskan, White, Inupiaq, Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Yupik, and other ethnic groups in a joint effort. In later years, all members of some native units demonstrated expert marksmanship. Among the 27 or more women members was at least one whose marksmanship exceeded the men. The ages of members at enrollment ranged from 80 years old to as young as 12 (both extremes occurring mostly in sparsely populated areas). ATG members were mainly those who were too young or too old to be eligible for conscription during the war.

One first-hand estimate states that around 20,000 Alaskans participated, officially or otherwise, in ATG reconnaissance or support activities. The force served many vital strategic purposes to the Allied effort during WWII:

• Safeguarding the only source of the strategic metal platinum in the Western Hemisphere against Japanese attack.
• Securing the terrain around the vital Lend-Lease air route between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• Placing and maintaining survival caches primarily along transportation corridors and coastal regions.

In addition to official duties, ATG members are noted for actively and successfully promoting racial integration in the US Armed Forces, and racial equality within the communities they protected.

Several former members of the ATG were instrumental in achieving Alaskan statehood in 1959, as members of the Alaska Statehood Committee or delegates to the Alaska Constitutional Convention.

In 2000 all ATG members were granted US veteran status by law, acknowledging their contributions, some of whom are still living. Efforts to find surviving ATG members and assist them through the application process are difficult due to a lack of written records, oral cultures, lack of trained staff, passage of time, and unclear bureaucracies and advocates. Nevertheless, active correction of the historical record is proceeding through the Alaska Army National Guard, office of Cultural Resources Management and Tribal Liaison, as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs.