Awa'uq Massacre in the context of Shelikhov-Golikov Company

The Shelikhov-Golikov Company (SGC) was a Russian fur trading venture, founded by Irkutsk entrepreneurs Grigory Shelikhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov in 1783. Formed in Eastern Siberia during the 1780s along with several competing companies, the SGC had operations in Kurile Islands and areas that later became Russian America. Russian ventures had been focused on maritime operations under promyshlenniki, though costs had continued to rise as more distant sea otter populations had to be exploited. Centered on the Kodiak and several Aleutian Islands, the majority of the company's indentured laborer was recruited among the Aleut and Alutiiq nations. A common practice amongst Russian companies was to take hostages from various villages, to force maritime hunters to gather otter furs. Shelikhov led aggressions on Kodiak Island against the indigenous Alutiiqs in 1784, known as the Awa'uq Massacre, where Russian employees killed over 2,000 people according to some estimates. In consequence of the massacre, the island became fully controlled by the company.

Competing European traders were generally fellow Russian traders, principally the Lebedev-Lastochkin Company. Visiting British and American ships typically paid higher rates for furs when negotiating with Alaskan Natives, which undercut the SGC trading operations. These same merchants were often the only means of supply for the scattered Russian stations, leaving the company dependent on its commercial rivals. The United American Company was created out of rival Russian companies in 1797, including the assets of Lebedev-Lastochkin Company, ensuring its commercial dominance among Russian merchants. In the Ukase of 1799 the company was granted a monopoly among Russians in North America by Tsar Paul I, becoming the basis of the Russian-American Company.