One of the Fox Islands, Aleutian Island Incomplete record. 1051 square miles in size.
This island, largest of the eastern Aleutians, was first discovered by the Russians in about 1760. They called it both "Unalashka" and "Agunalashka" (Coxe, 1787, chap. 8-10). The Aleut name was published by Lieutenant Sarichev (1826, map 14, dated 1792), Imperial Russian Navy (IRN), as "Ostrov Unalashka" or "Unalashka Island" which Baker (1906, p. 652) says is "a contraction of the true name " 'Nagounalaska'* * *" Father Veniaminov (1840, v. 1, p. 158), who lived on the island for ten years, wrote that the Aleut's called it "Na-u-an Alakhskha," meaning "this here Alakhskha." According to R. H. Geoghegan, the name comes from the word "unanak" which is the name the Fox Islanders use to designate themselves.