In 1793 St. Herman (1756 – 1837) traveled from Valaam Monastery in Russia with eight other monks to bring the Gospel to the native Aleuts and Eskimos in the Aleutian Islands. As part of the Russian colonization of the Americas, Russians had been exploring and trading there since at least 1740. He built a school for the Aleutians, and he often defended them from the injustices and exploitation of the Russian traders. He was known to them as Apa which means "Grandfather." He lived most of his life as the sole resident of Spruce Island, a tiny wooded sanctuary near Kodiak Island. In 1970 he became the first saint to be glorified by the Orthodox Church in America.