After visiting multiple villages, the Thomas Corwin's crew estimated that out of 1500 remaining inhabitants, 1000 were found dead of starvation.

[1] I landed at a place on the northern shore ... in which, wrapped in their fur blankets on the sleeping platforms lay about 25 dead bodies of adults ...

Other contributing factors were the excessive depletion and overfishing of ocean life, and the introduction of communicable diseases such as dysentery, measles, black tongue (anemia), scarlet fever, and vitaminosis.

[2] Reindeer were introduced on the island on July 23, 1900, by Presbyterian missionary Sheldon Jackson in an attempt to prevent starvation and improve the Native Alaskans' "plight".

[8] This caused legal issues in the indigenous land claim process to acquire surface and subsurface rights to their land under the section 19 of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), as they had to prove that the reindeer reserve was set up to support the indigenous people rather than to protect the reindeer themselves.