Kathryn Dyakanoff Seller

Kathryn Dyakanoff Seller with three of her children, from a 1922 publication.

Kathryn Dyakanoff Seller (; born Ekaterina Pelagiia Dyakanoff; December 7, 1884 – June 17, 1980) was an Aleut educator. With her husband, she built and opened the first government-funded schoolhouse in the Aleutian Islands, in 1909.

Early life Ekaterina Pelagiia Dyakanoff was born in Unalaska, in an Aleut family. She lived at the missionary Jesse Lee Home for Children as a girl. She was sent to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1906, and then to West Chester State Normal School, where she completed her studies in 1907. The couple taught on several of the islands before returning to Anchorage in 1920. In widowhood, Kathryn, as she became known, returned to teaching at remote Alaskan schools that served Native students. She developed her skills as a basketmaker, served at various times as a midwife, health officer, reservation superintendent, and photographer. In 1950, her lifetime achievements were recognized with an award from the Department of the Interior and a medal from the United States Congress.

Personal life Dyakanoff married English-born Harry George Seller in Seattle in 1909. They had six children. Their son Alfred drowned as a boy. Their son Harry was killed in the Aleutian Islands Campaign during World War II. She was widowed when her husband died in 1936.

Kathryn Dyakanoff Seller died in San Francisco in 1980, aged 95.