the dems are still i'm aware of what's going on in their mind still asking me what . it's like they don't know you but. they're great. quick look at the top stories here on our team the children of russia's political

elite are accused of being above the law it comes as an eighteen year old girl who rammed her current two people killing one is facing every trial due to major violations in procedure during the first hearing. britain prepares for its huge cuts to public services as a government aims to slash its massive debt but economists say it may not help prevent another financial fallout as policy makers haven't learned their lesson. and new york is quickly losing its reputation in the city of bankers and watch a resource number of people in shelters is growing fast with gabs between rich and poor bigger than india's. well next we take you to alaska and tell the story of how became part of the u.s. after it was sold by russia. once it was a part of russian territory there are still reminders to this day children wearing russian national costumes people having russian names and many orthodox churches

are standing here but more than one hundred forty years ago it became the u.s. territory though some americans still don't know about. the scope of the ask i've no idea about a lot stuff like nothing i don't know anything about that alaska is cold. it was cold a box of ice a polar bear garden and one russia but in the language of the indigenous peoples the word alaska means the great land. sven haakanson is steering his boat out of the narrow bay of kodiak island his ancestors have lived here since time immemorial. over the thousands of years they to solve this seascape each time they put out to sea to hunt. but they use narrow

canoes with a couple of paddles instead of comfortable motor boats with powerful engines in the past yes it was very very difficult to hunt as an individual you need to group in order to. nor to actually capture for example you look at the sea lines over here in order for you to hunt one of those you need several people. on a summer day and seven hundred forty one scores of you need it's of the land set out on a hunting expedition in canada's they spotted odd looking ships on the horizon. those big sail boats belonged to an expedition led by russian explorers bearing and . that was how kodiak island made its appearance on russian maps the first colonists were. forty years later seventeen eighty four the city of code was the capital. for fifteen.

streets to serve as a reminder of. the names of russian travelers and merchants. there. who are all founded with his wife now tell us where we. russian permanent settlement in alaska and then there's. son in law. named after nikolai. who are was representing the government of russia and also the american company. the russian american company was founded in seventy. primarily with the hunting. which. was used as a warehouse from here to russia and to china this sea otter pill

has the sickest for any animal the most furs per square inch this is the animal itself the sea otter this animal was what caused the fur gold rush to alaska. two thousand and nine he organized an expedition to retrace the steps of his fellow countryman. was the first ever european to reach alaska's. unexplored. contact with the people. looking p. . well welcome to warmly just as their ancestors welcome these agustin two hundred fifty years ago their homes may have changed a lot but their attitude to russians remains the same.

shit over clearly will welcome the east into places that it once as bases as a ghost can expose. the russians many of the local people said they had russian and . when the russians came to the lives of the indigenous people changed. many of them began to work for the russian american company jobs involved hunting for sea otters fishing and taking part in the building of new settlements russian priests and monks visited alaska and baptized of the locals into the orthodox faith russian men married local girls. russian men had local women and their children were called creole. creoles were well educated they held top posts in the russian capital to ship as well as in the colonial administration book.

sven how concerned the lives a life entirely different from his ancestors to him putting out to sea is more like fun than work. and is proud of his traditional bathhouse he sees it as a symbol of successive generations and imbedded russian traditions. when the russians came. the thing that is similar are the rocks and the heat and steaming the washing inside the vanya and that's something that we've been doing for centuries and that's a tradition where the now we have a wooden house which is a russian vanya which just adapted to it i mean i grew up taking wine yes for baths . svend sees tell in the history of. people as a mission he cheery it's a museum which is one of the principal tourist attractions of kodiak island when few tourists visited during low season local people come here to when the russians

actually took over our claimed alaska for russia speed you don't see one of sen's friends together with his family is listening to his story although his name is of russian origin he doesn't know a single word of the language spoken on the other side of the bering strait nor does he know much about where his last name comes from. my mom told me. there were taken people after her. and they couldn't say are. russian. speaking don't see me and doesn't need to speak russian services in the orthodox church in kodiak city are held in english.

father in a county was born in new england a place that is far away from here he has no russian roots nevertheless he decided to serve as an orthodox priest in alaska but it was a long story. it's a story of growing up in a christian church protestant church but always running and seeking out for face for experiences and finding that in orthodoxy as a young man and eventually answering the call into the priesthoods. the church where father in the county sears stands where the first church in the new world used to be alaska is still predominantly orthodox u.s. state. and the priest said then came didn't force us to not speak our language. not follow our traditional ways of living we did you know stop

practicing our all the religious practices but pretty much everything else thing language but then. when the americans came they wanted to civilize us. american archaeologist david mcmahon is exploring the remains of russian legacy on alaska. these are. they would have been used by employees of the russian american company. for this is one of the most important finds of his career some of the objects were found at the site of the first russian others on the ocean floor so. this is. frames this together with. david mcmahon raised many remains of the russian ship kodiak from the depths of the ocean the ship belonging to the russian american

company sank near the shores of kodiak island in eight hundred sixty i strayed was very lucrative because the gold miners in california needed for their drinks so even if. they would still make a good profit the ship was leaving and it hit a rock everyone got off the ship but because of the ice on board the ship stayed afloat for several days before finally sank. the archaeologist twenty five meters deep to explore the remains of the ship the kodiak was one of a dozen ships keeping the lines of communication with open similar ships regularly sailed the length of the north pacific many saw the ship wreck as a symbol the russian american company was in dire. it's. at the beginning of the eight hundred sixty s. the company reached the edge of bankruptcy that caused a debate on whether alaska could be sold the vast territory was inhabited by eight

hundred colonists at the very most this number was well below what russia needed to control and defend it. but the fact that it even if those factors lead to a serious discussion about a potential sale they were held in an atmosphere of secrecy laws only a handful of fishel knew about them the league. america was not particularly keen on buying a faraway territory the russian envoy to washington eduardo steckel was told to do his best to convince the us government that it would gain enormous benefits by acquiring alaska. steckel had the support of u.s. state secretary william seward who was in favor of the u.s. territorial expansion. finally in one thousand nine hundred eighty seven after lengthy negotiations alaska was sold to the united states for the price of seven point two million dollars. on

october the eighteenth eight hundred sixty seven of the russian flag was lowered in the former alaskan capital of sitka. in its stead america's colors were raised. today happy alaska day is one of the major holidays of the forty ninth state. during the bright show the residents of citgo reenact the procedure of handing over the flag from russians to americans. in eight hundred sixty seven the ceremony for placing the russian colony under u.s. control was much more modest. the american government was weary of accusations that they had wasted a lot of money. splashed across the newspapers scoffed at the. purchase describing it as nothing more than a box of ice. room or even had a seven point two million dollars paid some two hundred thousand was given to senators in the form of kickbacks.

deliberate steps were taken of. swaying some some of towards a hitch free ratification of the treaty. after alaska came under u.s. control the russian american company lost its influence and the russian settlers were offered a choice either return to russia or live in the reservation like settlement of check. what became of the money earned in the alaska deal was shrouded in mystery. the official version claimed that the whole payment reached russia and was spent on the construction of railways. rivers persisted however that the ship carrying the gold received for the sale of alaska had sunk in the pacific. issues that seem to me i mean in the real. mission.

what is the relevance of the claim. and should be questioning the logic of an institution that. would give you the future. and. the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world technology update. as. she. was born and raised in alaska like many alaskans he refers to other states and the lower forty eight gary is sure that americans have a poor impression of the forty nine most people in the lower forty eight don't know that alaska is part of america. to russia but many believe that it's own country

and they wonder what kind of money they're going to have to use when they're here and what we speak and those kind of things i've i've actually had people compliment me you sound just like in america. gary has lived in the small settlement on the can since birth there are more than twenty here his grandfather knew only a few english words gary however doesn't speak russian my grandfather passed away a couple of decades ago and my grandmother. passed away soon after that just some distance from here my father is buried and most of my relatives and one day i will be too. right after the peninsula was sold to the americans the village was built on the sea shore all of the employees of the russian american company who refused to move to russia had been banished here by the u.s. government one of the older buildings is right down below us doesn't have

a window in it is built in the old log dovetail design with the dovetail corners there are several other buildings that are throughout here including sheds that were used for fishing the older ones were built as as old as the late eighteenth hundreds all the residents of new chick are related to each other one way or another they entered the houses irene she died in one nine hundred eighty five one of the most successful people born in india is that lehman who is a distant relative of gary a school called four years ago he was the lieutenant governor of alaska. he's only passing through today and has decided to stay with his uncle and aunt their ancestors were russians and they still use russian words in their everyday lexicon . was married were. a few hours later he will visit his father at

a nursing home in the town of sold the. interview to i told him i tell my father that everything. oh no you do that if it. doesn't see that russian heritage simply as a distant episode in the history of his native state he remembers well that when he was a child far more people spoke russian than english. with my brother's russian heritage and we often joked about it when we get within about ten miles of. doing what we call speaking then we start talking like my father telling some of the stories it is still a very. part of my heritage. more and overrides that around lunchtime he visits his father at the local nursing home he says a few phrases in russian. i'm with you it's nicko i. was there come to.

nick lehman can't remember names and faces clearly last year he had a stroke. yes he. does but even. though it's my son nick lehman's condition sometimes makes him imagine he's not it's old news nursing home but in the old settlement of. where everyone has a boat where christmas is celebrated in early january rather than in december and where people in nearly every home speak russian. or why they want to know there's. a group of. nick lehman is one of the few people here who still remember the russian air of the land its former legacy is gradually being forgotten much in the same way as old people's memories fade away i'd like to teach my children about their heritage and

we've shared it. especially with our oldest child our son and i think the best way we can do it is to talk about it shares some of the stories maybe even some of the language i want them to understand are very rich cultural heritage is it makes me think of it. is one of the most popular teachers and don't know high school. he used to teach english to russian children in the russian town of. course today he teaches russian in alaska none of the children in his class has a slavic name all of them are americans who have decided to learn the language that was once dominant in this part of the world. your wont during briana why all. this july. this thing that could be done.

i'm not. here. the gory sees himself as a representative of the new wave of russian settlers of alaska who fears he makes himself at home the russian legacy is everywhere. because today there are at least about seven hundred. names. conspicuously russian for example. then the presence of the churches here so you know the words. let's put it like this here in . the presence of the past. is another. after. trying to stick to a lifestyle of siberia rather than america. people first came here in one thousand

six to eight years this is the first house they have built he added we take why they feel you're not young enough how do you choose in an age when for some reason trying to guess why there's no escape for you dressed to kill. is famous. and she is known for causing. particularly fond of her because she is the only always ready to talk to journalists. that live in this settlement and they always prefer. the founders of fled the soviet union to america to escape persecution. in alaska. trying to distance themselves from civilization much like they. had been initially it was a private. that the signs had been removed and now people can visit us

where they can talk to and meet. today it is even something of a tourist attraction the cafe run by. the most lucrative business in the settlement if this is mission. for three decades it never occurred to the old believers that someday americans might be among. they tried to escape visiting other towns but now the american house stay near the russian vacuously no matthew has five children he moved. seven years ago after buying one third of the local land his american dream is slowly becoming a reality the land was. pretty good price the russians. russians the people that are here the orthodox. have

a nice set of values. relations with matt but as the years ago by she becomes ever more apprehensive of the prospect of. losing its status as a russian enclave and turning into just another quiet settlement in alaska. children in the still russian national dress but english is now their mother tongue . for growing up in a russian village but. not as much russian i think or the. church. i. played which. the new wave of settlers who moved last decades came from. twentieth century russian

destinations changed in comparison with the eighteenth century the majority preferred. city anchorage rather than. out of the city's three hundred thousand strong population five thousand are migrants from russia. situated in the. this perfect english hides his true. he was born. children of the russians who came here and nine hundred eighty nine nine hundred ninety s. are about twenty years old now just some of this russian generation has grown up in alaska they speak very good english and understand spoken russian it is indeed a new generation of music. of this. group says there's

a place where everybody is going to the place to be. different places in the song but the new will have taken the him like. russians don't see themselves as masters of they see themselves as. the traveler is among them. once again they will retrace the steps of early. have to go through a strenuous course of training before the expedition they intend to use the same gear that the early russian explorers. discover a. then we want to know the actual truth and that's why we didn't have

a choice of transport. venue haakanson head of the community of indigenous people. takes a dim view of the desire of europeans to make more difficult. to see. motorboats. thinks giving up the perks of civilization is a foolish thing to do. yet despite embracing the modern era inwardly he still remains committed to the simple principles preached by his ancestors. we were here for thousands of years. but you know we didn't have this system of paper saying that we can claim this land because in our philosophy in our worldview. you can own land the land owns you you know how can you say you own that when you're only here

for a little bit and then you got it's a whole different philosophy of owning it versus living with it.