great land. sven haakanson is steering his boat out of the kodiak island. have lived here since time immemorial. over the thousands of years they to solve this seascape each time they put out to sea. but they use good news with a couple of paddles instead of comfortable motor boats with powerful engines in the past very very difficult to. an individual you need to group in order to. actually capture for example you look at the sea lions over here in order for you to hunt one of those people. on a summer day and seven hundred forty one scores of natives of the land set out on a hunting expedition. they spotted on ships on the horizon.

those big sail boats belonged to an expedition russian explorers. made its appearance on russian maps the first colonists were guided by those maps on the island more than forty years later seventeen eighty four the city of kodiak was the capital of america for fifty years. streets serve as a reminder of. many of them still bear the names of russian travelers and merchants . there is this story called who all founded with this one i cannot tell you where we first russian permanent settlement in alaska and then there is still a coffs son in law. named after nikolai. who was

representing the government of russia and also the american company. the russian american company was founded in seventy. primarily with the hunting and the selling of. khowst. this was used as a warehouse from here the for went to russia and to china this sea otter pill has the think 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 by rush. first. two thousand and nine he organized an expedition to retrace the steps of his

fellow countryman. was the first ever european to reach. this unexplored land and establish contact with the original people. local people welcomed. just as their ancestors. two hundred fifty years ago. changed a lot but their attitude to russia remains the same. we welcome the east into places that it is bases. petition. the russians many of the local people said they had russian. the russian. of the indigenous people. to work for the russian american company. hunting for sea otters. fishing and taking part in the building

of new settlements russian priests and monks visited the last of the locals and. russian. girls. russian. women and children creole. in the russian capital as well as in the colonial ministration. lives a life entirely different from his ancestors to him putting out to sea is more like fun than work. 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 he was steaming.

inside and that's something that we've been doing for centuries and tradition. which is a russian just. taking. sven sees the history of his people as a mission he curious a museum which is one of the principal tourist attractions of. when few tourists visited during local people come here to when the russians actually took over our claimed alaska. spirit one of the 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. what my mom told me in the morning the russians for sure they were taken people often are drawn to their

underneath your honor and they couldn't say our last name so a bit of a russian. spy you don't seem you enough doesn't need to speak russian services in the orthodox church in kodiak city are held in english. father in a gentle he 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 a protestant church but always running the seeking out for face a for experience of faith and trying to get in and out see as

a young lyn and eventually answering the call into the priesthoods of. the church we're from here in the county servers stands with the first church in the new world used to be alaska is still predominantly orthodox us state. russians and the priest said then came didn't force us to not speak our language they didn't force us to not follow our traditional ways of living we did you know stop practicing our older religious practices but pretty much everything else did the same thing language but then and during the american period. when the. american archaeologist david mcmahon is exploring the remains of russian legacy. these are. they would have been used.

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. ship's frames this together with. david raised many remains of the russian ship kodiak from the depths of the ocean. to the russian american company. in eight hundred sixty. eight was very lucrative because the gold miners in california needed for their drinks so even if. it was still make a good profit the ship was leaving and. everyone got off the ship but because of the board the ship stayed afloat for several days before sank. the. 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. similar ships regularly sailed the length of the north pacific. as a symbol the russian american company was in dire straits. 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. fuck that it will take 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 sort of knew about them the league. america was not particularly keen on buying the faraway territory a russian envoy to washington eduardo steckel was told to do his best to convince

the u.s. government that it would gain norma's benefits by acquiring alaska. steckel had the support of the u.s. state secretary william seward who was in favor of a 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 the russian flag was lowered in the former alaskan capitol 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 blight show of 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 headlines and splashed across the newspapers scoffed at the purchase describing it as nothing more than a box of ice. rumor even had is that of the seven point two million dollars paid some two hundred thousand was given to senators in the form of kickbacks. but opinion but opinion i deliberately steps were taken out of the with the hope of upswelling some sentences. control the russian american company lost its influence and the russian. choice either return to russia or live in the reservation. what became of the money.

was shrouded in mystery. the official version. received. in the pacific.

he refers to. the lower forty eight. of the forty nine most people in the lower forty eight. part of america. 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. i've actually had people. lived. here.

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 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 are sort of the houses irene she died in one thousand nine hundred five one of the most successful people born in india is laurent 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 you ever to. a few hours later he will visit his father at a nursing home in the town of sold. your interview to i told him i tell my father that everything. oh i love 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 did 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 no arrived at 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 believe. that's my son nick lehman's condition sometimes makes him imagine

he's not it's old 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. you 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 the. phrase and here is one of the most popular teachers at 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 while you all . know. this the you know this that. i'm not. here. grigori 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. russian for example. then the presence of the churches here so you know the words. let's put it like this here in . the past. after. trying to stick to a lifestyle. people first came here in one thousand six to eight this is the first house they have built. why they feel you're not young enough how do you choose an evil mind for some reason trying to guess why

there's no escape for you dressed to kill. is famous. and she is. particularly fond of her because she is the only always ready to talk to journalists. 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 would. if initially it was a private. that the signs had been removed and now people can visit us they can talk to and meet. today it is even something of a tourist attraction. the most lucrative business and.

this is mission. for three decades it never occurred to the old believers that someday americans might be among their neighbors they tried to escape visiting other towns but now the american house stay near the russian once vacuously know 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 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 we. learn english not as much russian i think or the time. i. played which. the new wave of settlers who moved to alaska during the last decade came from siberia 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 an. 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 this russian generation has grown up in alaska they speak very good english and understand spoken russian. music. there's a place where everybody's going. to be. different places. but the new will have taken the him like.

russians don't see themselves as. they see themselves as. the travelers among them. once again they will retrace the steps of earlier. will have to go through a strenuous course of training before the expedition they intend to use the same gear that the early russian explore. discover a. we want to know the actual truth and that's why we didn't have a choice of transport. the community of indigenous people. to make more

difficult. to see. as 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.

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a failed war on drugs the size flooding other countries of ghana stance cheap heroin is depriving thousands of locals of the future. a bit general. a good job with lighting the book. from dismantling a stored monuments to comic strip propaganda as an anti-semitic campaign in georgia gather space a growing number of people say it's going too far plus. the

us media may be claiming there is a war being waged on christmas but many americans say the headlines are just to divert the public's attention from more pressing problems. you're watching r t coming to live from moscow joshua welcome to the program afghanistan the world's largest producer of parallel does not only make other states saw first from its deadly expert the country itself is flooded with drugs was the tense situation very vague prospects of a peaceful life even those who want to kick the mortal habit find themselves at a dead end jason modeled reports from kabul you may find some of the images in his report the. early morning in kabul. heroics huddled under blankets to keep the.