time immemorial. over the thousands of years. each time they put out to sea. with. a. very very. group. in the. seven hundred forty one school. natives of. the hunting expedition. they spotted ships on the horizon. those big sail boats belonged to an expedition explorers.

made its appearance on. the first. forty years later seventeen eighty four the city of. fifty. streets 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 first russian permanent settlement in alaska and then their. son in law. named after nikolai. who are was representing the government of russia and also the american come.

this sea otter pill has the thickest 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 russian. russian travelers. first came to alaska in two thousand and nine he organized an expedition to retrace the steps of his fellow countryman. the ghost in was the first ever european to reach alaska's hinterland in this unexplored land and

establish contact with the aboriginal people. local people welcome to warmly just as their ancestors welcome his 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 served as bases as a ghost can expect. whenever we tell them we were 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 and 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 who were well educated. in the russian capital to ship as well as in the colonial of ministration book in alaska. lives a life entirely different from his. 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. inside and that's something that we've been doing for centuries and that's a tradition where we have a wooden house which is a russian vanya just. taking. a bath.

sven sees the history of his people as a mission he curious a museum which is one of the principal tourist attractions of. it when few tourists visit it during the local people come here when the russians actually took over are claimed alaska for russia. 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. earth or not gov is what my mom told me that morning or us and her there were taken people often are there to grant their underneath your order and they couldn't say our last name so of a russian. spy

you don't see me and often doesn't need to speak russian all services in the orthodox church in kodiak city are held in english. a. father in a candy 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 one in the seeking out for face a for experience of the faith and finding that an orthodoxy is a yellin 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 they didn't force us to not follow our traditional ways of living we did you know stop practicing our all their religious practices but pretty much everything else did the same 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 but around 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 settlement others on the

ocean floor so. this is. 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 dived 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 russia 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. those factors led 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 the faraway territory a 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 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 bright showed the residents of citgo to 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. paid some two hundred thousand was given to senators in the form of. some some of. the treaty. after alaska came under u.s. control the russian american company lost its influence and the russians were offered a choice either return to russia or live in the reservation like settlement of. what became of the money earned was shrouded in mystery. the official version. was spent on the construction of railways. however the ship carrying the gold

received for the sale of alaska had sunk in the pacific.

my grandfather passed away a couple of decades ago. most of. 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 and 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 the houses irene she died in one thousand nine hundred 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 . which is married which is where you have a chip a few hours later he will visit his father at a nursing home in the town of sold. i tell him i tell my father that everything. oh 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 in a rise that around lunchtime he visits his father at the local nursing home he says a few phrases in russian. mikko i. was there qantas pre-race. 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 old news nursing home but in the old settlement of chick 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. to another there's. a group of. nick lehman is one of the few people here who still remember the russian era 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 it makes me think. 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 won't during pre-op while i. know. this is the law you know this thing that. i'm not. here. sees him self 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 reminiscent of siberia. 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 it in mind for some reason try to guess why there's

no escape for you dressed to kill. is famous. and. particularly fond of her because she is the only always ready to talk to journalists. and they always prefer. the founders of. the soviet union to america to escape persecution. in alaska. trying to distance themselves from civilization much like they would do . if the initially it was a private. that the signs had been removed and now people can visit us they can talk and meet. today it is even something of a tourist attraction. is the most lucrative business in the.

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 ones evacuated 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. children in

the still russian national dress but english is now their mother tongue. for growing up in a russian village 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. this. is 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 just some of 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. once again. will 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. we want to know the actual truth and that's why we didn't have a choice of transport. says van haakanson head of 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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the world's biggest exporter of heroin also one of the worst sufferers of drug addiction opium makes it nearly impossible addicts of afghanistan to quit. with. a georgian anti soviet campaign has a growing number of people accusing the government of messing with history and.

a new conflict diverting attention in the u.s. conservative christians say the country is locked in a war on christmas. it's six pm in moscow have a good day here on r t with us part of your christmas is spent here and we appreciate it our top story of war torn afghanistan enters two thousand and eleven as the world's largest producer of heroin but not all of it is exported to addicts around the world drug is also causing a deadly legacy within its own borders and afghans hoping to kick the habit find a little help find a little help but a country mired in chaos just a warning you may find some of the images in the upcoming report disturbing. little under blankets to keep the cold in the smoky.