which of the indigenous peoples the word alaska means the great land. sven haakanson is steering his boat out of the 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 good news with a couple of paddles instead of comfortable motor boats with powerful engines in the past very very difficult to hunt as 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 the natives of the land set out

on a hunting expedition in canaries they spotted odd looking ships on the horizon. those big sail boats belonged to an expedition led by a russian explorers bearing and. how kodiak island made its appearance on russian maps the first colonists were guided by those maps when they landed on the island more than forty years later seventeen eighty four the city of kodiak was the capital of russian america for fifteen years. kodiak streets serve as a reminder of the time. many of them still bear the names of russian travelers and merchants. there is still the street name a shell a call who all founded with this one i cannot tell you the very first russian permanent settlement in alaska. and then there's still

a coffs son in law. named after nikolai was. who i 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. coast. this was used as a warehouse from here the for 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 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. may have changed a lot but their attitude to russia remains the same. only . in the places that it is bases. petition. the russians many of the local people said they had russian. the russians. the indigenous people. many of them. 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 a. russian. girls. russian. women and children creole. in the russian capital in the colonial administration. 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 and the heat.

inside and that's something that we've been doing for centuries a 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 the local people come here to when the russians actually took over. claimed alaska. spitted 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

that morning and her russian sure they were taken people often are drawn to their daughter and they couldn't say our last name so of a russian. spy you don't seem you enough doesn't need to speak russian all 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 a protestant church but always running and seeking out for

a face for experience of the faith and trying to do that in the doxy as a young lyn and eventually answering the call into the priesthoods. the church were from there in the county servers stands where 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. 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. this together with. david raised many remains of the russian ship from the depths of the ocean. to the russian american company. in eight hundred sixty. eight was very lucrative because the california needed for their drinks so even if. it was still make a good profit the ship was leaving. everyone got off the ship but because of the board the ship stayed afloat for several days before finally 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. 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 an eight hundred. number. russia needed to defend it. that those factors led to a serious discussion about a potential sale they were held in an atmosphere of secrecy laws only a handful of officials knew about them by folks at least the legal. american 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 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 splashed across the newspapers scoffed at the purchase describing it as nothing more than a box of vice. 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 deliberate steps were taken to. sway in some senses. 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. check. 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 from the sale of alaska had sunk in the pacific.

like. most people in the lower forty eight. part of america. i've actually had people. lived.

here. few english. doesn't speak russian my grandfather passed away a couple of decades ago and. passed away soon after that just some distance from here my father and most of my relatives and one day. 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 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 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 . which is married were 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 within about ten miles. were 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. born of arrives 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 the go i. was there come to. nick lehman can't remember names and faces clearly last year he had a stroke. yes he. does but. that'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 the real 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. version of what 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 sure 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. 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 why i thought . oh. this is the law you know this thing that. i'm not. here. sees himself as a representative of the new wave of russian settlers of alaska who makes himself at home the russian legacy is everywhere. 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 he added we take why they feel you're not young enough how do you choose in a film and 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. 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 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. they tried to escape visiting other towns but now the american houses stay near the russian ones vacuously no nephew 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. 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 time. i. played which. the new wave of. twentieth century russian destinations changed in comparison with the eighteenth century the majority preferred. city anchorage rather than. out of the cities three hundred thousand strong population five thousand are migrants from russia.

situated in an. everybody. is perfect english 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 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. there's a place where everybody is going. to be. different places. but the new russia have taken the him like lines close to the.

russians don't see themselves as. they see themselves as. the travelers among them. once again. have to go through a strenuous course of training before the second 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 what we didn't have a choice of transport. says van haakanson head of the community of indigenous people. takes a dim view of the desire of europeans 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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tonight the world's biggest exporter of heroin is also one of the worst sufferers of drug addiction cheap-o. the it makes it nearly impossible for the addicts about to get a started to quit as we report also. with why. a georgian and you solve it campaign is a growing number of people accusing the government of messing with history plus.

a new conflict diverts attention of the american conservative christian says the country is locked into a war on christmas. ten pm sunday night the twenty fifth of december here in moscow you're watching the r.t.e. news channel with me kevin now in our top story war torn afghanistan enters twenty eleven as the world's largest producer of heroin but not all of its exported to other around the world either the drugs are also leaving a deadly legacy within its own borders and afghans hoping to kick the habit find little in a country mile in chaos you may find some of the images in this report. early morning in kabul. under blankets to keep the cold out when the smoke.