a polar bear and. 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 news with a couple of paddles instead of comfortable motor boats with powerful engines in the past very very difficult to hunt 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 russian explorers 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 america for fifteen years. kodiak 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 to 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 was sawn off named after nikolai was. 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 sea otters which. coast. this building was used as a warehouse from here the for went 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 russian.

russian travelers. first came to alaska in 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 land and establish contact with the aboriginal people. looking people welcomed warmly just as their ancestors welcomed two hundred fifty years ago their homes may have changed a lot but their attitude to russia remains the same. clearly we will. exist in the places that it is bases. petition. the russians many of the local people said they had russian. when the russians came to. people. many of them began 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. russian. girls. russian. women and their children. 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. to he was steaming. inside and that's something that we've been doing for centuries and tradition. which is a russian we're 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 low season 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 and the russians for sure they were taken people often are drawn to your underneath your honor 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 services in the orthodox church in kodiak city are held in english. 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 running and seeking out for

a face for experience of the faith and finding that in the doxy as a young man and eventually answering the call into the priesthoods. the church where father in the county series 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 stayed the same hunting 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. ship's frames 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 native. drinks so even if. the ship was leaving. everyone got off the ship but because of the board the ship stayed afloat for several days before sank. 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. could be sold the vast territory was inhabited by eight hundred. 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 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 u.s. state secretary william seward who was in favor of a u.s. territorial expansion. finally in eight hundred sixty 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. deliberate steps were taken off the swelling some sentences. 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. 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.

he refers to. the lower forty eight gary is sure that. most people in the lower forty eight don't know that alaska is part of america some believe it. or 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 which we speak and those kind of things i've i've actually had people compliment me you sound just like america. has lived in the small settlement. since

birth. here is. 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 in most of my relatives and one day i will be too. right after the peninsula was sold to the americans the village ninilchik was built on the seashore all of the employees of the russian american company who refused to move to russia had been banished here by the us 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 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. your interview to 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 brothers of the russian heritage and we often joked about it and within about ten miles. we're 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 it's around lunch time he visits his father at the local nursing home he says a few phrases in russian. mikko i. was there come to. nick lehman can't remember names and faces clearly last year he had a stroke. it was the. us he. knows but even. though it's my son nick lehman's condition sometimes makes him

imagine he's not a 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. version of what it was to know 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 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 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 wallet during briana while all. this july. this thing that. i'm not. here. the gory season 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. conspicuously russia 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 years this is the first house they have built. a 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. 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. have been 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 cafe run by. the most lucrative business and.

this is mission. for three decades it never occurred to the old believers that someday americans might be among neighbors 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 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 cities three hundred thousand strong population five thousand are migrants from russia.

situated in an ass. this perfect english hides his true. he was born in the town of. children of the russians who came here you know nine hundred eighty nine nine hundred ninety s. girls 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 it is indeed a new generation of music. group says there's a place where everybody's going. to be. different places. but the new russian suburbs have taken the him like close to the.

russians don't see themselves as. they see themselves as. the traveler is among them. once again they will retrace the steps of earlier. 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. sylvan 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 world view. 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.

it.

the tide of cheap heroin is sweeping afghanistan with that million people addicts have little or no hope of rehabilitation. but. they. played. a campaign in georgia critical of the soviet union sees many there accusing the government of trying to provoke a russian sentiment. battleground christmas america's christian conservatives say the festive season is under attack and its real meaning is being

lost to. broadcasting live from our studios in central moscow this is our team and of course we are certainly glad to have you with us war torn afghanistan remains the world's main producer of heroin and the drug is not only exported abroad a million people are believed to have become addicts in afghanistan with almost no help to kick the habit you may find some of the images in this report disturbing. early morning in kabul. under blankets to keep the cold out in the smoke. twenty one year old us a doula started smoking heroin at university six months later he dropped.