bryson if you move from funds to pressure in some. ways for instance on t.v. don't come. to you live from moscow we have a job review i should say of her week you're our top stories a battle for the control of key cities resumes in libya with gadhafi forces stepping up their fight to recapture the rebels last stronghold in the west. and japanese officials say radiation is likely to leak from the quake hit fukushima plant for at least several months three weeks after the tragedy people trying to rebuild their lives but government isn't doing enough. and in one of the largest

energy terror operation in years russian security forces have killed seventeen militants and destroyed their camp in the north caucasus this came on the eve of the first anniversary of the deadly moscow metro. next we have a special documentary for you on how alaska became part of the u.s. . 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 still asking have no idea about that stuff like nothing i don't know a thing about the alaska it's 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 their 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 hunt as a group in order to. in order to actually capture for example you look at the sea lions over here in order for you to hunt one of those in the several people. on a summer day and seventeen 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 in the launch to an expedition led by russian explorers daring and cheerful. that was how kodiak island made its appearance on russian maps the first colonists were. guided by those maps 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. streets serve as a reminder of that 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 his wife ned tell you the theory first russian permanent settlement in alaska and then there's still

a coffs son in law were sawn off. who are was representing the government of russia and also the russian american company. the russian american company was founded in seventeen. primarily with the hunting and the selling of sea otters which dwelt in large colonies on the alaskan coast. this building was used as a warehouse from here the for which to russia and to china this sea otter pill has the sickest for of 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 i rush.

russian traveler. first came to alaska two thousand and nine he organized an expedition to retrace the steps of his fellow countrymen. and was the first ever european to reach alaska's hinterland in this unexplored land and establish contact with you have original people. look to. well welcomes 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. we should over clearly we welcome them back in these east into places that it once served as bases of visigoths can expression whenever we tell them we were russians many of the local people says what if they had russian ancestors. when the russians came to alaska 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 the locals in the orthodox faith russian men married local girls. russian men lived local women and their children were called creole. some creoles were well educated they held top posts in the russian capital to ship as well as in the colonial ministration you know ask us is going to. surrender how concerned lives a life entirely different from his ancestors to him putting out to sea is more like fun the more. it's fun 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 he steaming the washing

inside the vanya and that's something that we've been doing for centuries and that's a tradition where those now have a wooden house which is a russian vanya which just adapted to it i mean i grew up taking one yes for bass. svend cs telling the history of. these people as a mission he cheery it's a museum which is one of the principal tourist attractions of kodiak island when futurists 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 sense 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 is what my mom told me

that morning for they were taken her grandfather there on your honor and they couldn't say our last name of a russian. screw don't simeonoff doesn't need to speak russian services in the orthodox church and kodiak city are held in english. father in a can't 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 and alaska but it was a long story. it's a story of growing up in a christian church protestant church but always during the seeking out for face

a for experience of the faith and finding that an orthodoxy is the only man and eventually answering a call into priesthoods of. the church were father in canton sears stands where the first church in the new world used to be alaska is still predominantly orthodox u.s. state. russians and 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 and we did you know stop practicing our all the religious practices but pretty much everything else stayed the same hunting language but then in doing the american period. when the americans came they wanted to civilize us. american archaeologist david mcmahon is exploring the remains of russian legacy on alaska. these are lead seals they would have been used by

employees of the russian american company but around bales of her this is one of the most important finds of his career some of the objects were found at the site of the first russian settlements others on the ocean floor so these are this is a. ship sprains this together with a russian called unashamed david mcmahon raised the 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 half melted good 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 dives 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 who was in dire straits. at the beginning of the eighteen sixties 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 defended. its. those factors led to a serious discussion about a potential sale they were held in an atmosphere of secrecy law only a handful of officials knew about them by focal if the league. america was not

particularly keen on buying a 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 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 showed the residents of said 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 bunch 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 put it on their side the liberal steps were taken to go with well a hope of upswelling some senators. 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

ninilchik. 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 it 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.

as. derian school 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 some believe it's still pride for 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 language we speak and those kind of things i have actually had people compliment me on you sound just like in america. gary a school called has lived in the small settlements of check on the peninsula since

birth there are more than twenty school close here his grandfather knew 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 and most of my relatives and one day i will be to. right after the peninsula was sold to the americans the village neil chick was built on the seashore 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 it doesn't have a window in it and 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 eighteen 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 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 because 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 given to a few hours later he will visit his father at a nursing home in the town of sold. yet. i don't know my father everything. if it. doesn't see the 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 about the russian heritage and we often joked about it when we get 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 life heritage. mourn a rise of around lunchtime he visits his father at the local nursing home he says a few phrases in russian that i'm with you know it's good to know i. was there come to the race. nick lehman can't remember names and faces clearly last year he had a stroke. one of the us here in the us but even. that's my son and he cleans condition sometimes makes him imagine he's

not it's old news nursing home but in the old settlement of new real chick where everyone has a boat for christmas is celebrated in early january rather than in december and where people in nearly every home speak russian. don't struggle users of books so goes away i want to know the rest of the book i'm going to. a group of. leman 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 referred it it's caught on especially with our oldest child our son and i think the best way we can do it was to talk about it serves some of the stories maybe even some of the language i want them to understand are very rich cultural heritage if it makes you

happy and. brazenly is one of the most popular teachers at seoul don't know high school. already used to teach english to russian children in the russian town of. which today he teaches russian in alaska none of the children in his class has a slavic name all of them are americans who've decided to learn the language that was once dominant in this part of the worlds. your wallet during briana was. this very this thing that's called the. i'm not. here. season self as a representative of the new wave of russian settlers of alaska who tears he makes himself at home the russian legacy is everywhere. big too deep there are at least

about seven hundred. names place names on the map of that that conspicuously russia for example read. from read boot from cell device then the presence of the churches here so you know the words. let's put it like this here in the last i will live in the presence of the past. is another russian enclave in alaska it emerged here on hundred years after the sale of the peninsula. it's four hundred inhabitants trying to stick to a lifestyle reminiscent of siberia rather than america if you did good people first came here in one thousand six to eight years and this is the first house they have built here to be safe why they kill me whew you know so young you know how do you choose an aged woman for some reason trying to guess why there's no escape for you

dressed to kill. and even if it is famous and nikolai ask and she is known for causing a stir the locals are not particularly fond of her because she is the only settler who is always ready to talk to journalists. and the reason is that all believers live in the settlement and they always prefer a reclusive lifestyle. the founders of nikolai a fled the soviet union to america to escape persecution on religious grounds in alaska the old believers trying to distance themselves from civilization much like they would do in russia and initially it was a private village no doubt about that but the signs have been removed and now people can visit us where they can talk to and meet. is no longer a close settlement today it is even something of a tourist attraction because they run by the feel of is the most lucrative business in the settlement. this is mission. big.

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 houses stay near the russian ones i think we 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 the land was. pretty good price the russians actions the russians the people that are here and they have a nice set of values. friendly relations with matt but as the years ago by she becomes ever more apprehensive of the prospect of nicholai of losing its status as a russian enclave and turning into just another quiet settlement in alaska.

children in a settlement still where russian national dress but english is now their mother tongue. for growing up in a russian village but we go to english school that learn english not as much russian i think over the time our church will probably go more american i and faith i. played which. the new wave of settlers who moved to alaska during the last decades came from siberia. twentieth century russian destinations changed in comparison with the eighteenth century the majority preferred alaska's largest city anchorage rather than kodiak island or the can i put in out of the city's three hundred thousand strong population five thousand are migrants from russia.

this fun group is rehearsing in a garage situated in a. anchorage a suburb. soloist is the youngest of the band everybody calls him. his perfect english hides his true origin he was born in the siberian town of. children of the russians who came here you know nine hundred eighty nine million nine hundred ninety s. the girls are about twenty years old now just some of this russian generation has grown up in alaska where they speak very good english and understand spoken russian it is indeed a new generation of music and you might. one of the songs of the greenberg group says there's a place where everybody's going to it's a place to be actually in entirely different places mentioned the song but the new russian submarines have taken the him right lines close to the heart. of. the. russians don't

see themselves as masters of alaska they see themselves as guests. of the traveler is among them. his friends are embarking on a second expedition to the peninsula. once again they will retrace the steps of early russian explorers. and. teams will have to go through a strenuous course of training before the second expedition they intend to use the same gear that the early russian explorers had no motorboats only canoes. since we're repeating the historical route of the alaskan discoverer. then we want to know the actual truth and that's why we didn't have a choice of transport reeves. says venue haakanson head of the community of indigenous people living in kodiak island takes a dim view of the desire of europeans to make a very lives more difficult. his ancestors used to put out to sea in.

keeper for. as motorboats. friend thinks giving up the perks of civilization is a foolish thing to do. yet despite embrace of the modern era in wordly 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 a. great

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