You can walk to Russia on foot: How lives the most border island of the United States (video)
The islands are inhabited by indigenous peoples, who really went to visit each other, but since 1948 they are separated by the icy curtain, writes Daily Mail. Small Diomyide (in the Russian Federation it is called the Krusenstern Island), the territory that the United States bought in 1867, is located only for 2. 4 miles (more than 4 km) from the Great Diomyid (in the Russian Federation - Ratman Island), their Russian neighbor, in the Bering Strait.
The islands of Domide were called researcher Vitus Bering, whose name is named the duct. While the great Domide is a Russian military base, 77 locals of Alaska, known as indigenous residents of Alaska - inupates, live on little Diomya. They are separated by the Date Change line, that is, if you have left a small Diomyid at 9am on Monday and switched to a large Diomy, then you will arrive at a place on Sunday.
Both islands of Domide were inhabited by indigenous peoples who have previously called themselves the only community located on two islands. However, with the onset of the Cold War of 1948, the inhabitants of the Great Diomid were scattered throughout Siberia, and both countries closed the border, now known as the icy curtain. "Families who lived on both sides of the Bering Strait were suddenly divided.
These ties were interrupted and not recovered for 40 years," said writer Charles Wolfort, referring to the "Friendship Flow" in 1988, which reunited families in Russia and Alaska. However, after a short 25-year friendship period, two islands are now closely monitoring one another after Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000 and reflected in Russia the desire to interact with the West.
Domide islands are located so close to each other that in winter, when the water freezes, they can only be reached in 30 minutes, but no one does it because the movement between the islands is forbidden. The threats of signaling missiles, shotings and service dogs are waiting for anyone who tries to penetrate large Diomyoid without the necessary documents. "We watch them, they watch us," said 58-year-old resident Edward Suluk.
Looking at binoculars, Suluk sees Russian soldiers, ships and helicopters, as well as a observation post. "To be alert is our mission. We are the eyes and ears of the nation," Suluk added, a war veteran in Iraq. However, the lives of 77 inhabitants of the island of Small Diomyide are harsh. In the midst of winter, the islanders see only four hours of daylight and the temperature below zero. Internet or telephone access is limited to only a few hours a day.
A small island, which is located about 30 buildings, fights for survival, as climate change affects their lifestyle. For generations, the inhabitants of the island were hunting seals and walruses for living. Only 20 years ago, a team of five people could get hundreds of seals and walruses before winter. The 53-year-old resident Otto Suluk said: "With this place something is wrong. It will be obsessed. We no longer see walruses and seals as before. This is a climate change.
It seems that it looks like it begins just here. " According to him, this year they managed to obtain only five seals and two walruses. To survive, the islanders have to rely on weekly supplies of food from the mainland, which are made by a helicopter if the weather permits. However, the choice is limited because the party brings only canned foods or over -processed products that can withstand the test of time from Noma, the largest city in the West of Alaska.
Previously, the plane delivered food and supplies to the residents, landing on thick frozen ice in winter, but due to the consequences of climate change, it no longer arrives. "There is no ice, it is moving the current, the wind takes it. I used to pass miles to the open ocean to hunt, but now I can't. Ice is too thin," - said Kevin Ozenna, a local resident.
The island is fighting for survival, as isolation from the outside world means that their culture is becoming more and more important, but fears are increasing that it can be lost. The local resident of Francis Ozenna said: "We know that we have relatives there. The older generation is dying out, and the fact is that we know nothing about each other. We lose our language. We now speak English, but they speak Russian. It's not our fault.
However, a gloomy lifestyle and isolation, as well as problems with leadership on the self -governing island, have caused rumors about increasing cases of alcoholism and domestic violence. Since 1974, a dry law has officially applied on the island, but small diamond has been carried out on smuggling alcohol, and some locals have even left the island in search of drinking. Edward Suluk confessed that he drank every time he came to the mainland and his whole family was suffering from alcoholism.
"It's scary. Nobody helps me. I will look for help, but what is the meaning? I just start doing it again because my faith is weak. To stop, a strong faith is needed," he said. Residents feel that their faith is increasingly weakened, as their elders, who often took over leadership roles, die. The elders for generations gave advice to the community and reminded them of their culture and traditions, but with their death many feel that there was no social harmony on the island.
Also on the island of Small Domide can be closed by a single school, which is managed by two young teachers: one of the middle west and the other of the Philippines, with 21 students. If less than 12 students study at the school, it will have to be closed and fears have that its closure will end with the end. Recall that Focus wrote about how Alaska changed the owner and was sold. Meanwhile, a small island state of Tuvala in the Pacific may disappear as it faced a serious climatic disaster.