We made several stops to engage with the local Siberian populations
Most of the villages were subsistence villages – while they had some vehicles,
the had no roads outside of their village except for 4WD paths that allowed
them to interact with other villages. There were no roads connecting to the
grid. Any supplies they needed that was not provided by the land and mother
nature had to be shipped in a container by sea, or in an emergency could be
brought in by float plane.
Every single village we visited, even though the population
may be less than 100, had a museum that they were proud to welcome guests to.
Most of the contents of the museums were artisan crafts, and every one had some
ivory carvings. In one village we met the local elder carver, who was teaching
his two young daughters the trade. While we could not bring Walrus ivory back
to the US with us, they are not prohibited from making art with the ivory they
harvest in their annual allocation of subsistence hunting.
Outside Uelen Village we passed by Cape Dezhnev. In 1648,
long before any more currently known explorers even attempted these waters,
Seymon Dezhnev sailed from the Kolyma river on the Arctic Ocean to the Anadyr
River on the Pacific, being the first Euro-Asian to pass this point. While the
indigenous folk had plied these waters for centuries, the Russians named it Cape
Dezhnev, and erected a monument there in his honor.
We learned that the folks living here had the same genetic
background as those on the Alaska mainland. As the theory goes, the indigenous
inhabitants of the Siberian Peninsula crossed the land bridge back when North
America and Asia were all a part of Pangea. Apparently, the genetic connection
is very strong, even stronger than say the genetic connection between those in
the Alaska mainland and the islands of Southeast Alaska. As you visited the
villages and museums, you saw the tools, same weapons, same dolls, same
artistic designs – there was very little different in either the dress or
customs on each side of the Bering Strait.
Each village greeted us with a gathering of ceremonial dancers.
The dress and dances were uncannily similar, as well as the instruments used.
We learned about throat signing – the Inuit cultural music made by forcing air
in and out over the singer’s vocal cords making very guttural sounds, often
sounding like grunts, burps, and even sounding at times like an aboriginal digeridoo.
It is traditionally performed with two women facing each other in more of a
battle royal or round robin. In Provideniya we watched an Inuit mother perform
along with her son – it was both bizarre and magical.
The villages also honored us by putting out feasts of what
they considered delicacies. I tasted whale meat, whale blubber, walrus and
seal. While I didn’t find the whale or walrus to be palatable at all, the seal
actually tasted a bit like salmon, and I considered it almost tasty. This proud
gentleman and his daughter set up our spread at Vankarem Village, and were thrilled
when any of us would taste their gifts and smile. His daughter made some
refrigerator magnets honoring their local wildlife, so I had to pick one up.
This was the only village where the locals were happy to take US dollars.
In Proliv Senyavina we found the remains of an early hunter’s
camp that took advantage of the natural hot springs that flowed into the river.
The early hunters actually built a crude but effective concrete tub and
channeled just the right amount of the hot spring water to make it usable, and
yet nicely hot. How could I resist not bringing my suit and taking a dip along
the north coast of the Siberian Peninsula?
Near Yttygran we visited the Russian National Park
conserving the whaling site of intuits for centuries. While historians don’t
know exactly the reason that the locals placed these whale ribs upright in an
arched shape, they assume reasonably it was intended to make the spot where
food caches were stored. Because of the permafrost, when the Inuit would kill a
whale, they would dig cache in the ground and store all the excess meat they
didn’t need currently, and the cold ground would preserve it. Scientists
believe that the bones marked the locations of such caches.
Almost every village we visited was part of a Russian
National Park. All the villages had local bear populations, and since the cruise
staff were not allowed to bring firearms onto Russian soil, we were always under
the watch and protection of National Park rangers who were very heavily armed. Luckily,
there was no need for any of them to discharge their weapons while we were
there.
The last town we visited was a bit more cosmopolitan. Anadyr
has a population over 13,000, and is the administrative center of the Chukotka
region. In keeping with Putin’s theme, the governor of Chukotka and benefactor
of Anadyr was Oligarch Roman Abramovich, an Israeli-Russian billionaire. To a
great degree he was responsible for the development of Anadyr as an important Russian
port, with more amenities than its size otherwise might dictate. In addition,
the fact that he owns the Chelsea Football Club in West London made all the
Brits on board excited to visit!
We actually got a nice and badly needed visit ashore. In
addition to the perfunctory museum, we walked through the nightlife district, peeking
in the shops and noting all the restaurants and bars along this busy street. Unlike
Provideniya, Anadyr was teeming with people, families and locals in general out
on walks. It was a pleasant final stop to say goodbye to Russia for now.
Back in Anchorage we came full loop on our unsuccessful
attempt to reach Wrangel Island. In 1921, Ada Blackjack, an Inuit born in Nome
Alaska, joined an expedition set up by Vihjalmur Stefansson to Wrangel Island
in an effort to inhabit it with the intention to claim it for either Britain or
Canada. With 4 experienced explorers, Ada was intended to be the seamstress and
cook for their planned one season visit. However, in 1922, Wrangel was iced in
all summer and no supply boat could reach them. By 1923, all 4 of the explorers
had perished, and only Ada remained when the rescue boat arrived in late
summer. We visited her grave in Anchorage to pay homage.
Talk to you soon!
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