St. Lawrence Island - a territory that belongs to Alaska (USA) and is located in the Bering Strait. It is named after the saint, the Eskimos originally called him Sivukak.
Geographic location
Saint Lawrence Island is located in the North Pacific Ocean. What makes its position interesting is that it is located between the Old and New Worlds, between the continents of Eurasia and North America.
In addition, the island was at the junction of two oceans - the Pacific and the Arctic, in the Bering Sea, which is the marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It has coordinates 170°W. and 63° N. sh. St. Lawrence Island is 231 km southwest of the city of Nome (USA, Alaska). And it is located 74 km northeast of Chukotka (Russia, Chukotka Peninsula). The island is 140 km long and 35 km wide.
Nature
The landscape is devoid of diversity, represented by a plain with low hills and separate elevations. The highest point here is Mount Atuk - more than 670 m high. It is necessary to mention a natural phenomenon - a permanent polynya. This polynya is located south of the island. It was formed by the predominant eastern andnortherly winds that drive ice away from the coast into the ocean. The climate here is maritime subarctic, so the island has very severe weather conditions.
Photos of these places show that the flora here is extremely scarce. The vegetation characteristic of the tundra zone is low-growing shrubs, mainly arctic willow. In contrast to the flora, there is a very diverse fauna. This is due to the proximity of strong currents, bringing large amounts of plankton, with which the fish also move.
The abundant food attracts colonies of mammals and birds, creating bird rookeries here. About 3 million seabirds come here every year. The guillemot, puffin, murre, three-toed gull and loon love to eat here.
History
Interesting location is not surprising, because this island is the remnant of an isthmus between two continents. In other words, a “splinter” of a land bridge. This suggests that there used to be land on which prehistoric travelers passed part of their route during the settlement of America.
The island was discovered by a Russian expedition led by a Dane by origin, Russian Navy officer Vitus Bering. This event took place in August 1728, on the day when the feast of St. Lawrence was.
Population
Interesting moment of settling the island. People appeared here about 2 thousand years ago. They were Eskimos from Alaska and Chukotka. Now the people are called Yuits - after the name of a language similar to Chukchi. And it's not far fromby chance. In their language and culture, there is a clear similarity with the languages of the peoples of Chukotka. The settlement of the island by man in the prehistoric and early historical stages was temporary. The periods of settling and leaving the island alternated, depending on weather conditions and the availability of resources for survival. Studies of human bones and teeth found on the island testify to constant hunger. The island was more used as a hunting ground, especially since the mainland can be reached without obstacles in calm weather.
The yuites lived in round houses, divided into two parts. The warm part of the house is residential. The cold part of the house was the place where most household chores were done. People were fond of carving the bones of the hunted beast. All household items were covered with carvings. Especially hunting gear, weapons.
The Yuites believed that animal carvings brought good luck on the hunt. Relations with animals here are characteristic of the shamanic worldview. Animals were used as symbols for amulets (most often they were a raven, a walrus, a dog). And a special relationship with animals was built.
So, only the person who was chosen by the spirit of this beast could kill a whale. He was treated with respect, like a guest. With him, someone was always present, the animal was coaxed with music and treats. All this because the Yuites believed that the whale would return later.
Wolves and killer whales in myths and fairy tales were considered one animal. In summer - a killer whale, in winter - a wolf. In her winter form, she helped the hunters kill the deer.
Population
The resident population was 4,000 until the end of the 18th century. Then it dropped sharply to 1000 people and remains at this level to this day. 40% of the inhabitants are young people under the age of 20 years. The appearance of Russians and Americans there is not associated with a decrease in the population of the island.
This is to blame for the famine, due to which two-thirds of the Eskimos were forced to leave the island. Photos, however, illustrate that there are settlements here. Now there are two towns here: Gambell and Savoonga. They are inhabited mainly by Eskimos.
US Islands
In the strait, located between Eurasia and North America, there is a state border between two countries - Russia and the United States. Therefore, one part of the islands is Russian, the other is American.
St. Lawrence Island is located in the northern part of the Bering Sea, the southern part of the Bering Strait, southeast of the Chukchi Peninsula and west of Alaska. Off the coast of Russia is the island of St. Lawrence. Whose is he? This question can be answered like this: it is now part of the US state of Alaska. Over time, political changes affected the Bering Strait, its islands passed from one country to another, so now, looking at the map, it is easy to get confused about which state they belong to.
Historically, this island belongs to the United States, although it is locatedcloser to Chukotka. In the Bering Strait there are also the Diomede Islands, which also received their name in honor of the saint. On the day of his veneration, they were discovered by V. Bering, as was the island of St. Lawrence. The second name of the Diomede Islands is the Gvozdev Islands, in honor of the brothers who first mapped them. Ratmanov Island, located to the west, belongs to Russia. Krusenstern Island, located to the east, belongs to the United States. Thus, between these two islands there is a border of states. Still in the Bering Strait is about. Fairway (southeast of the Diomede Islands), owned by the United States.
Administrative reporting
Administratively, the island is included in the Nome census area, which, in turn, is included in another territorial unit - an unorganized borough. This is a specific administrative unit that exists in Alaska. It is created in places where the number of inhabitants is small, self-government cannot be organized, but a population census is necessary. For convenience, the unorganized borough in Alaska is divided into 11 zones, one of which is the mentioned Nome zone. The inhabitants are almost evenly distributed between the two towns - Gambell and Savoonga. The name Gambell was named after the first teacher on the island, who died with her whole family in a terrible storm on the ship "Jane Gray" in 1898. There are no other settlements here. Although there is no competition between the towns for supremacy, the city of Gambell before the tragedy of 1898 was called Sivukak by the Eskimos, like the whole island, which still gives it a special meaning.
Activities of residentsislands
Inhabitants of the island are engaged in fishing, whaling, bone carving. Bone carving is no longer imbued with such a protective meaning as before. Now they are souvenirs for sale. The residents also collect berries and eggs of wild seabirds. Reindeer husbandry is present, but this occupation appeared relatively recently, after the importation of deer to the island. Bowhead whales are caught here in such numbers that the village of Savoonga is also called the "whale capital of the world." It also hosts an annual whale festival.
Sometimes tourists visit the island, attracted by the cemetery of abandoned ships. Picturesque views of the dead skeletons among the harsh cold shores are captured in the photo.
Island and USA
From 1952 to 1972, part of the island's land belonged to the US military.
The people of the island participated in World War II - served in the Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG). In 1947, this division was disbanded. And in 1952, the islanders continued to participate in the defense of the island in the created Alaska National Guard. At the same time, the Air Force radar station was being built, which had a closed status.
During the period of aggravation of the conflict between the USSR and the USA, an incident occurred in the Bering Strait. 1955-22-06 two Soviet fighters shot down an American spy plane. The crew consisted of eleven people. Three of them were wounded during the shelling, and four more during the fall. Diplomatic documents have been preserved, from which it is known that the government of the USSR reacted peacefully to the incident, but the whole truth was not toldwas.
Although the plane was on the territory of the USSR and there was a shootout, the Russian military carried out the order not to take action outside the country. And the readiness of the Soviet government to compensate half of the US losses was an expression of a peaceful mood. Moreover, there was a clarification that there was a shootout in cloudy weather, when everyone could make a mistake because of low visibility. The incident has been resolved.
The radar station, located on the other side of the island, was a US Air Force facility and carried out aerial control and warning, was a monitoring station. In this area, some Eskimo families have traditionally located campsites for centuries. Some time after the closure of the station, a deterioration in he alth was noticed among the population. Cancer and other diseases were more common in people who grew up in the area. This continues to this day, despite the fact that the United States carried out a costly clean-up program when the station was destroyed. The neighborhood is poisoned with PCBs. Monitoring continues.
After the departure of the military, the population received the right to excavate bones for carving, of which a huge amount had accumulated in two "bone pits" over the centuries of dumping. And also the population was given the right to catch fish and sea animals in these places. The public contributed to these rights.
