St. Lawrence Island is 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.
Geographical position
St. Lawrence Island is located in the North Pacific Ocean. What makes his position interesting is that he is 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 outskirts of the Pacific Ocean. It has coordinates of 170 ° C. d. and 63 ° c. w. St. Lawrence Island is located 231 km south-west 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 individual elevations. The highest point here is Mount Atuk - more than 670 m high. It is necessary to mention the natural phenomenon - constant wormwood. This wormwood is located south of the island. It is formed by the prevailing east and north winds driving ice from the coast into the ocean. The climate here is subarctic marine, 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 explained by the proximity of strong currents, bringing large volumes of plankton, with which the fish moves.
Abundant food attracts colonies of mammals and birds, creating bird markets here. About 3 million individuals of seabirds fly here every year. Chistik, dead end, guillemot, three-fingered seagull and loon love to eat here.
History
The interesting location is not surprising, because this island is the remainder of the isthmus between the two continents. Otherwise, one can say the “splinter” of the land bridge. This suggests that there used to be terrestrial land along which prehistoric travelers passed part of their route during the time of the settlement of America.
The island was discovered by a Russian expedition led by a Danish by birth, Russian naval officer Vitus Bering. This event took place in August 1728, on the day when the feast of St. Lawrence was.
Population
An interesting moment is the settlement of the island. People appeared here about 2 thousand years ago. These were the Eskimos from Alaska and Chukotka. Now the people are called Yites - by the name of a language similar to Chukchi. And this is far from accidental. In their language and culture, there is a clear resemblance to the languages of the peoples of Chukotka. Man's settlement of the island in prehistoric and early historical stages was temporary. The periods of settlement and leaving the island succeeded each other, depending on weather conditions and the availability of resources for survival. Studies of human bones and teeth found on the island indicate ongoing hunger. The island was more used as a hunting ground, especially since the mainland can be reached without obstacles in calm weather.
They 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 carried out. People were fond of carving on the bone of a hunted beast. All household items were covered with carvings. In particular, hunting equipment, weapons.
The Juites believed that carved images of animals bring good luck on the hunt. Relations with animals are characteristic of a shamanistic worldview. Animals were used as symbols for amulets (most often they were a raven, walrus, dog). And relations with animals built up special.
So, only the person who was chosen by the spirit of this beast could kill a whale. He was treated with care, as with a guest. Whenever someone was always present, the animal was appeased with music and treats. This is because the Juites believed that the whale would return later.
Wolves and killer whales in myths and fairy tales were considered one animal. In summer, orca; in winter, wolf. In her winter guise, she helped hunters kill a deer.
Population size
The resident population was 4,000 people until the end of the 18th century. Then it fell sharply to 1000 people and remains at this level to this day. 40% of the population is 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.
The famine is to blame, because of which two-thirds of the Eskimos were forced to leave the island. The photos, however, illustrate that there are also settlements. Now there are two towns: Gambell and Savunga. Mostly Eskimos inhabit them.
US Islands
In the strait, located between Eurasia and North America, passes the 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. Near the coast of Russia is the island of St. Lawrence. Whose is he? This question can be answered as follows: now it is part of the US state of Alaska. Over time, political changes influenced the Bering Strait, its islands moved 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 located closer to Chukotka. In the Bering Strait are also the islands of Diomede, which received their name also in honor of the saint. On the day of his veneration, they were discovered by W. Bering, as well as the island of St. Lawrence. The second name of the Diomede Islands is the Gvozdevs Islands, in honor of the brothers who first put them on the map. Ratmanova Island, located to the west, belongs to Russia.
Kruzenshtern Island, located east, belongs to the United States. Thus, between these two islands lies the border of states. Still in the Bering Strait is about. Fairway (southeast of the islands of Diomede), owned by the United States.
Administrative submission
Administratively, the island is part of the Nome census area, which, in turn, is part of another territorial unit - an unorganized borough. This is a specific administrative unit existing in Alaska. It is created in places where the population is small, self-government is impossible to organize, but a population census is necessary. For convenience, an unorganized borough in Alaska is divided into 11 zones, one of which is the mentioned Nom zone. Residents are almost evenly distributed between two towns - Gambell and Savunga. The name Gambell was named after the first teacher on the island, who died with her whole family in a terrible storm on the Jane Gray in 1898. There are no other settlements here. Although there is no competition between the cities for supremacy, the city of Gambell, before the tragedy of 1898, was called the Eskimos Sivukak, like the whole island, which nevertheless gives it special significance.
Activities of the inhabitants of the island
The inhabitants of the island are engaged in fishing, whaling, carving from bone. Bone carving is now no longer imbued with such a protective meaning as before. Now these are souvenirs for sale. Residents also collect berries and eggs of wild seabirds. Reindeer husbandry is present, but this activity has appeared relatively recently, after the deer imported into the island. Greenland whales are caught here in such quantities that the village of Savunga is also called the "whale capital of the world." In addition, the annual whale festival is held here.
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
In the period from 1952 to 1972, part of the island's lands belonged to the US military.
The people of the island participated in World War II - served in the territorial guard of Alaska (ATG). In 1947, this unit was disbanded. And in 1952, the islanders continued to participate in the defense of the island in the created national guard of Alaska. At the same time, the Air Force radar station was built, which had a closed status.
In the period of aggravation of the conflict between the USSR and the USA, an incident occurred in the Bering Strait. 06/22/1955 two Soviet fighters shot down an American espionage aircraft. The crew consisted of eleven people. Three of them were injured during the shelling, and four more during the fall. Diplomatic documents have been preserved , of which it is known that the government of the USSR reacted peacefully to the incident, but the whole truth was not said.
Although the plane was located on the territory of the USSR and there was a shootout, the Russian military obeyed the order not to take action abroad. 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 due to low visibility. The incident was settled.
The radar station, located on the other end of the island, was the object of the US Air Force and carried out aerial control and warning, and was a monitoring station. In this area, some Eskimo families have traditionally been parked for centuries. Some time after the closure of the station, a deterioration in health was observed among the population. Cancer and other diseases in people who grew up in the area occurred more often. This continues to this day, despite the fact that the United States has conducted an expensive program to clean up the territory when the station is destroyed. The surroundings are poisoned by PCBs. Monitoring continues.
After the military left, the population got the right to excavate bones for carving, which in two "bone pits" accumulated a huge amount over centuries of dumping. And also the population was given the right to fish and sea animals in these places. Obtaining these rights has contributed to the public.