Various Places of Interest: Little Diomede Island

Various Places of Interest: Little Diomede Island

Little Diomede Island

Have you ever just gone onto google maps and tried to find the smallest pieces of land in the middle of nowhere? Well I did that one time. And once, I found these two little islands inbetween Alaska and Russia called Little Diomede (Alaska) and Big Diomede (Russia). The island spans the city of Diomede, and locally, the island is called Ignaluk. The population is listed as anywhere from 115-146 people, with the former number being from the 2010 census. Another source states that there’s 65 people. The whole entire island is 2.8 square miles, with villagers typically living off the land. Supplies is sometimes helicoptered in, and there aren’t any hotels or cafes. Few of the houses on the island have running water. In the winter the water freezes, so villagers make a runway in the ice for bush planes to land with supplies. 

In the middle is Big Diomede to the left, and Little Diomede to the right.

Interestingly, Little Diomede is right next to the International Date Line, so Big Diomede right next to it is 21 hours ahead (which is about 16 miles). Technically, if you are on Little Diomede, yes, you can see Russia within eye shot. Allegedly.

The island has incredibly rugged terrain, with virtually no vegetation at all. One source states that there are certain things such as sour greens, Eskimo cabbage and potatoes, cloud berries, stink weed, and sea weed. Full of rocky cliffs the only way to get around is by foot. On top of that, the only way to get to the island at all would be by helicopter (this is during the spring-winter times). When the Bering Strait freezes, a runway can be plowed and snow machines are able to be used. With weather permitting, flights can arrive up to several times a week. 

Coast Guard Photo

The demographics of the island is mainly Inupiaq Eskimo, and the village is believed to be at least 3000 years old. Historically, the Inupiaq practiced whale hunting, which according to some western observations were advanced for their time. They hunted on ice and sea, and traded with the locals in Asia and Alaska. Originally, Little Diomede had strong ties with Big Diomede, with closely related families on both islands. Big Dio helped Little Dio with subsisting, until WWII. Come the second world war, the villagers on Little Dio were transported to the mainland, and anyone that stayed behind were captured by the Russians who had a military base on Big Diomede. During the time of the Iron Curtain, Russian and American Politics separated families on both islands that had been otherwise fine for centuries. To quote Alaskaweb.org,

“Those living on Russian soil eventually fully integrated into Soviet society. They had to abide by the same travel restrictions as all other Soviet citizens landlocked within the boundaries of the USSR. At that point, the two island communities, connected by Eskimo family kinships but separated by American/Russian politics, led parallel lives - pictures of Karl Marx hung in the Russian schools, pictures of Abraham Lincoln in the American. Little Diomede villagers watched Warner Brothers films, Big Diomede watched movies made by Lenfilm.   Although officially forbidden to do so, Eskimos from the two sides did occasionally meet on the International Date Line under the cover of fog, visiting briefly, and exchanging small gifts.  In the age of Gorbachev, perestroika, and glasnost, the Cold War thawed, and interest in reuniting with families across the Bering Strait revived.  However, many of the residents of Little Diomede never saw their relatives again.”

Very reminiscent of the Koreas to me. 

image from the diomede school blog

 

If one wanted to visit Diomede, they would most certainly have to ask permission and make arrangements. Transportation is listed as being restricted and expensive. The diomede school blog states that visiting is welcomed, though the best time really is during winter because one can stay at the school. The only other option would be to stay with a local. And since the island is remote, the store may not carry something that you need, and of course pack the essentials with you.

For such a small island, there is a lot of interesting history to it, and I have just scratched the surface. I would really recommend reading more about it. What is most fascinating to me, is that this is an area with people who are more than likely descendants of the original peoples that crossed the land bridge back in the day. Very interesting!

[SOURCES]

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/little-diomede-island

http://www.alaskaweb.org/cmtys/diomede.html

http://diomedeschool.blogspot.com/p/about.html

wikipedia of course

google maps