Several hundred kilometers north of Alaska’s main city, Anchorage, lies the city of Fairbanks. It was founded at the beginning of the twentieth century during the Alaska Gold Rush. One of Fairbanks’ main landmarks is a monument to Soviet and American pilots, erected in memory of events from the Second World War. Here was an airfield where Soviet pilots received the aircraft relay. From 1942 to 1945, under the Lend-Lease program, thousands of combat aircraft traveled from American factories across Alaska, the Bering Strait, and Siberia to the front. This was the air route known as Alaska–Siberia, or simply ALSIB.
Long before the arrival of Europeans, Alaska was the land of ancient peoples—the Aleuts, Yupiks, Athabaskans, Eskimos, Indians, and many others—who for thousands of years knew how to live in harmony with the harsh natural world. Their lives were shaped by the ocean and the tundra, by animal migrations and the changing seasons. In their myths and legends, hunting and fishing were not only struggles for survival but sacred rites connecting human beings with the world of spirits.
Also in Fairbanks is the northernmost Orthodox church in America. It was built in 1992 and consecrated in honor of Saint Herman of Alaska. Last summer, the husband and wife film team, Mikhail and Ekaterina P, spoke with its rector, Father Andrew, about Orthodox traditions and the special nature of serving the Church in Alaska.
