Alaska is heavily republican and military and at its furthest northwest point you can see Russia. Given our current economy and government I am feeling less than secure these days
We do have quite a few Russian friends but they are Old Believers and the Russians dislike them even more then the average American. For those who weren’t aware Old believers practice an old form of the Eastern Orthodox branch of what was once a part of the Original Roman Catholic Church with some changes during the 1600's. It is a very strict religion although we have three villages in our area. The most open and progressive live fairly near us. The stricter they get the further into the bush they live
The very strict members don’t even approve of the more modern group members. These people fled Russia in 1917 first by way of China. Many I know came to the US by way of South America then Oregon before making their way into Alaska
The women and children of strict families wear traditional clothes all the time. Most of the men wear work clothes then traditional for church and special occasions. Girls wear their hair down until married then it must be up in a covering called a sashmura. Men must be clean shaven before marriage then they let their beards grow
Marriage to outsiders is frowned upon but some groups allow it if/when the proposed spouse learns to speak Russian and agrees to hold the holidays and fast days and there are a lot of them. Unlike some fasts all eating is not banned just all animal products. If you work in a grocery store you can tell it’s a fast day when young Russians walk your aisles examining labels for ingredients to make sure they are not breaking the ban
Strict old believers are slow to visit doctors, especially the women and not for maternity care. Babies are born at home and Ive heard rumors from some, including EMTs that if a child is born with a physical deformity they are allowed to die. If there is a mental issue they tend to have fatal accidents. A very sweet lady I knew bled to death during labor with her seventh child. There was no attempt to save the baby
Looks like a hidden button got pushed. Might need to explore that a bit further
