The islands of Big Diomede and Little Diomede are just five kilometres apart, but the native Inupiat families who call them home have spent decades apart.
Before the Cold War, the border between the two islands was ignored.
Indigenous Inupiat villagers crossed back and forth and families lived on both islands nestled between Alaska and mainland Russia.
Suddenly, an “ice curtain” was declared between the two islands in 1948 and Russia closed settlements on Big Diomede. The families were abruptly separated as their Russian counterparts were moved to the mainland.
Frances Ozenna is Diomede’s tribal coordinator, and has been trying to help Little Diomedians plan a reunion with their Russian relatives.
“I know I have relatives there, I just don't know very much about them. I have no connection with my Russian relatives at all,” said Frances.
“I've heard stories a long time ago, how there was interaction between the villages before the ice curtain. I think about how my grandparents might have felt when they separated them. That must have been a big grief for them to lose that connection.”
A long awaited reunion
All of the 80 people who live on this remote island have relations somewhere in Russia.
But bringing their Russian relatives to Little Diomede is as challenging as thawing volatile US-Russia relations.
They must first secure visas for the United States, and then wait for gaps in the treacherous weather before they can reach the island via helicopter.
Life on the island is harsh - nine months of winter, with freezing temperatures and strong winds. For 300 days a year, the island is shrouded in thick fog.
Despite the challenges, Frances and the community have been determined to make the reunion happen. It may be the last such opportunity for the tribe's few remaining elders.
Disembarking from a helicopter, Frances’ father Orville Ahkinga remembers a time when the two islands felt like one.
“When I was growing years ago, these two islands [were] just like one. Just connected. Same language, same way of living. their lifestyle is just the same as ours, you know.”
Frances’ parents moved to mainland Alaska for better healthcare access, but that didn’t stop her from seeking connections with her other members of her Inupiat tribe across the seas.
“When they asked us to go down to the chopper and greet them I didn't know who I was really greeting,” she said.
“And now that I've spent a few days with them, I think in a year’s time, I get my passport and visa to visit a couple of villagers there.”
Island built on subsistence
Frances and her husband, Joseph, have lived on Little Diomede since they were born.
“Cabin fever gets to you because Diomede is so isolated,” said Frances.
Largely cut off from the rest of the world, they survive primarily off traditional sources, such as hunting walrus and polar bear.
“My best memories of how our parents raised us, a lot of it was subsistence. My dad loves hunting and fishing,” said Frances.
Still, modernity has a strong - and strengthening - foothold on the island.
In recent years, Little Diomede has gotten high-speed internet access - albeit for only a few hours a day.
“Sometimes Diomede is really hard to live in,” she said.
“To survive here, it’s about family.”
