How People Live in a Remote Siberian village_ Village tour, Yakutia

Thousands of miles away is a tiny remote village Krestyakh, located on the banks of the river Veluy deep in the west of Yakutia, the largest region of Siberia. Today we will explore the village, meet some locals and learn about how they live in one of the world's coldest and most fascinating regions Yakutia. Many people have never heard of Krestyakh, however this village has a deep history involving one of the most beloved dreams on the planet, the diamond. During the dawn of 20th century several scientists noticed geological similarities between South Africa and Siberia. In 1947 geological expeditions were sent around the river Veluy near Krestyakh village and the hunt for the diamond deposits had begun. This is Mikhail. At the time he acted as a guide for geologists who had no experience traversing the area. Mikhail vividly remembers the first contact with the Russians as their expedition teams arrived at his village. In 1949, after two long tedious years of work, the first officially registered Yakutian diamond was found and the birth of the world's largest diamond mining company Alrosa had begun. Because the first Yakutian diamond was discovered in Krestyakh village, the diamond mining company Alrosa built a new school to give back to the community. This building is home to a variety of new facilities for kids to learn in and school is seen as the pride and main focus of the village. In Yakutia, education lasts 11 years before going to university, during which kids learn how to Russian, English, French and Sakha, the native language of Yakuts. Now let's talk about the salary and the cost of living in Krestyakh. While the teacher's salary is 700 dollars per month, the average salary in the village is much less. Most people are earning about 500 dollars and they spend more than half of their salary on groceries, about 300 dollars a month. Irina has been working in this shop for 14 years and she, along with the rest of the village, is well aware of the steep cost of having products shipped a lengthy 6 000 kilometers all the way from Moscow. However, some locals are making more money by breeding their cattle, like next locals I will introduce. Mariana and her husband are engaged in breeding their cattle, they don't buy much from the shop because everything is made fresh from their own farm. Mariana was born in northern Yakutia and is part of a small indigenous group of nomadic hunters and reindeer herders called Ivangs. And Mariana is very in touch with her cultural roots and has even built a northern Yakutian style house, all in effort to continue her traditions and teach them to her children and grandchildren. Krestyakh is a village so small and remote that there are no surgeons or obstetricians, only general practitioners like Lyubov. Those who need surgery or even mothers who are giving birth must be transported to a bigger hospital, the closest being around 100 kilometers away. As Lyubov mentioned earlier, most people in the village believe in shamans and traditional medicine and here we have Isabella who collects a variety of herbs to make healing teas. Isabella is also a well-known shaman and custodian of cultural traditions in Krestyakh. She can heal people and has also used her psychic powers to help police solve challenging cases such as missing people and more. Both locals and visitors come to see her from far away to see answers to questions they cannot figure it out themselves. When meeting guests, Isabella asks every guest to perform traditional Yakutian rituals of worshipping spirits before entering the house. With all rituals complete, Isabella's guests are now invited to the dining table where she and her family have lovingly prepared a delicious hearty feast for everybody to enjoy. Isabella's home was built in the traditional Yakutian style. It's a small wooden house with a big stove and lots of fur like our ancestors used to keep themselves warm during cold winters. Now you can see this is a small village but there are lots of talents and big personalities. During the weekends, women in Krestyakh are singing in the local choir and this is Albina. She does vocal training with a focus on embracing Yakutian culture through the song. So Meanwhile, the local kids are busy creating cartoons. Sharply Dressed Anatoly leads a class where he teaches kids how to make cartoons and anime with Yakutian ideas and references. They have won several animation contests in the region and they dream that one day Yakutian cartoons might become famous all over the world and now they will show us one of their creations. But before we go further, I want to introduce ExpressVPN who is sponsoring this video. ExpressVPN is the fastest, most secure and best VPN around. And did you know that without a VPN internet service provider has access to everything you do online and sell anonymized data about you? Travel sites also use our data to track us and calculate the price you see on flights. But with just one click you can change your online location and save hundreds of dollars on flights within minutes. So I always use ExpressVPN whenever I go online to protect my network data and to access worldwide deals. And because ExpressVPN is sponsoring this video, you can get three months for free by visiting expressvpn.com. Feel free to download it and try it out. There is also a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can always get a full refund if you are not satisfied. Anatoly and kids are now happy to watch their one-minute clip cartoon which took them two months to create. Feel free to support their creations on Anatoly Afanasyev's YouTube channel. Kristiakh is a small remote village that is most likely unheard to most people around the world. Despite this, the people here are hard-working, immensely talented and in love with the lives they live. From Isabella's spiritual guidance to Mariana's preservation of northern culture and even Anatoly's desire to spread his knowledge of computer animation, it's clear that while the village is small and has the toughest living environment, the heart and motivation of its people could not be any bigger.