‘Ice Curtain’ Parts for U.S., Soviet Eskimos

Alaska Friendship I flew to Siberia today for a rare reunion of Alaskan and Soviet Eskimo families. It was the first U.S. flight into Siberia in 40 years, a symbolic parting of the “ice curtain.”

“It will be a great day for those families,” said Alaska Gov. Steve Cowper, leader of the 80-person delegation aboard historic Alaska Airlines Flight 6059.

The Boeing 737 left Anchorage at 7:48 a.m. for Nome, where it stopped briefly before making the 45-minute crossing to the Siberian port community of Provideniya.

A Soviet navigator was sent over to help guide the Alaska Airlines jet across the U.S.-Soviet border and into the fiord that shelters Provideniya from the Bering Sea.

Step Toward Warmer Relations

The flight is seen as a big step toward thawing relations between the neighboring regions, once part of the same country before Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867.

Eskimos once freely crossed the icy Bering Strait in motorboats and walrus-skin umiaks to trade and visit with relatives. The border was closed in 1948 amid growing Cold War tensions.

The flight is long overdue, said Timothy Gologergen, 68, one of several Siberian Yupik Eskimos making the trip.

“This is the first chance to create peace toward our people and their people,” he said. “This way we’ll have a chance to find out if the relatives are still alive there someplace and open up a little trade.”

The Soviets opened Provideniya, which had never before seen a commercial passenger jet from America, for the daylong reunion. Twelve hours of events were planned, including Soviet and Alaska Eskimo music and dancing.

Brought Alaska Souvenirs

The delegation brought Alaska pins, posters and other souvenirs to give away in Provideniya.

The flight stems from the dream of James Stimpfle, a Nome real estate agent. When Alaska’s oil recession began two years ago, Stimpfle brainstormed ways to improve the economy of his remote town of 3,700 people.

He figured that if the Alaska-Siberia border were opened, Nome could become an economic and cultural center for both sides of the Bering Strait. In addition to freer travel by residents, Stimpfle envisioned increased trade, joint business ventures, and tourist excursions by airplane and cruise ship between Nome and Siberia.

The barriers to such activity were, and remain, substantial. Though Siberia and Alaska lie only 3 miles apart at their closest point, the regions are a world apart politically and economically.