[MUSIC PLAYING] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] JOHN MARTIN: Agafia Lykov is one
of Russia's Old Believers, an ultra-orthodox sect of
Christianity that still exists in small communities around
the world today. Fearing oppression and death
at the hands of Stalin, Agafia's father Karp fled with
his family into the Sayan Mountains of Siberia in 1936. Agafia was born into this harsh
wilderness in 1944. The Lykov family lived
undisturbed for 40 years, building a life in an
environment where the winter temperatures commonly dipped
to minus 30, the summer growing season is short,
and bears and wolves roam in abundance. However, food was
always scarce. And in 1961, Agafia's mother
Akulina starved herself to death so that her children would
have enough food to eat. The area they settled in is
currently over 160 miles from the nearest town. In summer, it's possible to
reach the Lykov's cabin by a seven-day canoe trip. In winter, while we had heard
rumors of a treacherous snowmobile route, it is
virtually inaccessible by anything other than
helicopter. In 1978, a team of Russian
geologists spotted the Lykov's hillside farm from
their helicopter. They later hiked in
to meet them. It was the first contact with
outsiders that the Lykovs had in over 40 years, and
it marked the end of their isolation. Since that initial visit, the
Lykovs have become famous in Russia as the family of Siberian
hermits who didn't know that World War
II took place. They also suffered unspeakable
tragedy when the three elder children all died within weeks
of each other, presumably from pneumonia contracted from a
visit by the geologists. Agafia's father Karp later died
in 1988, 27 years to the day after his wife
passed away. Despite sporadic visitors over
the years, Agafia lived alone until 1997, when one of the
geologists, a man named Yerofei Sedov, moved to a cabin
down the hill from her. So now, 35 years after their
first contact, Agafia is the only Lykov left, living the same
way she has since she was born and the only way she knows
how, off the land, in one of the most inhospitable
environments on Earth. Our journey to meet Agafia began
with a 10-hour red-eye flight from New York
to Moscow. Arriving in the morning, we met
up with Gleb Lisichkin, the editor of Vice Russia, who
would act as our host and translator. We then hopped on another flight
to the city of Abakan, which is right in the middle of
the country, just north of the Mongolian border. Abakan is the capital the
Khakassia region, and with 165,000 residents is modern,
but by no means a teeming metropolis. We then met Igor, an employee
of the Parks Department, who would be accompanying
us to see Agafia. JOHN MARTIN: We used this time
to check out the town. Whew. Ouch. The call finally came, so we
jumped in a van and drove several hours south to
the Shushenskoye. JOHN MARTIN: However, by the
time we arrived some severe weather came and grounded our
helicopter for another night. The unexpected delay gave us
time to buy some things that were on Agafia's wish list,
namely a goat and rooster. On the third morning, the
weather had slightly cleared, and we were able to board
the helicopter. Despite some technical
difficulties, which made us second guess our choice of
aircraft, by that afternoon we were finally in the air on the
final leg of our journey. As civilization dropped away and
the taiga grew, we made an unexpected stop in a
snow-covered field to pick up Sergei, a Parks Department
official who spends most of his time living in the mountains
and has grown to know Agafia over his
years there. Siberia is a region in the
middle of Russia, covering about 5 million square miles, an
area nearly one and a half times larger than the
United States. The area is sparsely populated,
with few major cities like Abakan, and is
mostly comprised of large swaths of untouched land called
taiga, a subarctic forest known for extreme
cold and massive amounts of wildlife. It was into this taiga that
Agafia's father led his family in 1937. We landed on the frozen river,
unloaded our gear and gift animals, and went to meet
Agafia and Yerofei. -[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] JOHN MARTIN: The helicopter left
and would only return in several days time if the
weather was good. Hiking out wouldn't
be an option. AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] SERGEI KHLEBNIKOV:
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] IGOR EGOROV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] IGOR EGOROV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] JOHN MARTIN: Despite
being 70 years old, Agafia is energetic. She gardens, fishes, forages,
cuts and stacks firewood all by herself. But it does take a lot to keep
up with her daily chores. So she put Gleb to work. SERGEI KHLEBNIKOV:
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] YEROFEI SEDOV:
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] YEROFEI SEDOV:
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] SERGEI KHLEBNIKOV:
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] SERGEI KHLEBNIKOV:
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] YEROFEI SEDOV:
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] IGOR EGOROV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] IGOR EGOROV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] IGOR EGOROV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] IGOR EGOROV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] IGOR EGOROV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] IGOR EGOROV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] IGOR EGOROV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] AGAFIA LYKOV: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] YEROFEI SEDOV:
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] JOHN MARTIN: Agafia has
lived her entire life in the remote taiga. Aside from a handful of times
going into the city, she's never left. She has survived, alone and off
the land, with untarnished optimism and even taking care
of another person in this harshest of environments. Despite the sporadic intrusion
of the outside world in the form of visitors, government,
media, and falling rocket debris, Agafia's daily life
remains mostly unchanged. Her continued existence proves
that it's possible for humans to live alone in environments
as difficult as this. There were once many Old
Believers living in the Siberian wilderness. And as we flew over the vast,
empty taiga, it was not hard to imagine that somewhere there
may well be more people like Agafia. [MUSIC PLAYING]
If you like this, you'll love "Happy People"! It's constantly recommended in documentary threads, and it's about people just like this.
Wow anyone watch this? I've got a few docs lined up, wondering if I should move this up my list.
I saw 70 years and full length and thought I don’t have that kind of time
Did anyone else get the impression that the geologist sexually assaulted Agafya? She seemed to be at a loss for words and fell back on her religious convictions calling it a “sin”. She epitomizes resilience.
As someone else said, definitely check out happy people. Its kind of dry but very very interesting
Watched the whole thing. Fascinating!
Ahhh, back when VICE had interesting content.
I miss the real vice :/
"Then came the science. The Godless science. Horrible science. Soul crushing science."
Oh boy....