Agafia's Taiga Life - Living Isolated in Siberia

[Ewan]

I can't isolate this video -

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/agafia-taiga-life (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/agafia-taiga-life/)

In 1936, a family of Russian Old Believers journeyed deep into Siberia's vast taiga to escape persecution and protect their way of life. The Lykovs eventually settled in the Sayan Mountains.

Two children were born during the isolation. They ended up in a dwelling in the taiga, in the Abakan river basin (Khakassia), 250 kilometres from any settlement.

In 1978 their location was discovered by a helicopter pilot, who was flying a geological group into the region. The geologists got in contact with the family, but the Lykovs decided not to leave the place.

Karp's wife Akulina died of hunger in 1961. Three of his children died in 1981. Karp died in 1988. He is survived by his daughter Agafia Lykova who continues to live in isolation in her Abakan fastness.

Today, she is the last surviving Lykov, remaining steadfast in her seclusion. VICE crew travels to Agafia to learn about her taiga lifestyle and the encroaching influence of the outside world.

It is suggested the author of the books may have met these people and created the story from them. I don't know. If wisdom is in the books I'm sure we will all spot it.

--

Also using search term The Ringing Cedars of Russia pdf, turns up a few links to various sections of the writings.

[Innocent Warrior]

I can't isolate this video -

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/agafia-taiga-life/

tt2AYafET68

Whenever you see a video like that, if you can see a YouTube play button in the centre of the video frame, you can open it up in Youtube by clicking on the YouTube icon, on the right of the bar, at the bottom of the video screen. Alternatively, you can just copy the title of the video and paste it in the YouTube search bar (even if it's not a Youtube video, I'll give it a try).

[Shannon]

I can't isolate this video -

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/agafia-taiga-life/

In 1936, a family of Russian Old Believers journeyed deep into Siberia's vast taiga to escape persecution and protect their way of life. The Lykovs eventually settled in the Sayan Mountains.

Two children were born during the isolation. They ended up in a dwelling in the taiga, in the Abakan river basin (Khakassia), 250 kilometres from any settlement.

In 1978 their location was discovered by a helicopter pilot, who was flying a geological group into the region. The geologists got in contact with the family, but the Lykovs decided not to leave the place.

Karp's wife Akulina died of hunger in 1961. Three of his children died in 1981. Karp died in 1988. He is survived by his daughter Agafia Lykova who continues to live in isolation in her Abakan fastness.

Today, she is the last surviving Lykov, remaining steadfast in her seclusion. VICE crew travels to Agafia to learn about her taiga lifestyle and the encroaching influence of the outside world.

It is suggested the author of the books may have met these people and created the story from them. I don't know. If wisdom is in the books I'm sure we will all spot it.

--

Also using search term the ringing cedars of russia pdf, turns up a few links to various sections of the writings

That woman is amazing. An amazing human being.

I'm just happy that her heart is pure, it gives me hope for all of us. Think about what she's seen and been thru. Even in bad times. The geologist guy with one leg imposed himself onto her twice and then he Tried to blackmail her! She prayed And she still takes care of him....I mean she could have taken is gimpy ass out to the forest and left him there for a bear, or a hundred other ways to stop him from his disgusting behavior. Just amazing.


Her description of barcodes is eerie and makes you think.

[Bill Ryan]

The Lykov Family Survives 40 Years in Siberia

https://explorersweb.com/2021/02/27/great-survival-stories-the-lykov-family-survives-40-years-in-siberia

https://explorersweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/russian_family_2.jpg

In 1936, fleeing Stalin’s Terror and religious persecution, in particular, Karp Lykov, his wife Akulina, and their two children, Savin (aged nine) and Natalia (aged two) walked more than 250km into the remote Siberian wilderness.

For the next 50 years, they lived a remote, self-sufficient life. Two more children were born into their family. These two had never seen a human outside of their own group until the family was discovered by accident in 1978.

The Lykovs were Old Believers, an Eastern Orthodox faith that practiced pre-16th century rituals. This sect was persecuted even more than ordinary Christians during the 1930s Soviet Union. Karp’s own brother was shot by a Communist patrol while Karp worked beside him.

In response, he and his family fled to the taiga, or boreal forest, near a tributary of the Abakan River, about 160km from the Mongolian border. They carried only a few essential items on their arduous journey: a couple of kettles, seeds, a crude spinning wheel, and the components of a loom.

They wore their clothes and shoes until they fell to pieces. Many of the original items proved impossible to duplicate in the wild. They replaced worn-out shoes with bark-soled versions and used hemp that they grew from seeds to replace threadbare clothing. Metal, however, was irreplaceable. Once the kettles wore away, food became a daily struggle.

The family lived continuously on the verge of starvation, They mainly survived off potato patties mixed with hemp seeds and ground rye.

Life was so precarious that they held an annual family meeting to discuss whether they should plant the seeds for the following year or eat them for sustenance now. In 1961, choosing to feed her children instead of herself, Kulina died of starvation.

Each family member had his or her own strengths and resourcefulness. They’d each rule over part of their living environment. When Dimitri –- the youngest son, born in the wild –- was old enough, he’d hunt for meat.

Sometimes he was gone for days at a time, sleeping without shelter in freezing temperatures. Without modern traps or weapons, he relied on hidden, self-dug ground traps or followed his prey until they eventually relented from exhaustion.

https://explorersweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Lykov-Family-1.jpgThe Lykov family’s terraced garden and modest dwelling, which a party of geologists accidentally spotted from an aircraft in 1978.

Then one day in 1978, a group of geologists was flying over of the area, which had never been explored, when they noticed a clearing. Since there was no known record of human habitation near the area, they circled a few times. The evidence was compelling; a garden large enough to notice from the air could only have been made by humans.

They found somewhere to land and set out on foot to investigate. What they found defied belief.

They stumbled upon a dwelling which they later described as “not much more than a burrow, soot-blackened and cold as a cellar”. It was cramped, filthy, consisted of a single room, and the floor was covered with potato peels and pine nut cones. Cowering frightened in the corner were two girls.

Sensitively, the geologists retreated from the home to give the girls time to adjust to the unfamiliar visitors. To improve the chances of a positive first contact, they waited for the family to come to them. There they learned the Lykovs’ astonishing story.

The daughters spoke their own unique language, talking to one another in a “slow, blurred cooing.” They’d heard the concept of cities and countries through the stories their parents had shared with them, but their only reading material had been religious books and the Bible.

When one of the geologists offered bread, one of the daughters replied, “We are not allowed that.” In fact, she’d never heard of such a food. The family’s chief entertainment was for everyone to recount their dreams.

Although they were now known to the world, and the world was known to them, they refused to accept new items into their lifestyle. Shortly after their discovery, Savin and Natalia died of causes most likely related to their harsh diet.

That same year, Dimitri died from pneumonia after refusing to be airlifted to a hospital. Karp, the old man, succumbed to heart failure in 1988. The sole survivor, Agafia, one of the daughters, continues to live alone in the wilderness, 2,000m up a mountainside.

[Adi]

The Lykov Family Survives 40 Years in Siberia

https://explorersweb.com/2021/02/27/great-survival-stories-the-lykov-family-survives-40-years-in-siberia

https://explorersweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/russian_family_2.jpg

Interesting video account of Agafia Lykova

In 1936, fleeing Stalin’s Terror and religious persecution, in particular, Karp Lykov, his wife Akulina, and their two children, Savin (aged nine) and Natalia (aged two) walked more than 250km into the remote Siberian wilderness.

For the next 50 years, they lived a remote, self-sufficient life. Two more children were born into their family. These two had never seen a human outside of their own group until the family was discovered by accident in 1978.

The Lykovs were Old Believers, an Eastern Orthodox faith that practiced pre-16th century rituals. This sect was persecuted even more than ordinary Christians during the 1930s Soviet Union. Karp’s own brother was shot by a Communist patrol while Karp worked beside him.

In response, he and his family fled to the taiga, or boreal forest, near a tributary of the Abakan River, about 160km from the Mongolian border. They carried only a few essential items on their arduous journey: a couple of kettles, seeds, a crude spinning wheel, and the components of a loom.

They wore their clothes and shoes until they fell to pieces. Many of the original items proved impossible to duplicate in the wild. They replaced worn-out shoes with bark-soled versions and used hemp that they grew from seeds to replace threadbare clothing. Metal, however, was irreplaceable. Once the kettles wore away, food became a daily struggle.

The family lived continuously on the verge of starvation, They mainly survived off potato patties mixed with hemp seeds and ground rye.

Life was so precarious that they held an annual family meeting to discuss whether they should plant the seeds for the following year or eat them for sustenance now. In 1961, choosing to feed her children instead of herself, Kulina died of starvation.

Each family member had his or her own strengths and resourcefulness. They’d each rule over part of their living environment. When Dimitri –- the youngest son, born in the wild –- was old enough, he’d hunt for meat.

Sometimes he was gone for days at a time, sleeping without shelter in freezing temperatures. Without modern traps or weapons, he relied on hidden, self-dug ground traps or followed his prey until they eventually relented from exhaustion.

https://explorersweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Lykov-Family-1.jpgThe Lykov family’s terraced garden and modest dwelling, which a party of geologists accidentally spotted from an aircraft in 1978.

Then one day in 1978, a group of geologists was flying over of the area, which had never been explored, when they noticed a clearing. Since there was no known record of human habitation near the area, they circled a few times. The evidence was compelling; a garden large enough to notice from the air could only have been made by humans.

They found somewhere to land and set out on foot to investigate. What they found defied belief.

They stumbled upon a dwelling which they later described as “not much more than a burrow, soot-blackened and cold as a cellar”. It was cramped, filthy, consisted of a single room, and the floor was covered with potato peels and pine nut cones. Cowering frightened in the corner were two girls.

Sensitively, the geologists retreated from the home to give the girls time to adjust to the unfamiliar visitors. To improve the chances of a positive first contact, they waited for the family to come to them. There they learned the Lykovs’ astonishing story.

The daughters spoke their own unique language, talking to one another in a “slow, blurred cooing.” They’d heard the concept of cities and countries through the stories their parents had shared with them, but their only reading material had been religious books and the Bible.

When one of the geologists offered bread, one of the daughters replied, “We are not allowed that.” In fact, she’d never heard of such a food. The family’s chief entertainment was for everyone to recount their dreams.

Although they were now known to the world, and the world was known to them, they refused to accept new items into their lifestyle. Shortly after their discovery, Savin and Natalia died of causes most likely related to their harsh diet.

That same year, Dimitri died from pneumonia after refusing to be airlifted to a hospital. Karp, the old man, succumbed to heart failure in 1988. The sole survivor, Agafia, one of the daughters, continues to live alone in the wilderness, 2,000m up a mountainside.

Interesting video re: Agafia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFK3DJ7Kn6s

Added note from Bill:
Many thanks for the fascinating video, which was made over 6 years ago. Yerofei (Erofey) Sedov, the neighboring geologist in the video, died in May 2015 at the age of 77 (see this Wiki page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agafia_Lykova), referencing a number of other articles).

Agafia is now 76, but does (or did) have some help from another Old Believer, Georgy Danilov, who came to assist soon after the documentary was aired. It seems that despite her age and failing strength, Agafia is still there and refuses to be relocated to "civilization".

I'd like to link to this 2013 article, which I found equally interesting and offers context to the video.


https://vice.com/en/article/dp4mzj/meet-the-last-lykov-000001-v20n4

The very touching letter that she wrote asking for help, shown at the close of the video, is here.


https://rtd.rt.com/stories/agafias-letter

[Bill Ryan]

Interesting video re: Agafia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFK3DJ7Kn6s Added note from Bill:
Many thanks for the fascinating video, which was made over 6 years ago. Yerofei (Erofey) Sedov, the neighboring geologist in the video, died in May 2015 at the age of 77 (see this Wiki page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agafia_Lykova), referencing a number of other articles).

Agafia is now 76, but does (or did) have some help from another Old Believer, Georgy Danilov, who came to assist soon after the documentary was aired. It seems that despite her age and failing strength, Agafia is still there and refuses to be relocated to "civilization".

I'd like to link to this 2013 article, which I found equally interesting and offers context to the video.

https://vice.com/en/article/dp4mzj/meet-the-last-lykov-000001-v20n4

The very touching letter that she wrote asking for help, shown at the close of the video, is here.

https://rtd.rt.com/stories/agafias-letter

A new update about Agafia. She now has a new home. :heart:
(https://explorersweb.com/2021/03/25/siberian-survivors-new-home)

https://explorersweb.com/2021/03/25/siberian-survivors-new-home

Agafia's New Home

https://projectavalon.net/Agafia_Lykova.jpg
76-year-old Agafia Lykova has lived all her life in the harsh Siberian wilderness, and this week she received a brand new home. Photo: The Siberian Times

(extracts from the article, which repeats some of the family's extraordinary history)

Known as the world’s loneliest woman, Agafia Lykova was 35 years old when she first saw a human being outside of her own family. Since 1988, she has lived alone, continuing to survive off the land. This week marked a monumental change in her lifestyle, as Lykova moved into a new home.

In recent years, as Lykova has aged, she’s received welfare checks a few times a year. The regional government periodically checks that she is in good health and delivers essential items donated by people around Russia, including buckwheat and rice and fabric for mending clothes. Lykova also been given a satellite phone with which she can call the ranger at the nearby Khakassky Nature Reserve if she needs help.

“We all take extreme care when visiting Lykova” said one of the visiting workers. “She is like a Mowgli who has never come across modern diseases. We know how disciplined and cautious we must be to ensure that she stays safe.”

During one of these checks, it became evident that Lykova’s home was deteriorating. There was a public appeal for help, and oligarch Oleg Deripaska stepped in. Deripaska (worth an estimated $2.9 billion dollars) is the founder of Basic Element, a Russian industrial group with interests in aluminum, energy, construction, and agriculture.

He funded the new cabin, which allows Lykova to live out her remaining years in the only lifestyle she knows.

https://projectavalon.net/Agafia_Lykova's_new_cabin.jpg

Construction began in December, and the cabin was finished earlier this week. It has a lovely wood interior, a veranda, and lots of natural light coming through four windows. A small, wood stove provides a cooking surface and warmth from the Siberian winters. The cabin also has a sheltered space for storing firewood.

https://projectavalon.net/Agafia_Lykova's_new_cabin_interior.jpg

Agafia says she loves her new home, and baked bread and served homemade drinks to thank those who helped construct it.

:heart: