ON THE RUN IN SIBERIA

Rane Willerslev was a young anthropologist doing field work in eastern Siberia soon after the collapse of Communism. The people were the Yukhagir, who are few in number, and hunt and live in ways that are still quite traditional. Their main source of income is the sable, which was at the time being bought up by a state corporation at a very low price. Willerslev decided to help the Yukhagir by selling direct to Europe. The corporation did not like this, murdered his business partner, and arranged to have him arrested. So he had to go on the run in the wilderness for 18 months, and live by hunting with the Yukhagir.

This book is very readable, with well-described characters. Importantly, it brings us into an indigenous way of seeing the world. There is one incident where the hunter is dressed in elk furs, and a female elk and calf are approaching him. What he sees are a young woman and child dancing towards him, beckoning him to go with them. At that point he shot them both. He said that if he had gone with them, they would have killed him.

 

For the Yukhagirs, animals are persons like ourselves and have our attributes. As he becomes part of their lives, the author starts to experience the world as the Yukhagir do. He starts to accurately dream the animals he will kill the next day. There is a tree covered in all sorts of offerings. An old woman says it is her spirit counterpart, and if she is getting ill, she asks the tree to get ill for her. The tree is old and falling down. The woman says that when the tree falls, she will die.

 

Willerslev was brought up by his parents to base his life firmly on reason. He began his research on that basis. His time among the Yukhagir changed that. He says that if he had put reason first, he would not have survived. For indigenous people, the visionary/spirit dimension comes first.

 

In Beyond Nature and Culture, Philippe Descola suggests this is a common experience among anthropologists: they do some field work as young researchers with an indigenous people, and their way of being in the world has a profound effect on them. They spend many years afterwards reflecting on this different way of seeing the world. Descola's early experience was with the Achuar in the Amazon. I read his account of that time, The Spears of Twilight (recommended), many years ago. On the Run in Siberia is vividly written and will give you a taste of one of those worlds. Best buy is secondhand from abebooks.