Global Friday Presents

Alex Oehler
Instructor, Department of Anthropology
University of Northern British Columbia

ABSTRACT:

This talk is based on recent ethnographic fieldwork with Soiot herder-hunters of the Saian Mountains in South Central Siberia. The mountainous taiga, which present-day Soiots call their home, is well known as the ‘birthplace’ of Eurasian reindeer domestication. It is considered one of the first places on earth where reindeer entered the household to form a highly nuanced relationship with people. Today Soiots no longer place the same emphasis on reindeer, and yak, sheep, horses, and other animals have taken their place. However, the nuanced skills once paramount to human-reindeer relations have been invested in relations with other species. The core aspect of Soiot human-animal relations continues to flourish, and it mirrors their continued relations with the spirit world – even after more than two centuries of Buddhist missionary activity among a traditionally shamanist people. How has this reindeer-yak transition occurred, and what can we learn about sustainable interspecies relations in a landscape considered double sacred?

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