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Romanova E., Fedorov S. Predator as Actor in the Yakut Life System: Between Nature and Man

E. Romanova
Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous People Problems of Siberian Branch
of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yakutsk, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0001-6973-0608
E-mail: E_romanova@mail.ru 

S. Fedorov
Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous People Problems of Siberian Branch
of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
M. K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University
Yakutsk, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-3689
E-mail: Fedorov.si@mail.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. The work analyzes the relationship between humans and predators in the life cycle system of the Yakuts. The role of the animal world in the dynamics and transformation of human activity has not yet been given the scholarly attention it deserves. So far, the study of human-animal contacts has been one-sided: humans were perceived as the dominant party in this activity, whereas animals remained “invisible” and non-personalized as hunting targets. This paper draws on interviews with local people about various communicative situations and other field materials, and it regards animals as full-fledged actors. The paper examines the role and place of the predator in the system of human activity, the human — animal relationship generating various symbolic resources in the indivisible space of nature. The subject matter of the work is the animals inhabiting the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) territory, and the aim is to analyze the role of animals as self-sufficient actors in the life and activities of the Yakuts and the communication between them.

 

KEYWORDS: bear, wolf, predator, nature, Yakutia, hunting, ecological culture of the North

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2023-4(22)-86-101
УДК 39(=512.157)

 

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