Hello all!! I'm so sorry that I've been so lax in my blog updating, but my internet access has simply not been the most reliable. Anyways, I've been so busy that I simply haven't had the time to write blog posts.
I hope this most recent posting finds all of you well. I have been having a really fantastic summer, doing a lot of interesting work and meeting the most incredible people. For most of the summer, I've been going to the forest, collecting berries and mushrooms and have also been trying to travel around the "Nyurba ulus" which is kind of like a county--its just one region "or ulus" of Yakutia and the city of Nyurba is the administrative center of that region.
But, most days, when the weather is good, the women of the household all pile into their row boat and go across the river, looking for berries, mushrooms and other items the forest might be able to provide them. Occasionally men will also go berry collecting, but apparently it is a predominantly a female activity, with the men occupied hunting or fishing. Although, the hunting season didn't start until the middle of august here, so the ducks could swim freely in the lakes most of the summer :) The first berries to ripen are wild strawberries. They are the hardest to collect, being small, growing singly and often times hidden amongst thorny plants. But they make the best jam, so we spent weeks collecting the strawberries alone and ended up with jars upon jars of jam as a result :) About the same time as the strawberries, red currants also ripen. While red currants are plentiful and easy to collect (they grow on tall bushes in large clumps), they are sour and require a lot of sugar to make tasty jam, so we didn't spend
so much time collecting them. Furthermore, they stay ripe all summer, so there is no hurry. Just a few hours a couple of days was enough to collect 3 bucketfulls, which ought to last all winter. Near the end of July, blueberries ripen. There are no good blueberry reserves close to Nyurba, but in the forest 10 kilometers from here, they are plentiful. So one beautiful day, I set out with three other women and hiked the distance. We walked 3-4 hours there, spent two hours collecting berries and hiked 3-4 hours back. In just 2 hours, we managed to collect almost an entire bucketfull between the 4 of us.
In August, rasberries and black currants appear. Mushrooms also start popping up so that sometimes we were collecting multiple kinds of berries and mushrooms all at the same time. However, we typically went with one item in mind, looking for a good place to find bushes. Now that its closer to the end of August, most of the other berries have disappeared and a berry called "brusnika" (or "cowberry"? in English) is the main object of our searches. While not the sweetest or tastiest berry in the world, it grows in enormous abundance, in clumps on bushes that cover the forest floor. Gathering brusnika is almost like picking up beads from huge basin filled with them. And then, the berry is firmer and more durable than other berries so that you can freeze it and save it all winter without turning it into jam. The berries can then be boiled to make juice, used in baking or mixed with whipped cream for a tasty desert. Since brusnika is so easy to collect, it doesn't take long to collect enough to last the family well into the following summer. This way, they get the needed vitamins, etc. that are not so plentiful in the long winter here.
Preserving tradition in the Sakha Countryside
The family I'm staying with doesn't own cattle, so I am not getting the full classic experience of living in the Sakha countryside. But those who do own cattle, spend most of July, August and September cutting and preparing hay for the winter. While the horses are able to fend for themselves during the winter, the cows have to be kept in the barn or "hoton" all winter and are fed hay. To have enough to last all winter, families who keep cattle are incredibly busy with the hay cutting most of the summer. Many families now have tractors and other equipment to make it a bit easier, but those who can't afford the machinery still do everything by hand. This makes for an interesting relationship with "preservation of tradition."
Whenever I talk about my project and my interest in Sakha "ethnic identity" many people ask me whether or not I think that the Sakha have preserved their ethnic identity, that is their traditions. I always have trouble answering this--it's really a complicated questions, with a whole lot of different angles from which I could respond. But I try to turn the question around, to get the perspective of those with whom I'm talking. Most people will say that in the villages they've preserve Sakha tradition. And, one of the markers of preservation of tradition, is the fact that they raise cattle just as their ancestors did more than a century ago--they haven't been spoiled by modernization. So, when I expressed interest in going out to observe the hay cutting, people immediately thought of people they knew who didn't have tractors, who did all the cutting by hand. And, indeed, my one trip out to the hay fields has been with such a family. A classic Sakha family if there ever was one--they have 10 children, who all help with the hay cutting and berry-picking and hunting and fishing. So one beautiful day, I took the ferry across the river to the village of Kundyade and spent the day with Akhmed Dmitriev and his family.
Cutting grass by hand is a lot of work. It involves swinging a large iron scyth at grass more than half as tall as a person, with a rhythmic circular swing. The grass initially is left to lie where it falls. Once it dries--typically after two days if the weather has been decent, the weaker members of the family (children and women) gather it up using rakes and pitchforks into small half-spherical piles, shaped so that the rain will fall off them, rather than soaking the dried grasses. After a few such piles are made, the men transport them to the large hay pile with the aid of two long pieces of wood stuck underneath the stack. The larger stacks are then enclosed by a wooden fence so that the cows and horses can't get into the stacks to early. Each full-sized cow eats around 2-3 tons of hay a winter, which means that a family like the Dmitrievs must gather more than 12 tons of hay to feed their 6 cows.
For this reason, in the Sakha countryside, big families are still a blessing. And furthermore, boys are seen as a far greater asset than girls. While it certainly makes me cringe when I hear this repeated over and over, you can understand the sentiment from a certain point-of-view. Women help out with the hay-cutting, and some women even swing the scythes themselves, doing almost as much as the men do. But, the fact of the matter is that cutting hay by hand requires an enormous amount of strength--it was difficult for me to even lift the scythe, much less swing it for hours at a time. Without many male family members, it is difficult for a family to gather the necessary hay for the winter.
But this all brings us back to the preservation of tradition. Akhmed and his family were praised widely for being the model Sakha family, especially for their traditional methods of hay-cutting. And Akhmed was clearly proud of this himself as he showed me around the hay fields. Almost all of the tools they used, he had made himself. The male children, even the youngest (9 years old) were all adept at hay cutting, all helped out and managed to hunt and trap animals at the same time as they were working the fields. The family was able to produce almost all of their food themselves. At lunch, I studied their table--with the exception of tea leaves and the sugar, eggs and flour used to make the bread, there was nothing they had bought. The milk, butter and sour cream, they made themselves. The potatoes, tomotoes and cucumbers were from their garden. The fish had been collected in the nearby lake. And the jam had been made from berries collected by Akhmed's wife.
Indeed, in many ways, they were living in much the same way as their ancestors might have lived 100 years ago. At the same time, as we walked around the hay fields, Akhmed occasionally made comments such as, "if I had the money, I'd buy a tractor." Or, even more telling, "during the Soviet period, this was all done with machines." And just these sentiments were expressed over and over to me by people in the villages. One man, a composer, recognized all over Yakutia and even in other parts of Russia and Europe, complained to me one day, saying "I don't want to live in the village, I don't want to raise cattle. But I have to." And indeed, while city Yakut extoll the virtues of their countrymen who have eschewed the mechanization of their Soviet past, returning to their roots, those very bearers of tradition dream of having the means to regain this mechanization. Or even to leave the difficult pastoral life behind.
And so, the "preservation of tradition," proceeds not from the enduring legacy of the Sakha traditional culture, but from contemporary economic stratification, which forces people to make do without the benefit of technology, which precludes people from full participation in the market economy. Yes, people love their homeland, are proud of their ability to survive in this harsh landscape. But, they also wouldn't mind some of the comforts that city-dwellers enjoy, a sink to wash their dishes, central heating, a car to do grocery shopping or visit relatives in the nearby village, or at least the time to take a vacation and enjoy the summer time, rather than spending every free day in the fields.
THE SKIES OF YAKUTIA
If there is any reason to come to Yakutia, it is for the sky alone. Whether it's sunny, rainy, windy or dry, the summer-time sky is simply magical. When there are clouds, they seem so close, that if you ran to the horizon, you could touch them. Even the darkest of days, you can see every ripple in the clouds above you so that it doesn't feel like clouds, but rather giant, soaked cotton balls, wrapping the world in their folds. And even then, the sun usually peeks through in tiny patches. In the forest clearings, or alaases, these rays of sunshine appear like markers of hidden treasure, the heavens opening up just briefly, to show where to find heaps of pearls, gold and diamonds. Sometimes, I imagine that the geologists who first searched for diamonds here must have followed just these arrows of light in their searches through the Taiga. When there are no clouds, the sky is blue blue blue, like a never-ending roof that stretches above you, convinces you that everything is attainable, that you too could reach the sun if you collected enough feathers. Once the grass and the trees turned green, they seem to sparkle in the sun, that's never so high, always rising or setting. The days are so long that dawn and twilight last for hours, turning the sky and the clouds every shade of pink, purple and orange imaginable, bumping off the clouds, giving the forest an enchanted mystique. The other day as I rode home from a trip to the villages, I noticed the moon, larger than I had ever seen, sitting like a giant purple sphere sitting on the horizon. You could see individual craters on the purple sphere. I made the driver stop so that I could climb down and take a picture, but no matter what angle I tried, I just couldn't capture it in the right way.
My Two Cents on the Georgia-South Ossetian Conflict
So this post is a little off topic, but considering the fact that I'm in Russia at the moment and therefore getting quite a different perspective on the whole issue, I thought I'd share my thoughts about it for those of you who are interested.
For those of you who haven't been paying too much attention, the gist of the conflict is this: Georgia claims South Ossetians are terrorists, invaded the region to stop attacks, Russia sees itself as protector of South Ossetia, stepped up in their defense, ended up invading Georgia, claiming this was necessary to prevent further Georgian aggression, Georgia claims Russia is trying to destabilize their government, the US agrees and diplomatically backs Georgia. The US media vilifies Russian imperialism, the Russian media vilifies US imperialism. The conflict has now gone well beyond the Georgia-South Ossetia issue and threatens to become the beginning of new cold war-like relations between Russia and the US.
Naturally, this concerns me, being an individual who benefits from friendly relations between the US and Russia. And it also concerns me that the US does not see the hypocrisy of its vilification of Russia in this instance. To give you a little bit more historical depth on the situation, I thought I'd explain a bit more about the conflict's history. The most important thing to remember here is that this is not an isolated incident, but has a long complex history, the recent events have just brought in two superpowers, making it seem sudden. And, even my explanation will seriously simplify the issue.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia are two regions of Georgia populated predominantly by non-Georgian ethnic groups that speak totally different languages, have different histories, etc. During the Soviet Union, both regions (South Ossetia and Abkhazia) were so-called "autonomous regions" of the Republic of Georgia. When Georgia separated from the Soviet Union, both of these regions sought independence from Georgia and, in fact, sought assistance from Russia, willing to join the Russian Federation in their desire to be free from Georgia. Georgia's split from Russia and the Soviet Union was rather bitter and, facing the possible danger of a break-up itself along ethnic lines, Russia naturally supported Ossetian and Abkhazian independence and accept them into its fold. As such, since the break-up of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's, there has been almost constant skirmishing along the South Ossetian and Abkhazian border, at times breaking into full-fledged war. However, the Russian military has been preoccupied with other issues and anyway, Georgia has not had the audacity to really push the issue. As such, with the help of international peace-keepers, the fighting has not escalated significantly. The last major fighting was in 2004, after which a cease-fire agreement was signed. At that time, Georgia agreed to a certain degree of autonomy for both regions and, Russia, seizing the moment, proceeded to act as if it had annexed the two regions, even going so far as to issue passports.
It should also be noted at this point that there have been multiple referenda on the issue in both of these two regions, all of which have gone more than 95% in favor of independence from Georgia. The regional population is not split on this issue. They want independence.
So, since 2004, there has been no major fighting, but there has been constant skirmishing. Ossetian/Abkhazian rebels occasionally attack Georgian border troops, the Georgian army responds with bombing of Ossetian and Abkhazian towns. The situation is in some ways similar to that of Israel and Palestine, just significantly less aggressive on both sides. And, it should be noted as well, the US has been a huge supporter of Georgia especially since the election of their current president, Saakashvili, even promoting Georgia's joining NATO. (On a side note, NATO being a military alliance, if Georgia were to have joined already, we would be at war with Russia right now).
Against this backdrop, presumably counting on unconditional support from the US, Georgia escalated its retaliation. In early August, they claimed that Ossetians were carrying out terrorist attacks against the Georgian population and, in response, sent considerable amounts of troops to invade the capital city of South Ossetia. Russia, claiming to be protecting the defenseless Ossetians, sent its own army in to repulse the Georgian forces and ended up crossing the border of Georgia and occupying a large part of Georgian territory.
Interestingly, both sides look to US actions in other situations as a precedent justifying their own actions. The Russians claim that US support for an independent Kosovo parallels Russian support for South Ossetia. And, just as the US found it necessary to launch military strikes against Serbia to ensure Kosovo's independence, Russia has found it necessary to launch military strikes against Georgia. Of course, on the other side, Georgia looks to Israel and even to US invasion of Iraq as justification for its own invasion of South Ossetia.
My standpoint in all of this is an interesting one. Everyday I watch the Russian news, which is full of pith and fury regarding Georgian cruelty and US hypocrisy. They have video footage of crying, wounded Ossetian refugees, destroyed Ossetian towns, aggressive, cruel Georgian soldiers pillaging the countryside. Everyone here has been utterly astonished at the backing the US has given to Georgia. At the same time, I have been trying to read the Western newspapers online and to some degree, I see America's justification--what the Russian media fails to report is that the Russian military invasion and occupation of Georgia is cruel and viscous in its own right. Of course, in the context of other tensions, such as that over the Ukraine, to the American point-of-view, this appears as classic Russian expansionism. Russia uses Georgia's aggression as an excuse to invade the country, which has been a thorn in its side for quite some time, given its pro-Western stance.
What concerns me in all of this, is that it is awful reminiscent of cold war politics. Russia tries to retain/expand its sphere of influence, buffer zones along its border. The US tries to "spread democracy," i.e. create pro-Western enclaves throughout the world. And, what neither government understands is that neither one is "right." Sure, Russia shouldn't be invading Georgia. But, Georgia shouldn't be invading South Ossetia either. But both states are looking to US policy as justification for their own actions. States will be states.
I do not justify the actions of either Georgia or Russia, but I don't have much to say about them, considering I'm not a citizen of those countries. But I am a citizen of the US, so I can look to my own government and ask that it try to behave like a grown-up in this situation, rise above the conflict, instead of taking sides. Really and truly seek peace, seek a role as mediator, rather than instigator. And I also warn people watching footage displaying the cruelty of the Russian military to remember that war, any war, is cruel. The Georgian invasion of Ossetia was cruel, Russian invasion of Georgia was cruel and the US invasion of Iraq was cruel. No government can completely control the actions of its soldiers at every moment. And, having the strength to go into battle requires a slightly cruel mentality. Therefore, whenever you have war, you will have vicious atrocities on both sides. You cannot judge the justice or injustice of a state's actions by the conduct of its military alone.
Right now, in our relations with Russia, the current administration insists upon seeing an aggressor, seeing a mean, imperialist bully. What they don't see, is how much Russia is like the US. It is not a "rogue state" with a crazy dictator at its head who wants nothing but world domination, but a former super-power with pretensions of becoming a super-power again, seeking to challenge US hegemony in the world, for the good of its own citizens and for those people who suffer from that hegemony. Just as the US seeks to retain its role as leading world super-power in order to continually promote American values and interests throughout the world. I'm not so idealistic anymore to ask the US government to give up all together its pretensions of power. I simply wish that the US could let go of the reigns a little bit, learn to share power, work with other countries and in that way, lead by example rather than by force. As it is, in our condemnation of Russian action in Georgia, we simply appear as horrible hypocrites.
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