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Review on the Run
Hi,
So I zipped through a copy of On the Run in Siberia by Rene Willerslev. Rene is an anthropologist from Denmark who's been making a special study of the Yukaghir, indigenous people of Siberia. The Yukaghir have made their living for centuries through hunting. They're mostly interested in moose, but the various powers who rule Russia have valued their prowess at hunting sable and other high-value furs. And for centuries the powers-that-be have exploited the Yukaghir by paying them a pittance for furs that would make Russia very wealthy.
After witnessing this for a number of years, Rene and his brother tried to set up a "Fair Fur Cooperative", where the hunters would sell directly to fur markets and receive a better price for their goods. The book recounts Rene's trip to Siberia to establish the cooperative.
Shockingly, the Yakutian state company that controls all of Siberia's fur trade isn't terribly keen on this idea of hunters banding together and promptly put out an arrest warrant for him. Rene is forced to flee into the taiga for several months, living with the Yukaghir hunters and laying low. The book recounts his efforts to stay alive and how the experience deepened his understanding of the Yukaghir.
It's an interesting book with lots of useful illustrations, maps, and series of appendices that provide useful tips of surviving in Siberia. Including valuable moose tracking/hunting diagrams. All in all a fun book. And it makes you very glad you don't live in Siberia.
later
Tom
So I zipped through a copy of On the Run in Siberia by Rene Willerslev. Rene is an anthropologist from Denmark who's been making a special study of the Yukaghir, indigenous people of Siberia. The Yukaghir have made their living for centuries through hunting. They're mostly interested in moose, but the various powers who rule Russia have valued their prowess at hunting sable and other high-value furs. And for centuries the powers-that-be have exploited the Yukaghir by paying them a pittance for furs that would make Russia very wealthy.
After witnessing this for a number of years, Rene and his brother tried to set up a "Fair Fur Cooperative", where the hunters would sell directly to fur markets and receive a better price for their goods. The book recounts Rene's trip to Siberia to establish the cooperative.
Shockingly, the Yakutian state company that controls all of Siberia's fur trade isn't terribly keen on this idea of hunters banding together and promptly put out an arrest warrant for him. Rene is forced to flee into the taiga for several months, living with the Yukaghir hunters and laying low. The book recounts his efforts to stay alive and how the experience deepened his understanding of the Yukaghir.
It's an interesting book with lots of useful illustrations, maps, and series of appendices that provide useful tips of surviving in Siberia. Including valuable moose tracking/hunting diagrams. All in all a fun book. And it makes you very glad you don't live in Siberia.
later
Tom