Sibirica

This article examines gendered representations of women in the Sakha heroic epic olonkho through the figures concepts of kuo and kyys, arguing that these archetypes function not merely as descriptive character types but as a normative system that actively produces and regulates femininity. Rather than treating olonkho as a repository of mythological images, the article conceptualizes epic narrative as a site of gender governance, where acceptable forms of female subjectivity are articulated, policed, and hierarchized. The study demonstrates that the warrior woman's autonomy and martial power are structurally dependent on, and ultimately subordinated to, a patriarchal epic order that privileges beauty, reproductive value, and domestic conformity. The article contributes to Siberian and Indigenous gender studies by showing how epic traditions operate as enduring mechanisms of gender regulation and contestation rather than as static cultural heritage.

This study presents a comprehensive account of British nurse Kate Marsden's 1891–1892 expedition to visit people affected by leprosy in Siberia, as well as the consequences that followed her journey. In search of a plant believed to cure leprosy, Marsden traveled a long route from Moscow to Vilyuisk. Despite the courage and endurance demonstrated in her travels, Marsden's reputation in her homeland, Great Britain, became highly controversial. The purpose of this research is to reconstruct the fuller story of Marsden's experiences by drawing on a range of historical sources, including British accounts and oral testimonies from Vilyui Sakha elders. A critical discourse analysis reveals that the oral histories of the Vilyui Sakha challenge the dominant narrative.

This article examines some cultural codes in the epic tradition of the Evens and Sakha based on the Even epic nimkan “Emcheni” [Өмчэни] and the Sakha heroic epic olonkho “Djuluruyar Nyurgun Bootur” (Nurgun Botur the Swift) by Platon Alekseevich Oyunskii. The zoomorphic—in particular, ornithomorphic—cultural code inherent in the Even epic nimkan and the Sakha heroic epic olonkho are revealed. In the course of the study, some concepts encoded in the images of animals were identified; mythological parallels inherent in these cultural traditions were established, and differences in ornithomorphic codes were determined. It was established that epic symbolism in the mythology of the Evens and Sakha is associated with relics of magic and developed shamanic ideas, with various rituals and cult beliefs.

This photo essay, based on archival images from the National Archive of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (NARS), documents the practices and ideology of Soviet fur farming. Focusing on the Pokrovskaia fur farm, one of the largest in Yakutia during the Soviet period, it traces the industrial logics behind the management of animal life and labor, particularly in the breeding and selection of silver foxes.

A Fractured North (3 volumes) Edited by Erich Kasten, Igor Krupnik, and Gail Fondahl

A Fractured North – Facing Dilemmas (2024, Fürstenberg/Havel: Kulturstiftung Sibirien), 255 pp., ISBN: 978-3-942883-41-2.

A Fractured North – Journeys on Hold (2024, Fürstenberg/Havel: Kulturstiftung Sibirien), 295 pp., ISBN: 978-3-942883-42-9.

A Fractured North – Maintaining Connections (2025, Fürstenberg/Havel: Kulturstiftung Sibirien), 266 pp., ISBN: 978-3-942883-43-6.

Shamanism in Siberia: Sound and Turbulence in Cursing Practices in Tuva Mally Stelmaszyk (Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series, 2022), 152 pp. ISBN: 978-1-032-15699-6.