Contemporary wolf hunters in the taiga of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

Abstract

<p>This article presents two ethnographic case studies illustrating the practices and perceptions of contemporary wolf hunters (volchatniki) in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). We aim to show how contemporary volchatniki rely on individual strategies such as self-crafted technologies and hunting magic. Hunting of wolves must be understood in terms of mutual intimate sensory interplay, an exchange that can be perceived as intersubjective communication between human and non-human persons. This personal interaction creates bonds between humans and certain wolves, allowing some wolves to survive. Despite the technocratic attitude of the Soviet era that wolves were a pest species to be exterminated, volchatniki of today perceive wolves as conscious subjects displaying personality and character. Animistic assumptions of non-human agency play an important role in wolf hunting, in combination with technological advances.</p>