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WORLD ANTHROPOLOGICAL UNION

CONGRESS 2024​

Paper

Human/animal collectives on the move: reindeer individualities and caravan among Evenki of East Siberia

presenters

    Donatas Brandišauskas

    Nationality: Lithuania

    Residence: Lithuania

    Vilnius University

    Presence:Face to Face/ On Site

In my presentation, I aim to introduce how nomadic Evenki perceive domestic reindeer as individual people with their distinguished characters, responses, and physicality rather than mere instinct-driven herd animals. This knowledge of the diversity of reindeer also helps to organize reindeer into caravans, successfully performing cargo activities in mountainous taiga landscapes. In contrast to the human/animal models stressing the role of autonomy and intermittency of relations with animals in Northern Asia, I aim to show how embodied interactions, intentions, and established mutual communication of Evenki and their individual reindeer can be deeply convolved in their joined activities and intentions this way bonding integrity of the human/reindeer social continuum.

Keywords:

Siberia, reindeer, caravan, human/animal relationships