On the Run in Siberia

7. In the Yukaghirs’ Camp

103 7 in the yukaghirs’ camp Ifling my backpack off the snowmobile and step into Spiridon’s log cabin. It is very similar to the one Ivan and I were living in but is much more spacious and better equipped. And it is situated in the middle of the Omulevka Delta, with a large open hunting area around it. Everything is bigger and better than where I have come from. The men’s sleeping bags lie neatly rolled together on the bunks, which are covered with moose fur. And the joints in the wall are sealed so that we are not exposed to drafts. In the middle of the room is a wide table, affixed to the wall, and around it two long benches and a stool. Here the men are sitting eating. The firewood beside the stove is systematically stacked along the wall, from floor to ceiling. There is also a metal plate of dry wood shavings so that the hunter who sleeps closest to the stove does not need to get out of his sleeping bag to light the fire in the morning. Crawling out of your sleeping bag in a cold cabin is not exactly a pleasure. In particular, sticking your feet down into frozen boots is a real pain. So you light the fire while you are lying in your sleeping bag. Close to the door, farthest from the stove, the men’s reindeer-skin boots and socks are hanging to dry, each on its own nail. Wet fur must not be exposed to intense heat, because then it dries out and splits. Along the other beams of the cabin, various spare parts from rifles, snowmobiles, and chainsaws are hanging. Even plastic bags, tin cans, and nylon string have been hung up. Nothing is thrown away but is kept for later use. And the roof of the cabin is cleverly Spiridon Spiridonov’s hunting cabin. 104 . in the yukaghirs’ camp built to provide space for an extra room, where supplies are stored. It is high and steep to prevent bears reaching the storeroom or breaking into the log cabin itself through the ceiling . Clearly, I have come to a well-organized cabin, where thought has been given to even the smallest details. My expectations are high when I meet this living legend Spiridon. I had imagined a chieftain type: erect and muscular with high cheekbones and an aquiline nose. But instead, standing in front of me is a short, skinny man with broad jaws, flat nose, and parchment-thin skin. In a dry, almost whining tone, he welcomes me to the camp, after which he gives orders to his youngest son, Peter, to boil water for tea. Spiridon’s oldest son, Yura, is free from housework, which is always assigned to the youngest in the hunting party. Actually, at twenty-seven I am a full four years younger than Peter, but I have special status as a newly arrived guest and am not ordered around. We drink dark, Gruzian tea with sugar, and Yura explains my situation and why I am here to his father. However, Spiridon does not show any special interest in the fur project or the political crisis it has caused. His world is the forest and the moose. Who buys furs from whom and for what price are remote and unimportant to him. Spiridon has spent the seventy-six years of his life in the forests around the River Omulevka. He only rarely appears in the village. The density of buildings and the many smells of people and garbage are said to have a suffocating effect on him. “Spiridon’s favorite company,” Grandmother Akulina tells me, “is the owner of the River Omulevka.” By this, she means the spirit who provides him with large numbers of moose out of love for him. Sauna in the Tent Yura continues his account of my hardships, but Spiridon interrupts him: “Tomorrow we’ll go out and see the Big One. Pitch the tent so Hunter’s boots and socks, both made of reindeer skin. The soles of the boots are covered with the hairs from between the reindeer’s hooves. Drawing by Sara Heil Jensen. in the yukaghirs’ camp . 105 that we can be cleansed. The Big One doesn’t like the smell of human sweat.” Neither Yura nor Peter protests. They immediately get up, go out, and erect a canvas tent...