Sharing the World With Bears: Conflict and Coexistence in the Siberian Taiga

Abstract

Conservation regimes and governmental relations with Indigenous peoples both vary widely. Successfully resolving conflicts arising from human-wildlife interactions (HWI) is complicated by the existence of multiple ontologies not only among various publics but within historically-marginalized and fragmented Indigenous communities. Current models of HWI are being reevaluated in order to better understand how humans and animals, including large carnivores, have learned to coexist. This article uses field interviews and Indigenous songs texts to describe the uniquely moral character of human-bear interactions among the elder generation of Siberian Khanty of Siberia. We outline the potential of such an ethos for developing more inclusive and just management policies and practices focused on tolerance and coexistence, while also identifying some limitations on developing such policies that emerge from acculturative stresses.