What’s in a Model? Shifting Multispecies Relationships in Sakha (Yakutia)

Abstract

This paper explores continuities in multispecies relationships, expressed through art. It delineates these continuities through the study of a nineteenth-century model of a Sakha Yhyakh celebration. The indigenous Siberian Sakha people have experienced considerable transformation since the advent of Russian settlers. The story of the Yhyakh model illustrates the alterations and continuities in Sakha experiences of multispecies community. It also shows how an interconnected community of human and non-human beings generates aesthetic expectations and affordances that contrast with those of a human-centric worldview.