Talking with wolves: human-animal relationships in anthropological perspective of Siberian nations

In this lecture, with the help of the ideas of social anthropology, I will reveal how people can interact with animals by perceiving them as social beings and other individuals who are able to interact, communicate, have consciousness and intent. Based on examples of my long-standing ethnographic field research in East Siberia, I will tell how deer growers and hunters Evenkas communicate with wolves. Such communication can be revealed as an active coexistence with wolves in everyday life, by exchanging agreements, perspectives, and building neighborly relationships or confronting the same residential landscapes. The report will also describe the challenges of communicating with wolves and other predators to the Siberian peoples due to climate change and the intensification of industrial development. In this context, wolves are inseparable from the experience and discourse of personal animals in morality, empowerment, relations with the state, and continuity of traditional practices.

Presentation slides in English and Russian.