Sakha and Alaas: Place Attachment and Cultural Identity in a Time of Climate Change

• Published in: Anthropology and Humanism
• Main Author: Crate, Susan Alexandra
• Other Authors: Royal Anthropological Institute
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2021
• Subjects: Alaas; Sakha; permafrost; Siberia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/anhu.12353; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/anhu.12353; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/anhu.12353; https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/anhu.12353

Summary In this article, I explore the relationship of Sakha, horse and cattle pastoralists of northeastern Siberia, and alaas, permafrost ecosystems that Sakha depend on for their subsistence. I show that this relationship is both physical and spiritual. In a time of climate change, alaas are changing due to the thawing permafrost, making them unusable for Sakha people. I argue that we must consider and accommodate the reverberations of such change for a people who are gradually losing a recognizable landscape central to their cultural identity. These questions are highly relevant for anthropologists working with the diversity of cultures challenged by similar “dislocations” from their known places, relevant environments, and core sources of their cultural identities. Such investigations are essential to effective global change research, revealing how engaging all relevant knowledge systems counters the hegemony of scientific knowledge and moves toward more equitable and just adaptation responses and policy prescriptions.