In search of reindeer : herding and hunting in taïga among the Yakutian Eveny

• Main Author: Bureau, Nicolas
• Other Authors: Paris, EHESS, Descola, Philippe, Stépanoff, Charles
• Format: Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Anthropologie; Relations homme-Animal; Pastoralisme du renne; Évènes; Iakoutie; Sibérie; Anthropology; Human-Animal relations; Reindeer pastoralism; Eveny; Yakoutia; Siberia; demo; hist; Renne; reindeer husbandry; Yakutia; renne
• Online Access: http://www.theses.fr/2021EHES0073/document

This thesis proposes to examine reindeer husbandry as practised by the Eveny of Yakutia (Russian Federation), in the way it conditions and responds to the relations that the herders maintain with their animals and their environment. Can this pastoralism be reduced to a way of life or a means of meat production? Through a comparison of two eveny villages in Yakutia, this work highlights the way in which economic, social and technological factors have influenced each other over the last few decades, and have given rise to several ways of practising and thinking about herding. A detailed analysis of herding techniques shows that they combine and crystallise reciprocal adaptations between herders and animals. Each 'mode of herding' used is based on behavioural skills, which allow the herders to grant a large degree of autonomy to their animals. This freedom is associated with certain qualities, specific to the reindeer and the herd, which, rather than objects or products, are seen by the Eveny as actors, endowed with their own agentivity and will. From this perspective, herding reflects the ability of the herders to communicate with the herd and the animals. This relational capacity includes the territory, on which the herders walk and search tirelessly for their reindeer. They inscribe their actions in the landscape, learning to recognise and cohabit with the animals and spirits that reside there. They maintain long-lasting, sometimes conflicting relationships with them, in which their reindeer they breed play the role of indispensable intermediaries. Cette thèse propose d’interroger l’élevage du renne tel qu’il est pratiqué par les Évènes de Iakoutie (Fédération de Russie), dans la façon dont il conditionne et répond aux relations que les éleveurs entretiennent avec leurs animaux et leur environnement. Ce pastoralisme peut-il être réduit à un mode de vie ou à un moyen de production de viande ? Au travers de la comparaison de deux villages évènes de Iakoutie, ce travail met en avant la manière dont les facteurs ...