From Tiksi you go another 50 km by motor boat to the village of Cape Bykov (Bykov Mys), where 500 people engage at 72 degrees northern latitude and harsh climate engage in coastal fishing all over the Lena River Delta. Today the only still remaining proper kolkhoz (cooperative enterprise) in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is …
New field site in East Siberia, Lena Delta and Tiksi
Until last year it used to be very easy to get to this fieldsite in the Lena River Delta, because direct flights from Moscow brought you to Tiksi in 6 hours. But last year the Russian army who used to run the airbase in Tiksi closed it, and shipped out all the security equipment, so …
Continue reading New field site in East Siberia, Lena Delta and Tiksi
Oral History of the Arctic – along the shores of the ocean
The Orhelia researchers in the anthropology research team are having an intensive fieldwork season. We collect material that allows us to compare how the inhabitants of Eurasia's Arctic shoreline were affected by and respond to different state policies designed in capital cities by governments that are very far from the centres of life of our …
Continue reading Oral History of the Arctic – along the shores of the ocean
“Drinking and Driving is so much Fun” – Arctic Workshop at the University of Tartu in Estonia May 31 – June 1, 2013
“Drinking and driving is so much fun” is an unusual title for an anthropological workshop. It was just the right provocation to induce serious reflections on something that anthropologists usually reserve for the famous “corridor talk” during conferences, when they discuss ambivalent fieldwork experiences difficult to integrate into the success stories of anthropological research. The …
Anthropology of polar bears
"Polar bear, polar bear what do you see? I see an anthropologist fearing of me." The city map of Longyearbyen is colored according to the secure areas without polar bear protection – the darker the color, the safer is to walk around. The house where I am located is one of the last houses, between …
Svalbard Spitzbergen Arctic logistic: From the Arctic Circle to the very North – through the very South
Greetings from Svalbard! It is a bit chilly here in Longyearbyen, especially if you come from the South, I mean from the Arctic Circle, where it was +24 when I left Rovaniemi. Some snowflakes were falling down during the day and there are still some snow islands in the town. It is my solo expedition …
Teaching abroad (in the Republic of Sakha Yakutia, Russia)
Writing blog entries is definitely not my life element. However, sometimes you realize that it is a good place to highlight some activities going on at the Arctic Centre and thank our supporting funding agencies, which make these activities possible. Anthropology of climate change, sea water, snow as well as indigeneity and space issues were …
Continue reading Teaching abroad (in the Republic of Sakha Yakutia, Russia)
Arctic Anthropology 