Over the past number of years there has been a Partnership for Reaching the Shamanist Peoples of Asia. The first of these that Melody and I attended was in Irkutsk in 2007. The next one that we made it to was in Krasnoyarsk in 2010. This is the third partnership that I have been to, this time in Yakutsk.
As it was held in Yakutsk, the majority of the people who attended were local. Twenty or more Sakha people were there, plus one Eveny and one Buryat. There were around five Russians and seven foreigners present.
This year's partnership was a little lack lustre. It was held over just two days in a local church building. There was little opportunity for mixing with people, only at morning tea and lunch.
Saeed, who is Sakha (with an Arabic name), presented on the Sakha Shamanistic world view.
Various Sakha people presented musical items in the Sakha language.
David Lewis, a Cambridge anthropologist presented on a Biblical world view.
Irena, a Sakha woman sings songs in a traditional Sakha style called "olon(k)ho".
Some of the conference participants.
Sergei presented on pagan elements within the Turkic world.
Apart from participating in discussion times, I also got up and played a (k)homus duet.
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