Peoples of the Tundra: Northern Siberians in the Post-Communist Transition

by John P. Ziker

On ethnographic grounds alone, Ziker's book is a unique and valuable contribution. Despite increased fieldwork opportunities for foreigners in the former Soviet Union in recent years, much of Russia and Siberia remains terra incognita to Western scholars, except for specialists who know the Russian literature. Ziker's account of the Dolgan and Nganasan peoples of the Ust Avam community is a fascinating analysis of how people adapt their hunting, fishing, and herding not only to the demanding Arctice environment but also to enormous economic and political adversities created in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. In this sense, the book fills a gap in the ethnographic literature on Siberia for Western students and, at the same time, serves as a microcosm of the devastating changes affecting rural communities and indigenous peoples generally in a disintegrating former superpower; that is, increasing isolation and a shift to nonmarket survival economies.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Corbie Mumford · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read this book in my anthropology class at Boise State University. doctors ziker was the professor. he seems really passionate about his work and his time spent in the tundra. he spoke the native language of the people. however this book was just so boring. it was so research-based and laid out in a statistical manner, it just was tough to read. other ethnographies that I've read we're told with a little bit of a narrative to it to make it more interesting. he should have done the same. my least favorite part of the class was when we had to read his book. quite frankly, it just wasn't that interesting and the class discussions we would have about his book were pretty dry as well. reading it was complete drudgery and totally turned me off to cultural anthropology.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guy is my Cultural Anthropology professor at BSU and he made us read his ethnography about the Dolgan and Nganasan of Siberia. He also assigned us 2 other ethnographies, one of the Batek in Malaysia (The Headman was a Woman) and one of the Western Apache (Wisdom Sits in Places. The other 2 books are much better written and pull you in to the story of the people. This book feels almost cold, an outsider's scientific look at a group of people stuck in the middle of nowhere after the collapse of the USSR. I really wish it had more stories of the individuals, less numbers about how many fish they caught.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a read intended for a scholarly audience (somewhat dry at times). A lot of quantitative demographic statistics about the population of Ust'-Avam. But, Ziker does an excellent job presenting his findings and the conclusions that he drew from them. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in issues concerning indigenous peoples, particularly in Siberia.

[Lauren]

The first book of my anthropology course. It was kind of interesting, especially if you're interested in Russian history and how it affected native populations. However, there is a lot of field research, i.e. statistics and such.

[Weavre]

ILL: Luzerne doesn't have it.

[Steffani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it for a anthro class and really enjoyed it.