Victoria Soyan Peemot, "The Horse in My Blood: Multispecies Kinship in the Altai and Saian Mountains" (Berghahn Books, 2024)
Dec 3, 2024
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Victoria Soyan Peemot, a research fellow in Indigenous studies at the University of Helsinki, explores the deep-seated kinship between humans and horses among the pastoralists of the Altai and Saian Mountains. She shares personal narratives that highlight the emotional and cultural significance of these bonds and critiques colonial narratives affecting Tuvan and Mongolian cultures. The discussion also touches on the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on cross-border dynamics and how music and art express the human-horse connection.
Victoria Soyan Peemot emphasizes the importance of multispecies kinship, revealing how human-horse relationships highlight cultural identity and resilience strategies.
The podcast explores the complexities of border dynamics affecting Tuvan and Mongolian identities, illustrating how cultural practices transcend national boundaries.
Deep dives
The Role of Multispecies Relationships
The discussion highlights the increasing academic interest in multispecies relationships, particularly how different species coexist and interact within shared environments. The significance of this approach is illustrated through the author's own experiences growing up in a community where human-horse relationships were prevalent. These relationships encapsulate deeper understandings of injustices and collaborative strategies among both species. The need to explore these dynamics enriches anthropological perspectives and emphasizes the importance of considering non-human entities in social contexts.
Fieldwork in Familiar Landscapes
Conducting fieldwork in her homeland posed unique challenges for the author, as she oscillated between being an insider and an outsider within her community. The author reflected on the advantages of having established relationships, which facilitated deeper conversations about cultural practices and horsemanship. However, this familiarity also led to encounters where informants assumed she already knew certain practices, thus limiting the depth of information shared. Her experiences emphasize the complexities of insider research and the need for adaptive strategies to overcome potential barriers in obtaining meaningful data.
Cultural Significance of Horses
Horses hold profound cultural and emotional significance for the Tuvan people, serving as both livestock and important symbols of identity. The author dives into the complexities surrounding the paradox of loving horses while also consuming them as a vital source of sustenance. Through narratives and regulations surrounding horse ownership, it becomes evident how deeply interconnected these animals are with human lives. This intricate relationship illustrates the layers of meaning that horses embody, transcending mere economic value to encompass kinship, identity, and community.
Boundaries and Cross-Border Relationships
The notion of borders is examined through the lens of personal and cultural identity, emphasizing the permeability of these boundaries, especially in the context of Tuvan and Mongolian relationships. The author's experiences of crossing the border highlight the historical and ongoing significance of these connections, showcasing how cultural practices transcend national delimitations. Understanding the historical context of these borders enriches the narrative of human and non-human interactions in the region. The discussion around border dynamics also points to the evolving relationships shaped by contemporary political changes and cross-border activities.
A fascinating interspecies relationship can be seen among the horse breeding pastoralists in the Altai and Saian Mountains of Inner Asia. Growing up in a community with close human-horse relationships, in The Horse in My Blood: Multispecies Kinship in the Altai and Saian Mountains(Berghahn Books, 2024), Victoria Soyan Peemot uses her knowledge of the local language and horsemanship practices. Building upon Indigenous research epistemologies, she engages with the study of how the human-horse relationships interact with each other, experience injustices and develop resilience strategies as multispecies unions.
Victoria Soyan Peemot is research fellow in Indigenous studies at the University of Helsinki supported by the Kone Foundation. Currently she is a JSPS visiting researcher at the Center for Northeast Asian Studies, Tohoku University. She is a cultural anthropologist who specialises in ethnography of mobile pastoralism in the transborder Altai and Saian Mountainous region of Inner Asia. Victoria’s research interests include Indigenous research epistemologies, human-environment relationships, and museum anthropology.
Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of economic anthropology, medical anthropology, hope studies, and the anthropology of borders and frontiers. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here.