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Abstract

Hunting with golden eagles has a long history in Central Asia as an art, tradition, and, recently, a tourist attraction that significantly contributes to the livelihood of the communities in which it is practiced (MacGough 2019; Soma 2015). It relies on partnerships gradually woven into being through bonds of trust constructed through vocality and the intimacy it generates (Feldman and Zeitlin 2019; Eidsheim and Meisel 2019; Kean and Howell 2019). As an intangible tool, the hunter’s voice is used to train the eagle by a variety of vocalizations. These invisible threads create interspecies ties that become embodied in the choreographic physicality of the hunt. The eagle’s physical responses to vocality define and shape the collaborative dynamics with the hunter, his horse, and his dog. In post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, as intangible heritage, eagle hunting is primarily a tourist attraction that leans on Indigenous ecological knowledge and epistemologies, providing a ‘popular means of interacting with nature’ (UNESCO). However, the vocal weaving of these interspecies bonds also provides an important example of the interconnection and possibility for coexistence, dialogue, and collaboration between humans and non-humans. Renewed approaches to human/non-human agency (Bennett 2010; Steingo 2024) are crucial at a time of environmental uncertainty (Whitaker and Dall’Ò 2023; Köse and İnal 2022). My paper draws on fieldwork carried out in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, recent literature on Central Asian falconry, the matter(s) that vocality is made of, and discussions of tourism in relation to the environment, sustainability, wildlife, and indigenous communities (Holden and Fennell 2013; Fennell 2013; Farrelly 2013; Hall, Gössling and Scott 2015; Smith 2015). It explores how the intangible threads of vocality form the fabric of emotional bonds and the physical manifestation of interspecies conflict/collaboration through hunting, generating opportunities for material profit through tourism. It examines vocality as a tool for conflict resolution in interspecies relations, where two ontological entities are defined against one another by their partnership. I will argue that these encounters provide an opportunity for interspecies ‘merging’ through (ontological) distinction, vocality being the invisible thread that ties ‘the subject and the Other together’ (Dolar 2006, 112). Their bond emerges from their distinction as the conflict in which their two natures intersect can generate a partnership. The paper will contribute to ethno/ecomusicological research on interspecies communication in Central Asia (Levin and Süzükei 2006; Beahrs 2019) and Indigenous identity in the post-Soviet space (Suny 2000; Dadabaev 2016; Levin 2018).

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Generally, many accounts represent reindeer as the only economically profitable animal in the taiga. However, the taiga dwellers also rely on dogs and horses in their daily life. In this article, the author suggests the wolf-pack approach as a fruitful means of interpreting co-existence of humans and animals in the taiga. Understanding the methods used by Tozhu reindeer herder-hunters (Tyva Republic, Russia) in hunting is central to measuring their hunting success, as well as their ability to survive and thrive within the taiga environment. The story of early hunters begins with a remarkable achievement—the domestication of canids and ungulates. With the aid of reindeer and dogs, taiga hunters developed a successful hunting style by mimicking the hunting tactics of super predators—wolves. This approach, has been passed down from generation to generation, has been practiced at least 10,000 years. This paper examines hunting activities through the application of the wolf-pack approach.

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The paper investigates the shrine keepers as the mediators, and transmitters of knowledge for visitors of mazar through internal activities such as communication with pilgrims, giving bata, participation in rituals, and for a wide audience through interviews, conferences, social networking services, and writing books. The article draws on participant observation material, interviews with shrine keepers, workers, and pilgrims collected during the fieldwork on the Kabanbay batyr’s and Maskhur Zhusup Kopeev’s shrines in the summer, and fall of 2023, and winter and spring of 2024. The other sources include the books and articles written by the shrine keepers. The shrine keeper of Kabanbay batyr's shrine Kamal Abdrakhman has been working in this position since the shrine opening in 2000, simultaneously he looks after the National Pantheon, located on the territory of the shrine. Kamal Abdrakhman has a journalistic education, worked in different state positions in the Taldykorgan region, and has been a researcher of Kabanbay batyr since 1979. The shrine keeper of Maskhur Zhusup Kopeev’s shrine Sezim Ahmetniyazov has been working in this position for about 4 years, previously he was employed in the center of Maskhurtanu. Both shrine keepers have a research background which helps them in answering the questions of pilgrims, giving explanations on the historical context and traditions. Collected data demonstrates the influence of the shrine keepers as mediators between saints and pilgrims to the pilgrimage routine, and the memory of the deceased persons. Therefore, I argue that studying the shrine keepers, their backgrounds, and their activities is significant to understanding the processes in the shrines, and the pilgrimage in general. Pilgrimage nowadays is a worldwide phenomenon in different religions and ethnic communities, and this paper contributes to the research of pilgrimages as part of religious activity, and related questions of pilgrims’ actions, promotion of national identity, patriotic education, and traditions in the shrines as well as their openness to everyone regardless their religious identity.

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Hajj is a visit to the Kaaba located in Mecca in Islam, and its performance is considered one of the 5 main duties that a Muslim must perform. But in the past, Central Asia was geographically far from the city of Mecca, and getting there required a long journey and various difficulties, limiting the ability of many to fulfill this commitment.

This situation created the basis for the emergence of various custom and legends about the Hajj among local Muslims, the formation of local shrines associated with the Hajj, and the appearance of toponyms associated with it. Some of them have a theoretical basis. Also, their emergence was based on vital spiritual needs, the ideas of Sufism, which have been ingrained in the minds of the local people for many centuries. It can even be observed that during this period there was ignorance in some strata of the population in the society, and some categories that took advantage of the strong desire for Hajj turned Hajj travel into a source of income.

It is known that in the late Middle Ages, visiting the graves of some Sufi sheikhs among all the peoples of Central Asia was equivalent to visiting the Kaaba. For example, there was a tradition of equating visiting the mausoleum of Ahmad Yassawi (died 1166-1167) in Turkestan, the Shakhimardan, Takhti-Suleiman (Osh), Ashab al-Kahf (Turfan) and the mausoleum of Imam Jafar Sadiq (Khutan)) with the Hajj. This is explained by the fact that the region is located far from Mecca, where the ideas of Sufism are widespread. Among the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzes, one visit to the grave of Khoja Ahmed Yassawi is equivalent to a Hajj, among the Turkmens, two visits to the shrine of Sarahs Baba are considered a pilgrimage to the Kaaba. This evidence shows that during this period, not everyone had the financial and physical ability to travel long pilgrimage routes and brave the dangers of the roads. This has led local Muslims to sanctify the visit to the graves of the great Sheikhs to the extent of equating the visit to the Kaaba.

So, the history of this tradition, which is preserved even today among the local people, formed in the Middle Ages, when Sufism and its ideas were widespread among representatives of all classes.