Donatas Brandišauskas
Biographic Data
| ID | 145189 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Donatas Brandišauskas |
| GIVEN NAMES | Donatas |
| FAMILY NAME | Brandišauskas |
| SIGNATURE | BRANDIŠAUSKAS D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Vilnius University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3288-1012 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Contemporary Wolf Hunters in the Taiga of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)
This article presents two ethnographic case studies illustrating the practices and perceptions of contemporary wolf hunters ( volchatniki ) in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). We aim to show how contemporary volchatniki rely on individual strategies such as self-crafted technologies and hunting magic. Hunting of wolves must be understood in terms of mutual intimate sensory interplay, an exchange that can be perceived as intersubjective communication…
Wolves as Enemy of the Soviet State
This article gives an overview of wolf extermination endeavours in Soviet Yakutia as part of state ideologies of human dominance over nature in the process of modernisation of the Russian North. The proclaimed wolf extermination was a large-scale operation planned and launched by state authorities in Yakutia involving bureaucratic, finance and human contingents, as well as the available infrastructure. Based on ethnographic research among game ma…
Good to Eat and Good to Dream About
This article is an ethnographic essay that aims to describe the leading dietary practices of contemporary nomadic Evenki living in the taiga of Zabaikal'e. I show how their lives as hunters and reindeer herders also sustain the traditional methods of food harvesting, processing, preservations, and consumption. Further, I show how the Evenki diet heavily relies on human interactions with animals viewed as sentient persons. Evenki ideas of luck, pe…
Living with Reindeer Thirty Years After Socialism
30 years after socialism many groups of Evenki reindeer herders failed to survive in the suboreal taiga of East Siberia. By making reference to two case studies from the northern part of the Zabaikal region and southern part of the Republic of Sakha, this article shows how the successful continuation of reindeer herding is based on the ability of charismatic leaders mobilising Evenki communities around reindeer herding and subsistence economies. …
Sensory Perception of Rock Art in East Siberia and the Far East
This article shows how the sensory perception of rock art guided both archeologists’ interpretations as well as indigenous worldviews in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. The research is based on the author’s ethnographic fieldwork research among indigenous communities of the Olekma, Chara, Aldan, and Amur, and Vitim river basins in the Sakha Republic, the Amur and Zabaikalskii regions, and the Republic of Buriatiia. The article discusses…
The gluttons of eastern Siberia. Spirits, poachers, and cannibals in Evenki perceptions
Dans cet article, je tente de montrer comment les changements socioculturels survenus pendant la période soviétique ainsi que les défis actuels sont reflétés avec créativité et incorporés dans la cosmogonie des Évenks. Les nombreux êtres malveillants existant depuis des siècles dans la cosmogonie évenke et ayant pour attributs la gloutonnerie, et dans certains cas l’anthropophagie, sont continuellement rencontrés dans la vie quotidienne et décrit…
Human-nature relationships in the Tungus societies of Siberia and Northeast China
Though the Tungus are dispersed all over Siberia and Northeast China and practice various economic activities, such as hunting, reindeer herding, horse breeding, fishing, and dog breeding, they can be regarded as a coherent cultural and linguistic group; more surprisingly, in the People's Republic of China (PRC), they are also occupied with agriculture and Mongol pastoralism 1 . Thus, the Tungus, living as they do across the borders of different …
Leaving Footprints in the Taiga
Nowhere have recent environmental and social changes been more pronounced than in post-Soviet Siberia. Donatas Brandišauskas probes the strategies that Orochen reindeer herders of southeastern Siberia have developed to navigate these changes. “Catching luck” is one such strategy that plays a central role in Orochen cosmology -- luck implies a vernacular theory of causality based on active interactions of humans, non-humans, material objects, and …
Symbolism and Ecological Uses of Fire among Orochen-Evenki
Based on fieldwork in Zabaikal'e, this report describes Orochen hunters' and reindeer herders' uses and interpretations of fire. Ethnographic evidence presents a wide use of fire and smoke in daily life in the taiga. Fire and smoke play a crucial role in reindeer herding and hunting of ungulates and fur animals. The author argues that fire symbols are an important part of Orochen cosmology and relate to broader themes of hunting magic, mastery, a…
Informal networks of corruption in contemporary Lithuania
Over the past decade, the corruption has become a popular concern, the subject of considerable investigation, and the target of international efforts in Lithuania. In a period of communism, role blat as one form of corruption plays a major role in explaining the everyday economic practices of Soviet society. Blat is a person or use of informal network (reciprocity) based on trust and established relations using friends, acquaintances, or relative…
Symbolism and Ecological Uses of Fire among Orochen-Evenki
Based on fieldwork in Zabaikal'e, this report describes Orochen hunters' and reindeer herders' uses and interpretations of fire. Ethnographic evidence presents a wide use of fire and smoke in daily life in the taiga. Fire and smoke play a crucial role in reindeer herding and hunting of ungulates and fur animals. The author argues that fire symbols are an important part of Orochen cosmology and relate to broader themes of hunting magic, mastery, a…
Contemporary Wolf Hunters in the Taiga of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)
This article presents two ethnographic case studies illustrating the practices and perceptions of contemporary wolf hunters ( volchatniki ) in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). We aim to show how contemporary volchatniki rely on individual strategies such as self-crafted technologies and hunting magic. Hunting of wolves must be understood in terms of mutual intimate sensory interplay, an exchange that can be perceived as intersubjective communication…
Sensory Perception of Rock Art in East Siberia and the Far East
This article shows how the sensory perception of rock art guided both archeologists’ interpretations as well as indigenous worldviews in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. The research is based on the author’s ethnographic fieldwork research among indigenous communities of the Olekma, Chara, Aldan, and Amur, and Vitim river basins in the Sakha Republic, the Amur and Zabaikalskii regions, and the Republic of Buriatiia. The article discusses…
Informal networks of corruption in contemporary Lithuania
Over the past decade, the corruption has become a popular concern, the subject of considerable investigation, and the target of international efforts in Lithuania. In a period of communism, role blat as one form of corruption plays a major role in explaining the everyday economic practices of Soviet society. Blat is a person or use of informal network (reciprocity) based on trust and established relations using friends, acquaintances, or relative…
Symbolism and Ecological Uses of Fire among Orochen-Evenki
Based on fieldwork in Zabaikal'e, this report describes Orochen hunters' and reindeer herders' uses and interpretations of fire. Ethnographic evidence presents a wide use of fire and smoke in daily life in the taiga. Fire and smoke play a crucial role in reindeer herding and hunting of ungulates and fur animals. The author argues that fire symbols are an important part of Orochen cosmology and relate to broader themes of hunting magic, mastery, a…
Leaving Footprints in the Taiga
Nowhere have recent environmental and social changes been more pronounced than in post-Soviet Siberia. Donatas Brandišauskas probes the strategies that Orochen reindeer herders of southeastern Siberia have developed to navigate these changes. “Catching luck” is one such strategy that plays a central role in Orochen cosmology -- luck implies a vernacular theory of causality based on active interactions of humans, non-humans, material objects, and …
The gluttons of eastern Siberia. Spirits, poachers, and cannibals in Evenki perceptions
Dans cet article, je tente de montrer comment les changements socioculturels survenus pendant la période soviétique ainsi que les défis actuels sont reflétés avec créativité et incorporés dans la cosmogonie des Évenks. Les nombreux êtres malveillants existant depuis des siècles dans la cosmogonie évenke et ayant pour attributs la gloutonnerie, et dans certains cas l’anthropophagie, sont continuellement rencontrés dans la vie quotidienne et décrit…
Human-nature relationships in the Tungus societies of Siberia and Northeast China
Though the Tungus are dispersed all over Siberia and Northeast China and practice various economic activities, such as hunting, reindeer herding, horse breeding, fishing, and dog breeding, they can be regarded as a coherent cultural and linguistic group; more surprisingly, in the People's Republic of China (PRC), they are also occupied with agriculture and Mongol pastoralism 1 . Thus, the Tungus, living as they do across the borders of different …
Living with Reindeer Thirty Years After Socialism
30 years after socialism many groups of Evenki reindeer herders failed to survive in the suboreal taiga of East Siberia. By making reference to two case studies from the northern part of the Zabaikal region and southern part of the Republic of Sakha, this article shows how the successful continuation of reindeer herding is based on the ability of charismatic leaders mobilising Evenki communities around reindeer herding and subsistence economies. …
Sensory Perception of Rock Art in East Siberia and the Far East
This article shows how the sensory perception of rock art guided both archeologists’ interpretations as well as indigenous worldviews in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. The research is based on the author’s ethnographic fieldwork research among indigenous communities of the Olekma, Chara, Aldan, and Amur, and Vitim river basins in the Sakha Republic, the Amur and Zabaikalskii regions, and the Republic of Buriatiia. The article discusses…
Good to Eat and Good to Dream About
This article is an ethnographic essay that aims to describe the leading dietary practices of contemporary nomadic Evenki living in the taiga of Zabaikal'e. I show how their lives as hunters and reindeer herders also sustain the traditional methods of food harvesting, processing, preservations, and consumption. Further, I show how the Evenki diet heavily relies on human interactions with animals viewed as sentient persons. Evenki ideas of luck, pe…
Wolves as Enemy of the Soviet State
This article gives an overview of wolf extermination endeavours in Soviet Yakutia as part of state ideologies of human dominance over nature in the process of modernisation of the Russian North. The proclaimed wolf extermination was a large-scale operation planned and launched by state authorities in Yakutia involving bureaucratic, finance and human contingents, as well as the available infrastructure. Based on ethnographic research among game ma…
Contemporary Wolf Hunters in the Taiga of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)
This article presents two ethnographic case studies illustrating the practices and perceptions of contemporary wolf hunters ( volchatniki ) in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). We aim to show how contemporary volchatniki rely on individual strategies such as self-crafted technologies and hunting magic. Hunting of wolves must be understood in terms of mutual intimate sensory interplay, an exchange that can be perceived as intersubjective communication…
Geography (9 works) · Indigenous Studies and Ecology (8 works) · Archaeology (6 works) · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology (6 works) · Political science (5 works) · Culinary Culture and Tourism (4 works) · Ecology (4 works) · Ethnology (4 works) · Herding (4 works) · Politics (4 works)