The Shaman's Coat

by Anna Reid

Release Date: September, 2003

Edition: Paperback

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SURVIVING ENVIRONMENT AND MAN

This is a most fascinating book. When one hears the word Siberia, what usually comes to mind is "gulags" and "ice." But, author, Anna Reid, in The Shaman's coat reveals the real face of Siberia, its surviving native peoples. Anna Reid's description of this vast and thinnly populated region had me unable to put this book down. It is a great place to start if you want to go beyond the usual stereotypes about Siberia. But, this book is more than a historical and anthropoligical study, it is a study on how the worst of a dominating culture can aggresively and even passively destroy a competing or primative culture. Russian domination of Siberia was hard enough on Siberia's native peoples, but once Russiafication was driven by marxist ideology it was deadly. It basically left stone age and ancient peoples empty. Peace for these people, here in the 21st century, is usually found in a full vodka bottle. My only negative about the book is that the author, Anna Reid, feels the answer lies in Russia and the native population of Siberia adopting PC western attitudes. My only question here would be, why trade one form of social dysfunction for another? Maybe, this is just a British trait, a kind of motherly post-colonialism. The author hails from the UK. But, I suspect materialistic feminism would not serve the Buryat, Tuvans, Chukchis or any of the other Siberian natives any better than marxism. And to be fair, the author's suggestion is only found in the afterword of the book. Overall this is a great read.

A wonderful book on the natives of Siberia

Only three native populations in the world today have been virtually whipped out, driven from their homelands and yet they remain, remnants and testaments to a different world. These are the American Indian, the Aborigine of Australia and the Natives of Siberia. This essential work tells the stories of the tribes and the peoples of Siberia 'from their view'. The Siberian natives, from the Buryat to the Khant are a diverse people from many walks of life and of different races. Many of these people were disastrously affected by the coming of Communism and the upheavals of Stalin and industrialization. Yet they remain in pockets in some of the harshest landscape in the world. This is a wonderful book that sheds light on these fascinating people.

Seth J. Frantzman