St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Philosophical, Anthropological & Film Studies (School of)
  • Social Anthropology
  • Social Anthropology Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Philosophical, Anthropological & Film Studies (School of)
  • Social Anthropology
  • Social Anthropology Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Philosophical, Anthropological & Film Studies (School of)
  • Social Anthropology
  • Social Anthropology Theses
  • View Item
  • Register / Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Partnerships and understanding between Kazakh pastoralists and golden eagles of the Altai mountains : a multi-species ethnography

Thumbnail
View/Open
LaurenMcGoughPhDThesis.pdf (9.106Mb)
Date
04/12/2019
Author
McGough, Lauren Mueller
Supervisor
Bunn, Stephanie
Funder
University of St Andrews. Department of Social Anthropology Departmental Fee-waiver Scholarship
Explorers Club Graduate Student Grant 2012.
Keywords
Kazakh
Golden eagle
Human-animal relationship
Mongolia
Altai mountains
Ethno-ornithology
Traditional hunting
Nomadism
Pastoralism
Berkutchi
Falconry
Intersubjectivity
Domestication
Wild
Apprenticeship
Multi-species ethnography
Aquila chrysaetos
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
This thesis is a study of the Kazakh tradition of hunting in partnership with golden eagles in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia. It represents a unique relationship among the spectrum of human-animal interactions – here eagles live both fully independent lives in the ‘wild’ and yet, for a time, are brought into the domestic sphere by Kazakhs and behave, in many ways, as a domesticated animal would. Kazakhs are able to accomplish this through the deep ethno-ornithological knowledge of the lives of eagles and a willingness to see eagles as beings with agency and engage in an intersubjective relationship with them. Kazakh pastoralists rely entirely on animals for their livelihood, and therefore communicate with goats, sheep, horses, camels, yaks and eagles on a daily basis. None of these relationships are of dominance, but rather co-domesticity. The aim of this thesis is to use the lens of cultivating a relationship with an eagle to better examine how human-animal interactions make us who we are, and help us understand the world around us. There are strong parallels in the lives of the eagles and Kazakhs of the Altai Mountains – both migrate with the seasons and utilize landscapes in similar ways. Along with notions of ‘domestic’ and ‘wild’, apprenticeship is a strong theme in this thesis. A Kazakh hunter must apprentice himself to both his eagle and his human mentor. In turn, the eagle becomes an apprentice of sorts as it learns to communicate with humans. Layers of interspecies communication saturate the landscape and challenge the notion of human exceptionalism. When we think about animals this way, like the Kazakhs do, truly special human-animal partnerships can occur.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.17630/10023-18955
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Collections
  • Social Anthropology Theses
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/18955

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter