THE HUNTER (amba)

The Hunter (Amba)

It was still a time when a Udege, looking at a deer, he thought he saw a deer-man (...) In those times all sort of things happened to people. Such things happened that nowadays do not.

Udege tale

Udege people have lived in the Boreal Jungle for hundreds of years. Due to their close contact with Nature, their beliefs are riddled with references to supernatural forces who shall be respected.

In 1997 a Russian poacher called Markov ran into the trail of a gigantic Amur tiger.Despite the risk, Markov saw the tiger ́s footprints as a promise for a better life. He shot the tiger, but was not able to kill it. Udege people believe that if someone attacks a tiger without a reason, Amba will hunt him down. Unexpectedly, Markov unleashed the Amba, the dark side of the tiger.

During the following 72 hours the animal tracked down Markov and killed him. Later investigations suggest that the tiger planned its movements with a rare mix of strategy and instinct and most importantly, with a chilling clarity of purpose: Amba was seeking for revenge.

This animistic belief constitutes the leitmotiv to experience the impact of Nature inthe Udege communities across one of the last remains of shamanism: the Russian Far East hunter ́s culture.