A Hopeless Life? The Story of a Koriak Woman in the Russian Far East

Abstract

In Koriak villages on the northeastern shore of Kamchatka peninsula, the idea that Koriak women are morally debauched and domestically inept is frequently met. On the one hand, this idea draws on the bias that Koriak women as members of one "primitive," indigenous group in the Russian Far East are "slothful" and do not exhibit a "civilized" propriety; on the other hand, it rests on Russian-centred notions of femininity. Furthermore, interactions between Russian and Koriak men have given rise to an authoritative rhetoric which debases women who are said to keep unclean houses, to neglect their children and to drink. How do women respond to these ideas of cultural difference and male power? In this essay, I explore this question by means of a story. Lidiia's story shows how Koriak women actively engage the circumstances of social possibility, while simultaneously struggling with broader configurations of gender and political asymmetry