MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. Vladimir Aivas (Vladimir Aivaseda when offline) is the author of the Khanty’s Diary blog on YouTube. The blog is popular not only with the Internet users, falling for whatever exotic attractions they may find, but also with the indigenous peoples. Vladimir’s works have been viewed a few million times. He has quit a big oil company to focus on the new occupation.
"When we made the video about trap fishing, it was about minus 40 [degrees Celsius]. We covered about 20-30km on snowmobiles to get to the site. The fear dominated my mind: what if the accumulators die in the frost? Going back to charge them was out of the question. Thus, we had just one chance to film it. Needless to say, it was cold not only for the equipment but the hands were freezing immediately too. On the way there, the snowmobile’s headlamp went off, and thus we were to make it before it got dark," Vladimir recollected.
The video "How Northern peoples fish" had more than 3 million views. At first it was hard to believe it had such success.
"We made that video, and for six months I was sure it was a failure and kept it on the back burner. At a certain moment, I had nothing to post, and checked my files. I came across this video, spent five minutes to edit it and put it on the net. Next day, the statistics hit all-time high - 20,000 views within one day, and the figures were growing by about a thousand every minute. It was a shock," Vladimir said, regretting that back then the dead accumulator stalled the filming.
Anyway, he did manage to film the most important part - how to pull the trap with fish from under the ice. The trap, or "mordushka" ("pon" in Khanty) is a small net. In the past, Vladimir said, it was made of twigs. Nowadays, it is made of metal.
"An otter may nibble it, so we find ways," he added.
A "mordushka" is an ancient fishing device. "Our predecessors used it, and we are using it now. Both in winter and in summer. As far as I know, only the indigenous peoples are allowed to use it. People from the mainland would not use it, as making it is not an easy job," the blogger said.
For him, videos about traditional fishing and hunting are most interesting. About 18 months earlier, he watched a video on YouTube about Khanty fishing. Clearly, the subject attracted the audience. The filming and editing skills there, however, were far from perfect, and Vladimir realized that professionally made videos would attract many more viewers.
"I can’t say my idea was to make videos about the people - the aim was to be successful in this creative field, so that to drop working at a company. The moment I watched the video about a Khanty, who was fishing, was a light bulb one. It was interesting for me to tell people about our culture - about the life I love. You can’t pretend and lie to the audience - nobody would watch you."
Ancient experience
"We are telling stories not only about modern traditions but also about the life of our ancient predecessors, for example, we have a video about starting a fire by rubbing. This video is interesting for our youth, while our granddads used this method only recently - in the 1980s. We may find ourselves in a forest without any equipment, and ancient methods would be very handy sooner or later," Vladimir said.
In addition to documentary videos, the team offers performances. One of them is how an ancient and a modern Khanty meet. The plot is - Vladimir gets lost in the forest and meets a predecessor, who teaches him all the tricks. The ancient Khanty invites him to the chum (tent), makes a traditional fish dish and shares many secrets.
"It was that film that we made fully in the Khanty language," the blogger revealed. The audience liked the plot, and the team made a film about the shooting process. "There were many funny episodes, but the main thing was to show that preparations for the filming are a no easy process. Any video requires a big preparatory job."
Generally speaking, Vladimir continued, I would not say parents directly hand their knowledge down to children. "It is just that kids stay around their parents, learn from them and later on begin doing things the way they have seen. One just knows how to make necessary appliances, though nobody has ever taught them. As for deer breeding - parents do not teach this, but anyway kids at 12 years of age can ride and bring a herd of a hundred animals home.
The indigenous Khanty live far from big cities, practically having no communication with the outer world - just a family, a house and a pasture…
"We may leave home twice a month to buy food, and our parents may stay home for, say, three months - why? Some of our relatives do not speak a word of Russian," Vladimir said.
Public censors
The blog’s audience is growing, Vladimir continued. At first, the idea was to tell Russians about what the Khanty are like, about their culture and traditions but later it turned out that the Khanty themselves form a large part of the audience.
"To an extent, we wanted to disprove certain beliefs that we are uncivilized," he added.
"If anything is wrong - they [the local subscribers] would call, point to mistakes - true public censors they are!" he smiled. Once when the team were making a video, Vladimir’s mother suggested singing a traditional song, accompanying herself with a tambourine.
"What a 'storm' began! A woman must not take a tambourine! The reason being - all the shamans are men, and tambourines are their instruments," the blogger explained.
One of the editors, working for Vladimir’s team, is his father. In the very beginning, he was skeptical about the son’s project.
"Now, when someone would tell him about me, he says I’m great. The family’s support is very important," Vladimir said. Right now, the father has initiated a discussion - which is the best way to explain to the audience the Khanty words they may not know - either by insertion or by captions.
Khanty’s Diary never offers unemotional synopsis about life and traditions, the blogger continued. "We try our best to present the national color, though in a format, which is best for the youth, to attract more viewers," he added.
Another objective is to promote the traditional lifestyle, as many young people prefer to move to towns and cities after school. Vladimir spends about half of his time in forests and at nomad camps. At times, he has to return to the city - he needs a computer, some special software and the Internet to make videos.
"I wish I could stay here all the time. I’ve filed an application under the IT nomad camp program. I hope, it will be approved."
Khanty’s Diary is equally popular in neighboring Yamal, where many people live in the tundra.
"My family name is of the Nenets origin, it's on the father’s side. The Yamal audience has noticed it. I receive invitations to make videos there. It is very interesting for us - traditionally, the Khanty and forest Nenets do not have big herds, as we are surrounded by forests. In the tundra, the herds are huge - a few thousand animals. It is my dream to see those places. As soon as we grow to be financially independent, we shall go there," Vladimir said with confidence.