Future of the Koryaks

lrimoto The Eternal Cyc{e 11.Future of the Koryaks 11.1 Prospect of Reindeer HerdingThe day after I saw YUri's Kilway, I went for a walk with Bazarov.As it was early May, the air outside was crisp and refreshing, but the roads were muddy from snowmelt.As a matter of fact, conditions hadn't changed from my last visit in autumn two years ago -apparently, it is like this all year around.It is caused by the tundra thaw, which seeps out into the riverside lowland where the village is located.Seeing how quiet the village was, where not one villager could be seen walking outside, Bazarov said, "Look, not a single person's here.This village is dead."People had no place to work in this village andjust stayed home and drank.Going over to the riverside, I saw the ice was cracked in the middle of the river, and the water surface could be seen.Ducks migrating from the south were flying over the river.Crying Seagulls fiew over the frozen river, and stopped at the edge of the ice where the water-surface was showing, standing all in a line.Across the creek that branched from this river, in front of the hut where Maria lived two years ago, a man was cooking something in a pot hanging over the fire.Apparently, Maria is currently living on the tundra about four kilometres away from this village.The man must have been preparing for the coming fishing season.I could just barely hear his voice carried on the wind, singing merrily as he cut wood.We walked downstream along the main river.The water was still frozen 10 meters from the riverside.The thick ice, which had coveted the surface, had been .washedashore onto the riverbank, and was crushed into small icy pillars like frost.I remember how icy pillars like these, floating over a lake in Northern Canada, made soft rustling sounds all day long as they clashed against each other being pushed by the spring breeze -a spring scene ofthe North.There was a small box where a pump was kept, to pump up water from the river.The pump stretched out toward the power station in the village.The station is not only a coal-fired power station, but also distributes hot water for heating through pipes to houses.At the riverside heliport where we arrived, there was a small pyramid-shaped sign.On top of a stone near that sign where the snow had melted, there was a pile of garbage.Looking at the used lipsticks and bottles of nail polish scattered on the ground, Bazarov said laughing, "Women want to look prettier."There were also empty boxes of chewing gum made in North Korea.On the bank a little further away, heaps of iron scrap were left rusting.Parts of a transmission and large-sized diesel engines used in factories were lying about on the grass.Bazarov pointed at the heap of scrap iron and said seriously, "You could make tens of thousands of dollars if you gathered this and exported it to Japan."Then it smelled like cows.Over 50' cows were being bred right outside the village -they were milked fbr school children.Waste water from the cow barn ' Mikhail went back to the apartment again.