The small settlement of Khatystyr, nestled in the forests of Southern Yakutia, has long been considered Evenki land. Recently, however, popular "ethno-bloggers" have emerged here, sharing stories about Tungus culture with hundreds of thousands of online followers.
Timofey Ivanovich is over sixty. A wolf hunter by trade, he adopted the online handle "Berke" (Evenki for "wolf"). Berke is a long-time resident and a guardian of tradition; he is respected and called upon when the stakes are highest. Now, such a moment has arrived: the wolves have returned.
Hungry packs are slaughtering reindeer and closing in on the settlement. Berke heads into the taiga alone to drive the predators away. In the real world, he has only his rifle and a video camera; in the virtual realm, he commands millions of views and thousands of comments.
This is the story of how a guardian of ancestral myths saves his small community from a wolf menace—and ultimately becomes a modern folk legend himself.
