Abyy

Abyy is a small settlement in the watery country of northeastern Siberia. Around it lie low tundra, larch forest, bogs and networks of lakes and channels that freeze for much of the year. The settlement stands far from larger centres and depends on routes across snow, ice and river water rather than continuous roads.

Yukaghir and Sakha peoples used this cold landscape for fishing, hunting and reindeer herding, moving between summer pastures and winter camps. River valleys offered fish and fuel, while upland tundra provided seasonal grazing. Communities followed the rhythm of ice breakup and freeze, when boats, sledges and animal herds could cross the same country in very different ways.

Russian fur traders entered the Indigirka country during the seventeenth century, linking local households to tribute and distant markets.