𐰆𐰢𐰖 Umay's Children

Sakha

The Sakha people are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in northeastern Siberia, a region famous for its extreme sub-arctic climate. Historically semi-nomadic, they developed a resilient culture centered on the breeding of hardy cattle and horses, as well as a rich spiritual life rooted in shamanism and the oral tradition of the Olonkho epics. Today, they maintain a vibrant cultural identity expressed through the summer solstice festival of Ysyakh, skilled craftsmanship in silver and ivory, and a unique linguistic heritage that reflects their ancestral migration from the Lake Baikal region to the Lena River basin.

Performance by Rain City Muğam

“Suollar” (Roads), performed by the Sakha artist Anatoly Burnashev, is a profound lyrical meditation on the dual nature of travel and the spiritual pull of one’s homeland. The song frames the road not just as a physical path, but as a “wandering artery” of history, positioning the individual as a single drop within that timeless flow. Burnashev’s evocative delivery captures the restlessness of the “randomly released arrow” roaming the world, only to find that every global path eventually leads back to a singular point of origin. Central to the song’s emotional weight is the concept of the Alaas—the traditional Sakha heartland of meadows and lakes—which serves as the ultimate destination where the world’s most famous roads “humbly come to an end,” transforming a simple journey into a soulful return to identity and peace.

“Having become the artery of wandering centuries, the sacred valleys linger. Becoming a drop in that artery, I set out on a distant path. It turns out that it is here where the paths and roads of the entire world begin. It turns out that it is here where the most famous roads come humbly to an end. Like a randomly released arrow, I roam freely across the world. And as if lost in a thick fog, I grow homesick in foreign lands. But eventually, I return home, mocking the journeys that distanced me from it. Leaving all my troubles behind, I am immersed in thought as I gaze upon my native Alaas.“