Blogger Panda Sakha Shows Traditional Yakut Fishing
The video showcasing the traditional Yakut fishing method received nearly 55,000 likes on social media.
Blogger from Yakutia Panda Sakha (real name Vyacheslav Romanov) showed how he went on a traditional mass fishing event — munkha. The man posted a video of the process on his Instagram (extremist organization, activity banned in the Russian Federation).
The word «munkha» translates as «seine net». This is a traditional type of fishing for the Yakuts, which the entire village gathers for. The net for such fishing is special — since ancient times, it consists of two wings up to 100 meters long. All the caught fish are gathered into a bag in the center of the net, which is called «motnya».
In the video, Vyacheslav showed how everything happens: first, they drill one medium-sized ice hole and several small ones. The net is lowered into the larger hole, and the net is pulled through the small holes. Then it is pulled out using an ordinary stick.
The catch this year is excellent — a bunch of crucian carp were honestly divided among the fishermen. According to Yakut omens, everyone can participate in this fishing except pregnant women and those who have recently attended funerals — nature does not give gifts to such people.
Before starting munkha, it is customary to light a fire, offer pancakes to the fire, and perform a small purification ritual: circling the fire three times in the direction of the sun. However, this part was not shown in the blogger«s video.
