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We are flying over the Sakha Republic, the home of the Sakha people.
Previously called the Yakuts, they are Turkic speakers who moved
up the Lena Valley from the south hundreds of years ago to
become one of the largest ethnic groups in Siberia. The Sakha people were once reindeer hunters and horse breeders; after the arrival of the
Russians, they switched to farming and cattle raising. As they migrated
along with the Even and the Evenk,
the people living there were forced north and east -- toward the
Bering Strait. Their migration east also brought changes to the northeastern Paleoasiatic peoples, who lived around the Bering Strait. The Turkic peoples introduced new folkloric traditions, shamanism, and -- most notably -- the use of metal.   
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