ABSTRACT
In late 1993, a Sakha (Yakut) sociologist, one of the authors of the Sakha Republic constitution, related a metaphorical tale that she used to explain the paradox of pain yet potential that characterizes Sakha approaches to their future. In the story, a young orphan finally achieves prosperity, a white horse, and the leadership of his forest people, but only after the sacrifice of his hunter father and much suffering. The tale was told in the context of criticizing the Russian Federation constitution for its sharp reduction of republic sovereignty. “We may have to wait a generation before the freedoms we thought we had won, even within the federation, are realized,” the sociologist lamented. 1
