Mongolia has been on my travel bucket list for as long as I remember. For years, I would often find myself day-dreaming of roaming the dramatic landscapes of the infamous steppe, overlooking miles of empty and pristine wilderness. I would envision myself looking up at the Milky Way in the crystal clear night sky. And of course, watching a larger-than-life Mongolian Eagle Hunter in action. The tradition of hunting prey with trained eagles has been a staple in the region for hundreds of years, and to this day, the nomads of western Mongolia still use the meat and pelts of the captured animals for survival in the remote wilderness.
So when my friends at DPReview had asked me where I wanted to use the powerhouse Sony A7rIV for a short video story, the Mongolian Eagle Hunters instantly came to mind. With the dates set and the airfare booked, the only thing left to do was find the perfect Eagle Hunter….or maybe, Eagle Huntress.
Meeting Aigerem Askar
When I first met 13-year old Aigerem Askar at the Tolbo Lake Eagle Festival while leading a photography workshop for The Giving Lens, I was awestruck. I first saw the fresh faced teenager as she waited for her turn to compete in the event unfolding in front of hundreds of spectators with cameras at the ready. The Mongolian eagle hunters simply stand in the medium sized landing zone while using their unique call (and a massive chunk of meat) to persuade their giant bird to swoop down from a mountain peak and land on their arm. Time, technique and flair are the main factors the judges look during the event.
While the older male competitors sat in the furthest dusty landing circle smoking cigarettes and chatting while waiting for their turn, Aigerem stood yards away. Stone faced, she stared as each of her fellow eagle hunters stood and called their eagle down from atop the mountain. She studied the eagle’s routes, how the eagle hunter, or berkutchi, stood, and most important, how they caught their eagles on their arms. The more dramatic the landing, the more points. At just 13 years old, Aigerem’s stoic attitude showed me that she was still learning from her peers, and that she took this ancient custom very seriously.
After a brief introduction to Aigerem by my friend Tulga Otgonbaatar from Nomadic Trails, she calmly walked to her spot in the center landing zone. At the moment her Eagle Master mentor Dalaikhan Boshar released her eagle from atop the mountain, Aigerem began her call. And seemingly within seconds, her eagle swooped onto her outstretched arm as the gallery of onlookers exploded into a thunderous cheer, witnessing a perfect landing. At that moment, I realized that Aigerem Askar was no ordinary 13-year old young woman.
Aigerem is Not the First of Her Kind
When I looked over the near 100 competitors in the Tolbo Lake Eagle Festival, the obvious would jump out at anyone almost immediately. They were nearly all men. Rewind a decade and the competitors might have been all men. Although there is evidence of nomadic steppe women participating in the art of hunting with eagles over the centuries, it was rare, and even more rare for a woman to participate in the modern day festival competitions. But that all changed when a young woman, Aisholpan Nurgaiv, gained international fame with the release of ‘The Eagle Huntress.’ The documentary film followed 13-year old Aisholpan’s journey to compete in the eagle festival at Ulgii, Mongolia. Aisholpan does indeed compete, and the resulting film is a touching look at one young woman’s climb into a male dominated sport.
Aigerem And Dalaikhan
Aigerem grew up in a family with generations of eagle hunters who came before her, including her father. So it was no surprise that Aigerem showed interest in the art at a young age. Her father knew right away that Aigerem would have a talent that he could not properly devote his time and experience too. But he had the right man to show her the ropes, his friend Dalaikhan. Since that moment, the young huntress has spent almost as much time with her mentor than she did with her family.
When not in school, Aigerem will often live with Dalaikhan and his family in their ger, an impressive Mongolian take on the yurt. Aigerem spends her weekends out of school training to hunt and compete, all the while building chemistry with her eagle. Any Mongolian eagle hunter will tell you that without a strong bond between the berkutchi and their eagle, success is limited, no matter the size or the power of the eagle. And with the guidance of Dalaikhan, Aigerem has quickly become one with her female eagle, making her a formidable adversary in competitions.
Arriving in Altai
We met our guide Lkhagva from Zendmen Travel and boarded are 3 hour flight from the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar to the small town of Ulgii in the far west. We jumped into an old Russian off-road van and found ourselves on a bumpy, dusty road, being jostled around the back seats like rag dolls. After four hours of the famous ‘Mongolian Massage,’ we arrived at dusk and met our hosts for the next three nights; Dalaikhan, his family, and Aigerem.
We would sleep in one of the family gers while eating traditional Mongolian meals of meat cooked in the fire stove which was placed directly in the center of the massive structure. Over meals, we would get to know Aigerem. At least we would try. Aigerem is naturally a very shy young woman. Easily embarrassed when complimented, Aigerem truly doesn’t think what she is doing is anything special. She is simply doing what she loves. I asked her if she felt intimidated when she would compete against all male competitors. Her response? “Why would I? Our Eagles are all the same. Our calls are all the same. The meat we hold to bring them to us is all the same. We are all the same. We are all Mongolian Eagle Hunters.”
After braving the cold mountain air to view the rising Milky Way behind the gers, we all settled into our beds and set our alarms for the early wake up. At 9am the following morning, Aigerem would officially begin her quest to win the Altai Nomadic Games.
The Altai Nomadic Games Begin!
While the eagle competitions are the prime draw of the local festivals, there is no shortage of other serious competitions and fun games that keep the event lively and diverse. Precisely at 9am, we found ourselves 17km away from the festival grounds for the ceremony’s opening event, a horse race. For 17km, riders will hit top speeds over dusty mountain trails until they reach the finish line in the middle of the festival grounds. But when the riders began to line up in their starting positions, I found myself shocked. Most were kids! Some were wearing protective gear that I wasn’t entirely sure wasn’t just baseball catcher’s padding. They all bore large smiles and gleaming eyes, obviously excited to be able to compete in such a meaningful festival.
The starter’s gun fired loud and the riders were off with a bang. The hundreds of hooves landing in unison shook the ground below us like a small tremor. The horses wasted no time establishing top speed. As I photographed them through my Sony 100-400mm lens, I came to a frightening realization. These gigantic, beautiful creatures were coming RIGHT AT ME! I was blinded by the excitement of the moment and didn’t realize the potential disaster that was about to unfold. I decided to just trust the riders and let fate take it’s course. As the shaking earth began to damper and the dust began to settle, I slowly lowered my camera, my jaw wide open. I had made it through the stampede unscathed. What a rush. Welcome to the Altai Nomadic Games.
The Opening Parade
By the time we slowly completed the 17km drive back, the mini horse racers had easily beat us back to the festival grounds and were laughing and playing in the now relentless sun. We headed back to Dalaikhan’s ger to meet Aigerem as she prepared for her upcoming competition. I found Aigerem leaning against the side of the ger, dressed in a beautiful lime green traditional dress and a fur jacket. She seemed relaxed, not radiating a hint of nervousness, although my nerves were skyrocketing for her. We chatted for a while until we got the call to head over for the opening ceremony.
The ceremony consisted of a short parade where the berkutchi ride their horses in a circle while commanding their eagles to show off their impressive wingspan. Afterwards, a dance from the local children (and one rad older man) set the tone for a lively day. With the official opening ceremony in the books, Aigerem disappeared, preparing herself for her first test of the day.
The First Event
One would assume that an eagle, knowing there is a massive chunk of meat waiting for them in the valley below their mountain perch, would dive-bomb the target like a fighter plane. But, strangely, this is not always the case. The event begun with a wayward eagle flying almost 90 degrees from its release point, landing on the rocks hundred of yards from its target. The berkutchi called louder, with more desperation appearing to exit in his voice with each wail. Eventually, the berkutchi’s partner had to accept the fact that the eagle was not going to complete its task. He trekked down the rock face to rescue this lost eagle.
I thought to myself; “maybe this wasn’t as easy as it seemed after all.’ As if my nerves for Aigerem’s performance were not already off the charts, seeing this failure made me worry. One after one, the competitors took their place in the landing zone. A few berkutchi had turns that were complete losses. Some eagles found their food after a couple wrong turns. And some eagles wasted no time finding the juicy prize that awaited them hundreds of yards down mountain.
Aigerem took her place in the circle. I took my place and focused my Sony 100-400mm lens on her, more nervous for her and her eagle as I was to nail the photo. The call began. The eagle took flight, and within mere seconds, landed on Aigerem’s outstretched arm. An explosive roar came from the viewers. Although the crowd was much smaller than the one at the the Tolbo Lake festival, the decibel level today was on par, if not greater. And just like that, Aigerem showed that she came to win.
It’s Not Just Eagles
The Altai Nomadic Games included a number of other events that occurred between the eagle flights. Two of these events, Aigerem competed in. The Kiz-Kuar is an equestrian competition where Aigerem chases and catches a man on the horse in front of her solely to whip him. Aigerem, being such a skilled rider, had no problem giving a solid whip-down to her competitor, much to the delight of the laughing crowd.
Aigerem competed in a womans-only equestrian event as well, which had each rider follow a maze-like course while being judged on speed and form. The 13-year old Aigerem competed very well in these events, although I couldn’t figure out if they counted towards the final score of the festival or not. Welcome to Mongolia.
The two events that Aigerem did not compete in may have been my favorite of the festival. I was able to enjoy them without feeling stressed for Aigerem and these events seemed more fun based then competitive. One called Tenge Ilu is a heart-pounding event where the competitor on horseback gallops at a fast speed while leaning almost fully off his horse to pick up a rose off of the ground. With each lean, it seems the rider will almost assuredly fall off their horse. But somehow only one actually did, which is shown through my viewfinder and burst shooting in the DPReview film.
The other event, while not as dangerous, was just as fun, and downright comical. Riders, some filled with a little homemade Mongolian vodka for improved aim, would ride parallel to a target, unleashing an arrow from their bow at just the right (ok, mostly wrong) time. The men flailed, lost balance, and performed horribly but always exited the field with a smile on their face and a laugh in their belly.
The Final Event
I felt confident that Aigerem was performing very well against her competition, even though I did not know the scores up to this point. But that could all change with the final event, where the berkutchi drags a fox tail on the ground while riding their horse. Without the scent of fresh meat to guide the eagle, they rely solely on the the Mongolian eagle hunter’s call, which is ever changing since the their horse is constantly in motion. Knowing this event would make or break Aigerem’s chances, I held my breath from the moment when her eagle was released to the moment it captured the prize being dragged behind the horse. Luckily for me, I didn’t lose consciousness as Aigerem and her eagle were in perfect harmony as the eagle completed its task in quick time.
The events was over. I scurried over to the judges’ table to watch them tabulate the scores. I was not sure how the scoring actually worked, so I didn’t know exactly where our favorite 13-year old Eagle Huntress would place. But I sure knew that she delivered an unbelievable performance, no matter the final outcome.
And The Winner Is…
The anticipation was killing me. The wait for the results seemed to be taking forever. ‘How hard is it to count up a couple numbers?’, I thought. The minutes passed. There was no announcement. I believed the Mongolian Eagle Festival judges had taken a playbook from Ryan Seacrest when he announced winners on American Idol. Anticipation creates drama.
After what seemed to be half a day, the judges called for all participants to line up in front of the table. I didn’t understand the Kazak words being said, but I did understand the body language of the participants. One after another their names were read and eagle hunters would hold up their awards and would gift the few photographers in the crowd with a smile.
I had noticed that many men had been called, but not Aigerem. I counted the remaining berkutchi without awards. Aigerem and two others. I asked Tulga if I was looking at the top 3, and he confirmed what I had expected. Out of all of these grown men, a 13-year old young lady had harnessed her passion and talent to finish in the top three. If Hunting With Eagles was an Olympic Sport, she was guaranteed a medal. I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face before the judge’s booming voice once again came over the crackling, old speaker whose volume was turned up way too high for the amount of people standing directly in front of it.
As more Kazak was spoken over the loudspeaker, the two words at the end were unmistakeable.
“Aigerem Askar”
Knowing they would most likely not announce the winner first, I then realized Aigerem had placed third. Initially, disappointment had washed over me. My disappointment was replaced with pure joy and pride when I saw the beaming smile overtake Aigerem’s face. She had worked so hard for this moment. Aigerem never thought of herself as a girl playing in a man’s sport. She had never thought of herself as an eagle huntress. She was an Eagle Hunter. And nothing made her more special than any of her fellow Eagle Hunters, nor did anything make these grown men more special than Aigerem. She competed in the same events as them. She stood in the same landing zone as them. Her eagle took off from the same perch on top of the mountain as the rest of the eagles. She had been judged by the same trio of judges. She was no different than any of the other Mongolian Eagle Hunters that day.
Except that she had performed better than all but two.
Aigerem and her father pose for a picture with Aigerem’s third place award
As the competitive nature of the day began to fade, smiles, hugs and laughter took over. There was a indescribable jubilation that consumed the festival goers and competitors like a wave. We passed around Mongolian vodka as the music was turned to the highest volume possible without blowing the one speaker (spoiler alert: it was already blown.) As Aigerem celebrated with her family, I asked if I could get a quick photo to commemorate the joyful moment.
After I showed the photo to Aigerem, I asked her the most obvious question we ask children and young adults.
“What do you want to be when you get older?”
I expected her to say something along the lines of ‘The world’s best and most famous Mongolian eagle hunter!”
But as she had done every day since I met her, Aigerem continued to surprise me.
“I can’t wait to go to university. I can’t wait to continue my education.”
That right there spoke volumes about the young lady whose story I had come to tell.
And with that, we retreated back to Dalaikhan’s ger as the late afternoon sun began to approach the tops of the mountain peaks. Aigerem took her hat off and her lime green dress, let her hair down and began to roll around in the mud and dirt, playing with Dalaikhan’s grandchildren and the other local kids. Despite the adult-like approach she brings to her passion of hunting with eagles, in this moment I saw who Aigerem Askar really was.
Aigerem Askar really was just a 13-year old girl.
Aigerem Askar was a Mongolian Eagle Hunter.
I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who helped make this incredible adventure happen. Of course, thanks to DPReview for making this dream into a reality. Thank you to Zach Voss and Chip Roundtree for filming and editing the incredible video, which is impressive, but not nearly as impressive as our mug (See below). And of course, to Eric Becker for helping to support us from all the way in Boise, Idaho. And a huge thanks to our guides Lkhagva and Sunqar from Zendmen Travels. And thank you to Tulga Otgonbaatar from Nomadic Trails for introducing me to this amazing young woman and for putting together an amazing festival for us to enjoy!
8 comments
Very interesting story
Thank you Yiam!
This story is so inspiring!! I love the beautiful pictures — the gorgeous faces, the majestic eagles, the unbelievably landscapes, this whole day and adventure captured in such a special way. Thank you for all your hard work. This story touched my heart deeply. Blessings to Aigerem!!
Thank you so much for the kind words Sarah!
I’m confused about this: she was 13 in the documentary that came out in 2016, and she’s 13 still when you wrote your post in 2020?
Never mind, I got it, they are two different 13 year old girls competing in the same competition! Amazing.
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