In the morning mist on the right bank of the Ergun River, there is always the sound of copper bells and deer whistles - that was the childhood of the Ewenki girl Maru.
She milked deer milk with Eni, and heard her grandmother say, "Moss is the life of the deer, and the deer is our life." She followed Batu to learn how to blow the deer whistle, and carved patterns of silver hooves, old black, and snowballs on the reindeer antlers, remembering that "one long and two short" were the codes for talking to the deer.
There are no magnificent stories, only worship under the sacred tree, small agreements by the river, and the daily life of generations of Ewenki people "following the moss and living with the deer." "Reindeer Crossing the Snow on the Right Bank", through Maru's eyes, captures the warmth of a nation and the power of symbiosis with nature.
