For more than 13 years now I’ve been intermittently dipping into the story of Kate Marsden, the 19th Century nurse who travelled across the Russian Far East searching for a herb that could reportedly cure leprosy. My motivation has been largely to satisfy my own curiosity about this odd tale but now, embarking on my fourth trip to Yakutia, I recognise that there is something about this part of the world that is addictive too. Perhaps its the sense that there is true unknown out here in the distant taiga, real wildness infused with the Shamanic, animistic beliefs of both Yakut and indigenous reindeer herder cultures, a vastness that swallows whole mountain ranges without name and natural oddities yet to be investigated - and then there are the people who are some of the most generous I’ve ever had the good fortune to travel with.
This trip was at the invitation of Arctic Films, a collective of creative intellectuals from Yakutsk who want to bring the story of Kate Marsden and her impact on this specific corner of the world to a wider audience. I was very touched that they were interested in my perspective on a story that is so cherished by the people of Yakutia and have been deeply touched by their welcome and care during this latest visit. It has been genuinely moving to have witnessed the devotion of the communities Vilyuisk and Sosnovka, in particular, to the memory of Kate Marsden and to see the Russian and British flag flying alongside each other behind the new memorial to Kate Marsden in Vilyuisk - I suspect this is a sight regrettably not to be seen very often anywhere else right now.
I wish Arctic Films every success in their mission to vindicate and validate the legacy of Kate Marsden and I dearly hope that this is not my last visit to this very special part of the world.
