Satellite Dishes and Holy Springs: Images From an Azerbaijan Village

Hinalugis, who number 2,000, live as a distinct tribe. Some call them a nation. They come from a distinct genetic pool and their language, which descends from Caucasian, is foreign even in nearby villages. Some men who served in the Soviet armed forces speak Russian; most speak Azeri, which they need in order to communicate with the outside world. In homes, people speak Hinalugi, a language whose alphabet became codified only in the mid-twentieth century. The alphabet has 77 letters, many of which can look incomprehensible to a foreign reader.

Hinalugis have been Muslims for over a thousand years. Arabs conquered the area in the tenth century, and the village's oldest building is a mosque reportedly built in 968. Pagan gods and beliefs remain popular, though, and the trappings of modern civilization are overwhelming Muslim and Hinalugi traditions. Hinalugi children wear contemporary clothes; houses have electricity and satellite television.

This is a place of contrasts. Sheep still occupy peoples' homes; men hunt for mountain goats, visit holy springs, and offer sacrifices to pagan gods. Yet one can find Russian vodka quite easily. Indeed, the Caucasian hospitability of Hinalug is not likely to vanish. A visitor can come without much fanfare and receive the best spot in a host's house, as well as generous meals.

The prevailing contrast this deep in the Caucasus is the one between summer and winter. The climate is cold from November until April or May. Most residents use the summer months to tend goats and sheep outside the village. Hinalugi sell their livestock in Guba, an Azerbaijani town about 50 kilometers to the northeast. It takes four hours to reach Guba by off-road vehicle. Sales of livestock in September fund all Hinalugi purchases for the winter. The roads to the village become even harder to traverse in snow cover. So from November until April or May, hardly anybody comes to Hinalug, and hardly anybody leaves.