Wonder Woman of the Week: Ashol-Pan

This week’s spotlight can easily be filed under the “13 year-old girls that are balling harder than everybody” file folder. This young Kazakh in Mongolia may be a rare gem in contemporary eagle hunting culture, but the tradition of powerful steppe women has existed for thousands of years- and is in fact the base inspiration for Wonder Woman herself. This week’s spotlight is an accomplished hunter, eagle trainer, and active student in a part of the world most people associate with lonely mountains, illiteracy, and bad guys from Mulan. The Wonder Woman of the Week is Ashol-Pan, Eagle Huntress.

While Ashol-Pan’s community was already ogling over how badass the thirteen year-old girl was, the less nomadic world was in the dark before photographer Asher Svidensky entered the picture. Svidensky traveled to the Kazakh village to photograph the coming of age of boys as they learned how to hunt in the Central Asian Steppe using eagle companions- a story that already sounds like something out of Dungeons and Dragons. Svidensky was surprised to see the group of kids learning the craft included five boys and one girl- Ashol-Pan. Of all six children learning how to train hunting eagles, Ashol-Pan was the most comfortable, powerful, and at ease than all the boys. [1]

Photographer Asher Svidensky saw this moment as a sign to change his goal for the project. He has set out to document a dying tradition that had lasted for thousands of years where boys train eagles to hunt game on the steppes of Central Asia. He saw his project as a documentation of a lost history- that is until he met Ashol-Pan. After seeing the young girl training eagles with the boys, Svidensky shifted his study to documenting a new age of culture in Mongolia; one where women would be held to the same standards and rights as the men. Svidensky photographed boys training beside a girl completing a coming-of-age ceremony that was earning a new place and setting a new standard in Kazakh Culture and how those boys perceived and reacted to learning beside a girl. Svidensky’s focus was on eagle hunting, but also photographed the children in their classroom- where boys and girls both were learning. [2]

Ashol-Pan’s parents are not without worries however. The eagle huntress is the daughter of a famed eagle hunting father and a traditional mother. If one is wondering what a “traditional mother” in Mongolia is like, women in Central Asian nomadic cultures are often the lead caregivers for both children and livestock. Ashol-Pan’s mother is no exception. After taking care of the family’s animals in the morning, Almagul- Ashol-Pan’s mother- spoke with interviewers about her daughter. She explained how lucky her daughter and her family is citing a belief that bad luck follows the famous. That fame expanded with the film Eagle Huntress- centered around Ashol-Pan’s life. The girl had no idea how famous she had become before getting on an airplane headed for New York City to be present at the debut of her biopic film. [3]

A larger image of nomadic culture is created when girls like Ashol-Pan begin training beside the boys in an ancient sport. Eagle hunting has been part of Kazakh culture for millennia and is now gaining fame for entering the international spotlight as a sport for girls. Ashol-Pan’s role as a famous eagle huntress will certainly open access for more girls like her in Central Asia to take up hunting. The boys who train beside her are now part of a changing society taking millennia-old traditions and adapting them to meet a changing society where girls are gaining more rights in the community. Ashol-Pan has become a representative of her people at the present age of fourteen and is a hero not only to girls in Kazakh sports, but for girls in sports all over the world where girl athletes are often pushed aside to make way for the boys.

Kremer, William. “A 13-year-old eagle huntress in Mongolia.” 14 April 2014. BBC News. Accessed 3 February 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26969150

Svidensky, Asher. “The Eagle Hunters of Mongolia.” 2014. Asher Svidensky Photography. Accessed 3 February 2016. http://www.svidensky.com/post.aspx?id=18

Thomas, Augusta. “A year after her photo went viral, how has this teenage eagle hunter’s life changed?” 16 October 2015. Women in the World. Accessed 3 February 2016. http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/10/16/ashol-pan-eagle-hunter/