This sculpture represents two different forms of initiation—one shamanic and on the result of modern-day cultural changes. The one side represents a female shaman who id also a mother. On the opposite side, her child goes through an initiation to gain shamanic powers. He is deprived of food, warmth, and basic human comforts in order to gain a spirit helper. She holds a drum above her head, and it represents the living heartbeat as well as all the cultural links to the past.
