"Svetlana Koltovskaia, has this to say about shamans in the federal Russian Republic of Sakha: Sakha (Yakut) people do not use the word “shaman” in their language. We have both female and male shamans. Male shaman is called oyuun (ойуун) and female shaman is called udagan (удаган). The word’s etymology is still not known. Some researchers believe that it comes from the word “oy” which means “jump”, for Sakha shamans jump during their ritual which symbolizes their leaving the “middle” world to go to the spirit world. In Sakha, white shamans are called aiyy oyuuna (айыы ойууна). They do not have to wear a special outfit to do their ritual, and they only deal with good spirits. They are sort of regular people, and they have their own community and practice their thing to these days. Dark shamans are called abaahy ayuuna (абааhы ойууна). They serve as mediators between people and evil spirits. There are many types of dark shamans with different status."