SUMMARY:

The article explores the strategic use of the pseudonym “Yakut” by a group of Sakha (Yakut) intellectuals in the late Russian Empire to assert their political voice against imperial authority and settler colonialism. Operating from the margins of the empire, this collective voice engaged in sophisticated public discourse that did not merely respond to imperial misrepresentation but actively constructed a political language of Indigenous self-assertion. The article systematically examines three key thematic areas in which the pseudonym was deployed: rewriting Sakha history to legitimize traditional governance, rigorously critiquing land policy and settler colonialism with environmental realism, and advocating for Indigenous self-government by repurposing imperial legal frameworks. Ultimately, the article argues that “Yakut” was a discursive position crafted by an educated elite to assert intellectual sovereignty and redefine the terms of Sakha participation within a contradictory imperial system.