Eagle huntress Aisholpan Nurgaiypkyzy (in hat, centre), Kazakhstan minister of education Yerlan Sagadiyev (left), Almagul Koksegen, mother of the Eagle huntress (on the right, with flowers) meeting in Astana in September 2018. Image: Courtesy Kazakhstan Ministry of Education
Aisholpan Nurgaiypkyzy, the ethnic Kazakh from Mongolia celebrated in the film The Eagle Huntress, is to start a three-year English course. She has been awarded a scholarship at Spectrum International School in Astana in preparation for studying at Harvard.
Education minister Yerlan Sagadiyev confirmed Aisholpan’s decision to study in Kazhakstan following her first visit to the country in September. She is expected to go on to attend a university in Astana before going to the US. She was invited to study at Harvard after she expressed a desire to become a doctor (and apparently turned down an offer from Oxford University.)
Aisholpan’s nomad family have hunted with eagles for generations. The Eagle Huntress showed how, aged just 15, with the support and encouragment of her father she overcame traditional prejudice to train her golden eagle – previously an exclusively male preserve. She went on to win the prize at the Olgii eagle festival. A fund for Aisholpan’s higher education was established with profits from the film.
Poster for The Eagle Huntress, image reproduced in the reasonable belief that it is fair dealing under the Copyright Act 1988 – for the purpose of a critique or review
