The Stroganovs sent Yermak on an expedition to protect their lands in Western Siberia from attack by local tribes. But he became much more than a mere security official; Yermak became a conqueror of huge territories. The Russian Cossacks quickly penetrated eastward by land and on riverboats. They built a chain of small fortresses and placed a levy on the native population (precious furs).

In 1582, Yermak sent a small group of the Cossacks downward along the Irtysh River (at the end of the winter of 1583). The group under Bogdan Bryazga's command passed the lands of the Konda-(Pelymsk Voguls) and approached the Samarovo town. The Ostyaki (actually, the Ob-Ugrians), overtaken by a sudden attack of the Cossacks, were made to retreat. Samar, the Prince of the Belogorodskoye principality, was killed. But Yermak's Cossacks were unable to conquer the town of Khan Nimyan. A local Chuvash, a spy for the Cossacks, was sent there on a reconnaissance mission. When he returned, he said that he was able to observe how the Ostyaki worshipped the Golden Woman. The idol was standing on a tray full of water. The warriors of the town drank this water, and swore their allegiance to defend their holiest object, the Golden Woman.

The Cossacks understood that the statue was valuable, and tripled their efforts to conquer the town. When they succeeded, the Golden Woman was gone. How did the idol make it to the town in the first place, if it was kept in a remote forest? Much could have happened in the five centuries after Thorir the Hound described the idol. The Cossacks were practical people, and the natives were tortured to reveal the secret of the Golden Woman's whereabouts. The response they were able to obtain was that Yumala departed on a cloud. Then came the vengeance. The legendary Yermak died; he was wounded, and drowned in the river, pulled down by his heavy armor. The Cossacks whispered that a vengeful goddess killed their ataman. So after his coat of mail was discovered, they sent it to Yumala's treasure house. However, Russian troops retook the territory in 1586. No evidence exists today about the treasure house of the Siberian idol.

To be sure, it is most likely that neither the European travelers, nor the Russian empire-builders had ever seen the idol.

Certainly, there had been other references to the Golden Woman in the medieval Russia and Eastern Europe, but none so dramatic.

After Western Siberia became a part of the Russian empire, the destruction of idols ensued. Heathen beliefs were to be eradicated throughout the land. And so, idols and spiritual had been burnt in the 18th century. Between the years of 1714 and1722, Mansi had been converted to Russian Orthodoxy. Peter the Great, the renowned Russian Czar, directed that those who resist be killed. Such important symbols of the Ob-Ugric religion as the Old Man of Ob idol's heathen temple were burned. The idol, however, was destroyed back in the 16th century by Cossack conquerors (according to Russian historian Olga Astafyeva, they used cannons to shoot it to pieces in 1585). The Copper Goose idol of the Troitskoye Village was crushed and thrown into the river. Other idols were burned, and crosses were emplaced at the sites of the Ob-Ugric sacred sanctuaries. Russian Orthodox churches were built throughout the land.

But despite Russian Imperial campaigns against native beliefs and idols, Yumala or the Golden Woman had survived.

At the end of 1892, a famous Ural explorer Konstantin Nosilov traveled the Konda River to learn traditions and study life of the Voguls. His relative, P. Infantyev accompanied him. They sailed on in a tiny and rather tight boat, but had a wonderful time visiting the locals in their huts, and learning about them. The huts were full of ticks and fleas, but this fact did not diminish the enthusiasm of Russian explorers. Infantyev was so taken with this ethnography that later he traveled throughout Russia, and authored over 40 books about its people and tribes. He had deep impressions about the land of the Voguls, and published a story in 1892 in a Yekaterinburg newspaper, titled Shaman's Sorcery.

Then, in 1904, Nosilov, while traveling in the upper reaches of Konda, met an old blind man named Savva. The old man was blinded years before during his colorful youth. Savva did not go into specific details about his ordeals, yet said enough for Nosilov to grasp that the old man saw something forbidden. Finally Savva relented, and told the Russian traveler about the Golden Woman (adding that being very old he would die soon anyway) the following:

There is nothing extraordinary about her. She is just a naked woman. She is sitting down. And she is very beautiful, as a woman ought to be. She is holding either a bowl or a plate in her hands, but the object is turned upside down. But maybe it is not a plate…

No other witness came forward since that year to tell about the Golden Woman. Storm clouds were gathering over Russia, and bloody rains were about to pour on its cities, villages, and settlements. It is not known if the Golden Woman was destroyed in the turbulent times that ensued, or if the statue was somehow saved.

The Ob-Ugrians have been living in the exceptionally harsh climate of Siberia and Far North for thousands of years. Theirs was an ecological traditional culture most fit for these conditions. But neither this fragile culture nor their legendary or mythological Golden Woman could resist the imperial expansion and the accompanying technological civilization.

Valentin Krapiva believes that the sacred Golden Woman of Ugra is still hidden away in somewhere in the area. He mentioned obscure expeditions to the land of Ugra specifically to find the Golden Woman.

There are no records of such expeditions, which is not surprising, for the mission and goal of such expeditions would not be to bring the statue to a national museum. The Ukrainian researcher supposes that the Golden Woman is actually helping the Ob-Ugric people to hide her presence form the prying eyes. In 1962 an interesting piece of information about the statue attracted attention of Krapiva. That year, an elderly Russian hunter Anton Kadulin revealed a tale told to him by a Mansi, Danila Surguchev. The Mansi claimed that no one would ever find the Zolotaya Baba. He added that there is a tiny island among the taiga swamps. It is possible to reach it through the marshes, but no one knows the way there. However, there is one vorga (reindeer trail) to the island. One can find it by reading the katnos (secret signs). The sign is this: an arrow crossed by two other arrows.

Is there such an island among the swamps of the dark coniferous taiga? Do the menkvi guard the Chooros nai anki, the Golden Woman of Ugra, the one who is holding a saucer-shaped object in her hands, and is able give correct answers and predict the outcome of human affairs? Is there anyone who is able to service the guardians and the statue, update their programs, change parts…or is it all just a myth from a faraway land?

Perchance one day the Ob-Ugrians will discover their ancient Golden Woman, hidden away in some remote and forgotten corner of the Siberian taiga. Such a discovery could lead researchers to solve the ancient riddles of Minoan Crete, Sumer, China, and beyond…