The author revisits the issues of untranslatability in the context of cross-cultural communication and analyzed translation as a means of cross-cultural contact. The nature of the problem of (un)translatability is discussed from Wilhelm von Humboldt’s view of language as “an expression of the spirit of a nation” and from the perspective of the linguistic relativity hypothesis which views language as “a mediator of thought”. The research as part of a large translation project is based on the material of the Olonkho – a Yakut (Sakha) heroic epic poem. The analysis of various linguistic and cultural barriers including lexical gaps as main stumbling blocks while translating is given as well as a brief description of Olonkho.