Hermeneutic possibilities of the myth-ritual systems of the peoples of Siberia and the challenges of time (using the Nganasans as an example)

Герменевтические возможности мифо-ритуальных систем народов Сибири и вызовы времени (на примере нганасан)

Khristoforova, Olga (Христофорова, Ольга) ()
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Khristoforova, Olga (Христофорова, Ольга): The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration

Working Papers from Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration

Abstract: The Nganasans (outdated Samoyeds, Tavgiians) are a small indigenous people who live on the Taimyr Peninsula in the north of Siberia (according to the 2010 All-Russian Census, there are 862 people). The Nganasans are the heirs of the Paleolithic aborigines of the Arctic, assimilated by Samoyedians. They traditionally led the nomadic way of life of Arctic hunters and lived relatively independently of the state, until in the 1950s and 1960s they were resettled by the Soviet authorities to the villages (Ust-Avam, Volochanka, Novaya) located to the south of their traditional residence. The Nganasans adhered to shamanistic beliefs and practices that did not experience serious influence from the Russian and later Soviet states due to the remoteness of the territory of residence of this people. After the death of the last two Nganasan shamans, representatives of the shamanic dynasty of the Ngamtusuo (Kosterkin) family, brothers Demnime (1913-1980) and Tubyaku (1921-1989), the Nganasan shamanic tradition was cut short. Nowadays, shamanic chants can be heard only in the performance of folklore groups (“folklore on the stage”). Why did this happen? Perhaps the reason is the influence of Russian culture, language and cultural assimilation? Or in the fight against religion in the Soviet era? The author believes that the reasons for the disappearance of Nganasan shamanism and the traditional culture in general are several reasons, the main one being the change in the type of economic and lifestyle that occurred after the mass transfer of Nganasans to settled life in the 1950s and 1960s.

Keywords: peoples of Siberia; nganasans; arctic hunters; shamanism; folklore; transformation of traditional culture in the process of modernization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2019-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cis and nep-his
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