Abstract
In order to provide an overview of the present day situation of sacred places of indigenous people leading a seminomadic or sedentary lifestyle in multi-ethnic regions in the subarctic zone we present here ethnographic case studies from two geographical regions and three ethnic groups. We concentrate on an anthropological analysis of practices around indigenous sacred sites of Russian villagers in the Kenozero National Park (Arkhangelsk Region), and the Forest Nenets and Eastern Khanty in the middle Ob River region in Western Siberia. We analyse ongoing processes of identification, description and classification of sacred sites, the processes of acculturation and interethnic relations between indigenous people and incoming settlers, and the influence of different non-indigenous groups and their interest in the protection of sacred sites. Different groups: tourists, Christian missionaries, oil and gas workers, scientists, journalists and politicians have nowadays an impact on different forms of land use on sacred sites – religious activities, tourism, ethnographic and archaeological research and extractive industries. Different groups and different concepts of ‘use’ are associated with different and sometimes opposed concepts of protection, education (knowledge transmission), recognition and respect but also punishment and retaliation for violations of sacred sites of indigenous people.
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Notes
- 1.
We will use the abbreviation FM for ethnographic fieldwork materials and indicate the name of the author.
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Dudeck, S., Rud’, A.A., Havelka, R., Terebikhin, N.M., Melyutina, M.N. (2017). Safeguarding Sacred Sites in the Subarctic Zone – Three Case Studies from Northern Russia. In: Heinämäki, L., Herrmann, T. (eds) Experiencing and Protecting Sacred Natural Sites of Sámi and other Indigenous Peoples. Springer Polar Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48069-5_10
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