Nganasan people

The Nganasans are one of the indigenous peoples of Siberia. They are the northernmost of the Samoyedic peoples, living on the Taymyr Peninsula by the Arctic Ocean. Their territory is part of Krasnoyarsk Krai. Their "capital" is the settlement of Ust-Avam. They speak Nganasan language.

The Avam Nganasans live in the western part of the Taymyr Peninsula, in the valleys of the rivers Pyasina, Dudypta, and Boganida. The speakers of the Vadeyev dialect live in the tundra and in the eastern parts of Taymyr, in Khatangsky District by the Kheta River, Lake Taymyr, and the Khatanga Bay.

The Nganasans are few in number - 834 (2002 Census). Throughout most of their history they have been nomadic hunters, fishers, and herders of reindeer. They successfully resisted attempts at conversion to foreign religions until the Soviets. The biggest change in their history occurred in the 1940s, when the Soviet authorities decided to end their shamanist beliefs. Shamans were imprisoned and their holy artifacts confiscated. Since the 1960s, the nomadic life of the Nganasans has ended and they have been settled in villages, where they live alongside Russians and Dolgans. These sudden changes caused depression for many Nganasans and alcoholism is a big problem among them.

Shamanism

The isolated location of Nganasan people enabled shamanism as a living phenomenon among them even by the beginning of 20th century;^[1] the last notable Nganasan shaman's seances could be recorded on film in the 1970s.^[2]

One of the occasions in which the shaman partook was the clean tent rite held after the polar night, including sacrifice.^[3][4] The Nganasan name for clean tent rite was “maδuśa”.^[5]

See also

• Nenets people

Notes

1. ^ Hoppál 2005, p. 92
2. ^ Hoppál 1994, p. 62
3. ^ Hoppál 2005, pp. 92–93
4. ^ Lintrop
5. ^ Katzschmann 2008, p. 41. (see online)

References

• Hoppál, Mihály (1994) (in Hungarian). Sámánok, lelkek és jelképek. Budapest: Helikon Kiadó. ISBN 963 208 298 2.  The title means “Shamans, souls and symbols”.
• Hoppál, Mihály (2005) (in Hungarian). Sámánok Eurázsiában.. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 963-05-8295-3 2.  The title means “Shamans in Eurasia”, the book is written in Hungarian, but it is published also in German, Estonian and Finnish. Site of publisher with short description on the book (in Hungarian)
• Katzschmann, Michael (2008) (in German) (online browsable, just few pages are lacking). Chrestomathia Nganasanica. Texte – Übersetzung – Glossar – Grammatik. Books on Demand. ISBN 9783837011210. http://www.libreka.de/9783837011210/FC. 
• Lintrop, Aado. "The Clean Tent Rite". Studies in Siberian Shamanism and Religions of the Finno-Ugrian Peoples. Folk Belief and Media Group of the Estonian Literary Museum. http://haldjas.folklore.ee/~aado/tent.htm. 

External links

• Helimski, Eugene. "Nganasan shamanistic tradition: observation and hypotheses". Shamanhood: The Endangered Language of Ritual, conference at the Centre for Advanced Study, 19–23 June 1999, Oslo. http://helimski.com/2.221.doc. 
• Lintrop, Aado. "The Nganasan Shamans from Kosterkin family". Studies in Siberian Shamanism and Religions of the Ugric-Samoyedic Peoples. Folk Belief and Media Group of the Estonian Literary Museum. http://haldjas.folklore.ee/~aado/dyuk.htm. 
• Lintrop, Aado (December 1996). "The Incantations of Tubyaku Kosterkin". Electronic Journal of Folklore 2. ISSN 1406-0949. http://haldjas.folklore.ee/folklore/vol2/tubinc.htm.