E-mail: stepanova67@mail.ru Tel.: +7 (812) 328-08-12
3, Universitetskaya emb., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation
PhD in History, Senior Researcher, Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Science
The issue of preserving and changing traditional worldviews is very relevant for today’s scholarship, especially as it relates to the shamanistic component among the modern peoples of Siberia and the North. This article is devoted to the impact of the shamanic tradition on the worldview and lifestyle of modern northern Selkups and the influence of shamanism on the formation of a new Selkup identity — a topic that scholars have not yet addressed. It introduces various hitherto unknown material on traditional Selkup shamanism and on the history of shamanism into scholarly circulation. The study focuses on the worldview of the Tamelkin Selkup family, among whose ancestors was the famous shaman, Davyd Kalin. Despite the fact that the current head of the Tamelkin family has exceptional abilities that bring him closer to a shaman, his views on the world are typical of most modern Selkups and are also in line with traditional spirituality. The majority of today’s Selkups believe in the existence of otherworldly beings — spirits — and in their supernatural powers and those of old shamans; they are afraid of spirits and revere them in sacrificial rites. In recent years, there has been a surge of Selkup interest in their tribal shamans and in Selkup history relating to them. The study concludes that shamanism has left a deep mark on the minds of the Selkups and has given rise to a paradox: while shamans have physically disappeared, they live on in people’s memory and have a hold on the minds of their descendants. The Selkups’ shamanic faith has not disappeared, but only increased.
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Stepanova O. B. “He Is Hidden So That He Has No Appearance, But I Found Him, I Bow to Him”: About the Shamanic Mark on Modern Views of the World Among the Northern Selkups. Traditional Culture. 2023. Vol. 24. No. 24. Pp. 99–109. In Russian.