The Transition from Shamanism to Russian Orthodoxy in Alaska (original) (raw)
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From the reviews: "Znamenski set out to provide for readers of English a wealth of sources that will be utterly new even to most experts in the field. He recognises the value of all of his chosen texts, whatever their viewpoints, and demonstrates it to others. His introduction is the best concise summary yet made of the history of research into Siberian shamanism, from the earliest times to the present, and outstandingly valuable in its range and perception." (Professor Ronald Hutton, Dept. of Historical Studies, The University of Bristol, UK) "This volume is a fascinating … summary of Russian-language sources of Siberian ritual practitioners (‘shamans’). … the book is interesting and useful both for students and specialists. … The book is particularly noteworthy for the fact that it records the variety of local terms that are used for ‘shamans’. I have already recommended the book to postgraduate students … . the volume is well-edited. … This book is a welcome addition to a new generation of analytical work on forms of indigenous spirituality." (David G. Anderson, Polar Record, Vol. 41 (4), 2005) Table of contents : Front Matter....Pages i-viii Russian and Soviet Perceptions of Siberian Shamanism: An Introduction....Pages 1-42 Recording Shamanism in Old Russia....Pages 43-130 Siberian Shamanism in Soviet Imagination....Pages 131-278 Records of Siberian Spirituality in Present-Day Russia....Pages 279-358 Back Matter....Pages 359-371
Itinerario, 1998
For those historians and anthropologists who study shamanism, Altai represents the ‘motherland’ of this institution. For their inspirations scholars who want to explore ‘classical’ cases of shamanism usually turn to this area, located in south-western Siberia, at the intersection of Russian, Mongolian and Chinese borders. At the same time, many of these scholars, who are concerned with a quest for ‘ideal’ and ‘traditionalist’ shamanism, ignore almost one-hundred years of contacts between native Altaians and the Russian Orthodox mission that considerably affected indigenous culture and ideology. For instance, some Russian anthropologists have stressed that despite Christian activities, natives still clung to their traditional beliefs at the turn of the twentieth century. N.A. Alekseev emphasised the superficial character of native Christianization and stressed the persistence of indigenous religion. In his recent work, Potapov, another prominent Altaian scholar, similarly concluded:
Shamans Emerging From Repression in Siberia: Lightning Rods of Fear and Hope
Horizons of Shamanism: A Triangular Approach to the History and Anthropology of Ecstatic Techniques, 2016
To honor the broad ranging legacy of Åke Hultkranz, this article focuses on the changing social and political ramifications of indigenous people's spiritual revitalization in Siberia. My approach balances Hultkrantz's sensitivity to commonalities of shamanism throughout the circumpolar North with attention to more specific aspects of shamanistic practices and beliefs in Far Eastern Siberia, especially the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), over time. Shamans and shamanic prophets can be found in many kinds of communities, from rural Siberia to Native North America to urban Korea. Over-generalizations behind standard or "ideal type" distinctions among "shamans," "priests," and "prophets" limit our understanding of the richness of shamanic cultural traditions. Research featured here is based on long-term fieldwork, many return trips to Siberia over the past thirty-five years, and work with the Sakha diaspora. It analyses the resurgence of post-Soviet shamanic healing practices, the organization of an Association of Folk Medicine, and shamanic leadership in an ecology activist movement. Shamans explain that their crucial imperative to heal and protect their clients and communities survived the Soviet period. Shamans and others, by adapting shamanic belief systems, can engage, if not soothe, the legacies of social as well as personal suffering. Yet many shamans were killed or repressed in the Soviet period, rituals were suppressed, and the reputations of shamans have long been ambiguous, depending on whom they protect and how. In socially fraught, crisis-ridden contexts, the personal becomes political. Shamans' How to cite this book chapter:
Shamanism and Christianity in Arctic Culture
This essay discusses the place of shamanism within the Eskimo and Inuit culture and the conversion of arctic peoples to Christianity in Alaska, the Canadian arctic and Labrador. The paper is broken into four sections: Shamanistic practices of the Alaska Eskimo and their conversion to Russian Orthodox Christianity. The second section will examine the practices of Inuit’s shaman and the Moravian Brethren missionary conversions of the Inuit to Western Christianity. Next I will compare the differences between the religious practices of the Alaskan Eskimo and Eastern Inuit as they relate to the first Christian encounters with these peoples. The final section will focus on the status of modern shamanism and Christianity within the Eskimo and Inuit.
Native Shamanism in Siberian Regionalist Imagination, 1860s—l920
The paper examines the sources of a keen interest of Siberian autonomists (Potanin, Iadrintsev, Anokhin, Anuchin) in native shamanism. Siberian regionalism (autonomism) (I860s—1920), which sought to upgrade the social and cultural status of Siberia in Russia, appropriated native culture, including shamanism, to enhance its agenda. Autonomists viewed indigenous shamanism as the most ancient part of Siberia’s "living” heritage. Collecting and recording shamanism as well as inviting native shamans to participate in public performances became an important part of their work. As a result, Russian and native regionalists (Anokhin, Anuchin, Khangalov, Ksenofontov) produced a number of comprehensive ethnographies, which became Siberian shamanism classics.