Traditional culture as the main marker of the ethnic identity of the Arctic peoples (on the example of the Anabar national (Dolgan-Evenki) ulus of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia))

Zakharova Akulina E. ORCID: 0000-0003-4973-8375 PhD in Sociology Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Senior Researcher, Institute of Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 678670, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1 linamestnikova@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Introduction

The unique spiritual and material world of indigenous peoples' cultural life was created in the evolutionary development of their environment in this cold region's extreme conditions. At the same time, the traditional culture of the small-numbered indigenous peoples of the North has common features with other peoples of the circumpolar region living in similar geocultural conditions. It is the result of the Arctic peoples' cultural interactions, who have "not only retained a unique foothold on the human habitat but also created a cultural diversity of life strategies in conditions of extreme cold and permafrost" ^{[8, p.163]}.

Many circumstances determine ethnic identity and belonging to small-numbered indigenous peoples. Among which the most important is their "way of life and traditional management in the places of their traditional residence, as well as adherence to historically established traditions and customs, many of which are essential not only for these peoples or the peoples of Russia but also for all mankind" ^{[23, p.18]}.

The greatest potential for the stability of ethnocultural consciousness is preserved in traditional economic and cultural activities. Generally, it depends on the scale of interaction in social, territorial, kinship, professional, and creative contacts. Cultural activity (especially folklore, oral folk art) and the sphere of spiritual communication (traditions, customs, rites, rituals) are currently the areas in which native languages have been preserved. The traditional use of which is due to functional specifics. At the moment, the development and stability of national rituals is the leading institutional barrier to cultural and linguistic assimilation – especially in conditions where other social institutions act as its conductors.

The Khatango-Anabar region is located in the Anabar and Oleneksky ulus of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Krasnoyarsk Territory's Taimyrsky municipal district. It is a holistic historical and cultural space with a unique interethnic interaction and economic and culturally adaptive practices. The cultural landscape of this region (which includes the ethnic and linguistic cultures of the Dolgans, Evenks, Evens, Nganasans, Ents, and Nenets) is characterized by the long-term influence of the ethnocultural contacts in the development of indigenous languages and culture. The Anabar National (Dolgan-Evenki) ulus are located in two localities: the district of central Saskylakh and the village of Yuryung-Khaya. According to these settlements' administrations' data, as of October 2020, 2,486 people and 1,210 people live in this region. In general, 42.4% of Dolgans, 22.7% of Evenks, 21.6% of Sakha, 6.4% of Evens are registered in the ulus. The uniqueness of the village of Yuryung-Khai, founded in 1930 as part of the settlement of nomadic indigenous inhabitants in the region, is that it is currently the only place of compact residence of Dolgans in Yakutia and the only significant settlement of Dolgans outside the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Methodology and materials

The conceptual positions in which the issues of ethnic identity in the social and historical dynamics of culture were developed and presented in the works of foreign and domestic researchers E. Gellner, K. Geertz, L. N. Gumilyov, A. Kroeber, W. McBride, G. Terborn, V. A. Tishkov, P. A. Sorokin, E. Erikson, etc. The ethnocultural approach has also been developed by the interdisciplinary research of scientists of varying specialties in the field of theoretical problems relating to ethnicity, interethnic relations, and ethnocultural processes in modern Russia: ethnologists S. A. Arutyunov, Yu. V.Bromley, A. O. Boronoev, L. M. Drobizheva, Z. V. Sikevich, V. A. Tishkov); philosophers and sociologists A. G. Agaev, E. A. Bagramov, N. A. Berdyaev, M. S. Dzhunusov, I. P. Tsameryan; and psychologists G. M. Andreeva, L. I. Bozhovich, L. S. Vygotsky, A. R. Luria, G. U. Soldatova, T. G. Stefanenko.

Various aspects of ethnocultural processes in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) were considered in the works of M. A. Abramova, M. Balzer, U. S. Borisova, U. A. Vinokurova, E. P. Vinokurova, M. E. Nikolaev, A. G. Novikov, I. I. Podoinitsyna, B. N. Popov, I. E. Spiridonova, etc.

An empirical sociological study was conducted in October-November 2020 in the villages of Saskylakh and Yuryung-Khaya of the Anabar National (Dolgan-Evenki) ulus (district) of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) using quantitative and qualitative methods (questionnaires, informal interviews, psycholinguistic experiment). 201 respondents took part in the survey, including 51.2% Dolgans, 23.4% Sakha, 14.9% Evenks, and 2.5% of respondents indicating another nationality. The toolkit (questionnaire) consisted of 24 questions, structured in three blocks, corresponding to the tasks of the study.

The primary markers of ethnic identity: language, culture, history, and territory

Ethnocultural identity is based on language, culture, and historical past – these are the unifying features that create a unique image of an ethnic group.

Empirical data has repeatedly confirmed the consolidating functions of language, and recently they've tended to increase in importance. So, in the large-scale study Interethnic Relations, conducted in 1990, the proposed question: "What brings you closer to other people of your nationality?" all respondents, regardless of nationality, put the indicator "common language" first ^{[27, p.217]}.

Table 1

Ranking of ethnoconsolidating features by nationality in 1990, in %:

These data are confirmed by the results of a sociological study conducted in 2019 by the Center for Research on Interethnic Relations by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences together with the State Budgetary Institution's "National Agency" Information Center under the Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). "The survey found that language remains the most important indicator of ethnicity" – 84% of Sakha-Yakuts and 63% of Russians in the republic said that language unites them with people of their own nationality, and all other identifiers are less important. At the same time, "support for the language and preservation of the culture of the Sakha-Yakuts is considered the most important for themselves as an ethnic group (58%), and this is estimated even higher than economic and social development, as well as strengthening the independence of the republic" ^{[4, p. 52]}.

A sociological study conducted in the Anabar ulus in October-November 2020, in which 201 respondents from the villages of Saskylakh and Yuryung-Khaya took part, revealed that the primary marker of ethnic identity is a traditional culture. To the question, "What primarily determines your nationality?" the respondents' answers were distributed as follows: culture and traditions – 60.2%, native language – 26.9%, history and territory – 10.4% (Figure 1.).

Figure 1. Diagram of the distribution of answers to the question, "What primarily determines your nationality?" 2020, in %

Thus, based on the sociological research data, we can say that in the Anabar district of Yakutia, the role of culture and traditions in the process of ethnic identity occupies the leading position as the most important ethnic identification.

The processes can explain this discrepancy with nationwide figures in the transformation of cultural and ethnic consciousness of the Dolgans and Evenks; namely, partial loss of language skills, excluding the native language of universal integration and compensation by other components and symbols of ethnic continuity, which is typical in other nations, in particular, drilled ^{[24, 25]}. The survey results prove this: 96.7% of Evenks, 71.8% of Dolgans, and 92.3% of Evenks indicated Yakut as their native language, which is 83.1% of all respondents. It should be noted here that respondents indicated not one, but two, and sometimes even three languages as their native language. The absolute majority of respondents also named Yakut as the language in which communication mainly takes place at home (94.5%). The Yakut language is most often used in communication in the forest (taiga) (50.3%), in their own locality (69.7%), in the district center (54.2%), and in the city of Yakutsk (49.8%).

However, this fact does not affect the ethnic identity of the peoples inhabiting this area: 51.2% of Dolgans, 23.4% of Sakha, 14.9% of Evenks. 6.5% of Evenks indicated their own nationality.

Traditional ritual and festive culture of the Anabars

An important part of the world's cultural picture and the representation of the national and cultural constants of an ethnic group are ethnic traditions, calendar customs, rituals, and holidays. Ritual culture, through which the cultural code of an ethnic group's norms, values, attitudes, behavioral stereotypes, etc., is transmitted from generation to generation, becomes one of the main factors in the development of the ethnocultural identity of the indigenous peoples of the North. Researchers consider traditional ritual practices as a "mechanism that forms relations within society, preserves people's need for meaningful collective action, orients society to basic values, and thereby regulates the processes of an ethnocultural identity" ^{[19, p. 57]}. According to the results of a sociological study conducted in the Anabar ulus, more than half (53.2%) of respondents noted that they observe the traditional rites and customs of their people in everyday life, 26.9% chose the option "sometimes," and 10.9% did not.

The translation of knowledge and experience in ethnoculture is the basis for preserving culture. Traditionally, the transference of knowledge and experience is carried out through family: the majority learn the rites and customs of their people from relatives – 61.2%, and from the traditions of the elderly – 51.2%. It should be noted that ethnocultural education in Yakutia as a whole, and the Anabar area, in particular, is an important factor in the preservation of native languages, traditional lifestyle, and unique cultural values. The content of which allows one to implement the cultural and linguistic rights of indigenous peoples in education. Thus, 17.9% said that they first learned about the customs and traditions of their native people while studying at school, and 12.9% from the media (radio, TV, Internet).

As noted by A. I. Arkhipova and G. N. Varavina, "the ancient cults of Mother Nature, the sun and fire, of course, have ancient roots and still have a significant impact on the spiritual and material culture of the indigenous peoples of the North" ^{[5, p.165]}. As the leading ritual practices, respondents indicated everyday rituals in Yakutia such as the meeting of the sun, the rite of blessing (algys), the rite of purification (buruolaty), feeding the spirits of fire, river, nature, etc. Traditional ritual culture is based on spiritual, moral ideals and values, norms, and rules of behavior passed down from generation to generation. The respondents' answers contain respect for nature, their native land, the older generation, and customs such as not to break the silence after sunset, not to speak loudly in the forest or on the river. Additionally, you can distinguish the rites of hunting and fishing (for example, niyyat), the donation of gifts to the first guest ( yallalie), putting an ash mark on the forehead for the first time entering a house (cүүһүN. chokhtuubun ), etc.

According to researchers, festive culture is a kind of "matrix of the national way of being," "an integral system that is inextricably linked with other components of worldview ideas about the world and man" ^{[26, p.8]}. To the open question, "What national holidays are observed in your locality at this present time?" the largest number of mentions was Bayani, a Meeting of herders, Ysyakh, Bakaldin, Sebacean, Minec, Camus hatyryk. V. V. Filippova noted the study revealed "differences in the conduct of calendar holidays in the two naslegs under consideration." Residents of the village of Saskylakh spend Ysyakh in June, while residents of Yuryung-Hai do not celebrate this holiday. Saskylakh residents also hold the Evenki holiday – the rite of "Ikenipke." The Yuryung-Hain people celebrate a traditional holiday of the Dolgans and Evenks, "Bayanai," on August 9 every year on the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. A common holiday for the residents of the ulus is a gathering of reindeer herders ^[22]. And in the reconstructed national holidays, the traditional rites of the ancient festive culture are preserved: the rite of purification, feeding the fire, which confirms the stability and adaptability of the properties of the national culture, as well as its integrating, uniting function for the ethnic groups.

Traditional festive ceremonies in Anabar ulus are held mainly in Yakut (79.6%), Russian (35.3%), Dolgan (34.3%), Evenki (17.9%) languages, and the option of holding events in a mixed language is also common (22.9%).

Traditional food culture and national clothing

The most preserved elements of traditional culture include national food (70.1%), everyday clothing (57.2%), tools, hunting gear (45.8%), and transport (16.4%).

Traditional economic sectors (this is the fundamental branch of the ulus economy) are based on the traditional way of life and the sphere of employment of the small-numbered indigenous peoples North of the Anabar ulus. According to research, the Arctic peoples' traditional food culture is preserved because it occupies a particular place in modern festive ceremonies and thus is one of the symbols of ethnic identity ^{[2, p. 147]}. This is confirmed by the fact that in their responses, the majority of Anabara indicated that they prepare national dishes mostly on holidays (67.2 %). However, due to the preservation of traditional economic sectors in the Anabar ulus, domestic reindeer husbandry, hunting, and fishing are the basis of the traditional way of life and the sphere of employment to the small-numbered indigenous peoples of the North. Traditional dishes of meat, fish, and game are preserved in everyday life: 21.9% of respondents indicated that they always prepare traditional food (for example, barky, carinii, Balik Kүүһuh, barky, min Salia, Ip, haladjian, Haan, pancakes with fish, Sibai (Haan), Indigirka, Sealyһar miina, һүmaleah, да5аанньа (һElijah), Kotarba, etc.)

The respondents also noted that in the studied localities of the Saskylakh and Yuryung-Khaya villages of the Anabar district, elements of traditional national clothing are preserved: women in everyday life wear clothes and jewelry with national ornaments (74.1%), sew traditional national clothes (40.3%), and many indicated that they have a personal festive national costume (46.3%).

Conclusion

Thus, based on sociological data and the analysis of current scientific research, we can say that the decline in the importance of linguistic identity and traditional culture (consisting of ritual practices, national holidays, traditional food culture, and national clothes) remains one of the core components of the ethnic and cultural identity of Arctic peoples as a special kind of metaethnoregional identity character. The uniqueness of the traditional cultures of the Arctic peoples of the North reveals the diversity of local cultures (Dolgan, Evenki, Even, Yakut, Russian) that have emerged on the geo and ecocultural landscape of the Khatango-Anabar region. This represents a single environment of ethnic groups in the context of interethnic and intercultural relations, which will be the subject of further research of ethno-social and cultural processes in this region.

Acknowledgments

The article was carried out within the framework of the grant "Khatango-Anabar region in the XX-early XXI centuries: anthropology of the cultural landscape" of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grant No. 20-09-00257A.

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