Ethnology 

Korusenko S.N.

Siberian Tatars of Knyazevs: historical and genealogical essay

This paper aims at reconstructing the genealogy of Siberian Tatars of Knyazevs (Western Siberia), identifying the origins of their surname, which is not characteristic of the Tatars, and at analysis of the influence of socio-political and socio-economical processes in Russia in the 18^th through 20^th centuries on the social transformation of the family. The sources were represented by the materials of the Inventory Revision Book of Tarsky District of 1701 and census surveys of the end of 18^th through 19^th centuries, which allowed tracing the Knyazev family through the genealogical succession and identifying social status of its members. In this work, recordkeeping materials of the 18^th–20^th centuries and contemporary genealogical and historical traditions of the Tatars have been utilized. In the research, the method of genealogical reconstructions by archival materials and their correlation with genealogies of modern population has been used. The history of the Knyazev family is inextricably linked to the history of modern village of Bernyazhka — one of the earliest settlements of the Ayalintsy (a group of the Siberian Tatars) in the territory of the Tarsky Irtysh land which became the home to the Knyazevs for more than three centuries. The 1701Inventory Revision Book cites Itkuchuk Buchkakov as a local power broker of the Ayalynsky Tatars in the village. During the 18^th century, this position was inherited by his descendants who eventually lost this status in the beginning of the 19^th century in the course of the managerial reforms by the Russian government. Nevertheless, the social status of the members of the gens remained high. In the mid. 19^th century, the village moved — the villagers resettled from the right bank of the River Irtysh onto the left one. As the result, the village was situated nearby the main road connecting the cities of Omsk and Tara. At the same time, the village became the center of the Ayalynskay region. That led to the strengthening of the social status and property enrichment of the descendants of Itkuchuk Buchkakov. The Knyzevs’ surname first appeared in the materials of the First All-Russia Census Survey of 1897. Some of the descendants signed up under this surname later in the Soviet period. During the Soviet years, members of the Knyzev’s gens had different destinies: some worked in the local government, whereas the others were subjected to political repressions and executed. Knyazevs took part in the Great Patriotic War and seven of them perished. Presently there are no descendants of the Knyazevs in Bernyazhka as they spread over the villages of the Omskaya Region, some living in Omsk and other towns of Russia and abroad.

Key words: Western Siberia, Siberian Tatars, Knyazevs, social status, genealogies.

Fursova E.F.

«They drank tea, they struck spoons...»: ethnocultural identity in the tea drinking practices of Russian Siberians in the 19^th — early 20^th century

On the basis of original field materials, the author set a goal to reveal the identifying functions of the food culture, particularly, of such a characteristic component of the Northern Eurasian population as hot drinks (teas), in different ethnocultural groups of Siberia: descendants of the old settlers and later Russian migrants, old-believers and followers of the official church. The practices of Siberian tea-drinking have been studied from the perspective of ethnocultural identity within the framework of the mundanity theory. It is the folk customs and beliefs related to the consumption of decoctions of local herbs and later of Chinese leaves (tea) that provide opportunity to infer the place of hot drinks in people’s culture. The author reports interesting facts about the traditions of Siberian tea-drinking and table etiquette in the countryside. Chinese tea-drinking from samovars (table boiling tanks) was not embraced by the old-believers and by some Russian migrants in the late 19^th — early 20^th c. (South-Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians), where the former refrain due to “suspicious glare” of the surface resembling snakeskin, while the latter by the slimy samovars. In Siberia, the spread of the tea-drinking with Chinese leaf coincided with formation of local old-settler population in the 17^th—18^th centuries and therefore it can be regarded as an old custom for the service-class people and Cossacks. The fact that the Chinese tea was relatively a novation in the culture of the Siberian population is evidence by that it was not part of the ceremonial practices (e.g., family), in contrast to various herbal brews and kisels (jellies). Siberian tea-drinking traditions of the old-settlers (apart from the old-believers) had strong influence on formation of the regional and ethnocultural identity of the Siberians, in the wide sense of the term as Siberia locals. The established traditions can be considered as a consequence of integration processes amongst the Slavic people in Siberia. The tea-drinking traditions support the conjecture that the differentiation process (comparative evaluation) was accompanied by another process — cultural interference and is inextricably linked to the cognitive process — collective identification, which inhibits non-critical adoption of ‘extraneous’ traditions.

Key words: tea drinking practices, Russian Siberians, ethnocultural differences, ethnocultural identity, Siberia of the 19th — early 20th century.

Batyanova E.P.

The Teleuts: from non-Russians to Indigenous Minority of the North’

This paper concerns the study of the specifics of self-consciousness and self-identity of one of the indigenous minorities of Siberia — the Teleuts, in different periods of their ethnic history from the mid. 18^th century until the present time. Main forms of Teleuts’ identity are considered: national; class; ethnic; ancestral and local. The instances of using various ethnonyms, genonymums and class attributes by Teleuts are analyzed. Identity multivariance is considered as a mechanism of minority self-preservation and adaptation to the continuous assimilative influence of the nonethnic majority. The paper is based on the archival sources and field materials of the author collected during the expeditions to Teleuts in 1978–2014. The field materials include samples of the folklore, written folk literature, records of biographies, family chronicles and narratives about other societies recorded by the author. It has been shown how Teleuts ideas about other societies adjusted in the course of their adaptation to the new social and cultural environment within the Russian state. The attention has been drawn to how the ethnic consolidation of the Teleuts in the 19^th–20^th cc. transformed the local self-consciousness and self-identity. The names associated with small territorial communities often acquired derogatory sense and transferred from endo- to exo-type. It has been deduced how the legal status of the ethnic group within the state influences development of their ethnic culture. Notably, the non-Russians status of the Teleuts brought to them some rights and privileges in terms of the land tenure, taxes and exemption from the compulsory military service. On one hand, this has been helping to strengthen the national identity of the Teleuts, but on the other hand, it facilitates their ethnic self-affirmation. Teleuts have always been proud with their non-Russians status within the Russian state. The ethnic status of the Teleuts in the post-Soviet period is protected by their official recognition in 1989 as a separate ethnic group and subsequent affiliation with the indigenous minorities of the North.

Key words: Teleuts, ethnonyms, estate, identity, aliens, white Kalmyks, Tomsk province, national minorities, small peoples, Indigenous Numerically Small People of the North.

Martynova E.P.

Metamorphoses of the Ob-Ugric ethnicity

Modern approach to the study of ethnicity implies examination of its variability (drift, shifts and procedurality). This paper aims at the analysis of manifestations of ethnicity amongst the Ob-Ugrians in different historical periods (traditional society, Soviet modernization and post-Soviet democracy). The author draws attention to explaining dominant role of one or another manifestation of ethnicity. The work is based on author’s observations made during the expeditions in the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug (1980s-2000s) and publications by other researchers. Prior to the 1930s, the Ob-Ugric population was represented by a family of related languages and local ethnic groups with close cultures. The main factor of their self-identity was local ethnicity – names by a river. ‘People of the same river’ were bound by commercial, exchange and cultural-ritual bonds. In the official records, the Russian government registered, in the first place, social status of the indigenous population, calling its people ‘inorodtsy’ (‘non-Russians’) and ‘yasashnye’ (‘tributary’). Socialist transformations in the socio-economical, cultural and ideological spheres marked the beginning of the assimilation policy with respect to the peoples of the North. As the all-Soviet standards of living were adopted, and social (including ethnocultural) uniformity achieved, ethnicity of the Ob-Ugrians continuously leveled out. At the same time, their ethnic identity was largely influenced by recording their nationality in the passports – Khanty and Mansy, coincident with the name of the okrug. In the post-Soviet period, ethnicity of the Khanty and Mansy, ‘hibernated’ during the Soviet time, ‘woke up’ suddenly and loudly turning into a powerful creational factor. The ethnic mobilization unwrapped by the initiative of ethnic leaders significantly raised the status of the ethnic culture and people themselves. As a result, three levels of identity emerged. The first level is trans-ethnicity of ‘natives’ or ‘aborigines’, which is an important political instrument. The second level is official ethnic identity, which is reflected in the ethnonyms ‘Khanty’, ‘Mansy’ and ‘Nentsy’. Its representation in the ethnocultural politics of the okrug (organizing celebrations and festivals, folk group activities etc.) is given a high attention. Lastly, the third level is the traditional local ethnicity.

Key words: Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Ob Ugrians (Khanty and Mansi), ethnicity, ethnonyms, communications, state policy, socialist transformations, ethnic mobilization.

Pivneva E.A.

«The way toward oneself»: ethnoscience as a new identity strategy for the Ob Ugrians

This paper investigates the role of science in the identity strategies of the Ob-Ugrians (Khanty and Mansi). The main source for the study comprised author’s field reports collected over the years in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra. As the reference point of the analysis we chose the Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Research and Development, where a polling of Ob-Ugric science professionals was held in 2018. The author suggests exploring the research topic through the concept of multifaceted identity. A complex system of individual self-identification implies the presence of its different forms, including professional and ethnic, amongst others. This approach leads to the conclusion on superimposing roles of a scientist and a member of the ethnic group (professional and ethnic identities) in the scientific activities of the Ob-Ugrians. To indicate this specificity, we suggest using the term ‘ethnoscience’. The latter is defined in this context as an entity emerged in a specific way, spatially localized and aimed at studying the autochthonous foundations of knowledge within its ethnic community. As a methodological approach, the concept of ‘cultural trauma’ has been employed. Within this theory, scientific activities of the northerners are considered as a manifestation of ‘coping’ with the trauma. The example of Ob-Ugrians shows that ethnic science professionals are often driven by the perception of practical relevancy of such activities ‘for the sake of saving the nationality and its culture and raising its prestige’. These phenomena can be regarded as a kind of protest action aimed to compensate real and perceived slights. Nowadays, research activities of the Ob-Ugrians are focused on recovery of the ‘lost knowledge’ and its application in the modern context. The search for the ‘roots’ and ethnic self-identification is carried out through ‘revival’ and ‘restoration’. As a drawback of this strategy, some weak points evince (‘sympathetic ethnography’) which steadily diminish as the nor-thern ethnoscience continues to integrate in a wider science context.

Key words: Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra, Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Research and Development, Ob Ugrians (Khanty and Mansi), ethnoscience, scientific and ethnic identity, cultural trauma, ethnic revival.

Burtseva A.V., Sharova E.N., Hohmann S.

Resilience of the Kola North cities in spatial, temporal and anthropological dimensions

This paper reports the results of field studies carried out in November 2018 in the towns of Murmansk Oblast and in February — March 2020 in the city of Murmansk. The research was aimed to evaluate resilience of the Kola North as the most extensively urbanized northern region and of Murmansk as the largest city above the Arctic Circle. The material for the paper is based on the poll data of 444 residents of Murmansk Oblast and interviews of 23 residents of Murmansk. A residence-stratified sampling model combined with sex and age quotas has been employed. On the basis of research on resilience in psychology and theory of time-space of Mikhail Bakhtin, the authors conduct analysis of the perception of the population towards the elements of urban chronotopos: time (chronos), space (topos), and human (anthropos), which either repel the population, thus weakening the resi-lience, or attract it, hence strengthening the resilience. The level of resilience of a region is firmly bound to the population attitude towards it, and apathy towards the city, let alone hatred, take a heavy toll on the resilience of the cities in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation, instilling conditions for weakening bods between people and the dwelling and causing decay of the social climate. In this paper, we identify problematic urban areas inducing negative emotions of the population (climate, ecology, standard of living, state of the education and infrastructure, a lack of ideas and perspectives of development which are clear to the urban residents) and strong points enhancing the resilience (natural environment, social links, pace of living, frontier location, understanding of historical role and strategic importance). Models of mental behavior which have effect on the urban resilience have been identified. It is argued that temporary and shift workers have negative effect on the urban resilience, whereas positive influence comes from traditional and new nomads, innovators, proprietors and amateur researchers. Traditional nomads of the Kola North — fishermen and seamen — create the image and mission of the cities understandable to their residents. The model of a new nomad brings dynamics and hospitability to the region. The innovator creates new models of development of the territory, while the proprietor explores the North and looks after it. The model of special importance for the cities of the Kola North is that of exploration, characte-ristic of researchers and artists, since new values may become new ideas of the cities supporting their resilience.

Key words: chronotope, topophilia, topophobia, topos, chronos and аnthropos, region’s social space, migration, settledness, resilience.