Landscape and Gods among the Khanty
The purpose of this article is to examine Khanty spatial ritual behaviour in the context of the simultaneous application of different ideas about sacred landscape. I aim to demonstrate the functional pattern behind handling seemingly ambivalent characteristics of cosmological models in the tangible...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/247 |
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| author | Art Leete |
| author_facet | Art Leete |
| author_sort | Art Leete |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The purpose of this article is to examine Khanty spatial ritual behaviour in the context of the simultaneous application of different ideas about sacred landscape. I aim to demonstrate the functional pattern behind handling seemingly ambivalent characteristics of cosmological models in the tangible ritual performance of the Khanty, an indigenous people inhabiting the taiga and forest taiga zone of Western Siberia. I explore three cases in which the concept of sacred topography is applied among the Khanty by exploring two public ceremonies of reindeer sacrifice and one episode of a post-funeral rite. It appeared that the spatial conceptualisation is different in different rituals. During sacrificial ceremonies, the Khanty position the Upper World in the southern direction, while in the case of death rituals, the Upper World is projected towards upstream of a river, even if it remains in the north. Studying different spatial orientations during rituals may provide a methodological key for approaching other concepts of vernacular belief among Siberian indigenous communities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d9e5e10b0bd54ec0afc7320a61b1ebc9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1736-6518 2228-0987 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics |
| spelling | doaj-art-d9e5e10b0bd54ec0afc7320a61b1ebc92025-02-02T11:30:31ZengSciendoJournal of Ethnology and Folkloristics1736-65182228-09872017-06-01111193810.1515/jef-2017-0003157Landscape and Gods among the KhantyArt Leete0University of TartuThe purpose of this article is to examine Khanty spatial ritual behaviour in the context of the simultaneous application of different ideas about sacred landscape. I aim to demonstrate the functional pattern behind handling seemingly ambivalent characteristics of cosmological models in the tangible ritual performance of the Khanty, an indigenous people inhabiting the taiga and forest taiga zone of Western Siberia. I explore three cases in which the concept of sacred topography is applied among the Khanty by exploring two public ceremonies of reindeer sacrifice and one episode of a post-funeral rite. It appeared that the spatial conceptualisation is different in different rituals. During sacrificial ceremonies, the Khanty position the Upper World in the southern direction, while in the case of death rituals, the Upper World is projected towards upstream of a river, even if it remains in the north. Studying different spatial orientations during rituals may provide a methodological key for approaching other concepts of vernacular belief among Siberian indigenous communities.https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/247the Khantyreindeersacrificerituallandscapesacred topographyworldview |
| spellingShingle | Art Leete Landscape and Gods among the Khanty Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics the Khanty reindeer sacrifice ritual landscape sacred topography worldview |
| title | Landscape and Gods among the Khanty |
| title_full | Landscape and Gods among the Khanty |
| title_fullStr | Landscape and Gods among the Khanty |
| title_full_unstemmed | Landscape and Gods among the Khanty |
| title_short | Landscape and Gods among the Khanty |
| title_sort | landscape and gods among the khanty |
| topic | the Khanty reindeer sacrifice ritual landscape sacred topography worldview |
| url | https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/247 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT artleete landscapeandgodsamongthekhanty |