Shamanism and the Northern Ecology by Juha Pentikäinen

Author:Juha Pentikäinen
Language: eng
Format: epub

same as that of other people in every respect (Photo 4). They go fishing in summer and hunting in winter, and personally provide food for their families. Since their communities believe they are on good terms with the spirits, it is easy for them to obtain booty; the ineffectual hunter or fisher shaman soon loses prestige. But as old Ivan Stepanovits said, shamans cannot use their knowledge to the advantage of their own family. They have to ask another shaman to do this, otherwise their helping spirit(s) will get angry and leave them so that they can no longer practise shamanism. He told me that although he could find out what the future has in store for his family, he is not allowed to, for the reason I have already mentioned.4 The only exception is healing,

i.e. he is allowed to cure his own family. It nevertheless seems that the spirits are amiable to their elect unasked, for I have never heard of a poor, hungry shaman.

In summer 1992 the old shaman told me the story of his life. Speaking about his childhood, he mentioned that he was orphaned at an early age and sent to live with his father’s brother, who was a cruel, hard-hearted man. Tiring of looking after the 12-year-old boy, he sat him in a boat, rowed with him to the place where his deceased parents used to live, gave him an axe and a knife and left him there. Before leaving, he told him to find his own food, because he would not be returning for several months. Left alone, the little boy was desperately afraid, since according to Khanty the belief, an abandoned parental home - as indeed any abandoned house - is full of Menkvs or evil spirits which might kill people. His first job was to make a hut out of dry branches to protect him from the early frosts. Then, as he had learnt from his uncle, he blocked up part of the river, made a fish basket and caught a lot of fish. He then set traps for birds and smaller animals, and his traps were always full. He lived so well that by the time his uncle came to fetch him some months later, he had become quite independent. Soon after this his meetings with spirits began, and since then he has become one of the most powerful shamans of his people.5

So far the Khantys have held shamans in the greatest respect. They do not as a rule oppose them, and it is the shamans who make the decisions on controversial matters. One of the topical issues at the moment is returning the land to its original owners following the breakup of the Soviet Union. The Khantys will gradually get back their clan lands. The borders of this area were traced out by the old shaman and his son near the River Tramagan and its tributaries in summer 1992.

3. The third range of shaman’s duties is closely related to the second but is somewhat broader: conducting rituals and celebrating feasts in the appropriate way.

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