Anthropology of the Yamal Souvenir (Among the Nenets, Khants and Selkups

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2023-3/203-214

Abstract

The article is devoted to the actual and little-studied problem of souvenirization of the Yamal indigenous population’s culture. The participants of the souvenirization process are: the district administration, which determines the policy directions in the field of creating the souvenirs; the institutions responsible for the implementation of this policy – the Centers of National Cultures and the House of Crafts; and the "bank" of craftsmen, which is the main performer in this process. The study analyzes the element of folk initiative in the creation of an ethnic souvenir and reveals the creative innovations introduced by folk craftsmen. The study develops a classification of souvenirs that represent the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The classification is based on the degree of traditionality of a souvenir item. The first classification group included objects created according to the traditional canon, which retained (with some displacement) the meaning of amulets. The second group consisted of traditional items, whose value as a souvenir was limited to demonstrating the decorative and technological identity of ethnic culture. This type of souvenirs (the only one of all) also maintaned the possibility of their practical use. The third group was formed by souvenirs inspired both by the author's imagination and the national motifs, techniques and materials. Souvenirization in Yamal has become part of the current transformation of the traditional life support system of the indigenous peoples of the North.