Sahha (jakuudi) identiteet ja institutsionaliseeritud šamanism

• Main Author: Aimar Ventsel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Estonian
• Published: Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum 2010
• Subjects: ethnic identity; Sakha religion; shamanism; Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology; GN301-674; Sakha; Republic of Sakha
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/544e4c44b61a44fb84d635a782715f00

In this article I discuss the ambivalent position of institutionalised shamanism in the Republic of Sakha, in the Russian Far East. Concurrently with the declaration of sovereignty in 1991, there was an upswing in the ethnic consciousness of the Sakha, the relevant process being manifested in increased interest in Sakha traditions and history.Shamanism, as one of the core features of Sakha culture, soon became an important ethnic symbol. After the establishment of the Association of Folk Medicine, the institution became politicised, being informally embedded in state structures, althoughformally, it was primarily engaged in healing people.I show that the state needed the Association to complete its nation building project, and the Association leaned on the state to increase its significance.