Indigenous agency in the missionary encounter

• Main Author: Toulouze, Eva
• Other Authors: Centre de recherches Europes-Eurasie (CREE EA 4513), Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco), Estonian Science foundation (grant no. 8335)., European Project: CECT
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Bashkir
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: Nenets; conversion; agency; missionaries; Arctic peoples; encounter; Khanty; [SHS.ANTHRO-SE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Social Anthropology and ethnology; [SHS.RELIG]Humanities and Social Sciences/Religions; Arctic; khanty; nenets; Siberia
• Online Access: https://hal-inalco.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01276182; https://hal-inalco.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01276182/document; https://hal-inalco.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01276182/file/JEF%202011%20Toulouze.pdf

International audience In literature about missionary activities in western Siberia in the 19th – early 20th century, the natives are seen as passive recipients of the missionaries’ initiative, as victims of their endeavours. This article intends to present another view of the encounter, showing firstly why this erroneous vision developed and secondly how the Khanty and the Nenets are actually active in the interaction. It shows how in both cases, either by accepting or by refusing, the natives follow their own interests and their own decisions without submitting to stronger constraint against their will. While those who refused to accept the missionaries’ endeavours clearly expressed their independence, those who chose to convert did it sincerely, although their understanding of Christianity did not match the missionaries’ expectations. They did it for conscious reasons, not just yielding to the missionaries’ wishes but often being themselves the initiators. For them, Christianity is integrated in a worldview that is not based on dual oppositions. Therefore, while representatives of official Christianity do not see these natives as real Christians, they consider themselves to be so. Dans la littérature sur les activités missionnaires en Sibérie Occidentale au tournant des XIXe et XXe siècles, les autochtones sont vus en général comme les destinataires de l'initiative des missionnaires et comme des victimes de ceux-ci. Cet article entend présenter une autre vision de la rencontre: il montre d'abord pourquoi cette vision erronée a été développée et deuxièmement que les Khantys et les Nénetses sont en fait actifs dans cette interaction. Il montre que quelle que soit l'issue de la rencontre, qu'ils acceptent ou qu'ils refusent, les autochtones suivent leurs propres intérêts et leurs décisions à eux et ne se soumettent pas à une volonté qui serait plus forte que la leur. Alors que ceux qui refusent les propositions des missionnaires expriment clairement leur indépendance, ceux qui se convertissent le font ...