Selkup idols made of tree trunks and found on the Tym River

• Published in: International Journal of Environmental Studies
• Main Authors: Ozheredov, Yury I., Ozheredova, Alina Yu., Kirpotin, Sergey N.
• Other Authors: Томский государственный университет Институт биологии, экологии, почвоведения, сельского и лесного хозяйства (Биологический институт) Кафедра ботаники, Томский государственный университет Институт биологии, экологии, почвоведения, сельского и лесного хозяйства (Биологический институт) Научные подразделения БИ, Томский государственный университет Исторический факультет Научные подразделения ИФ
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: Сибирь; селькупы; идолы; samoyed*; Selkup
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207233.2015.1036605; http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/vtls:000529175

The study continues the attempt to summarise the information on the cult sculpture made of tree stumps. As a main resource for the study we use the materials collected during the field research by Y.I. Ozheredov in 1988 at the sacral places of the Selkups on the Tym River. We also consider the studies of the spiritual life of neighbouring ethnic groups to provide a deeper analysis of the matter. The belief in the power of the spirits fully controlled the daily life of the Siberian peoples. Rituals involving the idols served as the means to maintain a balance between objective and subjective worlds. The work gives preliminary classification of the stump idols and their ethnographic interpretation. The stump idols may have a Samoyedic origin.