The Material World of the Early Twentieth-Century Reindeer Breeding Orochons of Transbaikal in the Dimension of Culture

The article makes the first comprehensive attempt at examining the material world of the early twentieth-century reindeer breeding Orochons of Transbaikal, drawing on a broad range of materials from the Russian Ethnographic Museum and applying systems analysis and hermeneutic methods to interpret results. The study employed a comparison and juxtaposition of the material culture of the Orochon to that of the neighboring Evenks and ethnic groups of the Lower Amur, as well as other peoples of Central and Eastern Asia. The focus is put on exploring the specificities of the material culture complex among three distinctive Orochon groups, including the traditional occupations (hunting, reindeer husbandry, fishing), clothing, decorations, and beliefs, especially shamanism. I argue that the ethnic and cultural specificities of the Orochon material world should be seen as shaped by the people's adaptation to the local natural environment, influenced by the type of their economic and cultural activities as well as their belief system, and further altered in the course of their interaction with neighbor cultural groups.

Keywords

material world, ethnocultural specificities, traditional ethnographic complex, Orochons, Russian Ethnographic Museum collections, 1927—1928 Tunguska expedition, mentality

Acknowledgment

This article is a translation of: Сем Т.Ю. Вещный мир оленных орочонов Забайкалья начала XX в. в пространстве культуры // Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie. 2021. No 4. P. 191–208. DOI: 10.31857/S086954150016709-9

Received

22.09.2021

Publication date

28.09.2021

Number of characters

49010

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GOST	Sem T. The Material World of the Early Twentieth-Century Reindeer Breeding Orochons of Transbaikal in the Dimension of Culture // Etnograficheskoe obozrenie – 2021. – №4 C. 343-356 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/ethnorev/s086954150016804-4-1-en (circulation date: 25.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S086954150016804-4
MLA	Sem, Tatyana Y "The Material World of the Early Twentieth-Century Reindeer Breeding Orochons of Transbaikal in the Dimension of Culture." Etnograficheskoe obozrenie 4 (2021):343-356. DOI: 10.31857/S086954150016804-4
APA	Sem T. (2021). The Material World of the Early Twentieth-Century Reindeer Breeding Orochons of Transbaikal in the Dimension of Culture. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie (4), pp.343-356 DOI: 10.31857/S086954150016804-4

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1	A problem of the materiality in the society and culture holds a high position in the modern social and cultural anthropology. The science of things (realogy) is a traditional research topic in the Russian ethnography. It was discussed in Ethnographic Review journal in 2016. At present this agenda is determined by an ontological turn towards the materiality of the world of things in the sociology and is related to the concept by B. Latour, J. Law, K. Knorr-Cetina (Baranov 2016: 25; Sokolovsky 2016) which implies abandonment of the anthropocentrism, elimination of the subject-objectivity, parity of the metaphysical status of all objects, considering the things as "an active phenomenon of culture", hermeneutical approach to it (Sokolovsky 2016: 105). In the context of this perception A. B. Golovnev studies a thing as a live spirited phenomenon in the world's space which pervades "a live dialogue of a human being with the world" (Golovnev 1995: 197). D. A. Baranov notes the role of museums in studying the materiality and substantiates the modern approaches to it: studying a thing as a national specific artefact related to ethnic graphicness, ethnicity, ethnic attribution, analyzing things in the system of culture, reading constructive-and-technological and symbolic interpretations (Baranov 2016).
2	Understanding a hand-made thing as an "own" product, differing from an "alien" one, is one of the elements of ethno-cultural specifics displayed in symbols and objects of value. The material objects constitute the basis for human activity and ethnic culture and are related to spiritual interpretation of the world. Household and welfare items, clothes and sacred items which have different semiotic status (Baiburin 1995: 82) characterize the traditional ethnographic complex of the community and form its ethnic identity in interaction with the other groups.
3	The purpose of this work is to describe ethnic peculiarities of the traditional culture of Transbaikal Orochons dated to the early 20th century based on the things from the collection of the Russian Museum of Ethnography (hereinafter - REM). The objectives of this work are to specify general and local specific features of the traditional culture of Transbaikal Orochons, to show its place in the cultural system of the Evenkis, to identify the ethno-cultural ties between different groups of the Evenkis using the above mentioned materials.
4	The author of this work believes that the most imminent of all features of the modern theory of materiality are the hermeneutical approach of reading a thing as a text of culture, its studying in the cultural system, revealing meaning and purpose of things, defining their functions and semiotic status.
5	The work scientific novelty is in the fact that REM collections were first systematically studied for the reindeer groups of Transbaikal Orochons dated to the early 20th century.
6	The closely associated notions "ethno-cultural specifics of the world of things" and "the traditional ethnographic complex" are used in this work with respect of the above-mentioned community. The ethno-cultural specifics of the world of things for an ethnic group is determined through analysis of specific elements of its culture which are manifested by the most characteristic and widespread things of living activity/life support, social-regulatory and cognitive activity. And the ethnographic complex suggests a characterization of these ethnic specific elements in the cultural system.
7	The issues of studying things of the Evenkis and Orochons were earlier considered in several works based on study of collections of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) (hereinafter - MAE RAS) (levin, Potapov 1956; 1961; Vasilevich 1969; 1976; Prokofieva 1971). A number of the recent works pay great attention to analysis of things related to way of life and faiths of these peoples (Mazin 1992; 1984; Dyachenko, Ermolova 1994; Sirina 2012; Brandisauskas 2019). The culture of Transbaikal horse Orochons (the Murchens, Hamnegans) was studied by several scientists (Shubin 1973; Tugolukov 1975; Uvarova 2005; Povoroznyuk 2011). The academic researchers contributed significantly to analysis of the world of things of the Evenkis and Orochons, however the material on Transbaikal reindeer Orochons was hardly used. This makes the study of things of this group of Transbaikal Orochons pertinent.
8	REM holds seven unique collections for Transbaikal reindeer-breeding Orochons of three local groups - Nerchinsk, Severobaikalsk and Tungiro-Olyokminsk. These are five collections for the Orochons of Nerchi river from the collection of A. A. Makarenko (1913) (REM: Coll. 5093, 6761) and his correspondents G. N. Leontiev (1911) (REM: Coll. 2651) and D. M. Golovachev (1909—1910) (REM: Coll. 1922, 1923) as well as two collections of Tunguska expedition of 1927-1928 (REM: Coll. 8761, 8762) purchased by a prominent Moscow ethnographer, member of stuff of Museum of Peoples of the USSR M. G. Levin. These things were collected from three families of Severobaikalsk Evenkis - Kindigirsk (Dushkachany settlement), Chilchagirsk (Upper Angara, Ashinkan territory, Arbiklya river and Irkona village) and Shamagirsk (Tompa river mouth). For the third group of the Orochons - from Tungira river and Olyokma wintering - REM holds the collection of D. M. Golovachev (REM: Coll. 1922). The total number of the studied things is 526 of which 79 things are in the collection of 1922, 10 - in the collection 2651, 81 - in the collection of 1923, 242 - in the collection 5093, 96 - in the collection of M. G. Levin (8761, 8762). These materials have not yet been introduced for scientific use that is why their analysis is of particular value.

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