HUNGER AMONG THE NORTHERN SELKUPS
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2020-4-128-137
The article examines one of the frequent phenomena of the past of the northern Selkups — famine; the frequency of hunger strikes is examined, the groups of the Selkup society most susceptible to regular malnutrition are identified, and the causes of hunger are revealed. As a result of the research, the author comes to the following conclusions. The Selkups experienced famine annually, in the winter-spring period, then all the reserves made for the winter were consumed. In summer and autumn, the Selkups stored food in insufficient quantities. This is due to the Selkup national character, which was not characterized by such qualities as thrifty and prudent. The Selkups also did not make a large number of procurements because of the nomadic way of life. The seasonal famine ended with the arrival of spring migratory birds. After a collective hunt for them, a holiday and a general feast were arranged, at which the Selkups ate their fill for the first time in a year. After the ducks, fish returned — the main summer-autumn food of the Selkups. During the hungry winter-spring period, the Selkups lived by hunting, but full-fledged hunting was impossible for the deerless Selkups, since they required going to places where fur-bearing animals lived, or wild reindeer migrated. Hunting success often did not meet the expectations of the Selkups, since it depended on the whims of nature — migrations of fishing objects, severe frosts, the «yield» of the current year for the animal, etc. In addition to the nomadic way of life, peculiarities of national character and unsuccessful hunting, the Selkup famine had another socio-economic reason. The Selkups were exploited, drunk and deceived in commercial transactions by Russian officials, representatives of the Orthodox Church, merchants and traders, as well as their own clan nobility. Bakeries established by the state, designed to prevent hunger among the population of the Turukhansk region, only exacerbated the situation of the Selkups, making them eternal debtors to the treasury. The overwhelming part of the Selkup society was exposed to hunger. The Selkups did not fight hunger, but humbly endured it, for which they had several passive methods, which included «waiting for spring», a special hungry "diet", kindred and non-kindred mutual assistance. Hunger in the form in which it was experienced by the Selkups can be considered one of the Selkup traditional economic practices.
Keywords: northern Selkups, hunger, causes of hunger, national character, social relations, economic practices
References:
Golovnev A. V. Govoryashchiye kul'tury: traditsii samodiytsev i ugrov [Speaking cultures: traditions of the Samoyeds and Ugrians]. Yekaterinburg: UrO RAN, 1995. 606 p. (in Russian)
Donner K. U samoyedov Sibiri [At the Samoyeds of Siberia]. Tomsk: Veter, 2008. 175 p. (in Russian)
Irikov S. I. Food. Pishcha. Posuda. Utvar' [Food. Dishes. Utensil]. In: Khomich L. V., Irikov S. I., Ayupova G. Ye. Tazovskiye sel'kupy [Khomich L. V., Irikov S. I., Ayupova G. E. Taz Selkups]. Sankt-Petersburg: Filial izdatel'stva «Prosveshcheniye», 2002. P. 80–89. (in Russian)
Maslov. Brodyashchiye narody Turukhanskogo kraya. Otryvok iz statisticheskikh zapisok Yeniseyskoy gubernii [Roaming peoples of Turukhansk region. An excerpt from the statistical notes of the Yenisei province] // Zavolzhskij muravej [Zavolzhsky ant]. Kazan, 1833. №. 9. P. 506–523. (in Russian)
Ostrovskykh P. E. Baishenskiye ostyaki (ostyako-samoyedy) Turukhanskogo kraya v kontse XIX v. [Baishen Ostyaks (Ostyak-Samoyeds) of the Turukhansk region at the end of the XIX century] // Sovetskiy Sever [Soviet North]. 1931. № 7–8. Р. 161–181. (in Russian)
Prokofiev G. N. Tseremoniya ozhivleniya bubna u ostyako-samoyedov [Ceremony of reviving a tambourine among the Ostyak-Samoyeds] // Izvestiya LGU [Izvestia LSU]. T. II. Leningrad: LGU. 1930. Р. 365–373. (in Russian)
Skalon V. N. V tundre verkhnego Taza [In the tundra of the Upper Taz river] // Sovetskiy Sever [Soviet North]. 1930. № 3. Р. 129–139. (in Russian)
Skalon V. N. Magnaty Severa [Magnates of the North] // Okhotnik i rybak Sibiri [Hunter and Fisherman of Siberia]. 1929. № 2. Р. 57–62. (in Russian)
Stepanova О. B. Krasnyye sel'kupy: revolyutsionnyye preobrazovaniya sredi naseleniya Taza i Turukhana [Red Selkups: revolutionary changes among the population of Taz and Turukhan] // Ural'skiy istoricheskiy vestnik [Ural Historical Bulletin]. 2018. № 1. Р. 91–100. (in Russian)
Stepanova O. B. Otnosheniya gosudarstva i korennykh malochislennykh narodov Severa v nachale XXI v. v Krasnosel'kupskom rayone YANAO [Relations between the state and the indigenous peoples of the North at the beginning of the 21st century in the Krasnoselkupsky District of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District] // Vestnik ugrovedeniya [Bulletin of Ugric studies]. 2018. № 2. Р. 365–374. (in Russian)
Tret'yakov P. I. Turukhanskiy kray, yego priroda i zhiteli [Turukhansk region, its nature and inhabitants]. Sankt-Petersburg: Tip. Bezobrazova, 1871. Р. 316. (in Russian)
( 639.13 kB ) 
( 589.47 kB )
Issue: 4, 2020
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 128 — 137
Downloads: 525