Traditional knowledge of the northern Turkic-Sakha peoples about nature fin the context of «sentient ecology» (reality and symbolic space)

Abstract

The study is dedicated to the semiotic analysis of traditional cultural texts related to the calendrical belies of the northern Turkic Sakha people within the framework of Tim Ingold’s theory of «dwelling perspective» (or «sentient ecology»). The aim of the article is to reconstruct archaic representations of the inhabited world of northern nomads through the description of natural and life scenarios. Folk conceptions of nature are expressed in both real and sacred dimensions. An important conclusion is drawn: the mythology of calendrical time regulated the behavioral code of humans in their relationships with nature. By examining the Sakha’s calendrical songs, language, material and ritual symbols, fit becomes clear that their worldview was open and permeable. Movement and lines of life (paths and roads) served as the principal symbolic-cognitive categories of the inhabited world. Strategies for forecasting and modeling natural scenarios were entrusted to specialists – d’yillyts (weather predictors) and shamans. Great shamans were believed to be capable of halting elemental nature scenarios: invoking rain during fires, stopping floods, calming down storms and blizzards. The main mission of the shaman was to model a desired outcome – harmony between nature and humans in risk-prone situations both fin nature and society. Shamans, as keepers of folk and sacred knowledge, «stitched together» the torn threads of life fin the Universe. The entire analyzed material, within the framework of ecological anthropology offers a new perspective on «ecological religion» – shamanism and reveals the fundamental foundations of archaic worldview.