Acknowledgements . . 9 
Abbreviations . . 13 

I REPRESENTATIONS OF THE RUSSIAN FINNO-UGRIANS 

1. Societies in transition . . 17 

2. Traditions in a globalised world . . 19 
Are traditions dying? . . 19
Tradition as a concept of introspective Western sociology . . 21
Locality, globalisation and identity-formation . . 22 
Co-existence of divergent traditions . . 24 

3. Belonging and neo-traditionalism . . 27 
Ethnic self-awareness . . 27 
The state, intellectuals and the construction of heritage . . 29 
Finno-Ugric ethnicities in the making . . 31 

4. Interest in Finno-Ugric peoples . . 34 
Language, myths and folklore as "evidence of history" . . 34 
The expeditions of Finns and Hungarians to their linguistic relatives in Russia . . 36 
The aims of the Russian Academy of Sciences . . 39 
The basic model of ethnographic field work in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries . . 40 
Field work after the collapse of the Soviet Union . . 42 
From moments to understanding . . 43 
Between cultures: dialogues, monologues and silences . . 46 

II THE KHANTY: PRESERVING AND PERFORMING RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS 

5. The land of the white crane . . 51 
Behind the Urals . . 51 
Worlds flowing into each other . . 52 
Experience of locality: rivers and settlements like layers of an onion . . 54 
The cross-draught in interethnic relations . . 57 
Division of space and practices of avoidance . . 60 
Gender: together but apart . . 65 

6. Dual organisation, totemic ancestors and kin groups . . 68 
Moś- and Por-people . . 68 
The animal protector . . 73 
L'aksas, reincarnation of a person . . 75 
The kinship system . . 76 

7. Discussions about myths and tales . . 78 
Myths written in the heavens . . 78 
Myths of Uralic hunting cultures . . 85 
Mythic corpus . . 88 
Myths of individuals and small communities . . 91 

8. Living with spirits . . 112 
Religious worlds of the Northern Khanty . . 112 
The cosmos . . 115 
The hierarchy of spirits . . 117 
Guardian spirits of home and family . . 123 
Feeding the spirits at home . . 129 
Why worship spirits? . . 132 

9. Holy groves and common rituals . . 134 
The landscape of the spirits . . 134 
Men's and women's holy groves . . 140 
Offerings in holy groves . . 144 
Common rites, different meanings . . 152 

10. Paths of souls, villages of the dead . . 153 
Concepts of souls . . 154 
Burial rituals . . 156 
Remembrance rituals in graveyards . . 167 
The passages of souls and continuation of family . . 174 

11. The reawakening of shamanic rituals . . 176 
Did the Khanty have shamans? . . 176 
The concept of shamanism . . 177 
Shamans in Khanty society . . 179 
The shamanic seance . . 181 
Shamans are performing publicly again . . 185 
Different interpretations: belief and entertainment . . 191 

12. Religion, kin and environment . . 193 
Hallmarks of Khanty religion . . 193 
Unity of religion, kin and nature . .195 
Religion and belonging . . 196 

III THE KOMI: PROLIFERATING SINGING TRADITIONS 

13. The singing culture of the Upper Vychegda Komi . . 201 
Studying Komi singing . . 201 
Did the Komi have a singing culture? . . 203 
The Upper Vychegda Komi . . 206 
Hunting artels as folklore arenas . . 208 
Gender relations and songs . . 211 
The fusion of singing traditions . . 217 

14. Folklore, cultural institutions and festivals . . 218 
Folklore as verbal peasant art . . 218 
Drama circles and the growth of poetry . . 220 
Strengthening the village culture . . 221 
The Upper Vychegda collectives . . 222 
A life as a cultural director . . 227 
Women leaders . . 230 

15. "Singing for myself and for my soul" . . 231 
At Anna Ivanovna's . . 231 
Polyphonic singing . . 232 
Transmitting traditions . . 234 
Performing traditions . . 235 
Dressing up for performance . . 236 
Being together . . 238 
From politics to women's culture . . 242 

16. Folk-editing and variation in songs . . 247 
Programmes of folklore groups . . 247
Textualisation and variation of songs . . 250 
Old Komi folk texts . . 253 
Macaronic and Russian songs . . 266 
Songs translated into Komi . . 268 
Songs to the words of Komi poets . . 274 
Folk variants of the poems of known writers . . 276 
Creating the programme . . 282 

17. A state project leads to multiple forms of tradition . . 285 

IV COMPARISONS AND OBSERVATIONS 

18. An Udmurt case: from sacrificial rituals to national festivals . . 291 
Holy groves and social order . . 293
Visible and hidden: the battle of ideologies and religions . . 297 
From secret ritual into national festival . . 300 
Female agency and marked diversities . . 303 
The role of intellectuals and the media . . 307 
Construction of tradition and cultural identity . . 309 

19. Traditions symbolising cultural distinction . . 311 
Myths and rituals as political practice . . 311 
The revival of nature religion . . 314 
Reconstructing sacred histories . . 317 
Performing ethnicity in festivals . . 317 
Political and economic implications of neo-traditionalism . . 319 

20. Dynamics of tradition among the Khanty, Komi and Udmurts . . 320 

Bibliography . . 323 
Khanty words . . 341 
Transliteration of Komi . . 349 
Index . . 351 
Maps . . 362