Nenets Sanctuaries of Vaigach Island: Real and Unreal Facets

Abstract

In the article, the author shares the results of field religious studies conducted in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug in 2013–2022. If the survey data gives a picture of a fairly secular worldview of the indigenous population of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Nenets), then deep semistructured interviews reveal a layer of current beliefs associated with the traditional religion of the Nenets. First of all, this concerns the veneration of sacred places. The author also refers to the factors that influenced the religiosity of the Nenets in the 19th and 20th centuries (Christianization and Soviet secularization), refers to the topic of the process of national revival of the Nenets that began in the 90s. Separately, it is said about the sacred Nenets center – Vaigach Island and the history of its research. In 1986, a unique Seven-faced idol was discovered there by a Marine Arctic complex expedition. The veneration of this idol can be traced throughout the twentieth century. The modern history of its removal from the island and return to its place is connected with this idol, which fully corresponds to the well-known folklore narrative of the “punishment of the blasphemer”. General conclusions are drawn about the importance of using qualitative research methods in religious studies to compile a three-dimensional picture of the modern religiosity of the Northern peoples. The veneration of their sacred places by the modern Nenets population of the NAO is part of the living religious tradition of this ethnic group, which still exists today despite the action of all destructive historical processes.