Turning Indigenous Sacred Sites into Intangible Heritage: Authority Figures and Ritual Appropriation in Inner Mongolia

Abstract

Oboo cairns are sacred monuments worshipped by minority peoples in Inner Mongolia. The inclusion of oboo worship on China’s national list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006 has caused negotiations and innovations in different social and ritual strata of local societies. Going from provincial decision-making to the local interpretation of heritage classification, this article examines how the indigenous intelligentsia and ordinary people appropriate oboo to make them valuable and powerful sacred monuments.