, including also North Siberian
Yakuts (but
Dolgans are omitted), South Siberian areas, and also Central Asia branch of the
Eskimo–Aleut language family Uralic Uralic languages are proven to form a genealogical unit, a language family. Not all speakers of these languages live in Siberia or have shamanistic religions. The largest populations, the
Hungarians and
Finns, live outside Siberia and are mostly Christian.
Sámi people had kept
shamanic practices alive for a long time. They live in Europe, but practiced shamanism until the 18th century. Most others (e.g.
Hungarian,
Finnic,
Mari) have only remnant elements of shamanism.
Samoyedic Among several
Samoyedic peoples shamanism was a living tradition also in modern times, especially at groups living in isolation until recent times (
Nganasans). There were distinguished several types of shamans among
Nenets, and
Selkup Nenets people,
Enets people,
Nganasan people speak Northern Samoyedic languages. They live in North Siberia (Nenets live also in European parts), they provide classical examples.
Selkups are the only ones who speak Southern Samoyedic languages nowadays. They live more to the south, shamanism was in decline also at the beginning of the 20th century, although folklore memories could be recorded even in the 1960s. Other Southern Samoyedic languages were spoken by some peoples living in the
Sayan Mountains, but
language shift has taken place, making all these languages extinct.
Nenets There were several types of shamans distinguishing ones contacting upper world, ones contacting underneath world, ones contacting the dead.
Nganasan The isolated location of the
Nganasan people ensured that
shamanism was a living phenomenon among them even in the beginning of the 20th century, One of the occasions in which the shaman partook was the
clean tent rite, held after the
polar night, which included
sacrifices.
Sayan Samoyedic Some peoples of the Sayan Mountains spoke once Southern Samoyedic languages. Most of them underwent a language shift in the beginning and middle of the 19th century, borrowing the language of neighboring Turkic peoples. The
Kamassian language survived longer: 14 old people spoke it yet in 1914. In the late 20th century, some old people had passive or uncertain knowledge of the language, but collecting reliable scientific data was no longer possible. although such approaches have been refined: the problem of their origin may be more complex).
Diószegi Vilmos could record not only folklore memories in the late 1950s, but he managed also to talk personally to (no longer practicing) shamans, record their personal memories, songs, some of their paraphernalia. Whether this shamanism is borrowed entirely from neighboring Turkic peoples, or whether it has some ethnic features, maybe remnants of Samoyedic origin, is unresolved. Comparative considerations suggest, that • Karagas shamanism is affected by Abakan-Turkic and
Buryat influence. Among the various Soyot cultures, the central Soyot groups, keeping cattle and horses, show
Khalkha Mongol phenomena in their shamanism, the shamanism of Western Soyots, living on the steppe, is similar to that of Altai Turkic peoples. A shaman story narrates contacts between Soyots and Abakan Turkic peoples in a mythical form. • Karagas and Eastern (reindeer-breeding, mountain-inhabiting) Soyots. have many similarities in their culture and shamanism. It was these two cultures who presented some ethnic features, phenomena lacking among neighboring Turkic peoples. E.g., the structure of their shamanic drum showed such peculiarity: it had
two transoms. It was also these two cultures who showed some features, which could be possibly of Samoyedic origin: the shaman's headdress, dress and boots has the effigies symbolizing human organs, mostly bones; in the case of headdress, representation of human face. Also the dress-initiating song of the Karagas shaman Kokuyev contained the expression "my shamanic dress with seven vertebrae". Hoppál interprets the skeleton-like overlay of the Karagas shaman-dress as symbol of shamanic rebirth, similar remark applies for the skeleton-like iron ornamentation of the (not Samoyedic, but genealogically unclassified,
Paleosiberian)
Ket shamanic dress, although it may symbolize also the bones of the
loon (the helper animal of the shaman). (The theory of Ket origin of the Karagas has already been mentioned above.
Hungarian Starting from the late 9th century onwards, the ancestors of the
Hungarian people migrated from their
Proto-Uralic homeland in Siberia to the
Pannonian Basin, an area that includes present-day Hungary. Today, shamanism is no longer widely practiced by Hungarians, but elements of shamanism have been preserved in their folklore. Comparative methods reveal that some motifs used in folktales, fragments of songs and folk rhymes retain aspects of the ancient belief system. In an effort to prove that shamanistic remnants existed within Hungarian folklore ethnographer,
Diószegi Vilmos, compared ethnographic records of Hungarian and neighboring peoples, and works about various shamanic traditions of some Siberian peoples. Mihály Hoppál continued Diószegi Vilmos's work comparing shamanic beliefs of speakers of
Uralic languages with those of several non-Uralic Siberian peoples. Although
Ugrian folklore preserves many traces of shamanism, shamanism itself was a dying practice among the
Khanty and
Mansi people by the 1930s. Shamanism is still practiced by many indigenous peoples, but, among the modern Ugrians, shamanism is largely practiced by the Khanty.
Ket Traditional culture of
Ket people was researched by
Matthias Castrén, Vasiliy Ivanovich Anuchin,
Kai Donner,
Hans Findeisen, Yevgeniya Alekseyevna Alekseyenko.
Shamanism was a living practice in the 1930s yet, but by the 1960s almost no authentic shaman could be found. Ket shamanism shared features with those of
Turkic and
Mongolic peoples. Besides that, there were several types of shamans, differing in function (sacral rites, curing), power and associated animal (deer, bear).
Tuvans, and
Tofalar. The
Altai Turks may be related to neighboring
Ugrian,
Samoyed,
Ket, or
Mongols. There may be also ethnographic traces of such past of these nowadays Turkic-speaking peoples of the Altai. For example, some of them have phallic-erotic
fertility rites, and that can be compared to similar rites of
Ugrians.
Koryak and Chukchi Linguistically,
Koryak and
Chukchi are close congeners of Yup'il. Koryak shamanism is known.
Yupik shaman exorcising evil spirits from a sick boy,
Nushagak,
Alaska, 1890s
Yup'ik groups comprise a huge area stretching from
Eastern Siberia through
Alaska and
Northern Canada (including
Labrador Peninsula) to
Greenland. Shamanistic practice and beliefs have been recorded at several parts of this vast area crosscutting continental borders. Like Yup'ik cultures themselves, shamanistic practices reveal diversity. Some mosaic-like examples from various cultures: the soul concepts of the various cultures were diverse as well, some groups believed that the young child had to be taken for by guardian names inherited from a recently deceased relative. Among some groups, this belief amounted to a kind of reincarnation. Also shamanism might include beliefs in
soul dualism, where the free-soul of the shaman could fly to celestial or underneath realms, contacting mythological beings, negotiating with them in order to cease calamities or achieve success in hunt. If their wrath was believed to be caused by taboo breaches, the shaman asked for confessions by members of the community. In most cultures, shamanism could be refused by the candidate: calling could be felt by visions, but generally, becoming a shaman followed conscious considerations. shaman woman – her exact origin cannot be ascertained from the image alone. Early 20th century. , region
Tuva, Russia
Nivkh Shamanism was a central part of religious and spiritual traditions of the
Nivkhs, who are indigenous to the
Amur river basin and adjacent
Sakhalin island. Shamans (''ch'am'') traditionally diagnosed and cured disease. The rare shamans typically wore an elaborate coats with belts often made of metal. Remedies composed of plant and sometimes animal matter were employed to cure sickness. Talismans were used or offered to patients to prevent sickness. ==Demographics==