Sibirica

Indigenous to Inner Asia, Buriats are a formerly nomadic people who now reside in southern Siberia, in the areas east and west of Lake Baikal. Although settled members of the Russian Federation, their traditional cuisine reflects their nomadic roots. Milk and meat products - from horses, cattle, sheep, and goats - are still the two main components of the Buriats' diet, supplemented by wild and cultivated plants (primarily hardy grains and root vegetables). Despite living within the dominant Russian culture, some Buriats still retain their shamanistic beliefs and make offerings to deities or spirits when drinking alcohol or eating certain foods. They have also preserved their ritual methods of slaughtering and butchering livestock, as well as traditional ways of processing the meat.

This article considers the recent declining fortunes of the Siberian liquor producing and retail industry. Cheaper vodka 'imported' from regions outside Siberia has led to a loss of revenue from local excise duties. Some firms have gone bankrupt, and others are in serious financial difficulties as a result of unpaid debts to the Inland Revenue. There is also evidence of malpractice and corruption. There are signs, however, that the current difficulties are causing Siberian alcoholic drinks producers to join together and unite in adopting measures to combat the cheaper vodka imports.

Based on extensive fieldwork, this article analyses the state of religious beliefs and practices in present-day and recent Altai. The contending claims and historical traditions of Shamanism, Buddhism and Burkhanism are discussed as part of the process of forging a new Altaian national identity. Altaian intellectuals tend to favour Buddhism over Shamanism, as providing more systematic philosophical content and links with the wider Buddhist community in neighbouring countries. Shamanism, however, more spiritual, unstructured and heterogeneous in its make-up, is more popular at grass-roots level, though there are some attempts at institutionalization and interaction with the political process. Supporters of this view see Buddhism as extraneous and non-indigenous and 'un-Altaian'. Despite instances of open clashes, the author concludes that in the future there may develop more constructive interaction between the two religious traditions.

For political and economic reasons, oral storytelling has lagged behind other art forms in the Siberian cultural revival. The deep spiritual philosophy found in ancient tales can clarify and unite viable approaches to today's political, artistic and ecological concerns. Since most Siberian indigenous languages are considered to be threatened, if not almost extinct, and since languages are basic to stories, perhaps revival of storytelling can facilitate initiatives to preserve language. This article looks briefly at storytelling and language during the Soviet period and the first decade after, and describes two tri-lingual folktale book projects undertaken in collaboration with Udeghe and Khakassian folklorists and cultural activists.

Although Siberian ethnography was an open and international field at the turn of the twentieth century, from about 1930 until the late 1980s Siberia was for the most part closed to foreigners and therefore to Western ethnographers. This allowed Soviet ethnographers to establish a virtual monopoly on Siberian field sites. Soviet and Western anthropology developed during that period in relative isolation from one another, allowing methodologies and theoretical approaches to diverge. During glasnost' and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Siberian field was reopened and field studies were conducted by several Western ethnographers. The resulting encounter between Western and former Soviet ethnographers in the 1980s and 1990s produced a degree of cultural shock as well as new challenges and opportunities on both sides. This is an experiential account of the mood of these newly reunited colleagues at the turn of the twenty-first century.

Peter Jordan, Material Culture and Sacred Landscape: The Anthropology of the Siberian Khanty (Oxford: Altamira Press, 2003) 320pp. photographs, diagrams, maps, index. £22.95 (pb). ISBN 0-7591-0277-5

Claudine Cohen, The Fate of the Mammoth: Fossils, Myths and History (translated by William Rodarmor) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002) 298pp. pictures, maps, index. £21.00 (hb). ISBN 0-226-11292

Dendeviin Badarch, Raymond A. Zilinskas and Peter J. Balint, eds, Mongolia Today: Science, Culture, Environment and Development , with a foreword by Natsagiin Bagabandi, President of Mongolia (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003) 274pp. £65.00. ISBN 0-7007-1598-3

Sharon Hudgins, The Other Side of Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East (College Station, Tex.: Texas A & M University Press, 2003) 319pp. maps, photographs, bibliographical essay, index. £26.95. ISBN 1- 58544-237-2 (East European Studies, no. 21)

Alice Beck Kehoe, Shamans and Religion: An Anthropological Exploration in Critical Thinking (Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland, 2000) 125pp. £12.95 (pb). ISBN 1-57766-162-1; Ronald Hutton, Shamans: Siberian Spirituality and the Western Imagination (London: Hambledon & London, 2001) 220pp. £16.95 (hb). ISBN 1-85285-324-7

Michael J. Bradshaw and Philip Hanson, eds, The Territories of the Russian Federation (London: Europa Publications Limited, 2002) 309pp. £75.00. ISBN 1-85743-142-1

Elena Maslova, A Grammar of Kolyma Yukaghir (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2002) xviii + 609pp. € 148.00 (hb). ISBN 3-11-017527-4