The Material World of the Early Twentieth-Century Reindeer Breeding Orochons of Transbaikal in the Dimension of Culture

Abstract

The article makes the first comprehensive attempt at examining the material world of the early twentieth-century reindeer breeding Orochons of Transbaikal, drawing on a broad range of materials from the Russian Ethnographic Museum and applying systems analysis and hermeneutic methods to interpret results. The study employed a comparison and juxtaposition of the material culture of the Orochon to that of the neighboring Evenks and ethnic groups of the Lower Amur, as well as other peoples of Central and Eastern Asia. The focus is put on exploring the specificities of the material culture complex among three distinctive Orochon groups, including the traditional occupations (hunting, reindeer husbandry, fishing), clothing, decorations, and beliefs, especially shamanism. I argue that the ethnic and cultural specificities of the Orochon material world should be seen as shaped by the people’s adaptation to the local natural environment, influenced by the type of their economic and cultural activities as well as their belief system, and further altered in the course of their interaction with neighbor cultural groups.