The “Midsummer Day”: Tradition in the Life and Life in the Tradition of the North Khanty

Abstract

With the growth of national-cultural movements in the new Russia and the emergence of a plenitude of ethnically colored festivities at the turn of the centuries, a number of issues are becoming critically important – such as those of authenticity of cultural elements, their being traditional or not-traditional, as well as those of the relations between the archaic and the modern in folklore and ritual activities that make a part of the holiday or celebration context. The article takes as a case study the “midsummer day” celebration which is held in Khanty-Muzhi of the Shuryshkar district, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, and is a logical continuation of Northern Khanty’s annual rites having to do with the calendar rotation of traditional economic activities. One of the most signifi cant rites of the Northern Khanty is being considered as a traditional culture phenomenon and festival segment.