Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences / The Nganasan Food Culture

Full text (.pdf)
Issue
Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences. 2026 19 (7)
Authors
Degtyarenko, Ksenia A.; Shurmanova, Anna A.
Contact information
Degtyarenko, Ksenia A. : Siberia Federal University (Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation); ; ORCID: 0000-0002-6398-0259; Shurmanova, Anna A.: Siberian Federal University (Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0009-0009-4227-3756
Keywords
Nganasans; Samoyedic peoples; indigenous peoples of the North; food culture; Nganasan folklore
Abstract

This article examines food culture as a key component of the traditional culture, economic structure, and ethnic worldview of the Nganasan people. The traditional dietary system of this people developed in the Arctic tundra, with seasonal migrations of game animals, limited plant resources, and the people’s dependence on hunting, fishing, and reindeer herding practices. The authors examined the features of the representation of the food culture of the Nganasans in folklore texts collected from 1926–1927 during the polar census to 2016. The analyzed folklore materials were recorded by B. O. Dolgikh, A. P. Lekarenko, M. S. Strulev, I. I. Baluev, and P. T. Vashchenko. The recordings, made between 1997 and 2016, are the result of research conducted as part of a linguistics project at the University of Hamburg. The results highlight the significant role of reindeer herding, hunting, and fishing in determining the Nganasan people’s primary food resource. Methods of preparing food from hunted meat, fish, and poultry, as well as traditional Nganasan dishes and dietary taboos, were documented. The consumption of plants is virtually nonexistent in Nganasan folklore, and the examples of plant consumption that are noted are associated with the unavailability of the staple foods of meat and fish

Pages
1402–1410
EDN
OIFFCK
Paper at repository of SibFU
https://elib.sfu-kras.ru/handle/2311/159260

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