Anabar Region of Yakutia in the XX — Early XXI Centuries: Characteristics of the Local Cultural Landscape

Abstract

The features of the ethnocultural landscape of the Anabar national (Dolgan-Evenk) ulus of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) are considered. Attention is paid to the main components of cultural landscapes: local communities and traditional economy. In the study area, the retrospective analysis made it possible to identify the dynamics of the number and settlement of residents, to state the modern functioning of two rural local communities: Saskylakh and Yuryung-khainsky. It is argued that the sustainability and preservation of traditional sectors of the economy are due to the adaptation of the local population to natural landscapes. It is noted that during the XX — early XXI centuries, the traditional economic activities of the indigenous population, represented by different ethnic groups that originally inhabited the territory of the ulus, remained unchanged and, despite all the socio-economic transformations, remain vital and common for the Anabarians. The article presents the results of the analysis of a sociological survey and an associative experiment, which revealed the features of the linguistic landscape of the area under consideration, depending on different layers of self-awareness: external, with a predominance of Russian-language text in the linguistic appearance of the settlements under study; individual, with a predominance of the Yakut language in intergroup communication; and the subconscious, which revealed the dominance of the Dolgan cultural codes. It has been established that the cultural landscape of the Anabar ulus is the result of centuries-old interaction of indigenous ethnic groups inhabiting this area: Dolgans, Evenks, Yakuts and Russians.

Keywords

• cultural landscape
• dolgans
• evenki
• yakuts
• russians
• anabar ulus
• yakutia