Yakut values at the beginning of the 21st century

Abstract

The article presents a study of values of the Sakha people (Yakuts) in the contemporary state of the ethnicity. While the core of ethnic values is still sacrosanct, they are not immune from intercultural and intracultural variation, and eventually can be reshaped into new hierarchic structures according to a shift in functional and conceptual bearing. The article outlines and analyzes the significant values of ethnic culture which are sufficient for preserving the national self-consciousness and integrity of an ethnos. In the last 25 years, there was a marked rise in ethnocultural identity of the peoples of Yakutia. Values shared by these peoples, which we understand as an integration of the values of northern solidarity, consonance with nature, taking care of children and elderly, diligence and respect for variety of cultures and languages, are now interacting with new trends of innovative development of Yakutia. The article examines the data collected in three wide-scale sociological surveys, conducted by the Institute of sociology of Russian Academy of Sciences in a number of Russian regions, including Yakutia, in 1993–1994, 1997–1999 and 2012, respectively. Our analysis showed that one of the main societal values in Yakutia is the local ethnic self-identification. According to survey responses, it is rooted in the revival and development of national culture, language, economic progress and overcoming the social disparity. Applying indigenous methodology to the study of Yakut culture helped the author outline one of the values most fundamental for self-protection of the people of Sakha: an idea of duality most often found in such oppositions as man/woman, human/animal, human/domicile and human/society.

Keywords

• ценности
• саха
• якуты
• парность
• этническая идентичность
• социологический опрос
• коренные народы
• Якутия
• indigenous methodology