Entries related to religion, belief systems, spirituality, shamanism, revival
time: 13.30 Finnish, 11.30 UK, 18.30 Beijing time, 12 October 2023. Online at zoom, meeting id: 641 887 4740, password: 2023. For those in Rovaniemi: join us in the BOREALIS meeting room on the top floor of the Arctic Centre We define the Arctic broadly of course, but usually not as broad as reaching all …
Continue reading Making Good Luck in North Korea – online guest lecture by Heonik Kwon 12 October
Some of us Arctic anthropologists may not have China on the immediate radar of their interest. However, China has become an increasingly important player in the Arctic, through various projects such as the Arctic Silk Road, their interest in Arctic Council membership, and their Arctic Policy. Our colleagues from the Nordic Network on Chinese Thought …
In the European Arctic Midsummer nowadays marks mostly the start of the summer holidays. But at the roots of this big holiday, celebrated on or close to the longest day of the year, are pre-christian traditions. Asking from the spirits for a good harvest and for protection from evil forces were at the centre of …
Continue reading Arctic Midsummer – party time with pagan roots
So-called 'ghost towns' attract people in a certain sense, the ailing beauty of their ruins and the atmosphere of silence that is so different from the silence that you experience when you are somewhere out on the tundra in the Arctic in a snow-desert. But when I recently walked with a friend through an abandoned …
Continue reading Spirituality of abandoned Arctic Infrastructure
Piers Vitebsky and Roza Laptander are going to give an interesting example on how to de-provincialise Arctic social sciences. This time on a topic that could hardly be more timely: they refer to their elaborate ethnographies of indigenous Siberians' communications with the fire spirit to explain why apps to track the corona virus may fail. …
for many of our readers Markku Lehmuskallio won’t need an introduction. He is a world acclaimed film maker, and a friend of our team. Some of you may remember their previous visit, when we hosted them with some reindeer meat. See here https://arcticanthropology.org/2012/08/31/anastasia-lapsui-and-markku-lehmusskallio-guests-of-the-team-in-rovaniemi/ This time Markku continues his loyalty to us in the North and …
Continue reading Markku Lehmuskallio in Rovaniemi – Pre-screening meeting with the film maker
Midsummer, solstice on the 21 June is for many northern peoples and cultures an important holiday. In Finland it's called Juhannus and a state holiday. In Yakutia, where I am now, it's called Ysyakh, and considered the Sakha people's new year day. The 2020 celebrations obviously come in a very different format in comparison to …
Arctic Anthropology 