Фольклор ненцев: В записях 1911, 1913, 1946, 1953, 1965-1987 годов. - 2001. (Т. 23.)

SUMMARY The volume was compiled by known experts in the study of Northern peoples Lyudmila V. Khomich and Yelena T. Pushkareva. The materials for the musicological part were prepared by ethnomusico l ogists Igor A. Bogdanov and Natalia M. Skvortsova. The book is devoted to folklore of the Nenets people which are the most numerous among the minorities of the Far North. The Nenets people live on a vast territory of the Far North East of Europe and North West of Asia. The Nenets Autonomous Area was formed on the territory of settlement of the Nenets people in 1929. The Yamal-Nenets and Dolgan-Nenets Autonomous Areas, where the bulk of the Nenets people currently live, were formed in 1930. Large-herd migratory reindeer-breeding using shepherd dogs is the principal line of business of the Nenets people. They lived under the tribal system until the 1930s, many tribal names have been preserved till now as surnames. Their principal religion was Shamanism (its basic idea was the unity of the universe) which penetrated all spheres of their life. The 19th century witnessed the active conversion of the Nenets people to Christian faith which left its imprint on their world outlook, particularly in the European tundras. In the 20th century, up to 1991, atheism was actively propagated that had a negative impact — it destroyed the traditional world outlook — and a positive one — the people were given access to the scientific method of cognition. At the end of the 20th century, a reverse process is under way of initiation to religion, the Christian propaganda became more active and missionaries of different religious trends appeared — protestan- tism, moonism and certain sectarian groups. Time will show whether the traditional world outlook of the Nenets people will hold out against spiritual tempests of the 21st century. The Nenets people speak the Nenets language which belongs to the Samody branch of the Urals language family. By tradition, they lived in