"We Are Not Dead Souls" The Good Petroleum Fairies and the Spirits of the Taiga in Subarctic Siberia

Dominique Samson (1) , Normand de Chambourg

1 CREE EA 4513 - Centre de recherches Europes-Eurasie

Through the example of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra, which has become one of the country's main energy hubs (accounting for 62 percent of Russian oil production) and a pioneer in matters of native rights, this article sheds light on what is at stake in the Siberian taiga of the early twentyfirst century between two worlds that, over the years, have variously clashed, assisted each other, and ignored each other. Based primarily on fieldwork carried out between 2013 and 2018, as well as on interviews with local cultural and economic actors, the article outlines a local aspect of a history in movement that is still to be written.

Mots clés: indigenous people; Khanty herders; Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra; oil companies; sacred landscape

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie; Littératures; Religions

Dominique Samson, Normand de Chambourg. "We Are Not Dead Souls" The Good Petroleum Fairies and the Spirits of the Taiga in Subarctic Siberia. Sibirica, 2019. ⟨hal-03106240⟩