The Last Shaman — Religious Transformation among Circumpolar Indigenous Peoples from an Anthropological Perspective

Abstract

Traditional religions have often faced decline when meeting outside forces. Their loss, however, happens in different ways. For the Ewenki people, shamanism weakened mainly because of political control and modernization. Government policies forced them to settle down and turned their sacred rituals into cultural performances. For the Sami, the decline was not caused by modernization but by religious intrusion. During Christianization, their sacred drums were destroyed and their shamans were punished, severing the link between ritual and faith. In both cases, outside power—whether political or religious—disrupted the natural life of these ancient cultures. While most of the cultures disappeared, few remain among small indigenous groups located in remote areas. Once contact was made, change and loss became almost inevitable. This essay introduced the fading of shamanic culture in two nomadic minority cultures from the circumpolar region separately.