On the Issue of the Disappearance of Ritual Cannibalism in the Military Culture of the Indigenous Peoples of Western Siberia

Abstract

The article considers the question of eradicating from the
military culture of the Ostyaks (Khanty) and Samoyeds (Nenets) of Western Siberia, such a custom as ritual cannibalism. The analysis of literary sources showed that the Ostyaks (Khanty) stopped using it in the first half of the 17th century, and the Samoyeds (Nenets) – no earlier than the middle of the 18th century. The withering away of this custom is connected with the introduction by the Russian state of a yasak (tribute) policy in Western Siberia, and with the announcement of the instigators of civil strife as sovereign traitors. This measure, the construction of forts, as well as the beginning of Christianization, made it possible to establish a relative peace in the northern regions of Western Siberia.