Fires in the culture of the Eastern Khanty: modern aspects

The study is based on the author's field research conducted in 2002–2016. The research area covers a part of territories traditionally inhabited by the Eastern Khanty in the Middle Ob region, including basins of the rivers Agan, Trom-egan, Pim, Lyamin, Bolshoy Yugan and Malyi Yugan. In the last 30 years, the industrial development, urbanization of the Middle Ob region led to large-scale changes in the culture of the Eastern Khanty, based on traditional nature use. That changes affected all aspects of indigenous culture, including relations between a human and fire. Today, fires in the forest and traditional settlements of the Eastern Khanty are more frequent in the Middle Ob region. Nowadays, weakening of traditional norms of delicate handling of fire is one of the causes of fires. Inaccurate handling of fire during industrial activities and visits to the taiga by urban people is another cause of fires. In addition, cases when the Khanty set fire to forest huts of urban residents take place. Archaic models of attitude to fires in the practical and religious spheres are preserved among the Eastern Khanty, living in the taiga and practicing traditional nature use. The practice of preserving places of human habitation and feeding landscapes (deer pastures and hunting grounds) from fires is still maintained. The traditional practice of using controlled fire to stop forest fires is used. In the last two decades, the Eastern Khanty are a the forefront of discussing the construction of industrial facilities in places of feeding landscapes, in connection with the potential threat of fires. Until now, fires in the religious sphere have been perceived by informants from the standpoint of traditional ideas about the activities of deities of fire. Representations of purifying, destroying and protective functions of fire have been still occupying an important place in the world view of the Eastern Khanty. There are differences in the assessment of the consequences of fires at abandoned settlements and cemeteries by the native inhabitants. In some cases, the Eastern Khanty consider the occurrence of fires in terms of traditional religious views, despite the objective reasons of their appearance. The transformation of religious beliefs is observed in the functioning of religious objects after they are damaged by fires, which is a vivid example of adaptation of the culture of the Eastern Khanty to modernity