Words and Silences Nenets Nomads and Russian Evangelicals in the PostSoviet Arctic

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Please join Professor Laur Vallikivi for a conversation with Book Prize judge Ruth Maclennan about his book, Words and Silences: Nenets Reindeer Herders and Russian Evangelical Missionaries in the Post-Soviet Arctic , which has been shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2024. Drawing on twenty years of fieldwork, Vallikivi presents a rich ethnography of a little known community and poses questions on key topics, including colonisation, globalisation and climate change. • Nenets reindeer herders live a solitary life in the furthest corner of the European Arctic, and are one of the very few fully nomadic societies still vibrant there. The Nenets have faced many challenges over the generations, yet have managed to preserve their way of life. Another community who live in the North and have a long history of tension with the state are conservative fundamentalist Christians. Since the mid-1990s, under the influence of these Russian evangelical missionaries, more than half of Nenets independent communities have converted to evangelical Christianity. • In his years of fieldwork, Vallikivi lived with Nenets families – including newly converted Baptists, those undergoing conversion, and “pagans” who resist attempts at conversion. He observed the complex interaction between Nenets nomads and Russian evangelicals, in particular, the role played by words and silences. While the nomads’ habitual communication is of few words and long silences, Baptist and Pentecostal missionaries place enormous importance on words and are extremely verbose. Those Nenets who don’t want to convert stay silent, whereas others become speakers of a new religious language. • The missionaries’ relationship with the Nenets has wider implications beyond just language and beliefs. Conversion brings new practices – from raising children to burying the dead – and attitudes to the world around them. For example, evangelical Christianity tends to be hostile toward the environment, with the view that God has given humans power to govern all other beings, whereas Nenets animists have immense respect for the environment and the sentient beings around them. Conversion can represent a complete rupture with Nenets’ lifestyle and spiritual and cultural heritage – with profound ethical consequences. • Timecodes • 0:00 Start of live stream • 0:25 Introduction of Laur Vallikivi and Ruth Maclennan • 3:44 Laur’s journey to the North • 6:38 The Nenets homeland • 11:03 A Nenets campsite • 12:27 A reindeer-centred world • 16:02 A typical Nenets ‘chum’ (tent) • 17:30 The meaning of ‘place’ and ‘home’ for nomads • 19:46 The creation of spiritual spaces in a nomadic lifestyle • 23:14 Nenets family life: children and boarding schools • 25:16 The historical relationship between Nenets and Russians • 27:15 ‘Lutsa’: one who doesn’t have reindeer • 29:00 Collective reindeer farms • 31:16 Why are the Nenets embracing evangelical Christianity? • 37:10 Why do evangelicals seek out Indigenous Arctic communities? • 40:04 Using silence to avoid conversion • 43:45 The necessity of eating raw meat • 45:46 The baptism ceremony • 47:34 Misunderstandings of words and silences • 50:47 The meaning of song and words; the 'personal song' • 56:39 Icons, offerings and sacred objects • 58:01 Burning the idols • 1:01:17 ‘Hiccup worms’: conversion as a way to combat alcoholism • 1:04:28 The perception of climate change among the Nenets and evangelicals • Audience Q A • 1:07:55 Nenets Shamanism: a rebellion? • 1:12:43 How does the ‘personal song’ come about? • 1:13:39 Nenets’ customs of using names • 1:15:29 Nenets’ perception of their culture and heritage; effect of conversion on Nenets traditions • 1:17:45 Reactions to the war among the Nenets; integration of Indigenous communities in Russia • 1:23:10 Do the Nenets understand the Baptist or Pentecostalist ideology? • 1:26:20 What was Laur’s relationship with the missionaries? • 1:32:25 Closing remarks • Buy “Words and Silences: Nenets Reindeer Herders and Russian Evangelical Missionaries in the Post-Soviet Arctic” by Laur Vallikivi: https://shop.pushkinhouse.org/product... • A donation of any size is welcome and will make a difference. • Donate: https://www.pushkinhouse.org/support-... • Join our community of supporters and help us thrive today and in the future. • Become a friend of Pushkin House: https://www.pushkinhouse.org/support-... • Website: https://www.pushkinhouse.org/ • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PushkinHouse... • Instagram: / pushkinhouselondon • Twitter: https://x.com/pushkin_house?lang=en-GB • #pushkinhouse • Pushkin House Trust Registered Charity 313111

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