Anthropology of cold: food culture of indigenous peoples of Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Authors:   Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, Romanova Ekaterina N. ,   North-Eastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov, Danilova Nataliya K. ,   Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, Alekseeva Evdokiya K. ,   Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North
Published: October 2024

Reference to the food culture of the indigenous peoples of the North within the framework of anthropology of cold, where the peculiarity of the cultural landscape of the North is the life strategy conditioned by cold and permafrost, is caused by the increased interest of scientific community to the unique experience of life support of the northern ethnic groups. Anthropological understanding of the Cold is a request of the world science in terms of solving a wide range of socio-humanitarian problems related to comprehension, adaptation, cultural experience of life in the "permafrost". The authors of the article consider the food culture of the indigenous peoples of the North as one of the important aspects in the ethnic system of culture and values. The article interprets not only the physiological, but also the cultural foundations of the traditional food of the natives of the North. For the first time on the basis of interdisciplinary methodology the multidimensional phenomenon of nutrition among the indigenous peoples of Yakutia was considered as a conceptualization of the northern cuisine in an innovative direction - cryosophy. The study uses methodological innovations of environmental sociology and cultural anthropology, historical-cognitive and hermeneutic analysis. Based on the retrospective analysis of historical and ethnographic sources and modern sociological and expeditionary materials, the method of mapping analyzes food preferences, traditional technologies and recipes, as well as the symbolic meanings and meanings of food in the context of calendar time. Food occupied an important place and was endowed by the participants with a special semantic meaning. The process of daily and festive meals for the indigenous peoples of the North is a special ritual in which there is a spiritual connection with nature, with the higher deities. The notion of life and its symbolic representation was incorporated into food. At the same time fatty food had a special semantic meaning, which embodied not only the idea of "well-being", but also contributed to the body's resistance to extreme temperatures. Adaptive life-support strategy in the North formed a special dietary regime and food behavior actively using cryogenic resources of cold in the preparation and preservation of food. There is an important conclusion about the circular pattern of nutrition of northern communities in the projections of natural and social space. The authors conclude that the ecologically balanced diet of northern herders, reindeer herders, hunters and fishermen of Yakutia reflects the centuries-old experience of adaptation to extreme low temperatures and also acts as a cultural symbol manifesting the spiritual foundations of life and human destiny in the North.