Образ собаки в мировоззрении селькупов

Abstract

The aim of the study was to consider the image of a dog in the worldview of the Selkups. This problem is still poorly understood, which emphasizes its relevance and significance. As a result of the study, the following conclusions were drawn. The mythological dog of the Selkups in its image reflected all the concepts of the animal that stand out in the Selkup worldview, namely: animistic, according to which the animal is a spirit, a creature of the other world; totemic, whose postulate is that all Selkup clans are descended from animals; worldforming, which determines that the animal-ancestor creates the elements of the universe and postulates the laws of the life of society; the concept of combining anthropomorphic and zoomorphic appearance in the animal-spirit; the concept of duality, according to which animal spirits are characterized by actions of a polar orientation; the idea of the embodiment of the universe in a giant animal ancestor with the mechanism of crossing the border between the earthly and other worlds combined with it and the principle of circulation between the worlds of the human soul, in the area of otherness acquiring the features of an animal ancestor. The dog was not a wild, but a domestic animal, therefore, in mythology, the language of metaphors emphasizes its special features: a dog lives with a person, is equal to a person in mental abilities, but at the same time is forced to serve him hard and disinterestedly. A special quality of the dog is also indicated by its ability to smell spirits and enemies and report their approach to a person. The mythological representations of the Selkups reflected the role that the dog played in their economic activities.