Influence of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Impacts on Worldview of Indigenous Northern Nations (as Exemplified by the Verkhoyansk District)

Abstract

This article examines global climate changes occurring in the Arctic region of Yakutia through the consciousness of the indigenous peoples of the North as expressed in their mythology. It turned out that the small numbered people native to this territory for hundreds of years preserved and continue mythologizing the changes they see in the surroundings while adapting to them and interpreting them according to the folk wisdom, mythological images, and ethnic moral standards. While the global changes have been scientifically rationalized, the locals do not see these changes as disastrous, which allows them to go on surviving in extreme climate conditions, even though adverse natural, industrial and anthropogenic impacts on their lifestyles, health, and moral standards should not be underestimated. Besides, the authors focus on the correlations between the meteorological factors and the disease rate among the local populace. The dispersion analysis methods were used and explained to illustrate this causal link. The authors pioneer in combining and comparing modern scientific knowledge of the life of the northerners, the impact of various adverse factors on their lives, and the folklore of the indigenous Northern peoples. This research used general theoretical and empirical methods, and to some extent, specialized methods including cross-subject methods to analyze the complex environmental, economic, and spiritual processes and phenomena in the lives of the indigenous peoples in the Arctic region of Yakutia.