Ready to Acknowledge the “Supreme Shaman”?
Fearing that Siberian Shamanism is endangered due to a lack of a spokesperson and visibility, Shonchulai Khovyenmei of the Akh Khaskha tribe in Tuva has organized a controversial Internet voting process to elect a “Supreme Shaman”.
“The organizers of the Internet vote say a top shaman would serve in a similar way to the Orthodox Patriarch or Supreme Mufti and help raise the profile of Russia’s ethnic tribes after their wretched treatment at the hands of the Soviet authorities … Over 230 shamans from Russia’s 11 time zones are competing for the top spot, which will be decided by November. Nominations closed last Friday.”
If you’re thinking this process is very unpopular among some within the Siberian tribes, you’d be right.
“Shamanism is not a religion, it’s a unique phenomenon. To unite us would be very difficult,” said Akai Kynov, a shaman in the Altai Republic, some 3,000 km (1,900 miles) east of Moscow. Kynov, 45, performs rituals in the Altai mountains clad in white and crowned by an immense snow lynx fur hat. He has chaired an informal group of local shamans for a decade and says choosing a supreme shaman could create chaos. “Everyone will not start beating their drums with joy if they elect a chief,” he told Reuters. “The majority will probably slam their fists on the table in protest.”
The Reuters article also interviews Rimma Yerkinova of the Altai republic’s state museum who calls the idea “delirium”, and American-born shaman Jonathan Horwitz (who works in Denmark) who calls the election a “bureaucratic nightmare”. One has to wonder how much authority or sway this Internet-elected “Supreme Shaman” will really have, or what good he or she can do to advance solutions to the problems facing tribal peoples in Russia. Will the other 229 shamans in the running even acknowledge their newly elected “Patriarch/Mufti”?
This whole situation reminds me very much of the 2008 “election” of Max Beauvoir as Haiti’s “Supreme Master” of Haitian Vodou. While the “Supreme Master” has caused controversy among some practitioners in Haiti who have no desire for a “first among equals” representing them, at least Beauvoir and his supporters’ attempts to develop a Vodou hierarchy are happening within a small and distinct geographical area, this shamanism election covers a number of culturally distinct tribes and huge swathes of geography making any real sense of unity and common purpose difficult. Mix in the very personal and interconnected nature of a shaman with his people, and you have a receipe for division and controversy before you’ve even “promoted” a shaman to “Supreme” status. This very much seems like a noble idea gone wrong. After all, who is ready to acknowledge a Supreme Shaman?
ADDENDUM: Additional article on the election from Radio Free Europe.
3 responses so far
Sounds like an attempt to elect a "Pagan pope" to me. I call bullshit.
There's nothing new in Shamans playing political power games with each other.
Wow. Just……wow. *headdesk* I mean, talk about two entirely different worlds colliding in spectacular form.