Video story Aspects of the Mental World in Arseniev's Collections by Tatiana Sem

Vladimir Arseniev, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Junker Infantry School, arrived in Vladivostok in 1900. Having led a horse-hunting team, Arseniev made long excursions around the Ussuri Territory, studying flora and fauna, topography, and geography. On campaigns, Arsenyev communicated with the indigenous peoples: Udege, Nanai, Oroches; studied language, character traits, rules of communication, housekeeping, thoughtful, rational attitude to nature, rules of interaction with it. His expeditions of 1906-1910 became world famous for the study of the northern regions of Primorye: from the Sikhote-Alin ridge to the Sea of Japan. Arseniev shared generously his natural history, archaeological and ethnographic collections with museums of scientific and educational centers: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan. The Russian Ethnographic Museum has a unique collection of traditional Udege culture, revealing the idea of the creation of the universe, shamanic rituals, travel from the world of people to the world of spirits, communication with the spirits of nature, earth, sky, the underworld. Special attention is paid to the attributes and symbols of the Bear Festival and the cult of snakes.