Taiga and water elements in Amur fishermen' religious practices and socio-domestic sphere

Purpose. The paper focuses on the cross-cultural communication in the Amur River valley where the river is a «natural borderland» between the north and the south, the Pacific basin and the taiga. We analyze the contacts and nature of cultural borrowings on the Lower Amur territory, which provides a new level of understanding economic, cultural and social processes on this territory with mixed contacts and traditions. The work describes the development of the Amur fishermen society through the example of the Nanaian. Their traditions include practices of the Siberian taiga peoples together with economic and cultural elements of the peoples from the Pacific coast. The main tasks of the study were to assess the influence of natural factors on the local way of life and worldview; to analyze and compare details of the living space and world picture typical of forest and water areas; to reconstruct the dynamic model of the «Amur periphery» traditional society. Results. Cultural interactions in the Lower Amur region have been intensively studied in terms of history and ethnography due to their complexity and importance for the local societies. Natural features and the geographical factors of the studied area, located between the Pacific Ocean and the Siberian taiga, shape the local cultural and economic specificity. Migrating to the Pacific coast along the Amur left-hand tributaries, Siberian hunters and reindeer herders introduced «taiga» elements into the life of Amur fishermen. Rich fish fauna and annual salmon spawning migration from the Okhotsk Sea brought stability and increased the survival chances for the settlers. Within the Lower Amur lowlands and plains, natural diversity introduced differences into the Amur communities' economy, everyday life, and sacred practices. The communities can be divided into those occupying the large river valley and the small tributaries, and those located in the taiga zone. The inhabitants living in the Amur periphery are similar to the peoples of the East Siberian taiga due to hunting prevailing catching salmon because of the limited amount of fish. Fishery was very important along the river in its basin. This area makes the cultural centers of ichthyophagists due to the preserved traditions of making fish skin clothes and abundance of sacral place names related to water space. Conclusion. Archaeological and linguistic research confirms the antiquity tradition and demonstrate the ambiguous character of cultural interactions, which makes it clear that creators of the fishing complex were not only Paleoasiatic, but also Tungus tribes from Siberia. In particular, the division into «taiga» and «water» spheres among Amur fishermen is reflected in sacred topography, ritual practices, zoning the residential area and economic activities. For example, the bear cult borrowed from taiga men became popular, and the bear protected both the taiga and water spaces. In the social structure, the impact of «taiga» or fishing tradition is clearly manifested in sociogender division and the kinship system. The world view of the peoples living in the area studied modified due to economic and cultural ties with Siberia and cultural expansion from the South, especially from China. Among the main changes were the complex hierarchical structures introduced into the local society.