Shamanism - Decline and Revitalization / Tradition-preserving Movements

Decline and Revitalization / Tradition-preserving Movements

Shamanism is believed to be declining around the world. Possibly due to other organised religious influences, like Christianity, that want people who practice shamanism to convert to their own system and doctrine. Another reason is western views of shamanism as 'primitive', 'superstitious', backwarded and outdated. Whalers who frequently interact with Inuit tribes are one source of this decline in that region.

In many areas, former shamans ceased to fulfill the functions in the community they used to, as they felt mocked by their own community, or regarded their own past as a deprecated thing, and unwilling to talk about it to an ethnographer.

Moreover, besides personal communications of former shamans, folklore texts may narrate directly about a deterioration process. For example, a Buryat epic text details the wonderful deeds of the ancient "first shaman" Kara-Gürgän: he could even compete with God, create life, steal back the soul of the sick from God without his consent. A subsequent text laments that shamans of older times were stronger, possessing capabilities like omnividence, fortune-telling even for decades in the future, moving as fast as a bullet; the texts contrast them to the recent heartless, unknowing, greedy shamans.

In most affected areas, shamanic practices ceased to exist, with authentic shamans dying and their personal experiences dying with them. The loss of memories is not always lessened by the fact the shaman is not always the only person in a community who knows the beliefs and motives related to the local shaman-hood (laics know myths as well, among Barasana, even though less; there are former shaman apprentices unable to complete the learning among Greenlandic Inuit peoples, moreover, even laics can have trance-like experiences among the Inuit; the assistant of a shaman can be extremely knowledgeable among Dagara). Although the shaman is often believed and trusted precisely because s/he "accommodates" to the "grammar" of the beliefs of the community, several parts of the knowledge related to the local shamanhood consist of personal experiences of the shaman (illness), or root in his/her family life (the interpretation of the symbolics of his/her drum), thus, those are lost with his/her death. Besides that, in many cultures, the entire traditional belief system has become endangered (often together with a partial or total language shift), the other people of the community remembering the associated beliefs and practices (or the language at all) grew old or died, many folklore memories (songs, texts) were forgotten - which may threaten even such peoples who could preserve their isolation until the middle of the 20th century, like the Nganasan.

Some areas could enjoy a prolonged resistance due to their remoteness.

• Variants of shamanism among Inuit peoples were once a widespread (and very diverse) phenomenon, but today are rarely practiced, and they were already in decline among many groups, even durinng the first major ethnological research was done, e.g. among Polar Inuit, at the end of 19th century, Sagloq, the last shaman who was believed to be able to travel to the sky and under the sea died — and many other former shamanic capacities were lost during that time as well, like ventriloquism and sleight-of-hand.
• The isolated location of Nganasan people allowed shamanism to be a living phenomenon among them even at the beginning of 20th century, the last notable Nganasan shaman's ceremonies could be recorded on film in the 1970s.

After exemplifying the general decline even in the most remote areas, let us mention that there are revitalization or tradition-preserving efforts as a response. Besides collecting the memories, there are also tradition-preserving and even revitalization efforts, led by authentic former shamans (for example among Sakha people and Tuvans). However, according to Richard L. Allen, Research & Policy Analyst for the Cherokee Nation, they are overwhelmed with fraudulent Shaman. "One may assume that anyone claiming to be a Cherokee 'shaman, spiritual healer, or pipe-carrier', is equivalent to a modern day medicine show and snake-oil vendor." In fact, there is no Cherokee word for Shaman or Medicine Man. The Cherokee word for "medicine" is Nvowti which means "power".

Besides tradition-preserving efforts, there are also neoshamanistic movements, these may differ from many tradtitional shamanistic practice and beliefs in several points. Admittedly, several traditional beliefs systems indeed have ecological considerations (for example, many Eskimo peoples), and among Tukano people, the shaman indeed has direct resource-protecting roles, see details in section Ecological aspect.

Today, shamanism survives primarily among indigenous peoples. Shamanic practices continue today in the tundras, jungles, deserts, and other rural areas, and even in cities, towns, suburbs, and shantytowns all over the world. This is especially true for Africa and South America, where "mestizo shamanism" is widespread.