INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP IN NORTHWESTERN SIBERIA - TRADITIONAL PATTERNS AND THEIR CONTEMPORARY MANIFESTATIONS

Using archival materials, previous ethnographic works, and data collec ted by the author during ethnographic fieldwork between 1977 and 1994 among the Nenets, the Sel'kup, the Khanty, and the Mansi, this paper o utlines the main characteristics of traditional (pre- and early contac t) leadership in northwestern Siberia and the effects of Russian and S oviet colonial rule. I then examine in some detail modern manifestatio ns of leadership in four different communities/regions, focusing on co ntinuity and change in the system. Traditional leadership in Samoyed a nd Ob-Ugrian culture and society has been largely neglected until now.