The article studies the history of the missionary activities of the Nicholas Church on the Taz River and its relationship with the local population. The growing interest in the history of this region among the residents of the Krasnoselkupsky and Tazovsky districts in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug emphasizes the relevance of this topic. As a result of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. The main task of the clergy’s missionary work was to baptize Taz members of national minorities and teach them the basics of Christianity. This process began in 1719 when the church was founded, and continued until 1800. 2. However, despite two centuries of the existence of the Tazovskaya Church, its clergy were never be able to fully convert their parishioners to true Christians. Instead, they more successfully fulfilled another, incidental, mission: representing the Russian state on the lands they colonized. “Hazing” relations often developed between the clergy and parishioners: in some cases, clergy violated the norms of morality and law and profited from their charges through deception and indulgence in vices, while in others, they established marriage and kinship ties. The diverse relationships between the clergy at the Nicholas Church and parishioners have left a noticeable mark on Taz peoples’ culture, history and memory.
Key words: peoples of the Taz River, clergy at the Tazovskaya Nicholas Church, missionary work, Christianization, colonization, social relations
DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662-2025-1-67-76
About the author
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Olga B. Stepanova – Ph.D. (History), Senior Research Fellow, Department of Ethnography of the Peoples of Siberia, Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) RAS; 3 Universitetskaya emb., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia; stepanova67@mail.ru |