Totemism, Animism and North Asian Indigenous Ontologies

This article examines the extent to which new theories of animism advanced by Descola and Viveiros de Castro are consistent with the indigenous ontologies of North Asia. Based on a survey of North Asian ethnography and on fieldwork in Mongolia and Siberia, it is proposed that an analytical distinction between animist and totemist modalities will shed light on indigenous ontologies in North Asia. Whereas the ontologies of Northern North Asia (NNA) are predominantly animistic in nature, the ontologies of Southern North Asia (SNA) are predominantly totemistic. This opposition falls in line with established anthropological distinctions concerning North Asian societies, such as the one between 'horizontally' and 'vertically' organized social formations. Finally, adopting Viveiros de Castro's notion of 'perspectivism', I address the question of why, when perspectivist notions seem to thrive in NNA, the societies of SNA do not show them.