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Paper short abstract

As expressions of processes of cultural heritage, oral tradition contain ontological ideas that humans have wanted to safequard for future generations. I examine a water-related creation myth found in Finnish folk poetry to ask what kind of alternative relationship with the environment it offers.

Paper long abstract

The relationship between humans and their environment is a historical phenomenon that changes over time. Environmental changes and ecological crises give rise to cultural processes of cultural and environmental heritage, in which nostalgia and (co-)imagination interact with the environment. As expressions of such long-term processes, oral tradition, and myths in particular, may contain some fundamental ontological ideas and worldviews that humans have wanted to preserve for future generations.

In this presentation, I examine the water-related creation myth found in Finnish folk poetry, in which the Mother of Water, plays a central role. Research indicates that, thousands of years ago, the Finnish belief system was characterised by shamanistic practices. Shamanism is based on animistic ontology, according to which everything, including water, is alive. Myths that tell of the beginning of the world, for example, have been sung in rituals in which non-human actors in the environment are involved in the creation of a new situation, world or relationship with the environment. Now, during many crises, animism has been seen in discussions among practitioners and researchers alike as an alternative ontology for a relationship with the environment that utilizes nature. What kind of alternative relationship with the environment does, for example, the myth of the Mother of the Water offer?