The usage of embroideries among the Hezhe in China and the Nanai in Russia. A comparative study of heritagisation processes and their local appropriation

Abstract

Among the Nanai of Russia, the promotion of the usage of fish skins goes alongside the wider feminine activity of embroidery, known to protect the wearer from evil spirits. In North-East China, the safeguarding of Hezhe crafts, promoted both by UNESCO and the Chinese administration, resulted in the creation of a new type of artefacts made from fish skins. This study shows how cultural policies influence the production of material culture, thereby highlighting the place of each group within a dominating culture (numerically and culturally) and strategies of Indigenous appropriation and agency.