Aboriginal Siberia: A Study in Social Anthropology
M. A. Czaplicka · 1914 · Archive.org DjVu text layer (identifier aboriginalsiberi00czap) of the 1914 Clarendon Press first edition · Public Domain · uncorrected OCR — being verified against the scan
Library synthesis of the Russian ethnographic literature on Siberia, written at Oxford under R. R. Marett; published 1914 by the Clarendon Press.
Served verbatim, era-bound vocabulary and all — the house frames, it never
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ETHNOLOGY
In dealing with the ethnology of northern Asia we are confronted
with a task of peculiar difficulty. No other part of the world
IH'esents a racial problem of such complexity, and in regard to no ^^
other part of the world's inhabitants have ethnologists of the last
hundred years put forward such widely differing hypotheses of
their origin.
In fact, any even probable solution of this racial problem, or
any scientific classification based either on resemblances and
differences of physical types, on linguistic coincidences, or on
common features of material and social culture, would be premature.
We shall, therefore, mention the most important attempts at
classification that have hitherto appeared in the scientific literature
dealing with this subject, and shall propose, so to speak, a tempo-
raiy classification, based on geographical and historical data. This
will afi'ord a convenient basis for the systematic treatment accord-
ing to their geograj^hical grouping of the tribes dealt with in this
work, and will serve as a clue to their chief migrations. It will
also permit us to keep within the limits of the Siberian region,
a procedure which, while it may be undesirable from a wide racial
l>oint of view, is ethnically allowable, since modern Siberia is the
home of a well-marked groujJe ethnique, walled-in, as it were, by
her no less well-marked physical frontiers. The western frontier,
as being the most accessible, is practically non-existent from an
ethnical standpoint ; since we find the same Steppe tribes in
eastern European Russia as in south-western Siberia, and the same
Arctic peoples in Arctic Russia as in Arctic Siberia. Yet although
these people, on both sides of the border, have many physical and
cultural characters in common, they are more easily and profitably
studied in Siberia, for the reason that in Europe their culture and
physical type and those of the Russians mingle and interact to
such an extent that it is often difficult to distinguish the respective
elements.
Until about 1883, i.e. up to the time of Schrenck,^ all the inhabi-
* Tlie Natives of the Amur Country, pp. 254-62.
tants of northern Asia were genex'ally known as Ural-Altaians.
Tliis name was first used some seventy years ago by the Finnish
investigator, M. A. Castren/ and was based on similarities in the
phonetics and morphology of the languages of the Finns, Lapps,
Turks, Tungus, Mongols, and Samoyed. Max Miiller accepts this
name, calling the Ural- Altaian group the northern division of the
Turanian family, and basing his reasons for doing so on the lin-
guistic researches of Castren and Schott.- These two investigators
succeeded in discovering similarities among the agglutinative
languages of the tribes mentioned, just as Hodgson, Caldwell,
Logan, and M. Miiller pointed out resemblances in the Tamulic,
Gangetic, Lohitic, Taic, and Melaic languages of the southern
Turanian group.^ ' They must refer chiefly to the radical materials
of language, or to those parts of speech which it is most difficult
to reproduce, I mean pronouns, numerals, and prepositions.
These languages will hardly ever agree in what is anomalous or
inorganic, because their organism repels continually what begins to
be formal and unintelligible.'*
All other tribes of Siberia Miiller classes as * People of Siberia ',
and places them in the north Turkic division of the Turkic-Altaic
class.
Midler's ' People of Siberia ' comprise the Kamchadal, Yukaghir,
Chukchee, Koryak, and all others who do not belong to the lin-
guistic group which Castren called Ural-Altaian. These tribes,
together with the Aleuts and Eskimo, were called by F. R, Miiller
(1873) the ' Arctic or Hyperborean races '.^ Li Peschel's book of
about the same date these people form two Mongoloid groups,
which he considers as extending through Asia, Polynesia, and
America. One of these groups, composed of the Ostyak of Yenisei,
Yukaghir, Ainu, and Gilyak, he names ' Nordasiaten von unbe-
stimmter systematischer Stellung'. The other group, consisting
of all other natives of the north-east, of Amerinds such as the
Tlingit, and of the tribes of Vancouver, he calls 'the Bering Tribes'.
Now, as Schrenck points out, we can hardly call peoj^le like the
Ainu, living partly in Nippon, an island washed by the warm
current of Kurusivo, an * Arctic or Hyperborean ' tribe ; and if the
Ostyak, Yukaghir, &c., are ' Northern Asiats of undetermined
' Beiseherichte unci Briefe aiis den Jahren 1845-9 (1853).
2 Altai/ische Studien, 1860.
^ Max Miiller, Lectures on the Science of Lani/iiar/e, 1861, p. 322.
* Ibid. ^ AUgemeine Geographie, Vienna, 1873, p. 188.
position,' so, no less, are the Kamchadal, Koryak, and Chukchee.'
Schrenck himself forms one class of all the tribes not belonging to
the ' Ural-Altaian * group, calls tliem the ' Northern and North-
Eastern Palaeasiats '. and supposes that they once occupied much J
more extensive territories in northern Asia, and have been driven
to their present inhospitable habitats by more recent comers. He
thinks that they are only the remains of a formerly more numerous
stock ; and that contact with the intruders has influenced especially
their physical type. Of these Mongolic types only those escaped
contamination who, like the Ainu, fled to the neighbouring islands.
The Basques of Europe, he thinks, present an analogous case,
being an old people who have been driven out by Celts.- Schrenck
proposes this classification as a temporary device, until such time
as the linguists have determined to what people the Palaeasiats
are akin, and terms his classification a historico-geographical
one.^
Now, if we are to provide a name for these unclassified tribes
^ of the extreme north and east of Asia, who difter in various respects
from one another, but have many characteristics in common, and
differ still more from the other peoples of Siberia, viz. the Ural-
Altaians of Castren, we would projiose the name ' Palaeo-Siberians'
as conforming better to the historical and geograj^hical data. It
is not ambiguous, as ' Palaeasiats ' is, for it could not, like the
latter, be taken to include other indigenous Asiatic peoples now
becoming extinct ; and it implies a comparison and a contrast
with the other tribes — Finnic, Mongolic, Turkic, Samoyedic, and
Tungusic— who are comparatively recent comers to Siberia, and
whom we shall call * Neo-Siberians', not including under this term
any Mongols. Turks, or Finns living outside Siberia. These two
names explain themselves, and are especially suitable for our
comparative study of the natives of this region.
A. The name Palaeo-Siberians, then, is applied to these people
as representing the most ancient stock of dwellers in Siberia ; and ^
even if the work of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, headed by
Professor Franz Boas, should ultimately be held to prove that
they migrated thither from America, this would not depose them
from their position as the earliest comers among the existing
population of Siberia, while it would certainly make the term
Palaeasiats meaningless. The investigations conducted by the
^ Schrenck, op. cit., p. 255.
2 Op. cit., p. 258. => Op. cit., p. 257.
members of the expedition have ah'eady proved the cultural and
physical similarity, if not the identity, of the i)eoi")les on the
opposite shores of the Nortli Pacific.^ Tlie term Palaeo-Siberians
must be understood also to include the Ostyak of Yenisei, the
remains of a formerly much larger stock, who are as isolated as
eacli tribe among tlie other Palaeo-Siberians, and are not connected
with the North-Western Amerinds.
Some of the recent linguistic researches carried out by a dis-
tinguished member of the Jesup Expedition, Mr. Jochelson of
Petersburg, throw most important light on the Bering Sea
ethnological problem ; especially when compared with the lin-
guistic work done by the members of the Jesup Expedition on the
American shores. Thus Mr. Jochelson has found that the Aleut
and the Eskimo languages are closely connected ; they have many
roots in common, and the similarity extends both to the morpho-
logy and physiology of their plionetics and to many grammatical
forms. He thinks the Aleut language is one of the oldest Eskimo
dialects.^ About the Yukaghir language he says that it differs
morphologically in many respects from the languages of the Neo-
Siberians, but has much in common with the Palaeo- Siberian
languages of the neighbourhood. He has made acquaintance with
two independent Yukaghir dialects, while the travellers before
him thought the Yukaghir languages quite extinct.^ The Chuk-
chee and Koryak languages are very similar, although the Koryak
is more vital and has many dialects, and the Chukchee has
practically none.
B. As to the tei*m Neo-Siberians, the various tribes of Central
Asian origin whom we group under it have already been so long
in Siberia, and have become so intermixed with one another as
the result of wars and contact by other means, that they are now
sufficiently differentiated from the kindred peoples of the region
of their origin to be deserving of a generic name of their own.
The term Ural- Altaians is objectionable linguistically, besides
the fact that ethnologically it does not serve to specify the Ural-
Altaians of Siberia. Modern linguists, especially those of Finland,
Germany, and Hungary, are still at work upon the problem, but
have not yet said their last word as to whether or not they approve
' See Jochelson, Ethnological Problems along the North Pacific Coasts,
1908.
■^ Notes on the Phonetic and Structural Basis of the Aleut Language, 1912.
' Materials for the Study of the Yukaghir Language, S^c, 1900.
of the classitication of Castren ; ^ and exception has justly been
taken to the grouping together of Finnic and Tungusic tribes,^
while it seems no less o1»jectionable from an anthropological point
of view to put together in one class such different physical types
as those represented by the Mongols and the Turks. Moreover,
the term Altaians applies most naturally to the tribes inhabiting
the Altai Mountains, and in the first place to the Turkic tribe of
Altaians proper (sometimes called the Kalmuk of Altai).
Except as regards substituting * Neo-Siberians ' for 'Altaians'
and ' Palaeo-Siberians ' for * Palaeasiats ', we shall follow the
classification of Patkanoff.
The last census of 1897, of which the results were published in
1904-5, shows the population of Siberia as amounting to about six
millions. Now, as the Europeans (Russians and Poles, mostly)
themselves number about five millions, the number of aborigines
is less than one million.'^ The most complete work on the census
^ See the work of Prof. H. Paasonen of Helsingfors, ' Beitriige zur
finnisch-ugrisch-samojedischen Lautgescbichte ' {Becue Onentale, Buda-
pesth, 1912-13).
^ Prof. Paasonen, op. cit. For the opposite opinion see the work of
Prof. H. Winkler, Der uralaltaische Spyaclistumm, das Finnische und das
Japanische, Beiiin, 1909, and his other works.
^ Accoi'ding to the last census, the European Siberians numbered
4,705,082 (Patkanoff, Statistical Data for the Racial Composition of the
Population of Siberia, its Lanrniage and Tribes, Petersburg, 1912). They
comprise five widely different classes: («) Voluntary exiles, who, even
before the Russians annexed Siberia, in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, being dissatisfied with Muscovite rule, migrated to Siberia and
mixed with the natives, forming a class of Creoles. They are a very
hardy stock, athletic and prolific, splendidly adapted for survival in the
struggle for existence. Other immigrants joined them in the early years
of the Russian conquest. The Russian name for them is starozyly, from
staryi, 'old', zyl (jil), 'lived' — i.e. peoplu who have lived long there.
(b) In strong contrast to these are the Russian peasants who have much
more recently migrated to Siberia, and who have not jet found their
places in the new environment — virtual nomads, wandering from place
to place in the effort to find a spot in which they can settle down and
feel themselves at home. These are known as nowosioly, ' new settlers '
(Chyliczkowski, Syberya, pp. 6 and 227). (c) Criminals, banished into
penal servitude, or deported without being condemned to hard labour.
Some of these who have escaped from prison, or (in the case of those who
have not been sentenced to confinement) who cannot find employment,
become vagabonds or bandits (brodiayi, 'Waders'), and wander through
the country ; in summer they live on what they can beg or steal, and in
winter, sometimes, as a last resource, they give themselves up to the
Russian authorities to be incarcerated, this being practically the only
alternative to starvation, {d) A fourth class, including Russian ofiicials,
merchants, and persons of various professions and occupations, living
chiefly in towns and settlements, (e) Finally, political prisoners, mostly
of 1897 is that of Patkanoif, published in 1912, which differs
slightly from the statistics of Stanford's Cotnjjendiuni of 1906,
although the latter is also based on the census of 1897.
The figures, as given by Patkanoff, are as follows :
Total Native Poimlation . . 870,536 (Males, 442,459 ; Females, 428,077).
Mongols M. 145,087 ; F. 143,014.
Tungus M. 38,303; F. 37,201.
Turkic tribes M. 221,573 ; F. 214,166.
Samoyed M. 6,501; F. 6,001.
Finnic tribes M. 12,732 ; F. 11,965.
Chukchee 11,771 (5,811 M.).
Koryak 7,335 (3,733 M.).
Kamchadal 2,805 (1,415 M.).
Ainu 1,457 ( 769 M.).
Gilyak 4,649 (2,556 M.).
Eskimo 1,307 ( 631 M.).
Aleut 574 ( 289 M.).
Yukaghir 754 ( 388 M.).
Chuvanzy 453 ( 236 M.).
Ostyak of Yenisei .... 988 ( 535 M.).
The Palaeo-Siberians.
1. Tlie ChidccJiee. In north-eastern Siberia, between the Anadyr
River and the Arctic Ocean (except in the extreme north-east).
Many of the Chukchee, according to Patkanoff, are still inde-
pendent of Russian control, hence the total number of the tribe is
of the educated class, either confined in prisons or kept at hard labour,
or banished to live in Siberia under certain restrictions which do not
permit of their engaging in occupations suitable for people of their
training. By a kind of irony of history, it is just these i^olitical prisoners
who have turned with interest and sj^mpathy to the study of the native
tribes, and it is not too much to say that but for the information collected
by them in modern times a book like this could not have been written.
Thus we read in the report of Mr. V. Ptitsin, a member of the revisory
committee on the work of the East-Siberian section of the Imperial
Russian Geographical Society : ' It is well known that the best work done,
up to this time, in the East-Siberian section of the Imperial Geographical
Society, is the work of exiles. Almost all of the work done and the
observations made at the section's meteorological stations must also be
credited to exiles.' It is hardly necessary to remark tbat the word
' exiles ' in the above quotation is not a euphemism for ' criminals '.
The works published in more recent years show tbat the same can be said
of the present state of affaii-s. Many of the investigators now in the field
started their work as political exiles.
The majority of European Siberians are Russians (Great Russians and
Little Russians) of the professional class, including a large number of
exiles. The Polish element is second in point of numbers. Members of
other nations, Germans, Greeks, French, and English, formed an insig-
nificant minority at the time of the last census.
difficult to ascertain. They number probablj^ about 11,771 (5,811 -^
Males).
2. Tlte Kon/al: South of the Chukchee, between the Anadyr
and the central part of the peninsula of Kamchatka (except the
coast-lands between the Gulf of Anadyr and Cape Olintovsk).
Their number is 7,335 (3,733 M.).
3. TJic Kamchadal. The (comparatively) pure Kamchadal are
found chiefly in the southern part of the peninsula of Kamchatka.
They number 2.805 (1,415 M.), possibly including some of the
Koryak Kamchadal. and not including several wandering tribes.
4. Ute Ainu. In the island of Yezo and the southern part of
Sakhalin. Their number is 1,457 (769 M.).
5. TJie Gilyalx. Near the mouth of the Amur and in the
northern part of Sakhalin. Their number is 4,649 (2,556 M.).
6. The Eskimo. Asiatic shore of Bering Strait, as well as the
whole Arctic region from Alaska to Greenland ; i. e. Asiatic
Eskimo as well as American. Number, 25,000. In Asia alone,
1,307 (631 M.).
7. The Aleut. Aleutian Islands of Alaska. 574 in number
(289 M.).
8. Tlie Ynl-aghir. Between the lower Yana and lower Kolyma
Eivers. 754 in number (388 M.).
9. TJte Chiivanzij. South of Chuan Bay, on the upper and
middle Anadyr. 453 (236 M.).
10. The Ostyah of Yenisei. On the lower Yenisei, between the
lower Tunguska and the Stony Tunguska as far as Turukhansk.
988 (535 M.).
The Neo-Siberians.
1. Finnic Tribes, {a) The Ugrian Ostyak, from the northern
part of the Tobolsk district to the mouth of the Ob, and eastward
as far as the Tomsk district and the Yenisei Kiver ; they number
17,221 (9,012 M.). (b) The Vogul (called also Maniza or Suomi),
between the middle Ob, from Berezov to Tobolsk, and the Ural
Mountains. They number 7,476 (3,720 M.).
2. The Samoyedic Tribes. In the Arctic region from the mouth
of the Khatanga River to the Ural Mountains, and thence, in
Europe, to Cheskaya Bay. Together with the Yourak, Ostyak-
Samoyed, and other small tribes, they number 12,502 (6,501 M.).
3. The Turkic Tribes. Only the eastern group of the Turkic race
c 2
belongs to Siberia. ' The central group (Kirgis-Kasak, Kara-Kirgis,
Uzbeg, Sartes, Tartars of the Volga) and the western group
(Turkoman, some of the Iranians of the Caucasus and Persia,
Osmanli Turks) inhabit eastern Europe and Central Asia. This
eastern, or Siberian, branch comprises: (a) tlie Yakut in the
Yakutsk district along the Lena, as far as the Amur and the
island of Sakhalin ; with the Tolgan they number 226,739
(113,330 M.); (b) the other Turco-Tartars of the Tobolsk and
Tomsk Governments, 176,124 (89,165 M.). All the Siberian
Turks number 476,494.
4. 2'Jie Mongollc Tribes, (a) Western Mongols, or Kalmuk, who
call themselves Eleut. Only a very small number (in 1897, only
15) of these are found in Siljeria ; the majority are in Central
Asia, {h) Eastern Mongols or Mongols j^roper. Of these only
a small number (in 1897, 402) of the Kalkha, the northern branch,
are in Siberia ; the rest are in Mongolia, (c) The Buryat, in-
habiting the districts round Lake Baikal. Their number is
288,599 (175,717 M.).
5. Tlie Tungusic Tribes, [a] Tungus proper 62,068 (31,375 M.),
found throughout eastern Siberia from 60° E. long, to the
Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic to the Chinese frontier ;
{b) other Tungusic tribes, viz. (i) the Chapogir, between the
lower and Stony Tunguska ; (ii) the Goldi -5,016 (2,640 M.) — on
the lower Amur. Thej' are called Twanmoa-tze, 'people who
shave the head ', by the Chinese from their habit of shaving off
their hair : (iii) Lamut, along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk ;
(iv) Manchu (Manjour) — 3,340 (2,105 M.)— only a small part
living in Siberia, most of them in Manchuria ; (v) Manyarg
(Manegre, Menegre, Monagir) — middle Amur, about 126° E. long.
— 160 (75 M.) ; (vi) Oroch (called also Chih-mao-tze, 'red-haired
people ', by the Chinese) between the lower Amur and the Pacific
^ That is, if wo follow Deniker's division of these people into Eastern,
Central, and Western groups. (See his liaces of Man, 1900, pp. 375-8).
Katlloff divides the Turks into four linguistic groups : (i) Eastern, com-
posed of Altaian tribes comprising eight linguistic sub-groups : (a) South
Altaic (i.e. Altaic proper and Teleut) ; (b) Barabinsk ; (r) North Altaic
(Kumanila, Tartar of Chern, or Tuba) ; (r/) Abakansk-Tartar ; (e) Chu-
limsk-Tartar ; (/) Sayan and Uriankhai language ; (g) Karagas ; [h)
Ouigur (now extinct), (ii) AVestcrn (Kirgis, Kara-Kirgis, Irtysh Tartar,
Bashkir, Tartar of Volga), (iii) The Mid-Asiatic (eastern and western
Turkestan). (iv) Southern (Turkoman, Turks of the Caucasus, the
Crimea, and the Balkan Peninsula). According to Radloff, the Yakut
and Chuvash represent a ' strange stream falling into the Turkic ocean'.
coast-2,407 (1,329 M.); (vii) Orochon, on the Olekma River.
Their name means * reindeer-keeper ', and tliey are commonly
called Reindeer-Tungus ; (viii) Oroke (Orokho, Orotzko)— 749
(395 M.)— in the interior and on the eastern coast of Sakhalin;
(ix) Solon (lit. ' shootei-s ')— 15 (7 M.) — south of the middle Amur,
about 120° E. long. All the Tungusic tribes together number
76,507.1
To the question, Are the aborigines of Siberia dying out? we
tind an answer in a work of Patkanotf devoted especially to the
subject of the increase of the natives of Siberia.- He says :
'If we consider the question of the increase of Siberian natives
from the geographical or territorial point of view, we can draw
the following conclusion. The natives who live in regions
almost wholly barren, and those in the northern part of the
southern provinces, where agriculture is possible indeed, but is at
best an uncertain means of livelihood, are not increasing.'^ The
natives, however, who live along the rivers and, in general, in
places where agriculture is possible in middle and southern
Siberia, are increasing in numbers, and this in spite of famines
and epidemics.*
The whole of Siberia was annexed by the Russians towards the
end of the eighteenth century, but the beginning of the Russian
conquest dates from 1582, when the chief town of Khan Kuchum,
Isker, was occupied by the Cossack Yermak. In 1684 another ^
chief of the Cossacks, Dejneff, reached the mouth of the Anadyr.
At the end of the eighteenth century Atlasoff occupied Kamchatka.
It is only since the Mongolic war that we hear of the migra-
tions of the different triJjes of Siberia, though in reality they
must have begun much earlier : the first Manchu invasion of
China dates back to the tenth century, and is known by the name
of Kidaney or Lao. The second historical invasion was in the
twelfth century, and is known by the name of Uy-Dgey or Giney.
This caused certain movements of the people of south Siberia.
Soon after this, in the beginning of the thirteenth centurj^, the
Mongols, under the chieftainship of Djingis Khan and with the
aid of the original Tartaric tribes, after having broken the power
^ All the above figures are taken from S. Patkanoff, op. cit. The
account of the distribution of tribes is taken, with some necessary
changes, from the Gazetteer of Ethnology of Akira Matsumura of Tokyo,
1908.
* Concerning the Increase of the Aboriginal Fopulation of Siberia, 1911.
» Op. cit., p. 164. * Op. cit., p. 165.
of the Giney dynasty in China, subjected to their rule the whole
of western Siberia and eastern Europe,^ Since then the name
'Tartars' was gradually transferred to the western people now
called 'Turks'. The pure Tartars no longer exist, and the name is
now used collectively for the Turkish tribes intermixed with Mon-
golian, who possess perhaps a strain of old Tartar blood in them.^
In the beginning of the thirteenth century the Mongol-Buryat
began to arrive in the country of the upper Amur, and from there
they moved to the west, to Lake Baikal. They met here the
Turkish tribe of Yakut.' The Yakut, who had to give up their
territory to the newcomers, made for the Lena, and moved along
this river to the north. But this area being already occupied by
the Tungusic tribes, they met with great resistance. In the end,
however, the Tungus had to go. They went to the west, towards
Yenisei, and to the extreme north. Some, too, migrated to the
east, to the Stanovoy Mountains, to the Okhotsk, and to the Amur
country. But the Yakut did not stay on the banks of the Lena ;
thoy went further, to the extreme north, where they caused more
disturbance amongst the Palaeo-Siberians. AM this migration of
Neo-Siberians forced the Palaeo-Siberians to leave their own lands
or else to mix with the newcomers, hence obviously their numbers
must have considerably decreased.* Secondary migrations among
the Palaeo- as well as the Keo-Siberians were caused by the
invasions of the Russians in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Not only were they forced to relinquish their land,
but they sought to escape registration and the payment of YasaK;
or taxes.
^ Schrenck, op. cit., vol. i, p. 95.
^ Akii-a Matsumura, op. cit., p. 341.
* Schrenck (op. cit., p. 95) calls the Yakut a Tartaric tribe.
* Schrenck, op. cit., p. 257.
Chapter III
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
PALAEO-SIBERIANS
I. The Chukchee.
Tlie Beindeer Chulcliec. — The most natural division of tlie
Chukchee is into Eeindeer and Maritime, the Eeindeer people
living in camps, and the Maritime in villages.
Among the Reindeer Chukchee, people are often in friendly
relations with those in neighbouring camps, or related to them by
blood. Since those composing a camp are not always relatives,
not the camp but the family must be considered as the permanent
unit. The camp, however, is the economic though unstable unit ;
according to the Chukchee maxim, ' One camp, one herd '.
Normally it consists of a few families — from ten to fifteen persons
usually. Rich people prefer to divide their herds, thus forming
new camps. If they need help in the care of the herd they employ
a stranger, the so-called ' assistant '.
Eveiy camp has its ' master ', or man living in the ' front tent ',
aunralbi or attooral'm, lit. ' the one in the chief house ' ; while
those living in the other tents are nim-tungit, 'camp-companions'.^
The ' master ' is also called ' the strongest one '.
Permission to join the camp must be obtained from those who
have already set up thek tents there. There exists a class of
vagrants who spend most of their lives in wandering about the
tundra, sometimes owning a few reindeer, and sometimes none
at all.
The Maritime Clmlxliee. — The Maritime Chukchee live in
villages, the organization of which is founded on territorial con-
tiguity, not on family relationship. Here the family which has
inhabited the village for the longest time uninterruptedly occupies
1 Bogoras, The Chukchee, pp. 612-28.
the attooran, 'front house', or armacl-ran, 'the house of the
strongest'. The master of this house is called aftooralln, ' the one
of the front house ', or armacl-raUn, ' the one of the house of the
strongest '. Sometimes this man lays claim to a certain privileged
relationship with the local spirit, and occasionally he even receives
tribute ; this custom, however, is by no means general, for many
villages have no ' front house ' at all.
A special social unit among these people is the outgrowth of their
occupation as fishermen ; it is called the ' boatful ', utticat-yirin.
It consists of eight oarsmen and one helmsman, the latter being
known as 'boat-master', attw-ermedn. He is also the owner, and was
formerly the constructor of the boat. The skin-boat of former times
is now, however, usually replaced by the American whaling-boat.
A boat's ci-ew is formed of the nearest relations of the owner,^ and
the products of the hunt are divided among them as follows : Small
seals are the property of those who kill them, but the master of
the boat receives a seal or two, even if he has killed none himself.
' The meat and the blubber of thong-seals and walrus are divided
in equal portions among all the members of the crew. The heads
are taken by the master, and the tusks of the walrus go with
the head. In due time these heads figure at the ceremonial of
heads. Then the walrus tusks are divided among [the] families
of the crew In dividing the hides of the walrus, the master
takes that of the first one caught ; the man at the prow takes the
second : and the following hides are taken by the paddlers, one
after another. If the number of walrus killed is too small, the
distribution may be continued in order the next year.'^
Cases of murder are differently regarded by the Chukchee,
according to whether they are committed within or without the
family group. In the latter case murder is subject to blood-
revenge on the part of the family group of the victim. Murder
within the family group is usually considered a matter to be dealt
with by that group alone. ^ Bogoras quotes several incidents in
support of the Chukchee statement that it is usually a 'bad man'
who is murdered by members of his own family group. They
think that it is better to dispose of a troublesome individual in
this way than to be forced to undertake a blood-feud by leaving
^ The master of the boat among the Eskimo is called umialil- (from
nmiah, 'boat'), and the boat's crew as a social organization exists everj'-
wbere among the Asiatic and American Eskimo. See Murdoch, Point
Barroic Eskimo, and Rink. 77/f Eskimo Tribes.
^ Bogoras, Hie Gntkchee, p. 631. ^ Bogoras, op. cit., p. 663.
such a person to be killed by a member of iiuotiier family. An
incident cited by Bogoras to illustrate this point of view concerns
the killing of a certain Leivitihin, who was accustomed to ill-use
the members of his own family, and worse still, \vas cruel to his
driving-reindeer, which are first among things ' dear to the heart '
of the Reindeer Chukchee. One day, with a misdirected blow, he
killed one of his team. For this it was decided that he must die.
'Otherwise', they said, 'he will be killed by somebody else, and
we shall have a feud on our hands.' His own brother came to his
camp, and, watching his opportunity, stabbed him in the back
with a knife. This act was approved by the common consent of
all the neighbours, because he was * a bad one, a source of
torment to the others'.'
Other examples cited, however, show that the victims were some-
times not ■ bad men ', but that the murderers were simply acting
for their own material interests, or in anger. In one such case
a rich reindeer-breeder, having killed his wife, had to pay a heavy
fine to the brother of his victim. But, on the whole, it appears
that such murders are regarded as not being the concern of any
one outside the family group.
The duty of blood-revenge lies upon the relatives of the person
slain — first the relatives in the paternal line; failing paternal
relatives, those on the mother's side are next held responsible.
Certain friends, esjjecially ' gi'oup-marriage ' companions, are also
held to the duty of taking revenge for blood.
Each camp has its ' strong man ', and sometimes also its ' violent
man '. The ' strong man ' {ermccin) is sometimes the master of the
camp. He has a stronger influence among the Maritime Chukchee
than among the Reindeer people where each camp ' lives its own
independent life '.-
This is shown in the following incident related by Bogoras :
In the Chukchee village Valkalen, where Bogoras stopped for two
days to rest his teams, an cnnecin, named Canla, offered to sell him
a large bag of seal blubber as seasoning for the food of the dogs.
Such food was usually paid for with compressed tea and leaf-
tobacco ; but Canla did not want these. He wished to buy a fine
white Russian bitch, leader of one of Bogoras's teams, and offered,
* The common consent of the neighbours to the killing of a ' bad man '
is of great importance also among the Eskimo (Boas, Central Eskimo,
p. 582, quoted by Bogoras) ; Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 6G3.
* Bogoras, op. cit., pp. 641-2.
besides the lilubber, a Ijeavcr-skin aiul two fox-skins as payment.
The owner of the clog, a Cossack in Bogoras's party, would not
sell, because Canla did not have the peltries with him. The
ermecin took back the blubber and departed, deeply offended
because his promise to pay was not trusted. When Bogoras tried
to buy food elsewhere in the village no one would sell ; * Canla is
the ermecin,'' the villagers exj^lained, * and he says " no traffic ".
Finally, they were forced to hand over the bitch to Canla, who in
due time delivered the promised peltries.^
The ' strong man ' in modern times is simply a man of great
physical strength, daring temper, and adventurous disposition ;
but when the Chukchee were frequently at war with the Koryak,
Eskimo, and Cossacks, the 'strong man' was the hero, as we see
in the extant primitive Chukchee war epic.^
* The Chukchee are described as less perfidious, and as dealing
more frankly with their enemies than the other tribes ';^ hence we
find in their tales fewer descriptions of night attacks and murders of
the sleeping than of battles consisting of a series of single combats.
There is at present no class of slaves, but such formerly existed,
as we see from the tales ; and Bogoi'as even met men who described
themselves as the descendants of slaves. As to the origin of this
slave class Bogoras says : * ' The term for a male slave was x^urel,
and for a female slave nauchin. The latter is simply a variation
of the word neiisqdt, "woman". Other synonyms of the word
purel are dmulin, viyolin, gupilin. Properly speaking, a j^'urel was
a captive of another tribe, or perhaps a man of the same tribe who
was enslaved in lieu of blood-revenge. . . . Amiilin signifies also
" weak one ", " weakling ", and is used as an invective, especially
with the superlative prefix ciq {ciq-cimidin, "a very weak one").
Viyolin signifies ''assistant", and is used even for some of the
benevolent spirits. Gupilin signifies ''a working-man", and is
applied to all workers, male and female, even those belonging
to one's own family. Nevertheless, all these terms are used in
a contemptuous sense, and may be used as invectives. They are
applied also to the real slaves almost without discrimination.'^
' I was told that in cases of murder blood-revenge may be replaced
by the taking of a man from the family of the murderer. This
man must wholly replace the [victim]. He must perform his
' II. id. 2 Op. cit., pp. 644-5.
=> Op. cit., p. 646. * Op. cit., p. 659.
^ Ibid.
work and all his duties. Thus iii the case of the Chukchee killed
at the Anui fair in the year 1895, of whom I have spoken before,
the kinsmen of the one killed came to the fixir the next year, and
asked for retribution. They were offered tea, sugar, and tobacco.
They took all this, but then asked for the Cossack who killed the
man, or at least any other of the Cossacks. He was to be taken to
the tundra, and to live there in the family of the killed man, to be
a husband to his widow, a father to his small children. Then
only might the feud be considered as wholly settled. They re-
peated the request the following year, and were again paid in tea
and other valuables."
A case is also cited by Bogoras in which a boy was actually
taken from the family of the slayer to replace a murdered man.
This writer knows of no other cases in Avhich a dead kinsman was
replaced by a living enemy ; but he was told that in former times
there were frequently such cases, that the substitutes were treated
like slaves, and had to obey their masters blindly, on pain of
being themselves put to death. -
In the tales there is mention of the capture of numbers of
herdsmen along with the herds taken in war. These herdsmen
were enslaved, being particularly valuable in that they ' knew their
own herds better than the victors '. ' Captive women were hard-
worked, and were made the wives of their masters. Sometimes
they were sold from one camp to another ; but, on the whole, their
position was little different from that of the Chukchee women.'*
A group of kindred families is called varat, i. e. ' collection of
those who are together'. A member of such a group is called
enan-varatJcen, ' one of the same varat '. Another name for the
group is cin-yirhi, ' collection of those who take part in blood-
revenge '. Since the custom of blood-revenge still exists in full
vigour, the last name is of great importance. 'The Chukchee
varat may perhaps be called the embryo of a clan ; it is unstable,
however, and the number of families " that are together" changes
almost every year. Moreover, when one varat picks a quarrel
with another (usually one living in the neighbourhood) there
will always be a few families that are connected equally with
both interested parties.'^
In former times, according to Bogoras,* there existed a clan
organization more strict than the present-day varat. It consisted
^ Bogoras, op. cit., p. C61. ^ Ibid. ' Op. cit., p. 660.
* Op. cit., p. 541. "• Op. cit., p. 543.
of from ten to fifteen related families, living always together,
dividing among themselves various occupations, such as hunting,
fishing, and reindeer-breeding, and keeping themselves continually
in readiness for war. If this is so, we cannot, with Mr. Bogoras,
regard the varat as a clan in embryo, but rather as a decadent
relic of a former more regular clan organization. The 'clans'
established by the Kussian administration among the Chukchee
are purely arbitrary, and have no relation to their old clan system —
whatever its real nature may have been. ' The whole territory of
the Chukchee was divided into five parts, and each of these parts,
with the people living in it, was called a "clan". Some rich
reindeer-breeder among those friendly disposed to the Russians
was called "Chief ".' ' He is also known by the names ' Chukchee
King ', ' Black King of the Tundra ', ' Chukchee Tsar '.^ All this
has not made the enforcement of tribute easier : many Chukchee
are still practically outside the sphere of Russian control.'
The individual Chukchee family is composed of a husband with
his one, or several, wives, and his children. His parents, with
their unmarried children, usually live near by. Old people enjoy
considerable respect ; this is especially the case among the Rein-
deer Chukchee, and Bogoras^ assigns as the reason for this the
fact that the father retains the herd as long as he lives. But he
states that even among the Maritime Chukchee ' those that cannot
walk are carried on the shoulders of their young relatives \^
Although, as stated above, the family is the only stable social unit,
even this institution is not so firm as among other Siberian
tribes. It often happens that an adult male or female member
of the family will depart in order to seek a new home for himself
or herself, individual migrations of this sort being frequent from
Maritime to Reindeer Chukchee ai;d vice versa.^
System of Relationship. ' In the Chukchee system of relation-
ship ', says Bogoras, ' the paternal line preponderates to a marked
degree over the maternal. The first is designated as " that coming
from the old male (buck) " {kirnaipu-ival'm\ also Jiirne-tomgin, ''old male
(buck) mate", or as ''that coming from the i^enis" {i/aelJiepti-ivalin).
* Bogoras, op. cit., p. 543.
* An eighteenth-century traveller in the Chukchee country, SarytchefF
by name, says, 'The Chukchee have no chiefs or authorities. Each
community has a man who is richer than the others, or who has a larger
family ; but he .also is little obeyed and has no right to punish anybody'
{Sanjtchefs licet . . . 1785-93, vol. ii, p. 107).
* Bogoras, op. cit., p. 543. •* Op. cit., p. 544. ' Op. cit., p. 545.
•= Op. cit., p. 537.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
[Kirne-tomgin or hrna-iakalhin means also generally '"older
relative"; lirnei/iccmit-tom<ji)i, "older brother". For takaJhin
see p. 540.] The second is designated as "that coming from the
matrix " {kujolhcpu-n-alin). The paternal relatives are also called
''those of the same blood" {cnncnmuUlit), meaning the blood
with which the usual sacrificial anointment is administered.'^ At
the 'ceremonials the people paint their faces with blood, and
pei-sons of the same paternal line of descent use the same marks,
which descend from generation to generation '.^ ' Patei'nal rela-
tionship is considered to be much stronger than maternal relation-
ship. There is a Chukchee saying that has it that even a distant
relative on the father's side is much nearer to the heart than a
maternal cousin,' ^
There is no word for ' family ' in Chukchee : rayirin means
' houseful ' or ' those in the house ', and yaratomgit signifies
' house-mates '. A member of the family who leaves the house
ceases to have these names used in reference to him.
The following tables^ show the recognized degrees of blood-
relationship and the terminology used for them.
System of Consanguinity.
Ancestors
Linked-Grandparents
Grandparents-
Father's
Cousins
Second Cousins
Father
Mother
Uncles Aunts
Linked-
Cousins
Cousin
Self
Elder Brothers Child
Younger
Brothers
Sisters
Grandchildren
I
I
Linked-Grandchildren
^ Op. cit,, p, 537.
' Op. cit., p. 538.
Descendants,
* Op. cit., pp. 537-
* Op. cit,, p, 540.
SOCIOLOGY
Terms op Consanguinity.
Forefather (ancestor).
Great-grandfather.^
Grandfather and great-uncle.
Grandfather (children's term — aug-
mentative form from epi, 'father'.
Grandmother and great-aunt.
Grandmother (children's term).
Uncle, paternal and maternal.
Aunt, paternal and maternal.
Father.
Mother.5
Parents.
Brother.
A brother or sister older than my-
self.
A brother younger than myself.
The eldest brother.
The youngest brother.
The middle brother.
Sister (male language).
Elder sister (male language).
Middle sister (male language).
Younger sister (male language).
Sister (female language).
Elder sister (female language).
Middle sister (female language).
Younger sister (female language).
Male cousin, paternal and maternal.
Female cousin, paternal and ma-
ternal (male language).
Female cousin, paternal and ma-
ternal (female language).
* The fourth degree of relationship is expressed by means of the prefix
i/ilhi, 'link', 'junction', e.g. yilh-eUie, ' great-gi-andsou ', y'dhUoo-tomg'ni,
'male cousin twice removed' (ibid.).
'^ Sometimes one particularizes, eliir-»iirgin, 'paternal-grandfather',
and ehi-viiniii), 'maternal grandfather' (ibid.).
^ This term may be made more definite by the addition of eli- and ela- :
eliliinditv, 'paternal uncle ' ; elandeiv, 'maternal uncle' (ibid.).
* Amme probably means the mother's breast. Ate and amme are used
chiefly by young children (ibid.).
® Inpiiia-chin and inpina mean lit. 'old man' and 'old woman' (ibid.).
^ The stem tomgi means 'companion', 'mate', also 'kinsman'. It is
used in forming compounds denoting various degrees of relationship,
sometimes only between males, sometimes only between females (ibid.).
' Lie-clin and eleni are used by both males and females. The former
term is pronounced by women iitineJiii, according to the rules for female
pronunciation, in which all contractions are avoided (ibid.).
** Op. cit., p. 539.
Att uuloii {' forc-goci-')
Yilhi-mh-ffin (' linked-grandfather ')
Minjin- ......
Apainin ......
New-mirgin {ne, new, 'woman')
Epiqai ......
Endiio^ ......
Eccai ......
El ill ill (address: ate, 'papa') .
Ela (address : amme, ' mamma ') ' .
A7////7 ('fathers') . . . .
Yicemit-tomgin "^ (' fellow-brother ') .
Ine-elin ......
Ele-ni''
Enan-inaalin .....
Enaii-elane . . . . .
Wuthitcen .....
Cakiliet ......
Inpici-cahihet .....
Wuthitca-calcihet, or wuthitcen.
Xenca-caJcihet .....
Caket-tomgin (' sister-mate ') .
Inpici-cal-et-tomgin (' elder sister
mate ')
Wuthitca-calcet-tomgin ('middle sis-
ter mate ' ^)
Nenca-caket-tomgin ('younger sister
mate')
Yelhi-tomgin (' cousin-mate '), more
rarely yelo .....
Naic-yelhi-tomgin (in respect to male
cousins) .....
Nawgel
FAik Son.
yeekih Daughter.
EJue (T^\\i., clutcgot). . . . (Tiandson and nephew.
Eloo-tomgin Parents' cousin's son (male lan-
guage).
Eluwgo-iowfjitt .... Parents' cousin s son (female lan-
guage).
Xauloo-tomgiu Parents' cousin's daughter (male
language).
Kauluwgo-tomgin ' . . . . Parents' cousin's daughter (female
language).
' Of all these terms, a collective may be formed by means
of the word -rat, -ret, which signifies ''collection", "set", .and is used
only in combination with others. Thus, ykcmrct, " company of
brothers '* ; cal-ettiraf, " company of sisters " (in regard to male
relatives); yelhirat, "company of male cousins " ; kret, "company
of boys" (k, shortened for kmin in, "boy", "child").'"
To indicate relationships beyond these classified degrees there
are used two other terms : cimceMn, ' the near one ', and cicctMn,
or cicclcn, ' kinsman '. The latter term is wider in denotation
than the former."
System or Affinity."*
Affinity of Male.
Relatives-in-law
(Father-in-law and Mother-in-law).
Relatives-in-law Self Wife Wife's Child-in-law's
(Brother-in-law and ^ r ' sister's parents.
Sister-in-law). | husband. |
Son. Daughter-in-law.
Daughter. Son-in-law.
' For the female the system is practically the same, except that
in the table of affinity the talalhin ("wife's sister's husband")
relation is not found.' ^
The collective term for relatives by affinity is matdlirarrikhi
(' affinity peoj)le ').
Terms of Affinity."
Matalin .... Father-in-law.
Naw-matalin'' . . . Mother-in-law.
Intuulper .... Son-in-law.
Inte Daughter-in-law.
' Women among themselves use simply the term naiogel (ibid.).
2 Op. cit., p. 539. 3 Ibid. 4 Op. cit., p. 541. ^ Ibid.
« Op. cit., p. 539.
' From verb maiarkin, ' thou takest ', ' thou takest to wife ' (ibid.).
Aacew-matalin^ . . . Brother-in-law.
Nanchnn-waiaUn . . Sister-in-law.
Takalhin .... Husband of wife's sister.
Uitiirit .... Son-in-law's or daughter-in-law's father.
Neiimirit (' woma,n-umirit ') Son-in law's or daughter-in-law's mother.
The relation between men married to two sisters is considered
extremely close ; and in ancient times, according to Bogoras,^ it
constituted a tie even stronger than brotlierhood. Such men call
each other takalhin, which means literally, ' brace-companion '.
The closeness of the bond is expressed in the following proverbs :
' Man of the wife's sister (is) of the old male-brother beyond '
{TaJcalhin Idrna-yecamet-tomgcpu 2>((>'oc); 'Man of the wife's sister
is on the same lake-shore a fall-companion' {TaJcalhin ennan-
hifhilinli rilid-tomr/in) — that is to say, that they must fight and
fall together.''
Step-relationship in all its degrees is denoted by the suffix -Iqdl,
'intended for'. E.g. uivaqiicilqiil, 'intended for husband',
' bridegroom ' ; neivcinliqal, ' intended for wife ', i. e. ' bride '.*
Elihilqdl . . Step-father.
Elalqal . . Step-mother (also, in polygynous families, 'another
wife of my father').
Ekkelqiil . . Step-son.
Neel-kelqitl . . Step-daughter.
Yicemit-tumgcdqCd Step-brother.
CakettilqCil . . Step-sister (in respect of the brother).
The term neic-mirgiJqdl, 'step-grandmother', is often used in
polygynous families.
II. The Koryak.
The family is the only well-defined and stable social unit
among the Koryak, though there are indications of a tendency for
families related by marriage to diaw together in larger gi'oups,
united by certain moral and material obligations — a tendency that
might have led to the establishment of a real clan organization,
but for the destructive influence of the Russians.*
^ Aacek means 'young man', neusqat means 'woman'. These terms
are used by both wedded parties. Sometimes they say also Eiuhic-matalin
('wife's uncle') and eccainaw-maialin ("wife's aunt') (ibid.).
2 Op. cit.. p. 540.
' Bogoras says that 'jjerhaps this relation may be considered as a sur-
vival of group-marriage, although at present grouj)-marriage between
takalhit exists but rarely ' (ibid.).
* Op. cit., p. 539.
^ Jochelson, The Konjak, p. 761.
The tendency to\Yaril.s a wider social grouping is seen also in
the custom of fraterniziuj^ with members of unrelated families.
Jothelson says that tlioro is no formal rite accompanying the
establishment of these friendships, that there is merely an ex-
change of gifts between the friends. In former times members
of such alliances were bound to help each other in war ; nowadays,
as wars are no longer waged, there are only certain obligations of
mutual material assistance. Women also form such friendships.^
In the old warlike days there was a class of slaves, about whom
Jochelson speaks as follows :
'The Koryak say that in ancient times the rich and the strong-
men held slaves. These remained at home and were employed
for different kinds of housework, and under the supervision of the
women. It is difficult to ascertain how far they Avere the property
of the conquerors, and whether they could be bought and sold.' ^
As in the case of the Chukchee, the Koryak have, in modern
times, been grouped by the Eussian administration into what the
latter call ' clans '. These have no relation whatever to any
aboriginal system of grouping according to family relationship.
The modern clan system is territorial in origin, and is simply due
to the mistake on the part of the Russians of confusing the social
system of these people with the more developed form seen among
the Tungus and Yakut. Even as a territorial group system the
present nomenclature is misleading, for, since their original
registration, many families have migrated to other districts. The
men chosen by the Russians as chiefs of these ' clans ' are not the
natural heads of the community.^
Jochelson gives the following account of the Koryak custom of
blood-revenge : ' The duty of avenging the murder of a relative
fell upon the male members of a consanguineous group. Ac-
cording to the account of the Koryak, the immediate avengers
were the brothers ; then followed cousins, nephews, and the more
remote relatives on the father's or mother's side. In case there
were no brothers, the father or uncle, unless impeded by age,
would take their place. On the whole, however, vengeance by
blood was considered by the Koryak to be the duty of all blood-
relatives, and not of single individuals. A consanguineous group
consisting of one or several families was also jointly responsible
for a murder committed by one of its members, and in so far
> Op. cit., pp. 763 4. ' Op. cit.,p. 766. ^ Op. cit., pp. 767-8.
1679 J)
must be regarded as one juridical personality.* We know thut
the old men often attempted to check the spread of blood-revenge.
For tliis purpose ransom was resorted to. Keindeer people would
give reindeer to the family of the victim ; while the ransom of the
Maritime people would consist of skins, embroidered clothes,
arms, and other articles.'^
The family formed a group, bound by certain tahuos. Thus the
hearth, the family drum, and the fire-drill were tahoo to all
outsiders. The principle of seniority was preserved not only in
the family but in the settlement. In the latter, as long as no
stronger man appeared, the founder was considered the elder.
Thus, by seniority we are to understand superiority not only in
age but also in physical strength. The elder's dwelling was
distinguished by having erected near it a post, known as the
guardian of the settlement. The elder usually had many wives
and children, and the respect in which he was held was extended
to his fjimily even after his death. He often possessed shaman-
istic powers, or else kept a shaman helper. Shamans were also
held in great esteem in social life.'^
The Korj'ak family is organized vn the i>rinciple of seniority,
the father being the head of the family. After his death, his
brother or eldest son, or, failing these, his adopted son-in-law,
married to the eldest daughter, takes his place as family head.'*
This principle of the authority of the senior obtains also among
women. The mother is the head of the family, so far as house-
hold affairs are concerned ; or, failing her, the wife of an adopted
son-in-law, or the wife of the eldest son.^
With regard to the position of women, the following data are
given by Jochelson : ' The men get the best pieces of food, the
women receive Avhat is left over. Thus among the Eeindeer
Koryak, only the men sit around the food which is served in the
* The last two rules woukl seem to show that the social organization
of the Koryak, whether it was into larger family group or clan, was
already fairly advanced, since responsibility for crime and punishment
were no longer in the hands of individuals.
- Here we see a still more advanced stage of development of primitive
law: peaceful settlement of blood-feuds by compensation. (Op. cit., p. 771.)
« Op. cit., p. 762.
* The bridegroom, however, very seldom goes to live in his father-in law's
bouse. Of 181 marriages registered by Jochelson, only 11 (6%) were cases
in which the son-in-law was adopted into his father-in-law's family.
(Op. cit., p. 744.)
* Op. cit., p. 744.
SOCIAL OKGANIZATION
inner tent ; and, besides the children, only the mother or the
eldest wife is present, who distributes the food, or treats the guests.
The other women and yiils receive the leavings, which they eat
in the outer tent. Among the Maritime Koryak, too, the women
and girls eat separately, by the hearth, after the men have
eaten.' ^
Yet, the husband will often consult his wife about affairs, and
a daughter's preference is frei^uently consulted with regard to her
marriage. Generally, the attitude towards a wife is one of kindly
protectiveness ; and Jochelson observed that Koryak families
were for the most part united and happy.-
Terms of Consanguinity.^
Yihiy-acice. ijilmj-apa (' linked grand-
father')*
Acice (Paren), apa fKanienskoye),
apapel (Reindeer Koryak)
Yibii-ana (' linked-grandmother ' j *.
Ama, ana .....
Eiiniiv (Chukchee, oidiiv)
Itcei
Apa (Paren), tata (Kanienskoye)
enpic (Reindeer Koryak)
Ella {vava, ainma, terms of endear-
ment used by Reindeer Koryak) ^
Enpiciket (dual of eiqji'c, ' the
fathers')
Qaitakalnin . . . . .
Eninelan ......
Etcani ......
Cakit
Enpici-cakit .....
Nenca-cakif .....
Yilalni-tHmrjiH (female cousin, nau-
yilalni-tuntgin)
Kminin, oxakik (Qaikminin, 'boy')
Yilni-kminin (' linked-son ')* .
Xarakik ......
Yilni-navakik* . . . . .
Illaica (niece, nau-illawa)
Great-grandfather,
Grandfather and great-uncle (pater-
nal and maternal).
Great-grandmother.
Gi-andmother and great-aunt (pater-
nal and maternal).
Uncle (paternal and maternal).
Aunt (paternal and maternal).
Father.
Mother.
Parents.
Brother.
Eldest brother.*
Younger brother.
Sister.
p]ldest sister.*
Younger sister.
Cousin (paternal and maternal).
Son.
Grandson.
Daughter.
Granddaughter.
Brother's or sister's child.
1 Op. cit., p. 74.5. 2 Op. cit., p. 743. ^ Op. cit., p. 759.
* ' It is also of interest', says Jochelson, 'that the Koryak terms for
grandson, granddaughter, great-grandfather, great-grandmother, are
formed by a combination of the word " linked " with primary terms for
son, daughter, &c.' (Op. cit., p. 760.)
5 Op. cit., p. 760.
* That the eldest brother and sister are named by distinct terms shows
the importance of their position in the family (ibid.).
li 2
Terms of Affinity.'
Maialan . . .... Father-in-law and brother-in-law.
Xaii-Dialahni ..... Mother-in-law and sister-in-law.
hit'nculpi . . . . Son-in-law.
Iiite . ...... Daughter-in-law.
Tdkalnln ..... Husband of wife's sister.
2s'nii-iah((lnin ..... Wife's sister.
Naiil (' female friend '; . . Term of address used by one wife
to another wife.
III. The YuKAGiiiR.
At the time of the Kussian conquest the Yukaghir had u fairly
well organized clan-system, M'hich is, however, now in decadence.
But there is no tribal unity among them'-; and, as Jochelson
points out, there are no traditions concerning a tribal ancestor in
their myths, as there are in those of the Koryak.^
The Russians nominally accepted the clan organization of the
Yukaghir as the basis of their administrative divisions of the
tribe ; but this was only in appearance, for they often joined into
one fragments of different clans ; and a Yukagliir clan of to-day, as
arranged by the Russians, is composed of people who have nothing
in common, says Jochelson, save ' the mutual obligation to pay
tribute ', the ' old man ' of former days being replaced by an elder
elected under Russian sui^ervision.'*
From an analysis of the clan-names of the Yukaghir, Jochelson
comes to the conclusion that their original clans ' comprised not
merely groups of consanguineous families, but also families con-
nected only by the fact that they inhabited common territoiy '.^
The testimony of the Yukaghir confirms the conclusion."
Thus he says that the central consanguineous group in a clan
traced their descent from a common ancestor often as far back as
to the sixth or seventh generation, while outsiders constitute the
territorial element in the clan. It is interesting to note in this
connexion that the Yukaghir say that for purposes of marriage the
1 Op. cit., p. 760.
^ "Whatever feeling of tribal unity m;iy exist is shown only in the fact
that the clans never fight among themselves, except as a result of
disputes about women, or in cases of blood-revenge: organized war is
levied only against other tribes. {The Yukaghir, dc, p. 126.)
^ Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 17.
* Jochelson, TJie Yukaghir and Yttkaghirized Tungus,-^. 115.
'' The Hare clan on the Yassachna River, for instance, is known as
'Hare clan', 'Hare descent', or 'Hare custom ', while the same people
are also called ' the people from the Yassachna River' (ibid.).
« Op. cit., p. 116.
fourth generation are no longer relatives, and yet the clansmen can
trace their genealogies often for many generations.'
Concerning the origin of Yukaghir clan-names, Jochelson
observes : ' The animal names of some Yukaghir clans might lead
us to suppose that they had some connexion with totemic cults, if
it were not for a total absence of totemic conceptions among the
modern Yukaghir. The name of the ancestor of the Yassachna
Yukaghir, "Tabuckan" (Hare), might point towards his identity
with an animal, the hare ; but even that much cannot be said in
regard to the names of the other two clans. The Yukaghir say
that the Korkodon people were called the Fish clan, because they
fed exclusively on fish, while the Goose clan owes its name to the
incident that one of its shamans once turned into a stork (not as
might be supposed, into a goose) and flew about with the birds.
Thus these names do not seem to contain any indication of
a former existence of totems among the Yukaghir.' -
Clansmen still preserve the memory of the common clan ancestor,
although his cult is at the present day in decadence. The terri-
torial element, which may even not be Yukaghir at all, but
Tungus, Koryak, or Chuvantzy, has been assimilated and allowed
to join in the cult of the ancestor of the consanguineous group.
The process of assimilation has to some extent been assisted by
intermarriage, though this has not affected the matter so much as
it might have done if marriage among the Yukaghir were not
endogamic (i.e. within the clan, not within the village).^
There were, however, other factors which advanced the assimi-
lation of the inner and outer groups in the clan. These were the
' old man ', the shaman, the ' strong man ' with his warriors, and
the first hunter with his group of inferior hunters. Of these, the
' old man ' and the shaman belonged of necessity to the consan-
guineous group in the clan. The ' old man ' regulated war, fishing
and hunting expeditions, selecting the resting-places during the
wanderings of the clan, and assigning the district for hunting, &c.,
to each group, if the clan separated for the purposes mentioned.
' He brought sacrifices to the spirit of the clan ancestor, presided
at festivals, and enforced obedience to the established customs.'
As a rule the oldest man of the clan was the ' old man ", but in
some cases the ablest elder was chosen. * In all important matters,
the " old man" of the clan consulted the oldest representatives of the
' Op. cit., ].. 117. - Ibid.
^ Op. cit., pp. 117-18. " Op. cit., p. 119.
separate families, the pohdpe (i.e. "the old men "), who constituted
a council, and by whose advice the " old man " was not infrequently-
guided.'' His wife held a similar position among the women,
although the powers of government were in the hands of the 'old
man ', whom both men and women must obey. She superintended
the division of the spoils of the chase.
The shaman's position was of almost as great importance as
that of the ' old man'. Before any undertaking he had to perform
various ceremonies, and he was the intermediary between the
living and the dead. After his death he did not cease to be the
protector of his clan. His corpse 'was dissected, the flesh being
separated from the bones, which were divided among his blood-
relatives. The "old man" received the skull, which was then
attached to a wooden trunk. Tlie idol, clad in precious garments,
received the name " Xoil " and was worshipped as the guardian
deity of the clan.'-
The duty of the * strong man ', with his warriors, was to defend
the clan ; neither he nor the hunter was necessarily of the same
blood with the consanguineous part of the group. Sometimes the
hunter and the ' strong man ' were the same individual ; but not
always, for their duties were different: the hunter had to provide
the animal food, and the skins for clothing for his clan. While
at the px'esent day the offices of ' old man ', shaman, and ' strong
man ' are becoming little more than a tradition, that of the hunter,
especially in the clans on the Korkodon and Yassachna Eivers, is
still very important. The hunters have no special share, or larger
share than anyone else, in the game they procure ; their sole in-
centive to energetic pursuit of their calling is their communal
instinct, which Jochelson found so strong in them that a sleepless
night after the fatigues and anxieties of the day's hunting did not
]n'event them from being eager with the first light to set about
the trying tasks of a new day. The hunter is working, he says,
' for the people of his own blood ', though in fact, as we have seen,
he need not be of the inner circle in the clan.' They believe also
that the spirits will not help a hunter who hunts for his own gain
and not for that of the clan.''
There was formerly among the Yukaghir a class of slaves called
2^0 (lit. ' worker').'' For a hired labourer they have another word,
1 Op. cit., p. 119. - Op. cit., p. 120.
s Op. cit., pp. 121-5. * Ibid.
* The position of slaves among the Yukaghir is ver}- simihiv to that of
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
uicil. Tlie slaves were captives of war. and the position of women
among tliem was better than that of the men, who could belong
neither to the class of warriors nor of hunters. Their position is
well described by Jochelson : ' The slave stayed in the house with
the women, the old people, and the children, and did house-work
on equal terms with the women. In addition, however, lie was
allowed to do such work as the fitting up of sledges and nets, and
to participate in fishing parties.' ^
Blood-vengeance was strictly exacted by the Yukaghir. They
called it Icpud-nicil ('blood-anger') ot cuhojc-yono ('heart-anger').
'The avengers are the victim's relatives in the male line on the
father's side. If the relatives of the victim on the mother's side
found the culprit first, they had to disclose his hiding-place to the
relatives on the father's side, and, in exceptional cases, assist them
in carrying out the act of vengeance.*^
The Yukaghir language, according to Jochelson,^ has three terms
to describe their system of relationship, viz. (i) coro-mimchon])e,
' men of the clan ' ; (ii) coro-monulpe, ' relatives ' ; (iii) lepiil, ' blood '
— i.e. kinsfolk. The last term, which might be thought to apply
to blood-relatives only, in fact includes also relatives bj' affinity.
System of Consanguinity.
Grandmothers
Grandfathers
Younger
paternal
aunt
Elder father,
Younger
paternal
uncle
Father
k
Elder mother
-Mother -j lounger
j maternal
^ aunt
Younger
maternal
uncle
Elder brothers and
sisters
Self
Younger brothers and
sisters
: a general
of brothel's,
Child
Terms of Consanguinity.*
I. Classificatory. Emjepid {emje, 'younger')
classificatory term comprising the whole group
the Kamchadal koekchuch of the time of Ki-asheninnikoff, and suggests
a possible explanation of the real nature of these latter. This matter
will be more fully discussed in the chapter on ' Shaman and Sex ', and
will be developed in a later woi-k,
» Op. cit., p. 133. 2 Op. cit., p. 132.
=» Op. cit., p. 68. ■* Ibid.
sisters, and cousins, male and female, of the father and mother.
These are further distinguished according to age.*
1. Tata (Kolyma dialect) ; Icoklle (tundra dialect) : elder brother,
elder male first-cousin.
2. Paha, ahuja, or ahu\ : elder sister, elder female cousin of
different degrees.'*
3. Emje: younger brother, younger sister, younger cousin.
Koyojed-emjc, younger brother ; paijnjcd-emje, younger sister.
4. Ecic : father, lit. 'guardian' or 'fosterer' — derived from the
verb encle, * to feed, to nourish '.'
5. Emc'i: mother; probably from amc, 'who does, produces,
creates \*
G. Como-cie : father's elder brother, elder first or second cousin,
&c. — a contraction for comojed-ecic, 'big-father'. 'Big', here =
' provider ', with reference to this person's position in the family.
7. Idiefel; or edietek: father's younger brother, younger first-
cousin, &c. Lit. 'a little father' (diminutive).^
8. Cemmei (contracted from cotnoje-d-cmei, ' big mother ') : mother's
elder sister, elder female cousins, first, second, &c. The elder sister
takes care of her younger sister's children like a mother.
9. JSlmdiefeli (Kolyma dialect), yadie (tundra dialect) : mother's
younger sister, younger female cousins, first, second, &c. Probably
' little mother '.
10. Xoja, xojadlc (Kolyma), xoujeidie (tundra) : mother's younger
brother, younger male cousins of different degrees. Xojadic lit. =
' little grandfather '.
11. Emjnodic (Kolyma), aijno (tundra): father's j'ounger sister,
female first-cousin, «S:c. Emjnodie=^\\.ii\e dear one'."
* Brothers and sisters may be distinguished from cousins by the use of
the term unkenme, ' birth-fellow ', for the former, or by speaking of an
*clder-brother-by-birth', &c. (Op. cit., p. 69.j
2 Op. cit., p. 69. 3 Op. cit., p. 70.
* Uncles and aunts included under the general term enijepul in
reference to the older generation of grandfather.'; and grandmothers,
are not addressed by their nephews and nieces by any general name.
(Op. cit., p. 70.)
^ Op. cit., p. 71.
* *As we have seen from the terms Nos. G-11, the group of blood
relatives of true and collateral uncles and aunts — who, like every other
generation, form together in respect to the older generation, a younger
generation of evijepiil— is divided into separate sub-groups, according
to age on the one hand, and according to kinship of the father and
mother on the other hand. There are but one class of uncles and but
one class of aunts, who do not form, b}- their names, a .'ei^arate sub-group
in their own generation : these belong, by their terms, to the group
12. Xa.ra (Kolyma), xaicie (tundra) : mother's elder brothers
and elder male cousins of various degrees, as well as grandfathers
(paternal and maternal) and all brothers and male cousins of
different degrees of the latter.
13. Epie (Kolyma), ubucic (tundra) : father's elder sister and
elder female cousins of different degrees, as well as the grand-
mothei"s (paternal and maternal), and the latter's sisters and female
cousins of different degrees.^
'Among the female members of a family the father's elder
sister occupies the first position, after the father's mother, in
respect to the household ; and the mother's elder brother, after
the mother's father, is the head of the family.' -
Blood-relatives of the descending grades are denoted by terms
which are merely descriptive and not classificatory :
II. Descriptive. — 14. Aduo, ' son ' {adil, * boy ', and uo, ' cliild ').
15. Mapxkhto or marxlno, ' daughter ' [marxU, ' girl ', and no,
' child ').
'The descriptive terms for nephews and nieces, according to
which group of brothers and sisters or cousins of the class emjepul
their parents belong to, are as follows ' : ^
16. Nephews : (i) mettata-d-aduo, ' son of my elder brother (or
elder male cousin) ' ; (ii) metpabad-aduo, ' son of my elder sister
(or elder female cousin) ' ; (iii) mefemjed-adiw, 'son of my younger
brother or younger male cousin, or of my younger sister or
younger female cousin '.
17. Nieces: (i) mettata-marxil ; {ii) metpaba-marxd ; {Hi) metemje-
marxd.
Similar descriptive terms are applied to grandsons, and grand-
daughters :
18. Grandsons : mdaduod-adiio, ' son of my son ' ; metmarxluod-
aduo, ' son of my daughter '.
19. Granddaughters : mctuduod-niarxd, ' daughter of my son ' ;
metmarxliwd-marxd, ' daughter of my daughter '.
ot the elder generation, to the group of the grandfathers and grand-
mothers. Thus we have the following terms :' (12 and 18j. (Op. cit, p. 71.)
' The terms xfixa and epie are also used to denote old men and old
women in general (op. cit., p. 73 '.
^ ' This inclusion of the mother's elder bi-other or father's elder sister
in one term with the grandfathers or grandmothers proves unmistakably
that the terms do not denote various degrees of blood-relationship, but
show the position of these jjersons in the family, or clan.' (Op. cit.,
p. 72.J
^ Op. cit., p. <3.
20. Grand-nephews and grand-nieces are similarly designated ;
e. g. mettatad-aduod-aduo, * son of the son of my elder brother,
or of my elder male cousin ' ; mcipaJ)ad-marxluod-aduo, ' son of my
elder sister's, or of my elder female cousin's, daughter ' ; &c.^
System of Affinity.^
The elder'' generation call the wife of a member of the younger
generation"* ........ nial.
The elder generation call the husband of a member of the
younger generation ....... jjo7?7.
The younger generation call the wife of a memljer of the elder
generation .... ..... t/edie.
The younger generation call the husband of a member of the
elder generation ........ pulei.
A person calls the male relatives of the elder generation of his
or her spouse ........ jwgil.
A person calls the female relatives of the elder generation of
his or her spouse ........ pogil/'
A person calls the male relatives of the younger generation of
his or her spouse ........ pidei.
A person calls the female I'elatives of the younger generation of
his or her spouse ....... yedie.
Terms of Affinity-.'''
The system of affinity is, like that of consanguinity, elassificatoiy.
The following four classes of terms for relatives by affinity are
used by the Kolyma Yukaghir; each class including persons of
different degrees of affinity : pogd, nial, pulei, and ycdic. Among the
Tundra Yukaghir the first two classes, pogiipe and nialpe (plural of
pogil and nial), have become merged into one class, nialpe.'
I. Fogil : ^ (a) wife's father (father-in-law) ; (&) wife's mother
(mother-in-law); (c) husband's father (father-in law) ; ((?) husband's
' Op. cit., p. 73.
^ 'According to the above table it might seem that the coufusion of
nial and 2^01/il, which is complete among the Tiuidia Yukaghir, has coui-
menced among the othor branch also. A few terms, like that for uncle's
wife, have not been ascertained.' (Op. cit., p. 75.)
^ Including the parental generation and elder brothers and sisters,
and cousins.
* Including the generation of children and nephews and younger
brothers and sisters.
' Here we should expect the term iiinl.
•^ Op. cit., p. 73. ' Ibid. ** Op. cit.. p. 74.
mother (mother-in-law) ; (c) daughter's husband (son-in-h\\v) ;
(/) younger sister's husband (brotlior-in-hiw) ; {fj) wife's elder
brother (brother-in-law); [h) husband of younger brother's, or
male cousin's, daughter ; (?) husband of sister's, or female cousin's
(of various degrees), daughter ; and ij) husband's elder brother.'
II. Xial : {a) son's or nephew's wife (daughter-in-law) ; (h)
younger brother's or younger cousin's wife (sister-in-law) ; (c) wife
of younger brother's, or younger male cousin's, son ; and [d) wife
of younger sister's, or younger female cousin's, son.
III. Pulci : (a) elder sister's or elder female cousin's husband ;
{h) wife's younger brother or male cousin ; and (r) husband's
younger brother or younger male cousin. -
IV. Yedic: (a) elder brother's or elder male cousin's wife;
(b) husband's or wife's younger sister.
Among the Tundra Yukaghir, Jcelil, and among the Kolyma
Yukaghir, sahoyax. form still another class of relatives by affinity:
{a) husband of wife's sister or female cousin ; (&) wife of wife's
brother or male cousin ; (c) husband of husband's sister or female
cousin ; and {d) wife of husband's brother or male cousin.
IV. The Gilyak.
The Gilyak elan is called Tihal, literally ' foot-sack ' (used in
travelling). The real significance of this term is best seen in the
answer that a Gilyak will give to the question, ' Why do you call
such-and-such people your relations?' 'Because we have a
common ahmaJk, ymc/i, common fire, common mountain-men.
sea-men, sky-men, earth-men ; common bear, common devil,
common tlnisind. common sin. ' "'
I. Common ahmalJc. The father-in-law of one clansman is the
father-in-law of the whole clan ; and the son-in-law of a clansman
is the son-in-law of the whole clan. The men form the permanent
element in the clan ; the women either leave the clan or come to
it from another. So the clan forms a society or union, cemented
by common rights and marital duties of men related through
' .Tocholson thinks that the word j)0[/il is made up of ^)o (a term
formerly applied to captive slaves, who are now known as ' hired
labourers'; ; (ji, a possessive suffix, and /, a suffix used to form nouns from
verbs. The tei-m would thus mean ' his labourer '. The verb lyngilonii, he
says, means ' to serve for a girl at her parents' house '. Thus the term
pogil comes to denote persons who serve, or are served, for a bride.
(Op. cit., p. 74.)
^ Brother, sister, cousin, being all eiujepiil.
- L. Sternberg, The Gihjcih, 1905, pp. 78-9.
their fathers, taking their wives from another similar group, and
giving their women in marriage to a third clan, all clans being
thus exogamic and patriarchal in organization. In spite of the
dominant patriarchal principle, Gilyak are related also through
their mothers, for they have a common * father-in-law ' clan ; and
all women coming into a clan are to each other in the relationship
of sister, aunt, or niece.' Sternberg says that the j)rinciple that
a man must take his wife from his mother's clan, that the wife
must be a blood-relative of her husband, is a religious principle,
connected with the cult of ancestors, especially with mother-cult.-
No clansman need fear that at his death he will leave his family
without support, for even while he lives his wife and children are
nominally, often even actually, the wife and children of his
brother ; and at his death one of his brothers, chosen by the
clansmen, is bound to undertake the rights and duties of father
and husband towards his widow.-*
The clan, of course, does not exist in its primitive purity at the
present day. Natural causes, like epidemics, the dwindling of
families, &c., have made it necessary, in order to prevent its
extinction, for a clan to adopt individuals, and sometimes whole
groups, from other clans or even from other tribes. Another
means by which new blood was imported into the clan was : If
two men married sisters, they were regarded as fellow clansmen,
and often their children were considered as brothers and sisters."*
II. Common fire. The common fire is also a symbol of the
unity of the clan. 'The chief owner of the fire,' whom they
imagine as an old woman, is thus not only a good spirit who
bestows the use of fire on living clansmen, but also an interme-
diary between the living and the dej^arted ancestors who are the
heroes of the clan. By being burned the dead are given to the
' owner of the fire ', who has the power of choosing some of them
to become also ' owners ' of the clan-fire. "^
Only a clansman has the right to kindle fire on the hearth of
a fellow clansman, or to take fire out of his yurta. If a man from
another clan lights his pipe in the yurta, he must finish smoking
it before he goes out. Any infringement of these customary rules
' Op. cit., pp. 79-80. 2 Op. cit., p. 80.
I Op. cit., p. 81. ■• Op. cit., pp. 82-3.
^ People who have been struck dead by lightning, or have died from
burning, are reckoned as worthy to be received into the society oi' the
' owners of the fire '. (Op. cit., pp. 84, 85.)
will hring niisfurtimo on the clun, juul the :ilien clansiuaii who
has brought it about may have to pay a fine in consequence.
Each clan has its own firebrand, kept by the eldest of the chin,
and only from this firebrand can the fire be made at which the
l)ear meat is cooked at the bear festival. When a clan divides,
the eldest of the clan breaks the firebrand in two, giving a half to
the eldest of that portion of the clan which is removing. Then
only is the clan regarded as formally divided.^
III. JLcn of the Mountain, Sea, Sl\if, Farth.'^ Those clansmen
who die by drowning, are killed by wild animals, or those who
are beloved by the 'owners' of the mountain, sky, sea, or earth,
join the society of these 'owners' after death. All clansmen
worship their ancestors, the 'owners' referred to, in sacrifices and
festivals which are regularly held in their honour, and the
' owners ' in return provide the clansmen with food : all that
nature gives them is the free gift of the gods ; hence it is a sin to
be inhospitable, for it is not man but the gods who give food to
a guest.^ At the sea-hunting the master of the boat receives no
greater share of the spoils of the chase than any one else ; indeed,
the products of the hunt are sometimes divided among the
families of men who have not taken part in it.^ As regards such
objects as swords, shields, &c., of the more costly kind, though
they are more than other things regarded as individual property,
yet if a clansman needs them for Mh/m, for burial, &c., they give
them freely. In the case of inherited property, the maxim si suos
haeredes non Jiabef, gentiles familiam hahento is strictly observed.
If there is no family (including labourers attached to the house-
hold) an inheritance passes to the next of kin on the father's side,
even if there are much nearer relatives on the side of the mother.
The latter can receive, but only by special bequest, certain ol)jects
known as shagtoid, which are private property. Iron sliagund may
be so given to the clan ymgi, since they will be returned to the
surviving fellow clansmen of the deceased in the form of Jcalijm ;
or fur shagund may be given to the clan aJimalJc, in which case
they will come back as dowry.^
IV. Common hear. It is the common duty of clansmen to feed
the bear, and to take part in the bear-festival, when the bear,
either tame or \vild, is killed.'' This festival has both a religious
Op. cit., pp. 85-6. 2 Op. cit., p. 86. ^ Qj,. cit., pp. 87-8.
Op. cit., p. 89. => Op. cit., p. 90. « Ibid.
and a sucial sigiiificauce. In the former case, it is a religious
duty to venerate the slain bear, for he may belong to the fra-
ternity of the ' owners of the mountain ', or be the incarnation of
some remote fellow clansman's spirit, which has been received
into that fraternity. Again, the bear is regarded as the inter-
mediary between mortals and the ' owner of the mountain ', so
that sacrifices may be sent by the bear to that spirit ; an important
matter, for this 'owner' has power over all animals. This is the
reason why the bear-festival plays such an important part in the
life of the clan, and why, although clansmen from other groups
may be present at the festival, the organization and management
of the feast are in the hands of the clansmen, only sons-in-law
besides being allowed to assist in this way. The expenses of the
festival are shared by the clansmen.
Socially the bear-festival is also very important. It affords an
opportunity for widely separated members of the clan to meet and
share various social pleasures, the more so as the ceremonies are
usually followed by games and sports of different kinds. Besides,
it gives scope for the formation of friendships with other clans.^
V. Common devil: i.e., a common enemy in the person of
a deceased clansman or a slain enemy. An individual who has
quarrelled with his fellow clansmen, one whose death has not
been avenged, or one who has been buried without due funeral
rites, may become a hostile spirit and bring trouble upon his clan.
The same may be expected from an offended individual belonging
to another clan. In such cases ^ the shaman will be requested to
appease the hostile spirit.
VI. Common tJiusind. This means compensation exacted in
lieu of blood-revenge and compensation also for many other
offences, such as the abduction of a woman, the dishonouring of
a woman, theft, &c. The responsibility for payment of thusind
rests with the clan as a whole, as does also the duty of exacting
thusind from the offender on behalf of an injured clansman.^
Compensation in money, however, is only a secondary, and
a modern, consideration, and cannot always, even nowadays,
replace the ancient duty of exacting blood-revenge for man-
slaughter. This latter offence often goes formally unpunished
within the clan. The killing by way of blood-revenge of a fellow
clansman would involve another act of vengeance on the part of
» Op. cit., pp. 90-2. ■ Op. cit., p. 92. ^ n,id.
the family of that chinsiiuin, and this would lead to an internecine
struggle. As a matter of fact, however, the killing of a fellow
clansman does receive punishment. The murderer is shunned l)y
the clan, and has to leave it. This involves the further penalty of
being buried without due rites, for these can only be performed
l)y members of his own clan. But crimes within the clan are
rare, because, as Sternberg says, ' numerous prohibitions of speech
lessen the opportunities for quarrelling, and liberal marital rights
among the clansmen make the passion of jealousy milder and
practically make any acts of violence against women unnecessary — ■
such acts being the most frequent causes of blood-revenge among
these people.' ^
In clans which have intermarried with the Ainu, a people
among whom strong traces of a matriarchate still exist, in cases
of manslaughter the brother of the mother of the victim and the
victim's father or brother receive compensation, which is divided
between them equally.-
When a crime is committed against a member of the clan by
an outsider, the offended clan will stand out very firmly for their
rights. This holds good not only Avhen a man is the oftender —
and it is indifferent whether his crime is intentional or not — but
also even when an animal is. If a man is killed by a bear, he
must be avenged by the death of the animal in question, or of
another bear in its place ; and the • man (owner) of the mountain '
must give fhusind to the clan of the deceased by sending them
many animals. There is a regular procedure for taking vengeance
on the bear, and only when the animal is slain and its flesh eaten
at a feast is the deceased accepted into the society of the ' men of
the mountain '. His clansmen then offer sacrifice to him.'' The
soul of an unavenged victim cannot go to the land of the dead, but
must remain near the living, incarnated as a bird-avenger, called
fakhch, and finally crumbles into dust. On the grave of a
murdered man is placed the stump of a tree with the roots
upwards, whereas the stump placed on an ordinary grave usually
has the roots turned down. The roots they fashion into the form
of a bird, or else place upon them the image of one. As the soul
of a murdered man, like that of any other Gilyak, continues to
exist only for three generations, so the obligation to take ven-
geance for his blood binds his fellow clansmen only till the third
1 Op. cit., p. 03. - Ibid. 3 Op. cit., pp. 04 5.
generation it" the act of vengeance is not performed by a contem-
porary. Vengeance is never executed upon a woman, or upon the
private property of the guilty person.^
Both clans are under a kind of martial law, between the time
of the murder and that of the carrying out of the blood-vengeance.
If the clans live near each other the matter is settled quickly, but
if they ai*e separated by a considerable distance a military expedi-
tion on a small scale is arranged.'^
Thusind originated as an alternative to blood-vengeance, and
has finally replaced it. Sternberg says^ that as every clan was
intimately connected with at least two others, ahmallc and ymgi,
and often with others besides, it was always difficult, because of
the protective attitude of the Gilyak towards their women, to put
the custom of blood-revenge into practice, as the clans would be
reluctant to involve women with whom they were so closely
related in the horrors of war. Although a woman could neither
take active part in inflicting vengeance for blood, nor herself suffer
this punishment, she could play a role in the affair which, though
passive, was still important. She might hide the object of the clans-
men's vengeance ; or, by abstaining from assisting them with sup-
plies of food and water, or with fire for cooking, hinder them from
carrying out their aim ; for the law was strictly against the members
of one clan making use of the food, water, or fire of another clan.
Thusind is accompanied by a complicated ritual, which includes
an imitation of blood-vengeance. The most important participator
in this ceremonial is the ]clila)j-nkulcli ('speaking-man', 'orator'),
a personage somewhat resembling a barrister in his functions.
He must be a rich and important member of a neutral clan.
When the offended clan ajiproaches the habitat of the murderer's
fellow clansmen to demand thusind, a halt is made, and the IMaij-
nivukh goes forward alone to name the sum demanded. The
clansmen of whom the demand is made do not at first agree, and
the proceeding has to be repeated two or three times. This is
followed by an imitation of the taking of blood-revenge. Two
champions, one from each clan, accompanied each by his khlaji-
nivKJih, advance between the two parties to the dispute, bearing
shields. They engage in a combat, which is usually merely
a feigned one, though it sometimes develops into a real fight,
during which the two JMajj-niinilxhs do their utmost to calm the
anger of the combatants. This over, two dogs, provided by the
' Op. cit., pp. 95-7. - Op. cit., pp. 97-100. ^ Op. cit., p. 101.
^
two clans, are killed, and offered as a sacrifice to the l)ird-avenger.
Then a feast is held, at which the thusind is paid and friendship
re-established between the clans. ^
VII. Common sin. Though all the Gilyak have certain common
religious and social laws which must not be broken, there are,
besides, oeitain prohibitions, the forms of which are peculiar to
a given clan. The breach of these latter rules constitutes a * sin '
for that clan only. Some of these prohibitions, or taboos, are
sexual, for besides marriage relations with an alimalk or ipncfi,
sexual relations are permitted with certain persons and prohibited
with others. This will be dealt with in the chapter on 'Mar-
riage'. There are also speech taboos with the whole class of (nvii
(ruvn), acJiJc (mother and aunts of the wife). Other taboos are
connected with the clan cult, and the breaking of them involves
payment of thuslnd to the god. The breaking of such taboos by
members of another clan requires payment of tlmsind to the
offended clan. Not only is the breaking of a taboo a sin, but also
failure to perform religious duties. The sin of an individual acts
in such a case to the detriment of the whole clan ; just as, on the
other hand, the observance of socio-religious duties is essential to
the preservation of the clan as a whole. ^
Clansmen prefer to live together, but this is not always possible,
and therefore the territorial group does not always correspond to
the clan. In eveiy such group each clan has its own special
rights.^ Clan-names are generally the names of localities where
the clans formerly lived. Here and there we find names of
animals as the origin of clan-names, but this occurs chiefly where
there is a Tungus admixture."*
Both Chinese and Russians tried to impose upon the Gilyak
clan rulers, and the ruler chosen was a sort of elder — not, how-
ever, a clan elder, but a village elder ; an arrangement quite
opposed to Gilyak ideas of government.
In the natural Gilyak social organization there is no trace of
a despotic authority. The * old men ' [Icheymars) of tlie clan decide
questions of cult and clanship, for they are the repositories of the
clan customs, traditions, and genealogies ; and they have much
authority in this respect. But apart from this they have no great
influence or real authority or importance.
' Op. cit., pp. 102 6. ^ Op. cit , pp. 106 8.
3 Op. cit., p. 110. * Op. cit., p. 111.
All the clans have some men known as yz ('host'), or nrdla-
nmikhi (lit. ' good and rich '), who either through wealth, physical
prowess, or some accomplishment such as oratory, have an im-
portant though unofficial standing in the clan. In time of need
such men may be called upon to assume the responsibility of
upholding the customary law ; but the Ixhal (clan) as a whole has
supreme authority over theni.^
As has been said, clans connected by marital ties, calling each
oihev 2mndf, customarily formed friendly alliances. Not only was
a clan thus friendly with its own alinuiTIc and ynKji, but the whole
group formed by these three clans, together with others connected
with alimalh and nmg'i by marriage, formed a friendly alliance.
These alliances did not amount to a confederation such as we see
among the Mongols, but that they did exist is clear not only from
the traditions but also from certain present-day practices. One
of the duties of an allied clan towards others in the alliance was
that of hospitality or ' feeding '. An inter-clan maxim says : ' One
must feed jinuji^ ('sons-in-law'). This implies actual support of
a son-in-law only in a few cases, but there remain even at the
present day, says Sternberg, traces of a time when it was the
custom for sons-in-law to go to live in the houses of their fathers-
in-law.'- A custom connected with the making of friendship with
an )img\ is that of ' treading upon the threshold ' with an exchange
of gifts.''
The solidarity of the group formed by a clan with its alimalh
and jimgi is shown in bear-hunting, the trai:>ping of sables, and the
hunting of sea-animals.
The principle of mutual help is also seen in the hereditary
rites, according to which the ymgi receives iron shagund, and the
alimalh, fur shagund, the iron shagund being afterwards returned
as halym. This exchange shows that the payment of hahjm among
the Gilyak is merely formal, and was not originally in the nature
of payment for a wife."* Sternberg thinks that the origin of the
halgm in the marriage of the Gilj'ak was as follows. When the
clan of the mother could not provide W'ives enough for the clan of
the father, a man would have to go to some other clan for his
wife. This was an illegal proceeding ; consequently a sort of
thusind had to be paid to the clan, and the latter propitiated their
clan-gods with it as compensation for the breach of socio-religious
' Op, cit., pp. 119-22. ' Op, cit., p. 128.
3 Op. cit., p. 124. ■■ Op. cit., pp. 125-6.
law. In moilern times the custom of giving ladiim has been
extended to all marriages, and the origin of the custom forgotten.'
The bear-festival, one of the most important means of cementing
inter-clan friendships, is held eveiy winter in one or another of
the villages. It plays among the Gilyak, says Sternberg, a role
similar to that of the Olympic games among the Greeks.-
V. The TunctUsic Tribes.
Family and clan organization is relatively strong among the
Tungus proper. ' Tungus families often separate from the clan in
search of new hunting-grounds, but a single person never leaves
his family ; and even an isolated family will retain the memory
of its connexion with the clan for a long time. The Lamut of
the Chaun country, who consist of stragglers from all the clans
living farther to the south, still consider themselves as belonging
to particular clans ; though this connexion has at present no real
office, because of the distance of their habitat from that of their
clans.' 2 It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the
Tungus clans of the present day are composed only of people
related by blood. In many cases the clan is an artificial creation ;
and, as Middendorff * observes, if there is a group consisting of less
than a hundred souls, they call themselves a clan ; if above this
number, they call themselves an orda.
The clan is called (according to Georgi) tagaiin ; and, being origin-
ally based on a system of blood-relationships, the members of a
clan may not mari-y each other. A clan was governed by an elder,
called daruga, whose office was hereditary. But in the middle of
the eighteenth century the Russians introduced native adminis-
trators, elected for terms of three years, who were, in fact,
Russian governmental agents for the collection of taxes.' The
popular tradition is that the clan-names originated from the
founders of the clan, or heroes, and such is certainly the case
1 Op. cit., p. 127. 2 j^jj 3 Bogoras, Tlte Chuk-chee, p. 537.
* Micidendorff", Sibirische Reise, vol. iv, p. 1398.
' Patkanoff, Essay on the Geography and Statistics of the Tungusic
Tribes of Siberia, 1906, vol. i, part ii, p. 91. Among some Tungusic
tribes of the Trans- Baikal, there were, besides the clan elder (called
sometimes taijsha, toyon), family or sub-clan elders, known as zaysan or
oterikan. According to Georgi, the words daruga, zaysan, tayshan are of
Mongolic origin. Oterikan would appear to be of Tungusic derivation,
since in Tungus otrykan (atrikan) means * old ', and atyrkon is ' man ',
'husband'. (Patkanoff, op. cit., p. 91.)
E 2
witli clans like the Kurkugiisk, Chemdalsk, Chapogirsk, all in
the Yenisei district. A few clans derive their names from some
river or hill of the district where they were formerly settled ;
some of these place-names being of Tungus origin, others Russian.
Russian proper names like Davydkin, Nironoff, are occasionally
found as names of clans ; but, as Patkanoif observes, such names
are not found in eighteenth-century writers, and are notliing but
arbitrary appellations attached by the Russians to groups ai-tificially
formed by them from fragments of disintegrated clans.^
The Tungus clan is not an indivisible whole, but is composed
of several sub-clans, and thus resembles a Yakut naslcg, for
instance. Thus, e. g., the Lamunkhinsk clan of Tungus living in
the Yakut district is made up of four sub-clans, Khorinsk. Donda-
konsk, Lamunkhinsk, and Tugiasirsk. The first two sub-clans
originally consisted of Mongol-Buryat, who since the seventeenth
century have been living among Tungus, and thus have become
tungusized. This shows, says Patkanoff, that even under a
regular Tungus organization an alien element may sometimes be
hidden."
The clan organization has been preserved most pure among
those Tungus who have remained in isolated districts, mixing
with alien elements only on their borders ; that is, it has re-
mained in its purest state among the ' nomadic ' and ' wandering '
tribes, especially the latter. Christianity and a sedentaiy mode
of life have been unfavourable to the preservation of their social
structure no less than to that of their religious cults.^
In speaking of their mode of life, investigators so long ago as
the eighteenth century had already divided them into three classes :
Horse-Tungus, Reindeer-Tungiis, and Dog-Tungus. Georgi in 1775
speaks of the Steppe (Horse) Tungus and the Forest (Reindeer and
Fishermen) Tungus.^ The present administrative classification of
these people by the Russians is into Sedentaiy, Nomadic, and
Wandering.'' The Sedentary Tungus are less than one per cent,
of the whole, and do not now differ greatly from the Russian
immigrant peasantry, having intermarried with the latter for so
long. They live for the most j^art in the Trans-Baikal district,
and have forgotten their original language.*
The Nomadic Tungus are cattle-breeders, and change their
' Op. cit., pp. 92-3. "^ Op. cit., pp. 93-4. ' Op. cit., p. 9-5.
* Op. cit., p. 233. =* Op. cit., p. 198. « Op. cit., pp. 200, 216.
habitat according to the season of the year. Each clan has its
own region assigned to it, land over which they can wander at
will, and where no strangers are allowed to settle. They form
about 50 i>er cent, of all the Tungus. and inhabit the Trans-Baikal
and Yakutsk districts.'
The Wandering tribes are found all over Siberia except in the
Trans-Baikal. They wandor throughout the year, regardless of
seasons, and have no special clan-districts assigned among them,
but keep to long irregular tracts of country, without any definite
frontiers, along the rivers. They form about 45 per cent, of all
the Tungus proper, and pay even less in taxes than the Nomadic
people. They have preserved their language and nationality
better than any other section of this tribe.^
Since the clan as a whole has certain duties imposed upon it,
such as that of keeping the roads in order, &c., and since the clan
customarily separates in its wanderings, they find it difficult to
carry out these obligations ; hence some of these people have
formed themselves into territorial groups, from which no such
duties are required.^
A small number, about 4 per cent, of the Tungus, like some of
the Buryat, have joined the regiment of Cossacks, and in conse-
quence are exempt from the payment of taxes. ^
VI. The Turkic Tribes.
The nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes of Siberia have as their
social unit the clan. The clans are joined in larger groups, which
combine to form tribes. These again are grouped as nations, each
of which claims descent from a common ancestor.
Formerly, says Kharuzin,* tribal elders in the Turkic tribes
were elective, and their authority was limited by the tribal
assembly and by the council of elders of the clan. The clan
organization is still preserved with great strictness, especially
among the Turkic tribes of the Altai.
TJie Altaians. The tribes of the Russian Altai have no common
name, but are divided into three main groups : Altaians proper,
Telengit, and Toyoles. These groups do not differ very greatly
from one another in language, and form one nation. Their clans
' Op. cit., pp. 198, 215. 2 Op. cit., pp. 197, 215.
3 Op. cit., p. 96. * Op. cit., p. 202.
* N. Kharuzin, Ethno(/iaj)hi/, 1901, vol. i, part ii, p. 231.
are known as seolcs (in Eussian, Jcocniu, ' bones ') or ' generations '.
The Altaians themselves reckon as many as twenty-four of these,
but Potanin thinks that this number has some mystical significance
and does not represent the actual number of these groups.
The members of one clan live among those of another, and they
do not form separate encampments, as the Kirgis do, of each clan
by itself. 1
The people of a seoJc consider themselves related to each other.
When a member of the scoJc Totosh meets another Totosh clans-
man older even by one day than himself, he addresses him as ' uncle '
— ahagay, if on the father's, tatj, if on the mother's side. A fellow
clansman younger than himself he will call 'nephew'- — uchim,
for a paternal, dcgnym for a maternal ' nephew '. A woman older
than himself he calls 'aunt', tcnge ; or ahioncsh, 'grandmother'
(literally, ' old woman '), if she is much older.- Siijni/m (literally,
' girl ') is the name for a younger sister, and edem for an older.'
There is an interesting custom among these people, which is
possibly a survival from an older family system. This is the
presentation of harli/, i. e. a gift from the maternal uncle. Until
a boy is seven years old his hair is braided into two tresses worn
in front of the ears. When he reaches his seventh birthday, his
maternal uncle sends to him saying : ' Come ; I will restore to
you harltj.' He goes, and his uncle cuts off the tresses, in return
for which he is supposed to present the boy with a horse. If, as
sometimes happens, he fails to do so, the family of the boy has
the right to demand fulfilment of the duty through the proper
tribal authority.''
lite Kirgis. Among the Kirgis, where Mohammedanism has
destroyed the religious side of the culture except the cult of the
hearth, the social side has been much less affected, and the clan
organization remains fairly strong. All the Kirgis of the Great,
]Middling, and Little Ordas (excluding recent admixtures, such as
the Kara-Kalpak) count as their tribal ancestor the mythical
Alash-Khan : all three ordas have the watchword Alash. Besides,
each clan has as its special watchword the name of one of the
remote clan ancestors, its special insignia, and its own genealogy/
' Potanin, Sketches of Norlh-Wesfeni Afonr/oJia, 1883, vol. iv, pp. 1-2.
- Unfoitunately Mr. Potanin does not give a full list of relationship
terms, -whieh are so imjiortant for a full understanding of social structure.
3 Op. cit., p. 9.
■* Potanin, op. cit., p. 38. ^ Kharuzin, op. cit., p. 232.
Potanin speaks of Kotan as the t'oiimler of the Kirgis nation,
and of his three sons as the originators of the three ordas.^
In cases of blood-vengeance (khuna), the clan as a whole has the
responsibility for exacting the penalty from the aggressor, while
the latter's clan in similar manner assumes his guilt.
The authority of seniors and of their council is strictly pre-
served in their clans and onlas.-
'Hic Vrianlihai. The tribes of the Uriankhai inhabit chiefly the
valley between the Sayan Mountains and the Tangnu-Oloy, from
the Upper Kobdo to the Upper Bulguna River. One part of
these people, living in the north of the Tangnu-Oloy, have
become mongolized, speak a Mongol dialect, and like to be known
as the Mongol Oliot (Oliut). Potanin speaks of them as the
Kobdinsk Uriankhai.
The Uriankhai proper are a Turkic people, speaking a Turco-
Tartar dialect. They call themselves Tuba or Tuva ; Uriankhai
is the Mongol name for them. Potanin heard some of them call
themselves Tangnu Uriankhai, or Tangnu Tuvas.'
The Tangnu Uriankhai form five Moshuns. The head of each
is called ogurta {ogurda, (jiirta). One such ogurta, older than the
rest, is known as amhan, and the others are subordinate to him.
He, like the others, has one Jchoshun to govern. Each Idioslmn is
divided into four sumyns, except that of Kemchik, which is
divided into ten. The sumijn from which the oguiia comes, gives
its name to the whole Ichosliun, and the chief uses the same name,
with the addition of the word ogurta. For instance, the Tchoshun
governed by the amhan is composed of four siimgns, of which one
is called Uin. Hence the whole khosJtun is known as Uin, and
the amhan is called Uin-Ogurta. From this it appeai-s that a
sianyn is a clan, though Potanin tliinks that the sumi/n is further
subdivided.*
The Yakut. The Yakut of to-day are grouped in clans [aga-usa),
naslegs, and ulascs.
A clan is composed sometimes of only a few individuals, some-
times of several hundreds. A nasleg comprises from one to more
than thirty clans. The idus often includes several naslegs. In
former times the social group corresponding to the nasleg was
called aimak, while an idns corresponds to an older group known
' Potanin, op. cit., p. 17. - Kharuzin, op. cit., p. 23-3.
^ Potanin, op. cit., 1881, vol. ii, pp. 7, 8.
* Potanin, op. cit., vol. iv, pp. lU-12.
as djon. At present the largest ulus {djo>i) is the Djon Djakar of
Ului, which comprises 11,000 souls.^
There appears to be some confusion in the use of the terms idus
and naslcg. Both are sometimes called djon, and a clan, almdk.
But, however used, ahnah always denotes a subdivision of a djon.
Thus the northern Yakut uluses of Verkhoyansk, Ustiansk,
Elgetsk, Jigansk, and Kolymsk have only two strata in their
social structure ; with them nasleg and clan are one ; and this is
subordinate to the djon (uIhs)."- ^
The Clan. Sieroszewski thinks that the clan composed of blood-
relatives is the basis of Yakut social structure. The word aga-usa,
he says, means literally ' father-clan ' ; but he could not obtain
a completely satisfactory explanation of the term usa from the
Yakut. One of the most satisfactory was that given him in the idus
of Namsk, in 1^91 : ' Take all the branches, knots, leaves, and buds
which spring from one root, and you have an usa.'* Instead of
iisa, the Yakut often use the word idrdii, i.e. 'origin', 'root'.
They use the expression Jcun-cit nruta ('blood and flesh relation-
ship ') to refer to members of the same clan. That this was
not an empty phrase Sieroszewski had ample opportunity of
convincing himself. Especially in the north, from a mixed throng
of people he was often able to pick out members of one clan by
their strong resemblance to each other.^ According to one account
given to Sieroszewski, the Yakut reckon as members of a clan
descendants only as far as the ninth generation, after which they
speak of sijgan. One is allowed to marry a sygan ; and the saying
is, 'A sygan is an uru ("degree of relationship") which it is not
sinful not to save from drowning.' ^
Of course, at the present time, blood-relationship within the
^ Sieroszewski, ' 12 Lat w Kraju Yakuioic', p. 270.
^ The term iiaaley has not been in use long, and is Russian or Tungus
in origin ; even its pronunciation is strange to the Yakut tongue. The
word nlus is known all over Siberia, and indeed throughout Asia : the
Kirgis, Mongols, Buryat, Tartars, and even the Afghans use it. but with
variations of meaning. Among the Mongols it means ' nation ' ; among
the Tartars, ' society ' ; the Buryat and Tartars use it to denote a small
territorial group, a subdivision of the clan ; only the Afghans use it in
the same sense as the modern Yakut, to signify a large confederation
of clans. From a certain dislike to the term which Sieroszewski
observed among the Yakut, and from the fact that it has only com-
paratively recently appeared in official documents, he thinks that the
word was imported by the Cossacks from some other nation. (Op. cit.,
pp. 472, 473.)
=> Op. cit., p. 480. •• Op. cit., p. 246. ' Op. cit., p. 247.
^ Recorded by Sieroszewski in the idus of Namsk, 1892.
clan is hardly more tluvn a tradition.' When the Russians first
came into contact with the Yakut, their clan system was quite
highly developed, and the head of the clan (bis-iisu-foi/onoy had his
power limited to that of judge and leader in war.
All economic and legal questions were decided by a council of
elders {ogonyor) — fathers, uncles, elder brothers. Even now, ac-
cording to Sieroszewski, a Yakut will not buy or sell without
consulting his father, uncle, or elder brother.'
This form of social organization was intimately connected with
the ownership by the Yakut of large herds of horses, the common
property of the clan ; but when they began to herd cattle, this
involved a division of the tribe into smaller social groups, so that
the memory of the old large herds of horses and large groups of
people was only preserved in the ancient poems known as olongho.*
Thus, in the new economic conditions, as Sieroszewski thinks, the
family came to be the most important social unit, more stable than
the old clans of the horse-breeders. Antagonism between family
and clan shows itself nowadays in disputes which arise over
questions of inheritance. ° Failing a male heir, claim to property
lapses to the clan, and even a married sister of the deceased
receives nothing."
The whole clan to which a murderer belonged was held respon-
sible for the crime, and must make compensation either in blood
or by payment of damages. Sometimes a blood-feud between
clans became hereditary. An injury done by one member of
a clan to another of the same clan, if such cases ever arose, was
not held punishable. In the case of a dispute between members
of different clans, the decision of a clan would always be given in
favour of its own clansman. If a man killed a fellow-clansman,
he was tied to a tree in the depths of a forest and left there to
perish.^
Clans sometimes made alliances called iiyeUaJch (' reconciled ',
'peaceful'). Sieroszewski thinks that these alliances were made
' Op. cit., p. 248.
^ The meaning of his is not quite clear. Some of the Yakut said that
it is identical in meaning with ulus. The spirits invoked by a shaman
are said to be divided into three his: heavenly, earthly, and subterranean.
Each of these his is as large as three times nine ttsa (op. cit., pp. 471-2).
This word, which is no longer in use, may be derived from the old
Turanian word hifjCdch, hicis, hi/cd, meaning free, unmarried girl, noble
woman (op. cit., p. 335j.
' Op. cit., p. 447. * Op. cit., p. 304, ^ Op. cit., p. 305.
« Op. cit., p. 304. " Op. cit., p. 252.
between clans more or less remotely related by bluod, that they
were compelled to enter into such pacts by their common need of
defence against outsiders or by some economic cause, and that they
cemented the alliance by common sacrifices and festivals. These
latter were called //si/alhs ; the most important Ijeing the lesser
i/s>j(tJch in spring, and the great i/si/alc/i at midsummer. Ysi/cdhs
were also celebrated at weddings, peace-conferences, or simply as
an expression of joyousness. They were sham fights or tourna-
ments, trials of military skill, and ]>y the results were decided the
position that a particular clan should occupy in a confederation or
alliance. Very often these tourneys ended in real fights.
Although nowadays ihaysyalih is in a state of decadence,^ never-
theless, so lately as 1880-81, Sieroszewski witnessed some of these
festivals in Verkhoyansk, which were quite crowded and very lively.
Formerly no ijsi/alJi could be held without the presence of a shaman,
and the di'inking of htmiys from a common cup was a ver}' impor-
tant feature of the festivities.'^
All the traditions point to the great solidarity of alliances
between the chiefs of clans ; also to their independent attitude
with regard to each other. Superior to them all was the council
of the confederation.
' This, like the clan council, was composed of three circles. In
the first sat the chiefs of the clans {bis-usa-ioyono) and scscny '' ; in
the second the nobles {toyons) and warriors {hatyrs) ; and in the
third the common people and the youths. Each clan was grouped
behind its representative in the first circle, an arrangement still
observed in the %ilus councils, when they are held in the open
air.'
The sj)eeehes of the orators were addressed to the whole tribe
thus assembled in council. Here the watch-word of the alliance,
Urui! (the same 'Hurrah!' whose sound has gone forth into all
lands) often rang out ; often the orators called upon the god of the
allies, the father of all the Yakut, Aiy-toyon, to hear them from
his milk-white throne. Here toyon-kyl, tlie eagle, symbol of the
confederation, looked down upon them from his perch.^
^ The ifxijalch was similar to the tsatjan-tsara (white month) or New
Year festival of the Mongols, to the taihjans of the Buryat, to the bear-
festival of the Gilyak, &c.
2 Op. cit., pp. 2G0-2.
^ Sesen or sckhen, an adviser or wise man (not necessarily old, but
always inspired). (Op. cit., 257.)
^ Op. cit., p. 260.
Each clan and each confoileration of chins within the tribe liad
its own shout, or watchword, and badge and songs, but these are
now almost forgotten by the Yakut.
Thr Funiih/. The general term signifying relationship is itru.
But iini means also 'wedding', 'relationship by marriage'. To
denote blood-relationship the Yakut say kan-dt uruta ('blood-and-
flesh relationship '). There is no other word corresponding to the
concept of relationship, unless it be tonh'j, ' root ', ' Ijeginning ',
* origin *, or Mnjihi, ' household '. This latter term, however,
embraces even serving-men ; while a son who leaves the house is
no longer considered one of the largan.
There are two names for a clan : Yc-iisa, ' mother-clan ', and
aga-Ksa, ' father-clan '. Nowadays yc-usa, whatever its original
signification, is a ' mother-clan ' only in name, being really suIj-
ordinate to the aga-iisa. In the ye-usa relationship is reckoned in
the male line only to the ninth generation, as far, that is, as the
traditional sygan, ' whom it is no sin to allow to drown '. Since in
the aga-usa also, only nine generations are reckoned for con-
sanguinit}^, the sygan again marking the limit, since, in both
ye-usa and aga-usa, married females are not reckoned, and since, in
both, descent is reckoned in the male line, it follows, at least in
theory, that the two groups are identical. In practice they are
identical if the aga-usa comprises only one ye-usa ; but, as a matter
of fact, usually it is composed of several. According to traditions
recorded by Sieroszewski in the Namsk district, and according also
to his own opinion, the distinction between ye- and aga-usa arose
as follows : In comparatively recent times, until the coming of
the Russians, indeed, the Yakut had the custom of polygyny. The
offspring of a man by all his wives formed the basis of an aga-usa ;
while the offspring of each separate wife would form that of a
ye-usa.^ Each yc-usa has its own old name, better remembered
than the official name given at baptism after some Russian clerk
or merchant. -
Terms of Relationship.^
TiJrut {tordij), ' origin '. Torid-Uirhn, ' my ancestors '.
Ahugii, ' forefather '.
Asil, father's father and his brothers. KJios-iisa, ' paternal
grandfather '.
^ Op. cit., p. 298. 2 Op. cit., p. 293.
' Op. cit., Appendixes i. and ii. Also pp. 337-9.
Aba, father's mother and her sisters. Khos-iiM, ' paternal grand-
mother '.
Abaga [obaf/a], father's elder brother and father's elder lirst
cousin on the father's side ; also mother's father.
Agd, literally ' older ' ; also used to denote a father. A Yakut
will ask concerning the age of some person as compared with his
own : ' Is he ar/a (older) or balijs (younger) *? '
Agas {iidji/), elder sister, paternal uncle's daughter, daughter of
a first cousin on the father's side — in general, any woman older
than the speaker, and belonging to the same aga-usa.
Ubaif (biij), elder brother, elder male cousin on the father's side :
younger brother of father and father's cousin in the paternal line,
and their elder sons ; generally any man older than the speaker
and younger than his father, in the aga-usa.
Ini, younger brother, father's younger brother and his son ; in
general any man in the aga-usa younger than the speaker, but
who could not be his son.
Sitrdju (?) ^ By this term women address a younger brother,
younger sons of father's brothers, and the sons of these.
Surits (?) ^ This term is addressed by a woman to her father's
brothers younger than herself,
Sangas, father's sister, father's female cousin in the male line ;
wife of father's brother, wife of elder brother, and of elder cousin
in the male line ; wife of brother's son ; all being older than the
speaker.
Balys, younger sister, younger cousin in the male line ; father's
sister younger than the speaker ; generally, any woman in the
aga-usa younger than the speaker.
Sidn, grandson, brother's son ; generally any relative in the
third degree of relationship in the male line.
Sian-cMr, great-grandson, cousin in the male line of the fourth
degree of relationship ; generally, any person in the fourth degree
of relationship in the male line.
Sygan (?)^, the children and grandchildren of two sisters in their
relations to one another; family connexions.
St){g), remote relatives — so remote as not to come under the
prohibited degrees of marriage. In the female line this term
applies to the second generation. In former times, in the male
line, the prohibitions included even the ninth generation, and
nowadays reach to the fourth generation at least.
' The interrogation points are Sieroszewski's.
Ychchaf, ' descendant ',
Ar, ' man '; (irim, ' my man ' — the colloquial name for a husband.
Ogonnlor, 'old', is another collo({uial term for a husband, or a
host.
Oiiolh, 'wife'. Amahhsin, 'old', amiilJisiii-cni, 'my old', are
colloquial terms for a ■wife. Dja'khtcr, 'woman', djalhterem,
' my woman ', are other colloquial names.
Yci, ' mother ' (literally ' womb ', ' embryo '), used also in reference
to mothers of animals.
Tai/, mother's brother. Ultilhan-Uui, mother's elder brother
(uhilchan, ' big '). Achchigaii-tay, mother's younger brother [achchi-
gat/, 'small').
Tai/sangcis, wife of a maternal uncle. AcJichir/a)j-ta/f is the
term for sons of a mother's brother older than the speaker ; chos-
tag, those younger than the speaker. The wife of an acJichigag-
tag is called achcJiigag-tag-sangas. The wife of a chostag is spoken
of as chos-Tiinit. The daughter of a maternal uncle older than the
speaker is called tag agas ; younger than the speaker, tag halgs.
Tag sidn is the name for a grandchild of a maternal uncle. The
mother's older sister is also tag agas. and her younger sister tag
halgs ; while their husbands are known as fag-Jcutwi.
Togon, father of the husband. The literal meaning is ' master ',
'chief.
Kliotun, husband's mother. Literally ' mistress '.
Aga-lajlgn, father-in-law (wife's father), his brother, and his
father. Tangiir also means wife's father, his brother, or his
father ; the father of a son's wife or of a brother's son's wife, or
of a grandson's wife. In a word, every man connected with the
wife, including the match-maker, or the men representing the clan
at the wedding.
BilldJch, remote relations or, rather, friends.
Ya-hglgn, wife's mother, wife's mother's sister or mother.
Kliodogog also means wife's mother, wife's mother's sister or
mother ; also the mother of a son's wife or grandson's wife ; and,
generally, every kind of remote female relative, match-maker, or
female representative of an allied clan at the wedding.
Uol-Jcglgn, wife's brother, wife's male cousins on both sides.
Agas kgign, wife's elder sister, wife's elder female cousins on
the mother's side, elder daughter of wife's brother.
Kiim halgs, wife's younger sister, wife's cousin on the mother's
side, younger daughter of wife's brother.
\
Kidiii) {?), luisband of an elder sister.
Kiitmt, daughter's husband, husband of younger sister and of
mother's younger sister.
Kinit, son's wife, wife of younger bruther. The wife of an elder
brother is sangas.
Bargiin, form of address of a younger brother's to an elder
brother's wife.
Badjjja, form of address of an elder brother's to a younger
brother's wife.
Kirani/aJch aga, stepfather. KiriinijaJch-i/u, stepmother.
Ogo, child. Kefers exclusively to age, and may be used also
with reference to birds, animals, trees.
Ogom, ' my child ', refers also to grandchildren and even to
younger brothers. Colloquially this is used by older people in
addressing younger ones, without any reference to relationship.
Vol, ' boy ', ' son '. Sister's husband younger than the speaker.
In general, different degrees in the descending line of male
relationship, defined more exactly by the addition of various
words.
Kt/s, 'girl', 'daughter'. Son's wife, and different degrees in
the descending line of female relationship, with various defining
terms added.
KaJch itol, adopted brother. Ittilih Jci/s, adojited sister.
Igird, twins.
Sieroszewski says that the Yakut have no name for widow
or widower.
From what has been said we see that the terms for ' mother '
and ' wife ' being definite and ancient, the concept corresponding
to these terms must have originated in the mind of the Yakut
before that of ' father ' and ' husband '. Another curious fact in
this connexion is that in the olongho we have frequent references
to heroes who go forth to find their fathers.^
The terminology of relationship takes into account primarily
sex and degrees of age. Thus Yakut society consists of two main
groups, [a) men and women of the paternal line l)orn earlier
[uhay, agas), and (b) men and women of the paternal line born
later {ini, haJgs).
' Op. cit., p. 338.
VII. Tiii; MoNnuLic Tribivs.
Tlie Mongol ic tribes of Siberia belong to the nomadic peoples,
though their mode of life is becoming more sedentary. Mr. F. W.
Leontovich,^ ■who has made a special study of the Mongol
peoples, says that they still preserve ^vith great care their clan
genealogies ; and though they are widely dispersed, those living
among alien groups keep the memory of the clan to which they
originally belonged. The patriarchal type of clan-organization is
universal among the Mongolic tribes.
The Mongols proper trace their descent from Biurte-Chino
(' Blue- Wolf '). the ancestor of Djingis-Klian, and say that they
are in the direct line of descent from the latter.- But many
other Mongolic tribes make the same claim, e.g. the Buryat clan
of Selenginsk.
Historically, the Mongols are divided into two groups. East and
West Mongols. The latter were made up of four tribes, named
after four brothers, Djungar, Turgut (Turgout), Khoshot, and
Durbot (Diirbiit). They called themselves the Fourfold Con-
federacy, or the Four-Coloured Confederacj', from the four colours
of their insignia, as distinguished from the East Mongols, who
formed a Fivefold Confederacy of five groups corresponding to the
five colours of their insignia.
In war they formed nine group-units, each Avith insignia of
a particular colour, hence the name ' Nine-Coloured ' ascribed to
these people. In the clan, the rule of seniority is observed, so
that among the Kalmuk for example, when a new halting-place
is reached, they pitch their tents in an order depending on priority
of age.-'
The Urianlchai The Kobdinsk Ui'iankhai. like the Darkhat
and Baita, are Turki in origin, but use a Mongolic dialect and
consider themselves as belonging to the old Western Mongolic
branch of the Oliut."* The Mongols call them Uranga. They
have no hereditary rulers, as the Turkic and Tangnu Uriankhai
have, but are governed by two administrative officials called ombo.
They are divided into ten sumyns, and are, according to Fotanin, '
the poorest and most disorganized of the Mongolic tribes.
' TJi- Ancient Mongolo-Kalmuh Code ....
^ N. Kharuzin, Ethnoymphy, 1901, vol. i, part ii, p. 234.
' Op. cit., p. 2.3.5. * Sometimes spelt Eliiit.
® Sketches of North-Weatern Mongolia, 1881, vol. ii, i)p. 34-8.
The Kalniul: Eucli Kalniuk family occupies a tenl Ly itself;
and several such tents occupied by related families form a Ichoton
having a common household administration with an elder at the
head. Several hhoions, related to each other, and having a common
wandering-ground, compose an aijmali. A group of related aijmaJis
form an ofol; which was formerly mainly an administrative or
strategic group. These old ofoJcs are now represented by clans
{(ingi), and the word ofoJc is reserved for the common wandering-
ground of the clan. An ulus is made up of related clans forming
a 'confederation', sometimes called orda, and governed by an
elder, known as noi;on. The tiibe {tangatchi) comprises several
uIhscs, and is governed by an elder, called tayslia}
Kharuzin^ says that the tribal elder was elected at a general
assembly of the tribe. The result of the election was made known
by placing the chosen man upon a sheet of felt, called Icoshma.
Candidates must be in the line of direct descent from the clan of
Dj'nniis-Khan ; so that in the Mongolian state, based on the clan
system, one clan has precedence over all others. The descendants
of this privileged clan call themselves ' white-bones ' in contra-
distinction to all the other clans who are known as ' black-bones '.
Noble ladies are known as * white -flesh ' and common women as
'black-flesh'.^ At the present day the office of tribal elder is no
longer elective, but hereditary, passing from father to son or to
the nearest relative in the male line ; hence it is not now
a question of the ascendancy of a clan but of a family. The tribal
elder is in modern times almost independent of any control in
the exercise of his office ; for the council of clan elders, which was
formerly invested with the power of regulating his authority, has
practically lost all significance. Still, the old patriarchal tradition
prevents exercise of an unlimited despotism by the tribal chief
over people who are of the same tribe or clan as himself;
he may, however, be as despotic as he will towards the class of
slaves.'*
21ic Buryat. The Buryat form a branch of the Eastern Mon-
gols. They speak a dialect of the Mongolian language, differing
both from the spoken tongue of the true Mongols of Khalkas and
from the language of Mongolic literature. It is also distinct from
Kalmuk. According to some traditions, they are descendants
> Op. cit., p. 236. - Ethnography, 1903, vol. iii, p. 231.
^ 8. Pallas. Travels through Siberia and Tartary, part iii, p. 204.
^ Kharuzin, ibid.
of the ancient Oyrat.^ The north-western Buryat trace their
descent from Bukha-Noyna, a mythical hero, while those of the
south-west claim as their common ancestor the hero, Barj^ubator.
The Selenginsk Buryat say that they are descended in direct line
from Djingis-Khan. The Buryat of the Irkutsk Government,
north-west of Lake Baikal, are called Bargu-Buryat ; those from
the south-west of tlie lake are known as Mongol-Burj'at. The
Buryat inhabiting the Amur basin have the name Aga-Buryat.
In ancient times the Buryat clan was known as >/agan. The
Russians have formed administrative clans, each composed of
several yoijans. At the head of the clan is an elder, called
shelenga. Several clans are combined to form an administrative
group called in Russian ricdonisira, with an elder known as taysha.
Among social events which help to preserve the unity of the
clan, one of the most important is their institution of a co-operative
hunt, in which all members of the clan, or of several allied clans,
take part. It is called zcgeta-aba among the Bargu-Buryat, and
by the Mongol-Burj^at, aha-JchaidaJc. The hunt sometimes lasts for
several months, and is under the leadership of a tiibucJd, whom
every one obeys, and whose office is very often hereditary.
Besides the tuhuchl there are usually several galshas {gal, 'fire')
whose duty it is to look after the fire and food ; and two guides,
gazarisli. There are also other assistants of lesser importance
called ya'klnihj and malgoP-
Another social event of great importance as a means for pre-
serving the unity of the clan is the tailgan. In the description
of this socio-religious festival we shall follow Klementz,''
The tailgan is a public sacrifice (as distinguished from a private
one, called kirik) performed on behalf of the whole community.
Sacrificial animals are supplied by several households, according
to their means ; and after the sacrifice the meat is divided equally
among the participants. The tailgan is a popular or social festival,
in which the youths engage in wrestling and jumping ; foi'merly
there was archery as well. Tailgans are celebrated in honour
of the various zayans, at certain definite seasons of the year: the
' N. Kharuzin in his Ethnographi/ (1901, vol. i, part ii, p. 2.34) says
that the Oliut are identical with the Oyrat and are Western Mongols.
Other reliable authorities, such as Agapitoft' and Khangaloft', and
Klementz, class them with the Eastern Mongols. Pallas says that ' Oyi-at
are commonly called Kalmuk '. (Pallas, op. cit., p. 203.)
- 'The Buryat', Brockhaus and Ephron, Encyclopaedia.
^ Klementz, Article ' Buriat ', E. R. E.
tailgan to the western Tengrris in spring corresponds to the Yakut
spring festival, >/s_)/rtJch ; that to the Waicr-Klmns is in summer,
and the one to the mothor-earth, at the end of the latter season.
The general character of all these festivals is the same, the only-
special features being connected with the character of the deities
invoked. The commonest and widest-spread form of the ritual
is that used at the sacrifices in honour of the western Khans}
A large open space at the foot of a hill is selected by the people,
who go out into the fields in a body.'- The various utensils, the
wine, and the sour milk provided for use at the festival, are
fumigated beforehand with pine-bark. At the house of one of
the more respected particii)ants, the shaman sprinkles tarasun
before the assembled company, who are in readiness to set out
for the appointed spot. There, utensils with i^rovisions are
arranged in a row from west to east ; the participants take their
seats towards the south in a place called turglie — a name also
given to branches of birch stuck in the ground in front of the
utensils. There is also a place set apart for the sacrificial animals,
and for big kettles in which the meat is to be boiled. Every
participant has to provide a rope made of white hair intertwined
with white and black ribbons. By means of the rope formed by
joining these (a white hare-skin being then affixed to it) the tops
of some birch-trees which are now planted in the ground are
bound together and the trees supported with pegs to keep them
in an inclined position. When this is done, the shaman reads
a prayer, and the participants, at his command, pour out the
contents of brimming cups, which they have been holding in
their hands.''
This libation is thrice repeated, and the empty cups are thrown
away. If a man's cup falls on its bottom, this is accounted
a favourable omen, and he is acclaimed by all with shouts of
' Torokh ! ToroJch ! ' Further libations are made, after the shaman
has placed in each cup a branch of the Picea sibirica {jido), and
sour milk is given to the sacrificial animals, which are then killed
and their skins taken off with the heads and legs. The lungs,
larynx, and heart are left with the skins, which are stuffed with
I Iljid.
- Except the married women and widows, who in exogamic society
are of a different clan. These remain at home. The jjarticipants in the
festival are all men and girls.
3 Ibid.
straw. Birch-twigs are stuck in the nostrils, and to the foreheads
are fastened pieces of the bark of the Jido. Each of the stuffed
skins is hung on one of the birches prepared before, Avith the
head turned in the direction of the dwelling of the deity invoked.^
The meat is now boiled and separated from the bones, which
are collected, those of each animal in a separate heap, on little
tables made of birch-sticks, and burnt. The ends of the animals'
intestines are burnt in a separate fire.-
The principal rite is performed after this. Everyone takes
a pail containing meat, and stands up, while the shaman invokes
the western rayfl«6'. These come, each in his turn, and relate
their own stories. When Bukha-Noin-Baobai '■' arrives, the shaman
goes down on all fours, bellows like a bull, butts those present as
if with horns, and tries to overturn the birch-trees tied with the
white ropes, while several men hold up the trees against his
attack. Unsuccessful in this, the Khan dei>arts with fresh bellow-
ings. The shaman next invokes another ::ai/au, Nagad-Zarin ;
and then this rite, together with the whole ceremony, is con-
cluded by petitions and entreaties to the western gods for various
benefits.'*
VIII. The Finnic Tribes.
The clan among the Finnic tribes appears to have been in
the past, even if it is not always now, the most important social
unit. The terminology used within the clan in the Finnic tril)es
of the Votyak, Ostyak, Cheremiss, and Mordva, shows that family
relationships are classificatory, and that degrees of age play an
important part in these relationships. This is the conclusion
reached by Mr. Kharuzin in his Etlinocjraxjlnj .^ As far as the
evidence hitherto gathered goes, a similar system obtains among
other Neo-Siberians like the Yakut and the Altaians, as well as
among some of the Palaeo-Siberians, e. g. the Gilyak and Yukaghir,
and, to a certain extent, the Chukchee and the Koryak.
The Vofi/aJi. — Thus the Votyak use the words aij and mum// for
'father' and 'mother' respectively, these terms also signifying
' Ibid. 2 ii^i^i
^ Bukha-Noin-Baobai : ' Fathor-Master-Ox ', the most popular of the
■western Khans and progenitor of a Buryat tribe. He is the second son
of Budurga-Sagan-Tengeri (Klementz, ' Tengris or heaven-gods ', § 4 of
art. quotedj.
* Ibid.
^ Ethnography , vol. ii, 1903, p. 36.
* male ' antl ' female '. The terms nun'ia and agaii mean generally
'a man older than myself, whether father, elder bi-other, uncle, or
nephew. The word r//«, meaning a 'man younger than myself,
is similarly used. Apcvj and aliay, signifying a ' woman older than
myself, and ^ suzcr\ a 'woman younger than myself, are applied
in a similar way to relatives.^
A Votyak clan comprises from ten to thirty villages. The clan
is united by its descent from a common founder-protector, and by
a common cult. At the present day, however, the group of villages
is becoming more and more a territorial unit, known as mer, and
less of a clan in the strict sense. The group of clansmen claiming
descent from a common ancestor is known by the name di.'^
The OsfifctJi. Castren says that the Ostyak, like the Samoyed,
are divided into clans, of which each is in fact a large family and
an independent state .■^' * The elder of the clan was called urt. They
are sometimes mentioned in literature as kniaz (' prince '), a Russian
word imported by the Cossacks, and by them aj^plied indiscrimi-
nately to all sorts of native authorities. In ancient times the tcrt
was very powerful, but in some matters he gave place to the oldest
man of the clan in deference to the latter's greater age and
experience,^
At the time of the Tartar dominance the Ostyak clans were
called vdlosti. Since the Russian conquest the office of urt has
been abolished, and it has become difficult to trace the clan geneal-
ogies. The northern Ostyak are still nomadic and pagan, and are
occupied Avith reindeer-breeding. The southern division, living
along the Irtysh, are more or less sedentary fishermen and tillers
of the soil.^
From the old Ostyak tales and songs Patkanoff has drawn
an account of their society as it was befoi'e the Tartar and Russian
conquests. These people have never exhibited a tendency to unite
into anything resembling a nation or even an organised tribe ; they
have always been grouped in clans independent of each other, each
clan having its own chief, and there was seldom even anything
1 I. N. Smirnoflf, The Vot,jal\ 1890.
^ Piervukhin, Materials for the ArchaeoJor/y of the Eastern Provinces of
Russia, 1896.
^ Castren, Reiseerinnerungen aiis den Jahren 1838-1844, 1853, p. 286.
* Only the Obdorsk Ostyak have preserved their patriarchal insti-
tutions intact. (Castien, op. cit., p. 286.)
« N. ratkanoff, The Ancient Life of the Ostijal; 1891, vol. iv, p. 75.
'' Op. cit., vol. iii, p. 87.
like an alliance of clans. The chief (prince) was the real rulei',
but on certain important occasions there was an assembly, in which
only the oldest members of the clans were allowed to take part in
discussions. Every assembly began with a sacrifice to the gods,
and a general feast to which the people were summoned by the
slaves of the chief. ^ The chiefs (princes) and their families formed
a strong aristocratic caste. They were probably chosen for their
physical prowess and moral (Qualities, but this was before the time
referred to in the songs and legends. They were a warrior class,
whose duty it was to defend the land from foreign foes.'^ In time
of peace they occupied themselves with hunting and tournaments.
The commoners {mi/gdat-ijals), although much more numerous,
are but seldom referred to in the poems.^ The slaves {fei/, ort,
' male slaves ' ; teif-ncn, ort-ncn, ' female slaves ') were probably
obtained in war, and had various household occupations in the
houses of the nobles. They were private property, and their
owners could do with tliem what they Avould. They were often
given as part of the kalt/m for a bride. On the whole, the
treatment accorded them was kind.^
When the Ostyak were at war with the Saraoyed, and after-
wards with the Tartars and Russians, they formed alliances among
their clans.'* During these wars they had, like the Vogul and
Samoyed, the custom of scalping a slain enemy. Some of the
songs tell also of the heroes eating the hearts of the foes they had
killed.^
' Op. cit., p. 76. - Op. cit., p. 77. ^ Qp. cit., p. 82.
* Op. cit., p. 83. 5 Op. cit., p. 105. « Op. cit., p. 101.
Chapter IV
MARRIAGE
PALAEO-SIBERIANS
I. The Chukchee.
Among the Chukchee, especially among the reindeer-breeding
portion of the tril)e, unmarried people are extremely rare, and in
most cases they are individuals with a certain sexual defect. This
kind of deformity is called by the Chukchee totamorhinc {' thou
acquirest a swelling on the mcnibrnm virile ')}
In the Chukchee language there is no term for ' girl ', for
virginity is not required or expected. There is a word for
* woman ' {neusqat), and for ' separate woman ', i. e. a woman
living alone {nanra-naw). There is also an expression ' not yet put
in use' {yep ayaakelen), probably nearly equivalent to our word
' girl '. In spite of this and of the sensuality of the Chukchee,
which shows itself in private life and in their mythology, Bogoras^
observes: 'Still, many of the Chukchee girls are chaste until
their marriage ; and in comparison with the other tribes of this
country, the Chukchee are considerably more decent. Among the
Russians and Russianized natives throughout the whole north-
east from the Lena River to Kamchatka hardly any girl remains
a virgin until marriage. Most of them begin sexual life with the
first traces of maturity, being but fifteen or sixteen, and sometimes
only twelve or thirteen years old, and c^uite immature. All kinds
of cases of adultery and incest occur even in the families of the
clergy, and are participated in by monks and missionaries.' We
read that the Reindeer-Chukchee girl is shy and proud by nature,
and 'would avoid flirting with a man wholly unknown to her'.^
But if she has children before marriage they are treated in the
same way as children born after marriage. If a very young girl
bear children she is called ' the fawn mother ' (some female fawns
bearing young when they are one year old). On the whole, the
^ Bogoras, The aiidxhee, ,T. N. P. E., vol. vii, p. 539.
^ Op. cit., p. 672. 3 iijij_
Chukcliee have an idea that early marriages are bad for the health
of the woman, and intercourse with one 'not having lull breasts
and the menses' is considered shameful.^ According to Dr. Meli-
koff, the violation of a girl not perfectly mature is a serious crime,
and therefore is Severely punished by the Council of the Elders.^
Marriage between relatives, especially between cousins, is the
most frequent form among the Chukchee. Sexual intercourse
between uncle and niece is considered incestuous, though Bogoras
knew of two cases of such relations, one of which was a marriage.
The husband in this latter case was ridiculed by the neighbours.
The same writer observed two cases of sexual relations between
father and daughter, and gives us many examples of Chukchee
tales relating to marriage between brother and sister, which in
actual life are considered incestuous.''
One tale about the country of Luren (a Chukchee village called
Luren lies on the Pacific shore, north from Indian Point) says :
* The Maritime people living in that country were exterminated
by famine. Only two were left : a full-grown girl and her infant
brother. She fed him with pounded meat. When he grew up
she asked him to marry her. "Otherwise we shall remain child-
less," said the sister. '*"VVe shall have no descendants, and the
earth will remain without people. It cannot be peopled other-
wise. And who sees us? Who will say 'shame'? Who wdll
know about it in the world ? We are all alone in the world."
The brother said, " I do not know, I feel bad ; it is forbidden."
Then the sister began to think. '' How can I do it ? Our line of
descent will break off with us." The young woman goes to
a distant place, builds a house, quite different to their own,
prepares everything belonging to it, and makes new clothes for
herself. Then she returns and tells her brother that she has seen
a house somewhere on the shore. The brother goes in search of
this house and finds it. The sister is already there. She has
changed her clothes, the expression of her face, the tone of her
voice, and he takes her for another woman. After some hesitation
he takes her for his wife. Then begins a life in two houses : the
sister is here and there and plays with success her double role.
' Op. cit., p. 573.
"^ Dr. Melikotf's report is in manuscript. Bogoras, however, expresses
some doubt with regard to the trustworthiness of Melikoff's interpreter,
the Chukchee Eiheli. There is no Council of the Elders now and no
punishment as a public institution, says Bogoras (p. 574).
* Bogoras, op. cit., p. 576.
Finally, when she is pregnant, the brother ceases to think of his
sister, and they live at the new place. One child is born, then
another. The family multiplies and becomes a peoi)le. From
them are born all the people in the camps and villages,'^
Tliere exists universally among the Chukchee a custom of
marrying young children, who then grow up together and are
very much attached to one another later on, when they are
actually married. This is the case in marriages between relatives
or between members of two friendly families.
While staying on the Dry Anui Kiver, Bogoras heard of
a marriage arranged before the birth of one of the children. One
Chukchee had a son three years old. The wife of another was
about to give biith to a child, and they were all convinced that it
would be a daughter ; so they settled that the marriage ritual
should take place the first autumn after the birth of the girl.
Sometimes families exchange their daughters.-
The most curious side of this custom is that the age of the
persons whose relatives marry them by exchange is of no account.
In a case he observed on the Oloi Eiver, Bogoras states that
a man, Qimaqiii, gave his five-year-old son to be married to a girl
of twenty, and in exchange for her he gave his niece of twelve
years old to be married to a man who was over twenty years of
age. The wife nursed the boy, waiting until he should grow up.
In some cases of this kind the wife may have a male * marriage-
companion', and, having a child of her own, nurse it and her
contracted husband together.^ This is done, as the Chukchee say,
*to ensure the love of the young husband in the future.''*
3Iarriage Ceremonies. The most usual method of oljtaining the
wife is by serving for her. This is called among the Chukchee
* for wife herdsman being ' {naundourgin). This term is also used
by the Maritime Chukchee, altliough they have no herds. There
the bridegroom lives in the house of the girl's father and works
for him. But we find, especially in the myths, the description of
another kind of marriage. When a man from one village seeks
a wife from another, often at a great distance, he has to surmount
' Op. cit. p., 577. 2 Op. cit., p. 578. ' Ibid.
* ' The marriage between a full-grown girl and a young boy ', says
Bogoras, 'occurs between many other people more civilized than the
Chukchee. Until recent times they were very frequent in the villages of
Great Russia, the role of actual husband in this case falling to the
father-in-law. This is called snokhachc^tvo (from s)iokha — daughter-in-law).
Such intercourse the Chukchee consider improper.' (Op. cit., p. 578.)
many diftieulties. either on the part of lier parents or herself. In
such tales the bride is sometimes described as being kept in a big
iron box, and the suitor must set her free ; sometimes the
parents conceal the place where she is hidden. But there are also
cases where the bride is the opposer, being described as a strong
and proud girl. Thus, in one story, a girl caused her suitors to
run foot-races with her. and the one who succeeded in distancing
her she took in marriage. Sometimes a series of contests takes
place before a man succeeds in obtaining his wufe. Even at the
present day such romantic marriages occur. ^
In the case of serving for a wife the bridegroom makes
preliminary inquiries through a friend or relative, a proceeding
which is termed 'Thou askest for a wife' [neicew girJcin). This
friend begins service as a representative of the suitor by bringing
from the woods bundles of fuel. The father-in-law then has
a conversation with him, in which the former shows anger and
displeasure, either real or affected. The * asking for a wife ' lasts
several days or even weeks, during which the representative must
not only work, but try to please the family. When the father
gives his consent, this is sometimes reckoned as the end of the
courtship, and the suitor may take the girl ; but in most cases,
even nowadays, this only gives him the right to court her person-
ally. Frequently he acts himself from the beginning without the
help of an intermediary ; the gathering of fuel is, however, an
essential part of the procedure. Only then does the period of
trial begin, and lasts from one to three years. Some of the old
Chukchee refuse food and shelter to the poor suitor, and at any
time he may be dismissed ; but it is considered a disgrace to
return home passively instead of resisting such treatment. After
the first few months, the suitor is allowed to sleep in the inner
room, and then usually he cohabits with his future bride. If he
is a good herdsman, the father endeavours to postpone their
departure, and ' when the son-in-law takes his wife home without
quarrelling with her father he is usually given some reindeer, the
number of which depends upon the quality of woi'k done by the
young man during his period of service'.
Bogoras was told that a wealthy Chukchee gives his son-in-law
* freedom of one day ', which means that the bridegroom is free to
catch as many reindeer as he can for himself on that day. As
' Op. cit, pp. 580-3.
a rule it is considered improper to pay for a bride 'as if she were
a reindeer', and the Cliukchee always criticize the Tungiis and
Yakut on this point. A second wife is very rarely acquired
through service ; the suitor gives to the girl's father a few
reindeer, not as payment, but as a so-called 'joyful gift'. Still,
Bogoras knew of middle-aged rich men who already had families,
and who had to serve several months in the families of the girls
whom they wished to marry.^
The time of trial is much easier and shorter when the suitor is
adopted as a son-in-law, called by the Chukchee ' continuous
dweller' {vata itilin). The wife is withheld from him for several
years to make his attachment stronger ; but even after his wife
has borne him a child, he may be dismissed at any time. ' Only
after a stay of several years, when his work has left its mark on
the common herd, and perhaps he has some reindeer marked with
his own ear-mark, does his position become more stable, and then
he receives a voice in the family affairs.' ^
Some tales describe the ravishing of Chukchee girls performed
by men of other tribes, by spirits, by an eagle, a whale, a raven,
&c. Sometimes the ravishing was practised within the tribe, but
this seldom occurs in modern times. ' In olden times ... a com-
pany of 5'oung men would seize a young girl in the open, bind her
hands and feet, and carry her to the house of one who wanted to
have her for a wife. Not only the men of alien families, but even
the relatives and the cousins, acted so after being refused by the
father of the girl.'^ After such an abduction the parents would
sometimes receive another woman of the family in exchange for
their daughter. Marriages by flight, in the case where parents
refuse their consent, do occur, though rarely.
The Eeindeer Chukchee sometimes like to take wives from
other tribes — the Koryak, the Tungus, and the Yukaghir. The
woman soon adopts Chukchee manners. As all the tribes in the
neighbourhood of the Eeindeer Chukchee are much poorer than
the latter, they very readily give their daughters in marriage to
rich Chukchee. A poor member of one of their tribes is thought
very lucky if he is adopted as a son, and later on as a son-in-law,
by a Chukchee reindeer-breeder.'*
Bogoras knows of twenty cases of marriages between Kussians
and Chukchee, and supposes that here economic reasons play a
» Op. eit., p. 586. - Op. cit., p. 587.
^ Op. cit., p. 590. ' Op. cit., p. 592.
certain part.^ The Russian women adapt themselves very easily
to the new hlb and like it, tliough it is dillicult for them in the
beginning. ' One knows neither the language nor the way of life '
— said one of them to Bogoras. ' One feels a yearning to go back
to the river, and weeps all the time. Then comes an old " knowing-
woman " and performs an incantation, which takes away the sorrow
and makes one more adapted to the new life.'^ Keferring to this,
the Russian women on the liver said that the Chukchee women,
with their incantations, take out of the woman her Russian soul
and put in its place a Chukchee soul. Therefore these women
ever afterwards love life in the open.^
Generally, mixed Russo-Chukchee marriages are without
children. 'I should also mention', says Bogoras, 'that many
Russianized families of the Lower Kolyma form actual combina-
tions of group-marriages with Chukchee families ; or, properly
speaking, the Chukchee consider it as a group-marriage, and the
Russians rather as a kind of prostitution. The Chukchee set
great value on these relations, because they consider the Russians,
notwithstanding all their hunger and need, as belonging to a
higher civilization ; and the Russians strive to get out of these
relatives some reindeer-meat free of cost, also some cheap reindeer-
skins and costly peltries of the tundra. So in several Eussian
families, even of clerks, merchants, and clergymen, there are
children reputed to be of Chukchee blood. Thus the two eldest
children of the church-beadle of Nishne-Kolymsk, a son and a
daughter, are called by the neighbours "Chukchee offspring".
I asked the mother about the origin of this name. '"Of course
they are Chukchee, paid for with many reindeer. In those years
I fed the whole hungry neighbourhood." And this "was true ' —
adds Bogoras — ' because on the Lower Kolyma in times of hunger,
every piece of food is divided among all.' ^
Bogoras did not know of any marriages between the Chukchee
and the Yakut, because, he explains, the Yakut do not suffer so
much from hunger as the Russian Creoles and the Tungus.
Marriage liite. This occurs in the house of the groom, if he
^ The Reindeer Chukchee of late years have removed to some fifty
miles' distance from the nearest Russian village in order to restrict the
coming of hungry river-men with their still more hungry dogs. But
those who have married Russian girls cannot very easily go away from
their relatives, and so they become poor. (Bogoras, p. 594.)
' Op. cit., p. 593. 3 iijid^ 4 Op. cit., p. 594.
takes the wife to himself, or in the house of the bride, if the
liridegroom becomes an adopted son-in-law. The groom goes to
the house of her father to fetch the bride ; she drives her own
reindeer, and is sometimes surrounded by her relatives. Then
behind the tent, at a spot set apart for sacrifices, is jjlaced a family-
sledge on which the tent-poles are usually carried, and on both
sides of it at some distance stand the travelling-sledges of the
bride and groom, on which fire-drills and charm-strings are placed.
A sacrificial reindeer is killed, and other ' sacrifices, bloody and
bloodless, are made to the dawn and the zenith. Then the couple
is anointed with the blood of the reindeer, one or two members
of the groom's family generally also undergoing the ceremony in
order that the bride may not feel lonely ; then the groom and the
bride paint on their faces the family mark of the groom '.' After-
wards the woman anoints the sledges with blood, feeds the holy
objects of the household with reindeer-marrow, and sprinkles
some sacrificial blood on the hearth, addressing it thus : ' Be well !
[Mimeleu gatvarlcni !).' -
A second marriage-rite is performed after a few days or a few
weeks, in the house of the bride's parents. It is called ' a journey
out of loneliness ' {Alaranto iirgin). The bride drives the reindeer,
but never the same as used for her first journey. The wife, the
groom, and his relatives, if they accompany him, bring to the
bride's parents some reindeer, some meat-puddings, and other
presents. But they insist that it is a present, not a payment for
the bride, as it is given after the marriage-ceremony. ' On their
arrival at the bride's camp, the bride and groom are again anointed,
the bride's family mark is painted on their faces, and the bride
makes a sacrifice to the hearth of her home.'^ After a feast, they
return the next day to the bridegroom's home, where the rite of
anointment is once more repeated, and the husband's family mark
is painted once more.
Marriage among them is not very permanent, however, and the
wife is sent back to her parents on very light pretexts. Bogoras
knew a family on the Dry Anui Eiver, in which the eldest son had
changed wives ten times in the course of three years. For one of
them he had served three, for another four months.'' Usually,
however, if the union is severed, this occurs shortly after the
marriage ceremony, and in most cases the marriage is broken by
1 Op. cit., p. 595. 2 ibiti
" Op. cit., p. 596. * Op. cit., p. 599.
the bride s famil)-, which rechiims lier. Th^ children who still
require nursing go with the mother, the others go with the father.
Sometimes the wife is carried away from her husband by her
elder brother against her wish.*
Bogoras himself met a rich and gentle Chukchee on the Dry
Anui River whose wife was taken away from him by her brother.
When he went to claim her, the brother asked him, 'Will you
promise not to refuse me your reindeer ? ' As the husband would
not accede to this request, his wife was not returned to him.
In 1897. Bogoras, during the census preparations, found out •.
that one-third of the women had been divorced several times.
The Reindeer Chukchee are mainly monogynists, but about
one-third are polygynists. Many rich reindeer-breeders who have
separate herds keep a wife with each herd, but frequently those
who have only one herd have several wives. When a Chukchee
has several wives in the same camp, he tries to give them separate
tents, or separate sleeping-places in one tent, but there are also
cases, met with chiefly in their tales, in which the husband sleeps
between two wives. The first wife is generally much older and
controls the others, who are more like servants.^ If a wife has no
children, she insists on her husband marrying another woman.'
' Cases are by no means rare, however, where the husband,
enamoured of the second wife, becomes indifferent to the first,
and even expels her from the house.'*
Precisely such a case is described in a popular tale, 'The Bigamist" :
' There lived a man with two wives, an old one and a young one ;
when he took the young wife he abandoned the old one, did not
love her or sleep with her any longer, he beat her all the time.
In great grief she went out into the desert and came to a bear's
haunt ; she entered, the bear-mother was angry Avith her for
entering ; the woman said, "Why don't you kill me ? My husband
always beats me. It is better that you kill me." The woman
stays with the bears and lives with them. When spring comes
1 Op. cit., p. 598. 2 Op. cit., pp. 159-60.
' W. H. Dall {Alaska and its Resources, p. 381) says that if a Chukchee
wife bear only daughters her husband remarries until he obtains
a son ; but Bogoras did not notice this as a rule, because a daughter can
replace a son veiy easily among reindeer-breeding people. He saw
some families consisting only of daughters— also in this case sons-in-law
may be adopted. Among the Maritime Chukchee, however, a girl
cannot replace a boy. (Op. cit., p. 601.)
* Ibid.
the Ijeavs let her go, with presents and incantations. She returns
home, and by means of their incantations succeeds in regaining
the favour of her husband, and persuades him to drive her rival
from the house. The latter perishes from hunger and cold.' '
Bogoras often saw women quarrel, and even fight, over the
favours of their husband.- Similar examples of jealousy are
described by Maydell.^
Supplcmentan/ Unions. The Chukchee form of supplementary
unions, called by Bogoras ' group-marriage ', sometimes consists of
ten couples. The husbands belonging to such a group are called
' companions in wives ' {nav-tnmgit). A man has a right to the
wives of all his companions, and may exercise this right when
visiting the camp of any one of them. The husband in this case
usually leaves the house for the night. In former times this
custom embraced only members of the same family, except
brothers ; but now friends, unrelated, may join such a group,
after which they become like relations, helping and sujiporting
each other. As in the case of individual marriage, a similar rite
is performed, consisting also in anointing each other with blood,
first in one camj) and then in the other, and sometimes the man
will even serve with the herd in order to be received into the
group.
People of unequal age and bachelors are not easily accepted.
People living in the same camp seldom unite themselves into
such a group, in which case, owing to the proximity of the tents,
the custom might easily develop into one of regular instead of
occasional intercourse. Poor people, however, who belong to
such a union sometimes live in one tent, it is said ; but Bogoras
did not himself see an example of this. Sometimes such unions
become polj^andry, if a bachelor is accepted as a companion.
Bogoras heard of certain cases in which each companion takes
the wife of another and lives with her for several months, or
even permanently. At the present time all Chukchee families
take part in such organizations. In some cases all men have
equal rights in each woman ; in other cases a man may have
several so-called marriage-companions, to whose wife he has a
right, while these companions do not possess the same rights with
regard to each other. Sometimes nowadays these unions are
entered upon without any rite. It is possible to break the tie
1 Op. cit., p. 601. 2 Op. cit., p. 602. ^ YqI i, p. 164.
which binds the union, but in practice this is not done, unless
there is a case of syphilis in the grouji. People of other tribes,
e. g. the Tungus, are also received into such unions, and also
Russians ; of course, in this case the Russians see in the custom
only an opportunity to profit by the loose conduct of women who
desire payment in the form of slaughtered reindeer. Such rela-
tions with the Eskimo have existed for a very long time, and
are undoubtedly due to trade intercourse ; and so the American
Eskimo has a temporary wife when visiting the Asiatic coast,
and the Chukchee when visiting the American shores.^
'These marital ties with strangers', says Bogoras, 'lead us to
the so-called "prostitution of hospitality ". It cannot be positively
ascertained whether in ancient times the custom existed among
the Chukchee. According to Russian accounts of ancient times,
it was customary for Russian merchants at the spring Chukchee
fairs to visit the rich maritime traders. They would bring with
them iron, kettles, tobacco in bags, and gave all this to the host
as a present. The host, in return, offered his Avife to the guests,
having first covered the sleeping place with beaver, fox, and
marten furs, numerous enough to cover the value of the present.
Nowadays no such custom exists.'- Cases in which the girl
accepts the guest willingly for some small present are considered
by the Chukchee as forms of supplementary marriage. Bogoras
says he was never offered hospitality -prostitution, but was often
asked to participate in what he calls ' group-marriage '.
After the death of one of several brothers, the next brother
succeeds him, and acts as husband to the woman and father to the
children, for whom he keeps the herd of the deceased. If the
woman is too old, he does not exercise his right of levirate, which
is here considered more as a duty than a right and only appertains
to the younger brother, cousin, or even nephew, and never to the
elder brother or uncle."
Bogoras says that his information about the Maritime Chukchee
is rather scanty. On the whole, however, the basis of marital
union among the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo is
the same as among the Reindeer Chukchee. We find again the
marriage of near relatives, marriage by exchange between families,
woman for woman, and finally marriage with a strange family
' Op. cit., pp. 602 and 607. ^ Op. cit, p. 607.
' The custom of levirate is widespread among the Amerinds and the
Aleuts (Veniaminoff; Dall).
after a term of service. 'Group-marriage'^ and the levirate are
fully developed. -
The only difference between the marriage customs of the Maritime
and Keindeer Chukchee is that the former are seldom polygynous,
as they cannot support more than one family ; in their tales,
however, wo frequently find examples of polygyny.^' Tlie marriage-
rite among the Maritime tribe consists of sacrificing to the hearth
and, generally, anointing with red ochre instead of blood. When
Bogoras asked what marks the married couple painted on their
faces, he received the invariable reply, ' It makes no difference.' *
Perhaps they have themselves forgotten that it was in former
times, as it is now among the Reindeer Chukchee, the family
mark that is so painted.^
II. The Koryak.
Contrary to the custom of all neighbouring tribes, Koryak girls
must have no sexual intercourse before marriage. A young man
who serves for a girl who has violated this rule is ridiculed, and
her father and brother 'are angry', as the Koryak say." It is
considered shameful for a girl to bear a child before marriage ;
she must go out into the wilderness to be delivered, and after-
"wards she kills and buries the child. After she has reached
puberty, she must not remove her combination garment during
the night, especially when a stranger is in the house ; she must
^ The quotation marks indicate that I do not agree with Mr. Bogoras's
use of the term. The Chukchee form of supplementary union does not
correspond by any means exactly to any of the types of group-marriage
instanced by Prof. Westermarck in his History of Human Marriage.
^ ' In regard to the prostitution of hospitality, it should be said that
under the influence of American whalers, paid prostitution has developed
among all the Maritime peoples on both coasts of Bering Sea. During
the entire voyage, each ship has on board several young women from the
Asiatic or the American shore. I have witnessed how, on the arrival of an
Ameincan ship at the village Unisak, women in skin boats ai^proached
it from all sides, offering themselves quite openly. In order to be better
understood, they would press their hands to their cheeks and close their
eyes, s3'mbolizing sleei^.' (Bogoras, p. 610.)
^ Op. cit., p. 611. * Op. cit., p. 610.
' When dealing with marriage among the Chukchee, we have limited
our sources to Bogoras, because all other writers on the subject, namely.
Resin, Maydell, Augustynowicz, and Diachkoff, give us similar, but not
such exact descriptions. Thus Bogoras's writings include previous, as
well as his personal, observations. Our action is sanctioned by the fact
that such an authority as Maksimoff makes Bogoras the chief, if not the
exclusive, authority in his work, Conirihutiou to the History of the Family
among the Aborigines of Russia, 1902. p. 45.
« Jochelson, the Koryak, J. N. P. E., vol. vi, 1908, pp. 134-5.
hIso bphave distantly to the man who is serving for her, and
frequently she is sent away from home for that period.^ Dittmar -
says that a Koryak girl who has sexual intercourse before
marriage is shot by her fatlier. and similar statements are found
throughout the Koryak mythology/^
When taking the census of the Maritime and Reindeer Koryak
families. Jochelson did not find a single illegitimate child, while
among the Yukaghir, northern Tungus, northern Yakut, and
Russian settlers in northern Siberia, it was almost impossible to
find a fomily not including such children. The chastity of Koryak
girls is confirmed 'not only', says Jochelson, 'by the tales and
assertions of the Koryak themselves and from my impressions
obtained in Koryak homes, but also by the testimony of such
experts in love afl:airs as the Gishiga Cossacks.'^
Jochelson gives the following table of Marriage ProJiibitions (rela-
tives between whom marriage is forbidden are quite numerous and
may be divided into relatives by blood and relatives by affinity):
Blood-relatives. A man is forbidden to marry (1) his mother,
(2) daughter, (3) own sister, (4) cousin, (5) fathers sister, (6)
mother's sister, (7) brother's daughter, and (8) own sister's
daughter. Between all other blood-relations marriages are per-
mitted. In answer to Jochelson's questions concerning second-
cousins, some Koryak replied that they did not consider them
relatives. 'From this the conclusion may be drawn that beyond
that degree no blood-relationship is recognized, but, on the other
hand, in direct ascending and descending lines, even very distant
degrees, such as great-grandfathers, great-grandmothers, and
great-grandchildren, are recognized as relatives.'
Iielafives bij Affinity. A man may not marry the following rela-
tives by affinity : (1) stepmother ; (2) sister of living wife
(i. e. simultaneously two sisters) ; (3) cousin of living wife (i. e.
simultaneously two cousins ; (4) younger brother's widow ; (5)
deceased wife's elder sister ; (6) nephew's widow ; (7) sister of
brother's wife (i. e. two brothers cannot marry two sisters) ;
(8) cousin of brother's wife (i. e. two brothers cannot marry two
1 Ibid. 2 2)/e Kon'iken, p. 32.
' Krasheninnikoff (Description of the Country of Kamchatka, ed. 1786,
vol. ii, p. 163) mentions that among the Reindeer Koryak, the bride-
groom sleeps with his bride during the period of service, but as this is
not confirmed by any other authority it is probable that he has confused
them with the Chukchee. Even Krasheninnikoff states that at the
ceremony of seizure the bride's body is well wrapped up, (Ibid.)
* Jochelson, op. cit., p. 736.
1679 Q
cousins) ; (9) simultaneously an aunt and Lev niece ; (10) two
brothers cannot marry, one an aunt and the other her niece ;
(11) two male cousins cannot marry, one an aunt and the other
her niece ; (12) an uncle and nephew cannot marry two sisters,
two cousins, or two women of whom one is an aunt and the other
her niece; (13) a stej^-daughterJ
To Jochelson's questions concerning these prohibitions, one
Koryak said that ' relatives of the categories mentioned would die
soon if they should enter into cohabitation with one another'.^
At the same time, all our earlier evidence concerning the Koryak
seems to point to endogamic marriage. In the ' Description of
people living near Yakutsk, Okhotsk, and in Kamchatka',
compiled by the local administration circa 1780, but published in
1792, we read that the Koryak ' do not take wives from another
ord, and do not give their daughters for wives out of this ord, but
marry among themselves.''' Though the term ord is not defined,
one may suppose that it corresponds to a clan or local group.
The statement of Krasheninnikoff is similar : ' They take their
wives mostly from their own stock, first cousins, aunts, step-
mothers ; the only people whom they do not marry are sisters,
mothers, step-daughters.' "*
Jochelson '' himself asserts that in Koryak mythology only
marriage with a sister or a mother is held to be a crime, but there
are many instances of marriages between cousins. Thus we may
suppose that most of the marriage prohibitions are of later intro-
duction.
All ''' the authorities agree on this fact, that the bridegroom has
to serve his future father-in-law for a certain period and must
often undergo severe tests. No one of them makes any mention
of wife-purchase, or of the substitution of gifts or money for
service for a wife. On the contrary, Krasheninnikoff states that
the son-in-law, however rich he might be in reindeer, had to serve
for from three to five years. Bogorodski ' and Dittmar ® say that
if the man does not please his future father-in-law, he can be sent
away even after five or ten years without receiving any reward for his
1 Op. cit., pp. 736-7. 2 iijij 3 Op. cit., p. 395.
* Krasheninnikoff. ed. 1819, vol. ii, p. 221.
" Jochelson, op. cit., p. 738.
" Krasheninnikoff', ed. 1819,vol.ii,p.222; Lp.ssg^s, Eeise von Kamtschatka
nach Franl-reich, vol. ii, pp. 65 8 ; Kennan, pp. 152-5 ; Diachkoff,
p. 104.
^ Bogorodski, 1853, p. 109. '^ Dittmar, 1856, p. 25.
service. Maksimoff ^ thinks tli.at the custom of serving for the
bridle is the relic of a former custom by which a man went to live
2>ermanently in his father-in-law's house. As proof of his theory
he quotes the formula used in arranging a marriage, as given by
Yelistratoff.- The father of the suitor addresses the father of the
bride : ' I come to you, my friend, to assist my son in his court-
ship. Here you have my son I I give him to you — if you wish,
keep him as your son or as your workman.' Jochelson'' considers
that this custom of service provides a period of probation and test,
especially as the son-in-law is not treated so well as an ordinary
servant would be. ' The principal thought is not his usefulness,
but the hard and humiliating trials to which he is subjected.'
This opinion is confirmed by Koiyak tales.
In former times, not only the bridegroom but also his ' match-
maker ' was obliged to serve in the house of the bride.
Before the man enters the service of the father-in-law he has
chosen, the matchmaker, called by the Koryak " the asking one ',
entei's the home of the girl's father and the following dialogue
ensues : 'Here I have come!' 'What for?' 'I am looking for
a wife.' ' For whom ?' ' For So-and-so' (mentioning the name).
After some meditation, the host says: 'Well, we have girls, but
they are bad, later on you may yet scold us.' ' No, it is all right.'
' Then let him come, I will not harm him ' ; and in these words
the father gives his permission for the suitor to serve for his
dau2:hter. Very often the suitor goes to make the proposal
himself, especially if his parents disapprove of his choice. The
term of service varies from six months to three years, or even
longer, after which the father announces to the suitor that he may
take the girl to wife.'*
The marriage ceremony itself, which gives the husband full
right to his wife, is the act of 'seizing' his w'ife, described by all
our authorities with only slight variations. Most of them agree
with Jochelson that the bride must not surrender to the bride-
gi'oom without a struggle, nor will the bridegroom take her with-
out encountering the usual difficulties."' The bride is wrapped up
^ Maksimoff, op. cit., p. 47.
2 Yelistratoff, West Coast of Kamchatka, 1787, pp. 152-4.
' Jv)chelson, op. cit., p. 74. * Joclielson, op. cit., p. 739.
^ Jochelson {The Koryak, p. 742) quotes here Steller's explanation of
the origin of this custom. He thinks it is an imitation of animals — a bitch,
too, does not at once yield to the dog (Steller, Beschreibung von dem
Lande Kamtschatka, p. 347).
G 2
ill various garments which cannot be removod without cutting.
The bridegroom must attack lier, cut and tear off her clothes, and
touch her sexual organs with his hand. The girl herself resists,
and tries to run away, and besides this, her girl friends attack and
try to beat the bridegroom back ; and if tlie girl does not care for
the man she tries to hide among the neighbours, while her parents
endeavour to keep her at home.'
Kennan relates that on the marriage day the friends and rela-
tives are invited ; and, to tlie accompaniment of the drum and
songs, the bride runs round the yurta. The groom pursues her,
and at each corner is attacked by the women, who try to stop him
with their feet, and beat him unmercifully with branches of the
alder-tree. Finally the bride slackens her speed, or she would
not be caught at all. and then the man tears off her clothes and
touches her bod}'.^ Jochelson, on the other hand, says that
marriage is accompanied neither by feasts nor by shamanistic
ceremonies. Sometimes the couple leave at once for the bride-
groom's house, or they remain for some time still with her father.
In certain places the bridegroom, after successful ' bride-seizing ',
leaves at once for his home, and sends his parents or relatives to
fetch the bride. 'When the bride approaches the house of her
bridegroom's parents, the latter come out with firebrands taken
from the hearth to meet her.'^ The bride brings with her no
dowry, only her clothes ; but she brings some presents to the
bridegroom's mother and sisters. As soon as she enters the
hoiise she must prepare some meal. Among the Maritime Koiyak
this meal is eaten by the family, and among the Keindeer Koryak
this is followed by a sacrifice to the Supreme Being and his son
' the Cloudman ', the protector of married couples.
In former times there existed another rite called ' dyeing red ',
which consisted in anointing the bride's forehead and abdomen
with blood. After a certain time the 5'oung couple visit her
parents, and are again met with firelirands from the hearth, and
this time the bridegroom brings presents.
In certain rare cases it is the son-in-law who comes to live with
the bride's family. In such cases he is adopted into the family.
The young wife coming to tlie house of her husband must join
' In former times, apparently, not only the women but also the bride's
male relatives defended her from the groom (Jochelson, Tlte Korijah,
p. 743).
^ Kennan, op. cit., pp. 152-5. ^ Jochelson, 'Hie Koryak, p. 743.
him in the cult of his ancestors. Nevertheless, to a certain extent,
she is always under the protection of lier blood-relatives.'
Divorce is simple and easy, the daughters of the marriage
remaining with the mother, and the sons with the father. Some
Koryak men divide their reindeer equally between their children
when the latter marry— others give more to the sons. On the
father's death, daughters as a rule receive nothing ; sons or, in
their absence, brothers of the deceased, being the beneficiaries.
A widow's reindeer become the possession of her brother-in-law,
with whom she lives unless she has children, in which case the
brother-in-law has only temporary charge of them.-
The Koryak levirate rules are as follows ^ :
1. The widow must be married to the younger brother, younger
cousin, or nephew (son of sister or brother) of her deceased husband.
2. The widower must marry the younger sister, younger
cousin, or niece (daughter of sister or brother) of his deceased
wife.
According to Jochelson, the Koryak levirate has for its object
the maintenance of the union between two families. Thus, the
brother of a married woman will very often court her husband's
sister, and such marriages are preferred. Most frequently mar-
riages are contracted between the inhabitants of neighbouring
villages.
If the Koryak levirate aims at strengthening family alliances,
why then cannot a widower marry his deceased Avife's elder
sister, and why cannot a widow marry her deceased husband's elder
brother? To this question Jochelson suggests the following
reply : That the elder brother and elder sister occupy the places
of the mother or father in the family should either of the parents
die, and so marriage of the widower with the elder sister of his
former wife, and of the wudow with the elder brother of her
former husband, are held to be as incestuous as if these relations-
in-law were actually the parents.
In Kamenskoye a younger brother mat) marry the widow of his
eldest brother, and a younger sister may marry the widower of her
eldest sister, while in other places they must do it. There are
however, cases where the widow goes to live in the house of her
dead husband's younger brother without becoming his wife.*
1 Op. cit., p. 74G. ^ Op. cit. pp., 745-7.
» Op. cit., p. 749. ■• Op. cit., pp. 749-52.
8G SOCIOLOGY
Owing to the custom of levirate and the great desire for
children, polygyny is frequent, and in the mythology we have
tales of great Avari'iors ^\■ho had harems of women taken by force.
The first wife is the mistress of the house, and the husband even
sleeps between the wives, but the first alwajs lies on his right. ^
Su])plementary unions were liot found by Jochelson among the
modern Koryak, and they themselves deny that the custom of
exchanging wives ever existed among them.- The statements of
Krasheninnikoff and Steller bearing on this point are slightly
different. Steller says that among the inhabitants of Kamchatka
men sometimes decided to exchange wives, but he does not say
what people he refers to.-' Krasheninnikoff relates that the Rein-
deer Koryak are very jealous, so that a man will kill his wife merely
through suspicion, and if he find her with a lover, will rip open with
a knife the abdomens of both offenders. Owing to this, married
M'omen make themselves as repulsive-looking as possible, having
uncombed hair, unwashed feet and hands, and worn-out clothing."*
On the contrary, among the Maritime Koryak, as among the
Chukchee, a\ hen friends exchange visits, or when guests come to
the house, they sleep with the wife and daughters of the host, who
leaves the house for the night, in some cases to spend it with the
wife of the guest ; in consequence of this the women are very
careful as to their appearance. '
With regard to abnormal sexual relations, Krasheninnikoff says
that the Koryak had no concubines, but that some of them kept
Tcoeliclmch whom they called l:eijev (Jochelson writes qcccu).^ They
did not occupy honourable positions, as among the Kamchadal,
but were kept in subjection, and to be termed l;eycv was a great
insult." Kei/ev are not found among the Koryak of to-day, and
* transformed shamans ', i. e. those who have apparently changed
their sex, have now almost died out among these people, while
the few that remain are, as Jochelson thinks, more closely
connected with shamanistic exhibitions of power. ^ Even in the
case of the Chukchee, who still occasionally have * transformed
1 Op. cit., pp. 754-5. = Op. cit., p. 756. '' Steller, p. 347.
" Krasheiiinnikoft", ed. 1819, p. 201. ^ Op. cit., p. 202.
* It must be remembered that neither Krasheninnikoff nor any other
author who mentions koekrhiich explains precisely who these people were,
whether men or women. It is onl}- conjecture that they were men
living tnodo Socratis. This question will be more fully discussed in the
chapter on ' Shaman and Sex '.
'' Op. cit., p. 222. ^ Jochelson, op. cit., p. 755.
shiuiians ', Bogoras fouml among 3,000 Kolyma Chukchee only five
cases of men changing into women, and only two of them were
'married'. Krasheninuikoff mentions another 'marriage rela-
tion ' which can be called abnormal or mystical. The Maritime
Koryak have at times ordinary stones instead of wives. A man
will put clothes on such a stone, put it in his bed, and sometimes
caress it as if it were living. Two such stones were given to
Knisheninnikoflf by a man called Okerach from Ukinsk ; one of
them he called his wife, and the other his son.^
III. The Kamciiadal.
According to Krasheninuikoff,'- when a Kamchadal wished to
marry, he looked for a woman in the next village, very seldom in
his own. Having chosen one, he asks her parents to allow him
to serve them for a certain period : this permission is easily
obtained, and during the time of service he endeavours to win
their favour. When the period is at an end, he asks to be
allowed to take the woman, and if he has found favour in the eyes
of her, her parents, and her relatives, he marries her ; if not, they
recompense him for his services. At times a man takes service in
a strange village without disclosing his intentions, which remain
unknown, unless revealed by a friend or cousin.
Having obtained permission to take his bride, he is still obliged
to capture her, because now all the women of the village protect
her from him. She is dressed in several heavy gowns and closely
wrapped up so that she looks like a stuffed figure.^ If he is
fortunate enough to find her alone, or only a few women with her,
he throws himself upon her, and, loosening the strings, he tears
off her clothes until she is naked, for the w^hole marriage ceremony
consists in his touching her sexual organs with his hand.^ This
is not always easy ; because, although when clothed in this way
she cannot defend herself, tlie women with her are very active in
their defence of her.^ There is a case on record of a man who for
' Krasheninnikoff, op. cit., p. 222.
2 Op. cit, ed. 1819, vol. ii, p. 164. ^ Op. cit., p. 165.
* Steller's account on the whole agrees with that of Krasheninnikoff.
He says that the essential part of the marriage ceremony consists in
* Einstecken des Fingers in die Schaam'. (Op. cit., p. 345.)
* It is only among the Koi7ak and Kamchadal in Siberia that this
action constitutes the essential element of the marriage ceremony; but
a similar rite is found amonor certain tribes of the north-western Amerinds.
ten years had been trying to obtain his wife, and his head and
body were much disfigured by his struggles, which were neverthe-
less quite in vain. Sometimes, however, the bridegroom obtains
an immediate victory, and then he must leave the woman as soon
as possible and she must call after him in a caressing voice, *Mi,
Mi, Mi, Mi, Mi ! ' The same night he comes to sleep with her,
and the next day he takes her to his home without any ceremony.^
Only after some time does he come with her to her parents' house
to celebrate their marriage.^
In 1713 Krasheninnikoff witnessed, near the Eiver Katuga in
Kamchatka, the following marriage ceremony. * The bride, and
the bridegroom with his relatives, went to his father-in-law in
rude boats. The women, including the bride, sat in the canoes,
which were guided by the men, all quite naked. The women
carried with them a quantity of prepared food. About 100 metres
from the house, they landed and began to sing, and a shamanistic
ceremony was performed over the head of a fish, which was after-
wards given to the eldest woman of the company.^
' Then over the bride's dress they placed more garments, so that
she looked like a stuffed figure, and the bridal pair with their
attendants returned to their boats. On reaching the landing-place
near the house, the bride was carried into the dwelling by a young
lad sent for her by her parents. A leather strap was placed round
her body, and by this means she was let aown from the roof into
the yurta. She was preceded by the oldest woman already
mentioned, who placed the dried fish on the threshold so that the
pair as well as all the company might step over it. Then the
woman stamped on it and placed it on the wood for the fire.'^ All
the guests sat down and the women removed the extra garments,
See F. Boas, The Indian of the Lower Fraser Biver (Brit. Ass. Adv. So.,
1894) and J. Teit, The Thompson Indians of British Columbia, J. N. P. E.,
vol. i, p. iv ; also the same author. The Lillooet Indians, J. N. P. E.,
vol. ii, part v.
^ The other authority on the Kamchadal (Itahnen), Steller (Beschreibung
von dem Lande Kamtschatka, 1774), agrees -with Krasheninnikoff that the
man must serve the woman's father (' er kann auf keine andere Art zu
einor Frau kommen, als er muss sie dem Vater abdienen '), but he
difl'eis in stating that after the ceremony of resistance by the women the
bridegroom comes to live in his father-in-law's house. Maksimoff (op. cit.,
p. 50) supposes that they are both right, in that both customs have
existed among these people, or else that Steller describes the more
ancient customs, and Krasheninnikoff those which are more modern and
affected by Russian influence.
=* Op. cit., p. 166.
2 Op. cit., pp. 167-9. * Op. cit., p. 168.
\Yhich were divided among the relatives ; the latter also presented
gifts. The next day the father-in-law entertained his guests, and
on the third day all the company dispersed except the newly-
married pair, who had still to work for some time for the father-
in-law.' ^
All these ceremonies are held only in the case of a first
marriage. A widow marries a second husband without ceremony,
but before any one takes her as a wife she must have intercourse
with some one else, who is usually a stranger, as the fulfilment
of the office is rather despised. Krasheninnikoff relates that in
former times this fact prevented some widows from marrying
a second time, but since the Cossacks were established there, they
perform the office of a stranger.-
Marriage was forbidden only between a father and his daughter
and a mother and her son. A son-in-law could marry his mother-
in-law, and a father-in-law could marry his daughter-in-law.
Marriage was also allowed between first cousins. Divorce was
easily obtained, and it consisted in a simple separation. Re-
marriage is allowed, in the case of the woman, without the
ceremony of capture and without the intercourse above mentioned
(termed by Krasheninnikoff a purification ceremony). A man
could have two, three, or more wives according to his wealth.
Sometimes each wife lived in her own yurta, sometimes all lived
together, and each of them must be captured as above described.
' These people ', says Krasheninnikoff, ' are not so jealous as the
Koryaks. They do not look for virginity when marrying, and
some of them told me that the son-in-law may even reproach his
parents-in-law if his wife is a maid. This, however, I was unable
to confirm. The women also are not jealous, as is seen not only
from the fact that several wives of one husband live together quite
peaceably, but that they acquiesce in the presence of the koek-
chiicli whom some Kamchadal keep instead of concubines.'"^
Steller^ confirms Krasheninnikoff in his statement about virginity
not being regarded as essential in a bride.
IV. The Kuril.
According to Krasheninnikoff,'' the Kuril marriage ceremony
was similar to that of the Kamchadal. A man would have several
' Ibid. 2 Qp (.it^ p 169 ; Steller, op. cit., p. 346.
=> Op. cit., pp. 169. 170. " Steller, op. cit., 1774, pp. 345-6.
5 1786. vol. ii. n. 183.
' Up. cit., pp. 16y. 1 (
"^ 1786, vol. ii, p. 183,
90 SOCIOLOaY
wives, but did not live with them, only visited them secretly by
night. The otlier authority, Polonski,^ confirms this, and adds
that the man could avoid the cajituring process by settling matters
with the girl beforehand, and escaping with her to the next island ;
but whether wife-capture was really a custom of equal importance
with that of resistance, or a violation of it, he does not say.-
V. The Yukaghir.
Jochelson^ observed no rites connected with puberty, nor any
initiation ceremonies among the Yukaghir, but such rites may be
inferred from his description of the marriage ceremony, and from
certain taboos. For instance, a girl who has reached the age of
puberty must observe certain taboos when her brother is absent
on a hunting expedition. ' She must not look up above, but down
on the earth, and on the earth she must not look at the footsteps
of her brother ; she must not inquire about the hunt, or listen to
the tales of her brothers with regard to the hunting.''* She may
not eat of the head or fore part of the game killed, nor look at the
head of the animal. But this taboo affects only unmarried sisters,
and if the girl violates it the expedition will suffer from lack of
food.^
A boy becomes a man when he takes part for the first time in a
hunting expedition for big game, such as the bear or reindeer.
Then he is called ' four-legged-animal-killer-man' (jjclolcun-no
ineyebon Icudec'uje coromox). The girl becomes a woman at men-
struation, which is called by the Yukaghir 'red paint' {Jceileni).
After this she has a separate sleeping-tent, and is free to receive
visitors from the same local group at night. The visitor is,
however, usually the same man, and if he finds a rival in the tent
he fights with him ; and that the Yukaghir distinguish between
the girl who is faithful to one lover and one who is not, is shown
by the terms, ' a girl with one thought ' and ' a girl with many
thoughts ', the latter also having a special name ayuhol. If a man
wishes to marry an aijahol, it is not even necessary for him to
serve her parents. •"
There also exists the custom called by some anthropologists
* hospitality prostitution ', by which the bed of an unmarried girl
1 The Kuril, p. 382. ^ Maksimotf, op. cit., p. 52.
^ The Yukaghir and Yukaghirised Tuiigus, J. N. P. E., vol. ix,
pp. 63 5.
* Op. cit., pp. 77-8. " Op. cit., p. 78. ^ Op. cit., p. 66.
is offered to a traveller. An old Yukaghir woman explained to
Jochelson that this Wi\s due to the poor conditions of life among
the i>eopIe, and to the fact that the bed of a married couple was
taboo, and hospitality demanded that a good bed be offered to the
visitor. It did not follow tluit the girl yielded herself to him, for
often she did not remove her apron if she disliked the man.
Jochelson thinks that this custom cannot be reckoned as hospi-
tality prostitution in origin, but has acquired this character under
Russian influence.
* Men of authority or of wealth can choose any woman, married
or unmarried. Officials, Cossacks, merchants, and even mission-
aries introduce these habits into the villages and camps of non-
Russian tribes ; and thus the custom may have sprung up among
the Yukaghir of offering girls to travelling officials, merchants,
and other Russian guests. . . . One must conclude, then, that
what was first done by violence or at the orders of Russians,
found favourable soil and in time became a'custom.' ^ Mr. Jorgeson,
a Swedish investigator, found that the natives believed this custom
to prevail in Russian homes. On the other hand, it must be
remembered that a Yukaghir does not look for virginity in his
bride, and so long as a girl does not become pregnant the older
people close their eyes to her lover's visits. -
The Custom of Avoidance.'^ This custom is very strictly main-
tained among the Yukaghir, and is called nexiijini, which means
* they are bashful (in the presence) of each other '. It holds good
between blood-relatives of the class cmjepul, that is, brothers,
sisters, male and female cousins.
Among relatives by affinity the following persons must avoid
each other :
a. The father and his son's wife.
h. The elder brother or elder male cousin, and the wife of the
younger brother or male cousin.
c. The elder brother or the elder male cousin, and the wife of
the younger brother's or younger male cousin's son.
d. The elder brother or the elder male cousin, and the wife of
the son of his younger sister or of his younger female
cousin.
e. The mother and her son-in-law.
Besides this, the father does not speak to his daughter's husband
1 Op. cit., p. 67. 2 Op. cit., p. 68. ^ Op. cit., p. 75.
nor the elder brother to his younger sisters husband. Persons
wlio are ncxh/ini should not address eacli other directly, should
not look in each other's faces, and should not uncover their bodies
in the presence of each other, nor even bare the legs above the knees.
Men who are nexi/jinl to each other should not uncover their
sexual oi'gans or talk of sexual matters among themselves. The
same girl must not be visited by two men who are ncxiijini to each
other. These rules are more closely observed among the relatives
by affinity [poyilpc and uialpe) than among blood-relatives {emjcpul).^
On inquiring as to the origin of this custom, Jochelson was
told ' Our fathers did so ', or * Wise men know that it ought to
be so '.'^
One may suppose that these restrictions consciously aimed at
exogamy, especially if w^e take into account the fact that some
natives told Jochelson that when the parents are blood-relatives,
the children die.-' 'Wise people follow the custom of nexii/ini,'
said one Yukaghir.^ At the same time cohabitation between
near relatives at the present day does actually occur, and in this
case a special blanket is used, having two bags for the feet of the
couple instead of one.^
The violation oi nexii/ini is looked upon only as imprudent, and
as soon as the couple are married this relationship is removed by
means of certain ceremonies.*^
The Yukaghir say that in former times marriage was forbidden
only between first cousins, and that they do not consider second
cousins as consanguineous relatives. The myths often refer to
consanguineous marriages, especially between brother and sister.
Jochelson himself knew of a marriage between a woman and her
brother. Such cohabitation is at the present time secret, but
marriages between cousins do occur. "^
The custom of avoidance might perhaps prevent marriages
between relatives in spite of the inclination of the Yukaghir
towards consanguineous marriages, but it could not lead to a
strict exogamy owing to the environment. ' As a hunting tribe
they frequently have to scatter in various families, or groups of
related families, in search of food. In such cases, being isolated
and far away from other tribes or clans, they have had to satisfy
their sexual desires within the group or even within the family."*
1 Op. cit., p. 76. 2 Op. cit., p. 77. ^ Op. cit., p. 80.
* Op. cit., p. 86. ■• Ibid. « Op. cit., p. 82.
' Op. cit., p. 84. « Op. cit., p. 86.
This could not be prevented even by the extreme sh3'ness which,
according to Jochelson, characterizes the social relations of the
Yukaghir. Jochelson says that the exogamic Tungus and Yakuts
were influenced by the Yukaghir marriage customs where they
came into contact in the north, but we may just as well suppose
that it was the influence of their new environment, so different
from tliat in their original home in the south.
When a man favours a girl, he begins to perform different
services for her relatives. These are silently accepted or rejected
without explanation. They are called pogUomt (* to serve for '), and
form a test of the man's ability. The period of service is shorter
if the groom is an able man, or if the bride becomes pregnant, or
if the fiather feels that the man has already become sufficiently
attached to his house. ^
In former days the groom had to chop wood before the house of
his future father-in-law. After three da5'S of this work, if the fuel
was accepted, it meant that he was accepted also. Then the father-
in-law went with him to the wood and chose the thickest tree he
could. The gi'oom had to cut this down and drag it to his father-
in-law's house, and then only was he accepted. Nowadays, says
Jochelson, an intermediary is sent, and, in a standing posture, he
says to the girl's parents :
'Father and mother, I have come to you on an errand. The
old man [the name of the young man's father follows] sends his
greetings, and wants me to tell you that he wishes to sit with you
at one hearth.' [Free translation.]
But the bride's father answers diplomatically:
* Do not come to me with such propositions.' [Free translation.]
The matchmaker leaves the house, but returns on the following
day, and says:
' Father, mother, my orphan-lad you to the hearth's warmth
why not admit ? '
The bride's father answers :
' I have to find out what the other relatives think of it.'
The matchmaker thanks him for his answer and retires, but
returns again after some time, saying:
' My father, my mother, what words with, what thoughts with,
do (you) sit? Your good word to hear, having come, (I) stand.'
The father of the girl invites the matchmaker to a seat by his
side, saying :
» Op. cit., p. 88.
* I will say, tho bridogroom shall be admitted to my house if he
is willing to stay witli me till the end of my life, till my death.' ^
The matchmaker thanks him and goes away, and the next
night, when the groom comes to the sleeping-tent of his wife, as
he has done before, he brings with him his hunting implements
and places them where they can be easily seen, thus formally
becoming a member of the family. He must not, however, bring
anything more than his clothes and weapons, 'for', say the
Yukaghir. 'he comes to a ready-made bed.'-
Usually the young people settle the matter between themselves
before this formal ceremony, but the father may sometimes object
to having the young man as his son-in-law, which does not,
however, prevent the girl receiving him at night.
The son-in-law occupies a very subordinate position. Only
when he has his own children does he acquire the right to use
some of the furs and other objects without permission. Only
after the death of his fathei--in-law and other old men of the
family, and when his wife's brothers go away to their fathers-in-
law, does he become the head of the family."'
If the young man wants to leave his father-in-law, he can be
prevented from taking his wife with him, unless he has his own
children. Sometimes two families exchange their girls, and
some families do not allow the youngest daughter and the
youngest son to go aAvay.*
The Yukaghir of the tundra, who have been in contact with
the Tungus, combine their own custom of 'serving 'for the bride
with the Tungus' custom of purchasing her {marxin-woJcn, i. e.
' the price of a girl ') and taking her to the house of the bride-
gi'oom's parents.
The service for a wife lasts from one to three years ; and if the
parents reject the man, he leaves the house without receiving any
compensation. The marriage ceremonies are here more compli-
cated and better preserved. When the matchmaker comes to the
house, he brings some presents of skins called ' the mouth-opener '
{anan loholcrctc). After the parents have given their consent, he
settles with them the price of the bride and the time when she
can be removed to the house of her parents-in-law ; Avhen this
^ Op. cit., p. 89. == Ibid.
^ The son-in-law is nexiijinl to the parents and elder relations of his
wife, but he is not bound by this custom in relation to the younger
generation. ■• Op. cit,, pp. 90-2.
time conios, the bridegroom leaves the parents of the bride, a,nd
his parents frequently move their camp near to her home. The
matchmaker and his wife come to fetch the bride ; he states the
price paid for her and inquires what her dowry is to be. On one of
the sledges accompanying the bride are placed the wedding clothes
for the bridegroom, which she has made with her own hands.
But before the bride's train sets out on its journej', her father
kills a reindeer, and with its blood the mother and the match-
maker's wife smear the girl. This is termed * a washing ' (meciecum).
Concerning this custom, the Yukaghir say they wash the child
' before it is sent away to live with strangers '. After this, the
bride is dressed in her best garments, her face being covered with
a kerchief, and the matchmaker and his wife place her in the first
sledge, they walking beside her. Some relative in the wedding
party fires a gun to protect the bride from the attacks of evil
spirits : this is called ' shooting into the eyes of the evil spirits '.'
'On reaching their place of destination the train makes three
rounds about the tent of the bridegroom's parents, stopping
opposite the place where the nuptial bed is to be prepared inside.
Nobody comes out to meet the bride, but a young girl lifts the
door-flap of the tent, and the matchmaker leads in the bride.
All the bridegroom's relatives are assembled in the tent. The
kerchief is removed from the bride's face, and she bows to the
parents and to all the relatives older than the bridegroom. Then
the matchmaker's wife brings in the skins, the blanket, and other
articles of bedding, prepares the nuptial bed in the place previously
appointed, and sets the bride upon it. The costume sewed by the
bride for the bridegroom is then brought in. He puts it on, and
seats himself beside his bride. Then the matchmaker's wife
brings the presents, consisting of kerchiefs, shawls, trinkets,
knives, and other articles, and distributes them among the
relatives.' -
The reindeer brought by the bride have their heads behind the
antlers painted red, and are then turned in among the rest.
Then the matchmaker and the groom take certain reindeer from
the herd of the latter's parents, and, accompanied by the bride,
they lead them to her father's house to serve as her purchase-price.
' The matchmaker has a long leather halter and the bridegroom a
short one. The bride's father comes out of the tent to accept the
^ Op. cit., p. 94. 2 j]ji^|_
reindeer, and the matchmaker gives him the long haltor to
symholize that the reindeer nowhelong to him. The bridegroom,
however, retains his short halter.' ' They then return home,
announcing the success of their mission, and the bridegroom's
father sends the matchmaker to invite the parents and relatives
of the bride to the wedding feast. A separate place is prepared
for the couple on the skins which form their bedding. After the
feast, the father of the bridegroom, with the help of the match-
maker, distributes presents to the bride's father and other
relatives. These presents usually consist of spoons, plates,
arrows, and axes. Then the guests disperse, and tlie married
couple are left in the tent, which they do not leave for three days.
On the fourth day they go to visit the bride's parents.'-
If we take into consideration the fact that the reindeer and
other presents exchanged during these ceremonies are fairly equal
in value, we cannot regard any of them as the purchase-price of
the bride, as is the case among the Tungus ; neither do we find
here, either actually or symbolically, any trace of marriage by
capture.-' Jochelson says that among the Christianized Yukaghir
the Church ceremony is performed one or more years after the
native wedding.*
We do not find open polygyny in the present marriage customs
of the Yukaghir, but it existed previously, though only to a
limited extent. Of course, as a man went to live in his father-in-
law's house, he could not very well bring another woman there ;
unless, as some facts indicate, the wives were sisters, and in this
case the custom of ncxiyini was violated.^ Good hunters, strong
warriors, and shamans, who did not as a rule live in the houses
of their fathers-in-law, frequently had more than one wife. We
find also that in some cases a man played the part of son-in-law
in one house for one part of the year, and in another house for the
rest of the year. Jochelson met a Yukaghir on the Korkodon
Kiver who told him that his father had lived in this way." In
those parts where the Cliukchee have come into contact with the
Yukaghir, the latter have adopted a form of supplementary union
called by certain authors ' group-marriage ', in which members of
one group visit and may cohabit with the wives of another group,
with certain restrictions."
» Ibid. 2 Op. cit., p. 95. ^ Maksinioft; op. cit., p. 43.
* Jochelson, op. cit., p. 96. ^ Op. cit., p. 110.
« Op. cit., p. 111. ■' Op. cit., p. 112.
Although Me see in the Yukaghir marriage some matrilocal
arrangements, it docs not follow that we have here an instance of
matriarchy ; for the children are called by the name of the father,
they reckon their descent from their father's male ancestors, and
the duty of blood-revenge is incumbent on paternal relatives.
According to an old Yukaghir, there once existed the custom of
reckoning the first son and daughter among the relatives of the
mother and the rest among those of the father ; but, as Jochelson
t>bserves,^ this was probably in order to keep the son-in-law in the
house of his wife's parents. At the present day, Russian law calls
all children born previous to the Church marriage after the mother,
and the rest after the father.
VI. The Gilyak.
^Vmong these people a girl is not necessarily a virgin until she
marries, and if the parents are careful of her behaviour it is for
two special reasons : (a) they fear that the girl may be united to
a man who is not of her own social position ; [b] they fear that
a child born of the union may be out of the marital class to which
it ought to belong. In this case, as well as in that where the father
is unknown, the child must be killed.^ A man ' without father' is
called ytk-lcliairnd, and is a pariah, who does not belong to the
marital class, cannot associate with women, &c. But there are, in
fact, very seldom such men ; for as soon as a girl is observed to be
pregnant, she is forced to tell the name of her seducer. He is
then called upon to marry the girl, and usually consents very
readily, as the lal/jm in such circumstances is a small one. Only
when the girl refuses to tell the name of the father of her child is
the infant killed to save the clan from shame. '^
But a Gilyak woman will very seldom have intercourse with
a man of a forbidden matrimonial class, i. e. with a man who is
not of the class of jpu (husband) to her, and Sternberg says that
they condemn Russian women who sell themselves for money.*
The marital classes of the Gilyak are based strictly on relation-
ship, and are interwoven with the regulation of sexual relations.
Age pla5-s here no part, for we sometimes find old men and young
lads in the same class.
» Op. cit., pp. 112-13. 2 Sternberg, The Gilijak, 1905, p. 25.
' Op. cit., p. 82. " Op. cit., p. 26.
167S Q
There aie four main social classes :
I. Ite, father's fathers.
II. Ymlc (mother) and ytk (father).
III. Angcy (wife) and^ or ivn (husband).
IV. Tuvn, brothers and sisters, real and classificatory.^
The Gilyak calls not only his own mother ynik, but also all her
sisters and all the wives of his father's brothers, real and classifi-
catory, as well as the sisters of these women. He calls not only
liis own father iitk, but also the husbands of his mother's sisters,
and his father's brothers ; though in certain tribes, e.g. in Sak-
halien, the term is applied only to the younger brothers of his
father. A Gilyak woman names by the term j)u not only her
husband, but his brothers and the husbands of her sisters. The
Gilyak calls not only his wife angei), but also the wives of his
elder brothers (real and classificatory), and these wives' sisters, and
similarly all sisters of his wife. He used the same term for all
daughters of his uncles (proper) and all daughters of the brothers
of the women whom he calls ymlcr
These classes could only originate under a rule by which all
men in one class, A, had to take wives from another class, B, so
that the men of class A are destined from birth to marry the
daughters of their mother's brothers. This most important regu-
lation of Gilyak marriage is implied in their saying : ' Thence,
whence you came forth — from the clan of your mother— you
must take your wife.' Although this regulation is not strictly
kejjt at present, it still exists in their terminology, the woman
who is not of the mother's clan being called yol^h, i. e. the woman
with whom sexual i-elations are forbidden (the elder brothers
among the eastern Gilyak, who are forbidden to have intercourse
with their younger brothers' wives, call them yolh). Also the
woman who is a relative on the mother's side is called angey ;
^ This term for the class of brothers and sisters, real and classificatory,
appears in print in four different forms : t'uer, nif, rum, iuvn. As
Dr. Sternberg uses the term turn (see pp. 22, 26, and 106 of Sternberg's
work) more often than r»r«, we prefer to follow the former spelling,
rather than the spelling riif, which occurs in some works in English.
Ruer appears to be a misprint.
* There is, however, a difference between western and eastern Gilyak
in this respect. Among the foi"mer a man terms his 'wives' — angey — all
his brothers' wives ; while among the latter only the wives of the elder
brother are addressed as angey, the wives of the younger ones being
called yokh (forbidden class). See op. cit., pp. 22-3.
while even to-day the correct marriage is one with the daughter
of tlie mother's brother (real or classificatory). On the other hand,
marriage with the daughter of the father's sister, or the inter-
change of daughters, is forbidden.^ When Sternberg made his
registration of families he discovered how greatly this custom
preponderates even now.
During the census which Sternbeig undertook in order to study
the Gilyak family and gens structure, he was impressed by the
large immber of married w^omen in one gens who call themselves
* sisters' and the older women 'aunts', and who in the latter case
were actually in that relation to the older women. Thus, in spite
of great changes in the social structure of these natives, the old
marriage regulations are still quite strongly preserved.^
The following schematic table showing the original marriage
regulations of three family-gentes, forming one clan, is given :
Gens A. Gens B. Gens C.
Male A marries fe- Male B marries fe- Male C marries fe-
male B (sister of male male C (sister of male male A (sister of male
B). Their sons marry C). Their sons marry A). Their sons marry
daughters B ; and their daughters C; and their daughters A; and their
daughters marry sons daughters marry sons daughters marry sons
C. A. B.
Inside the clan there is an endogamic arrangement, while each
gens is exogamic. The gens B, which gives wives to the gens A,
is called ahmalk (i.e. father-in-law); and towards gens C, which
takes wives from gens A, it is in the relation of tuyma ahmalk
(remote father-in-law). Gens C, in relation to A, is called ijn^gi
(son-in-law). All three clans call each other ^a^u// (cognate).
In some cases, if the brother has only one daughter, and the
sister several sons, or vice versa, not every man can have a wife.^
This holds, of course, only with regard to having an individual
wife ; but all people who are in the relation of angey and pu have
really the right of sexual intercourse, not only before, but also
after, the individual marriage. In the absence of her husband,
a wife can have intercourse with any man who is pu to her.
Frequently it is the brothers of the husband, or those pu who
live in the same village, that take advantage of this privilege.
Sometimes a man from a distant part, hearing that an angey of
' People who cannot marry or have sexual intercourse are under the
law of avoidance. Even brothers and sisters are forbidden to speak to
or look at one another.
2 Op. cit., p. 'ib. 3 Op. cit., p. 32.
H 2
his is living in a certain village, will come to claim his right.
A Gilyak accompanying Sternberg came with him from the west
to the east coast and found there an angcif in one of the yurta.^
If a wife is discovered having intercourse with a man who is
not her 2m, this involves a fight or tlie severe punishment of the
man ; but if the individual husband finds a^w with his wife, only
the expression of his face reveals that he is not indifferent, for he
cannot take any action.^
If a Gilyak M'oman has a son, she usually asks her brother to
betroth the boy to his daughter. The boy's father ties a dog's
hair round the wrist of the girl in token of the betrothal. When
the girl is five or six years old, she usually j^asses to the house of
her future husband, with whom she grows up, and whose wife
she Ijecomes at maturity.^
The typical Gilyak marriage-right includes cousins (though it is
exogamic), and marriages are arranged in childhood. The custom
of payment for a wife exists, but this is either merely a formality,
or what is received is divided among relatives.'* There are now,
however, a great many marriages concluded without regard for
the rules, for Schrenck ^ speaks of the Jcah/m as the one and only
condition of marriage. This Gilyak custom of * buying a wife ' —
umgtc geni/ch — he considers similar to the Neo-Siberian (Tungus,
Ostyak, Samoyed, Tartar, Votyak) marriage customs. In this case
the marriage is concluded, and the groom can take his bride
^ This type of supplementary union is in most cases equivalent to
polyandric marriage, and may be accounted for by the unequal propor-
tion of the sexes in the population. According to the last (1912)
statistics of Piitkanoff, for 2,556 Gilyak men there were only 2,093
women.
-' A. N. MaksimofF, in his work Group-Marriage, 1908, pp. 41-2, ques-
tions whether the Gilyak have any regular custom of supplementary
unions, called by Sternberg ' group-marriage '. He quotes statements
like the above, which show that the collateral j;» enjoys a husband's
rights only when the individual husband is away. Or, that when the
husband finds his wife in fla<jra:ite delicto with her jj», the expression of
his face reveals that he is not indifferent ; and he remarks that among
the Amur Gilyak the husband feels no less anger against a pa than
against any other man in such circumstances (L. Sternberg, 'The
Gilyak of Sakhalin,' E.Ii., 1893, No. 2, p. 26). If a/)^ had a right to the
wife of his ruf (brother), the husband would probably sink his jealousy
befoi'e that consideration. Maksimoft' thinks that there is no light in
question ; it is merely that if a woman betrays her husband with his ruf,
this is considered less blameworthy than if she had done so with
a stranger (op. cit., p. 41). See Sternberg, 'Hie Gilyak, p. 24.
* Op. cit., p. 29. * Op. cit., p. 81.
^ The Natives of the Amur Country, vol. iii, pp. 2-7.
homo as soon as tlio 7.(?7//»» is paid. Sometimes the high price of
a wife compels a man to abduct her from some remote viHage ; but
such an act is usually followed bj'' blood-revenge.^
The higher the price of a wife, the greater is the resjiect paid to
her in her husband's famil3\-
A Gilyak will usually have two or three individual wives; rich
people have more.^ After the death of a husband, his wife
passes, without any Icahjm, to one of his younger lirothers, ac-
cording to the decision of the clan. Of course, nominally and
even actually, she was already her husband's younger brother's
wife, and her children his children"^; but after the husband's
death another husband is chosen for social and economic reasons.
If there are no younger brothers, an elder brother of the
deceased is chosen to support the widow and her children, but he
has no right to live with her as his wife,"' The children ))elong
wholly to the father, and succeed to his property at his death.
After the l)irth of the first child, the father ceases to be called by
his own name, and is known as ' the father of So-and-so '.
VII. The Ainu.
Marriage among the Ainu is generally considered to be exo-
gamic, and indeed in one of the tales recorded by Pilsudski,"
a young man goes outside his own village to visit a young woman
he desires to marry, and who. he says, has been ' reared for him '.
Another suitor (who in the sequel turns out to be a sea-god) he
finds has preceded him, and the parents of the girl are puzzled to
know to which of the two they shall give their daughter, for by
their inlaid pipes and other marks, the two suitors appear to be
from one village, in the same neighbourhood as that of the girl.
On the other hand, in his article on the Ainu in Ephron and
Brockhaus's Enojclopacdla, Pilsudski says that the Ainu tries to
find a girl for his wife as near by as possible, even in the same
village and among near relatives.
* Op. cit., p. 4. ^ Ibid. ^ Sternberg, op. cit., p. 21.
* Sternberg met in the villag'e of Tangi a family in which two brothers
lived regularly with one wife, the union being based only on sentiment,
for the younger brother was rich and could bu}' a wife for himself
(pp. 24-5).
* Op. cit., pp. 81-2.
" B. Pilsudski, Materials /or the Study of the Ainu Language and Folk-
Lore, 1912 Tale No. 20, pp. 172-6.
Batclielor' also states that the Ainu marry cousins, and in some
cases, nieces, as well as a deceased brother's wife, but they cannot
form unions with a sister-in-law's sister or brother's wife's sister.
There is a firm belief that violation of this rule will be punished
either by death or by failure to have issue.
This restriction, however, does not imply true exogamy, because,
as we see from the following quotation,- peoj^le often marry
within the village.
' If the j^oung woman herself or her parents have V)een tlie main
movers in the business' — pi'oposals of marriage— 'the bridegroom
is removed from his own family to take up his a])ode close to the
hut of his father-in-law ; he is, in fact, adopted. But if the bride-
groom did the wooing, or his parents were the jirime movers, the
bride is adopted into his family. Or if a woman of one village
chooses a man of another, he, if agreeable, goes to live with her ;
or if a man chooses a woman who resides at a distance, she, if
agreeable, goes to live with him.^ Persons who marry in their
own villages are all called uinival; "blood-relatives", "brethren",
but those who remove from their homes to be married into some
distant family are called niritak, "relations taken away", or "dis-
tant relations", "brethren brought in".'
Betrothal of children exists, but it does not compel these
children to marry, if they are unwilling to do so on reacliing
maturity. ' The boy and girl exchanged clothes, and, I believe,
homes,' says Batchelor,^ ' until the season for their union came
round. Then, if the parents of the lad were the prime movers in
the proposal, the young lady remained at his home, but if other-
wise, the bridegroom went to live with the bride's parents, or at
least, in her village.'
The general method among the Ainu of obtaining a wife is by
serving for her ; and Pilsudski sa5'S that if jnu'chase of a wife
occurs either in real life or in the myths, this is usually in places
where the Ainu have come into contact with the Gilyak and are
influenced by them.^' ^
' Batchelor, TJie Ainu and their Folk-Lore, 1901, p. 229.
2 Op. cit., p. 225.
^ According to a personal communication from Mr. Pilsudski, the Ainu
do not like to give their daughters into another family, but prefer to
adopt the son-in-law. His position, though, is much better in such
a case than among the Gilyak.
* Op. cit., pp. 227-8. ^ Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 133.
® In a personal communication from Mr. Pilsudski, he says that the follow-
B.itchelor^ says that if a girl courts a young man. she 'may
enslave herself to his jtarents as a price for their son '. Pilsudski,^
however, states that though the custom of ■women trying to win
men did formerly exist, it is no longer observed, and Ainu women
'are even very much displeased at any hint of such a thing'.
Their mythology ascribes this custom to Tungus women. It is
called among the Ainu l-qjnjjoslirc, ' to make the first advances'.
A girl, until she marries, is quite free in her intercourse with
men. Some of the myths ■' mention that some time after a girl
was married to a man, she married him again ' for good '. In this
case we must understand the first 'marriage' as in fact a be-
trothal, accompanied by sexual intercourse ; while the second
marriage referred to was the real marriage, after which the
woman was called macipi, 'the wife'. While she is betrothed,
and if she is younger than her fimice, she is called ' circsJiX maci,'
' the brought-up wife ' ; and if she is about the .same age, she is
termed uJcoresJce maci.*
Batchelor gives the following desci'iption of the betrothal of an
adult man :
' The bridegroom's father takes a small sword, and, placing it
in the hands of the father of the bride, says: "This sword is
a pledge of betrothal ; take it and M'orship. Do thou pray to the
goddess of fire." Then, having received the sword, he worships
the fire, saying: "We have here and now settled to marry our
son and daughter ; therefore, O thou goddess of fire, hear thou and
be witness thereto. Keep this couple from sickness, and watch
over them till they grow old." The bridegroom's father then
receives the sword, and worships in like manner.'
The marriage ceremony consists in a feast and exchanging of
presents, the old men making fetiches for the new * heart of the
house '.
'Soon after marriage the bridegroom makes a knife-sheath,
a spoon, a shuttle, and a weaving-loom, and presents them to his
bride. This ... is called mat-eilara, i.e., "making my wife".
The bride then makes a girdle, a pair of leggings, a necklace, and
ing fact will show how foreign the idea of wife-purchase is to the Ainu
mind : If an Ainu wishes to purchase a wife, the only way he can accom-
plish his end is to form illicit relations with another man's wife. If the
fact becomes known, a divorce follows, and the Ainu is compelled to pay
damages to the aggrieved husband.
1 Op. cit., p. 230. 2 Op. cit., p. 142.
3 Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 236 ; also p. 59. * Op. cit., p. 63.
a headdress, which she j^resents to her husband ; this is called
IwTiu ciJiara, "making my husband", ' ^
Polyg5'ny is practised ; and according to Batchelor a man's
wives ' live in separate houses, and are not on speaking terms
with one another'.-
Polyandry is unknown among the Ainu •"' ; occasional cases only
occur in districts bordering on Gilyak territory.
Divorces are of frequent occurrence. The matter is settled by
the eldest of the clan ; the children being either divided between
the two parties, or all given to the one who is considered in-
nocent."* Among the grounds for divorce, according to Batchelor,
are, on the part of the man, ' want of love towards her, or of her
towards him ; incompatibilit}' of temper ; general disrespect on
the wife's part ; idleness, and failure to keep the hut supplied
with fuel and vegetable food ; unfaithfulness ; lack of male issue.
A woman might dissolve her connection with her husband for the
reason of adultery, dislike to him, idleness, inability to keep the
larder supplied with fish and animal food. . . . When a man
divorced his wife, he merely made her a present and sent lier
back to her parents, and when a woman wished to be free from
her husband, she simply walked off and left him to shift for him-
self. In cases which have occurred under my own eye, the
subject was made more of a familj^ aifair. and the presents were
sent to the parents of the women who were divorced, and were
not given to the women themselves.' ' Unfaithfulness is usually
punished by beating."
Both Sternberg" and Pilsudski" agree that the Ainu are the
only people of north-eastern Asia among whom strong traces of
mother-right are found. Pilsudski says that they are just at the
stage of transition from mother-right to father-right. As traces of
matriarchy he cites the superior position of women among the
Ainu as compared with neighbouring tribes, e.g. the Gilyak. Tliis
is especially evident during pregnancy, when she is surrounded
' Batclielor, op. cit., p. 226. - Op. cit., p. 231.
=" Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 130.
* Pilsudski, 21ie Ainu, Epliron and Brockhaus's Encyclopaedia.
"^ Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 233.
" Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 63; Batchelor, op. cit., p. 234.
' 'Hie Gihjal; 1905, p. 21.
* Pilsudski, ' Schwangerschaft, Entbindung und Fehlgeburt bei den
Bewohnern der Insel Sachalin (Giljaken und Ainu) ', in Anthropos, 1910,
pp. 762-4.
with every care, and even regarded with veneration. Marriage is
never by purcliase. If the husband does not go to live in the
house of his wife's parents, the wife goes to him, but the first few
yeai-s after marriage are usually spent with her parents, in whose
house her first child is often born.
Relationship through the mother is of more importance than
that through the father, the maternal uncle being very often the
most important member of the family.^ Another evidence of this
state of things may be cited from Batchelor, who, however,
curiously enough, considers it a mark of the inferior social position
of women after marriage : ' When not called by her own maiden
name (a wife) is merely called So-and-so's wife ... as long as her
husband is living. Should he die, she is always known by her
name as a maiden, or called So-and-so's mother, should she have
a son or daughter.' -
THE NEO-SIBERIANS.
VIII. The Tungusic Tribes.
The Tungus proper, Christians and non-Christians, customarily
begin sexual intercourse with their wives long ))efore official
marriage ; as soon, in fact, as a certain portion of the Icalym (ten
reindeer, more or less) has been paid to the father of the bride.''
The Tungus of the Yeniseisk Government practise polygamy.
According to PatkanofF,* a girl is free to choose her husband ; and
if her father does not approve of her choice, she elopes with the
man she has chosen. Samokvasoff "" says that among the Tungus
of Nerchinsk and Verkhneudinsk, there exists a custom of inter-
change of children, one family giving a son in exchange for
a daughter from another family. In this exchange, however, the
father of the bride still receives a small Icahpn from the groom.''
The Tungus give as a daughter's dowiy a new suit for the husband,
a cover for the chum (tent), some reindeer, and some household
^ Op. cit., PI). 763-4; see also The Ainu, Ephron and Brockhaus's
Eticijclopaedia, by the same author.
» Batchelor, op. cit., p. 226.
^ A. Sgibnieff, Tlie Tungus of the Sea-Coast Territory, 1859, p. 42 ; see
also Patkanoff, Essay on the Geography and Statistics of the Tungusic
Tribes of Siberia, 1906, part ii, p. 281.
♦ Op. cit., p. 282.
® Samokvasoff, A Code of Customary La>v among the Aborigines of
Siberia, 1876, p. 65.
« Ibid.
utensils. The Trans-Baikal Tungus give a complete house.^
The hilf/m usuall}^ consists of reindeer. If, after paying the
whole lalf/m, the bridegroom should die before taking home his
bride, his rights in the woman pass to a brother or other near
relative, who has to pay no further Imljim. Tliis, however, is
conditional upon the claimant's l)eing not more than twenty
years older, or ten years younger, than the bride.'-
If an elder brother dies, his wife goes to a younger brother ; or
sometimes a father will take the wife of a deceased son, it l^eing
considered that he bought her with the Tcali/m he paid for his son.^
If a wife is taken in adultery with her lover, both receive
coi'poral punishment. The lover, if he does not belong to the
same gens, has besides to give up his horse to the offended
husl)and.*
In spite of this rule, it must ])e observed that a Tungus husband
will often wink at illicit relations between his wife and, e.g.,
American fishermen, since this is found profital)le. This partially
accounts for the fact that the husbands themselves are quite
frequently unfaithful to their w'ives.
The Tungus proper are exogamic ; but on this point there is
a lack of detailed information, bej'ond the fact that they purchase
their wives from another gens (clan). The Tungus who have
migrated to the Arctic region very often marry within the clan.
The Tungusic tribe of Goldi has a custom under which the
bride must avoid the bridegroom from the time of the match-
making until the l.ast moment of one of the marriage ceremonies,
called dansari. At the dansari there is a certain ceremony called
' first meeting of the two ' {di/relacJio-iiri). After this a feast is
held for the guests, and afterwards, when every one is going to
bed, the bride is led to the bridegroom, and they are placed
beneath the same blanket, even though she may be quite imma-
ture. No sexual act takes place at this time, however. After
this the bride remains some time longer in her parents' house,
and is not taken to the house of the bridegroom until the time for
the performance of the next ceremony, hhosodabgalilni.'' She re-
ceives as her dowry various garments, carpets, household utensils.''
Only rich people can afford to have more than one wife.
* P. Tretyakoff, The Country of Turnldiaml; p. 380.
^ Samokvasoff, op. cit., p. 45. ^ Op. cit., p. 65. * Op. cit., p. 26.
^ P. Shiinkevich, ' Moments of Goldi Life,' E.R., pp. 12-13.
^ Op. cit., pp. 14-15.
I
Another Tungusic tiil>p— tlio Orochi — have collective marriage
existing alongside of individual marriage similar to that of the
Gilyak. The}- have a classificatory system, the terms of which
correspond with the norms of sexual relations, and they preserve
considerable traces of cousin-marriage. The difference l»etween
the Gilyak and Orochi is that a man's elder brothers are included
in the same class as his father's younger brothers. Hence a man
can marry the wife of his father's j'ounger brother, or his niece.
Two-sided cousin-marriage is allowed. Owing to their nomadic
life, however, these rules are not very strictly preserved.^
An Orochi generally has only one wife, though rich people may
have several. Poor men often carry off other men's wives, ]>ut
this is usually followed by bloodshed. Patkanoff says that a custom
exists among them of giving their wives and daughters to honoured
guests for the night. -
The custom of avoidance binding the wife, sometimes the bride-
groom, with regard to the relatives on the side of each respectively,
which prevails among the Finnic, Mongolic, and Turkic tribes of
Siberia, does not seem to have been observed among the Tungus.
IX. The Turkic Tribes.
A. The Yakut.
It would seem at first sight that the Yakut girl is fairly free in
her relations with men before the official marriage. In the
southern provinces of the Yakut district, says Priklonski,'" a. fiance
has the rights of a husband towards the girl after he has paid the
first instalment of the lali/m. Whenever he pays her a visit he
must make her a gift, and then only her parents give tacit consent
to his spending the night with her. But we read also in the
same author that among certain families there still exists the
following ancient custom: At the head of the bed where the
betrothed lie together (in the gii'l's home, if the Imhjm is not fully
paid up. in the man's, if it is) is placed a cup of salamata.* The
man, if he is satisfied with his fiancee, eats up the salamata ; if
not, he leaves it untouched. The parents secretly inspect the cup ;
^ Sternberg, The Turano-Ganotcanian System and the Xations of Is.E.
Asia, Int. Congr. Am., 1912, London, pp. 326-7.
* Patkanoff, op. cit., p. 116.
» Priklonski, 'Three Years in the Yakutsk, Territory,' L.A. T., 1891,
p. 54.
* Salamata, i. e. meal fried in melted butter.
and it is considered most disgraceful for the girl if her fiance has
not eaten the contents. Tliis would seem to show that the Yakut
attach some importance to the conduct of a girl before marriage.^
Sieroszewski describes what he calls the barbaric means which
the Yakut employ to keep girls chaste. This consists of a chastity
girdle, a kind of leather trousers, differing from a man's in that
they open only at one side, and secured by many leather straps
about the loins. This garment is worn constantly, not being re-
moved even at night. -
It cannot be said, then, that the Yakut take no care to preserve
the chastity of their young women ; though it would seem that
their regard for this matter is largely regulated by concern about
the Jcali/m. If this has been partly or fully paid, the parents do not
take any further interest in preserving the girl's chastity. In other
words, the real legal marriage precedes the actual official wedding
ceremonies sometimes by several years; and, in fact, is accomplished
when the suitor formally hands over to the father of his bride
a certain portion of the J:ali/m. During this time the husband has
to visit his wife in the house of her family, and any children born
in this period live with the mother.^
In the marriage ceremonies of the Yakut several stages may be
distinguished : (i) the matchmaking ; (ii) the compact ; (iii) the
l)etrothal ; (iv) the bringing home of the bride. They betroth
their children often when only one or two years old, but the bride
is not given away until a certain part of the kali/m has been i>aid.
As a matter of fact, the Yakut do not employ the term kah/m.
which they think to be a Russian word ; they say suwu (snlu), or
Joirmu, terms which describe the two most important factors in
the Tcalym^: swvu [suhi), the payment to the parents, and Jcurnm,
that to the family (gens). Other parts of the kaJi/m are : uos assar,
' the opening of the mouth ', which is never returned, and is paid
at the beginning of the matchmaking proceedings to propitiate the
father of the bride ; and Jioinohor'' Msi, 'the gift for the night'.
The Jcalym is made up of horses, cattle, furs, meat, &c.
The marriage ceremonial consists essentially in an exchange of
gifts ; for while the bridegroom pays kalym, the bride on her part
* Ibid. ^ Sieroszewski, 12 Lat ir Kraju Yakiitoir, p. 342.
' Langans, The Yakut, 1824, pp. 146-7. Similar statements are to be
found in tlie works of N. Kostioff, Customary Law of the Yakut, p. 280,
and N. S. Shchukin, Tlie Yakut, 1854, p. 27.
* Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 325. ^ Maak writes hoinosor.
brings to his house her dowry, ainiii. The matchmaker, in the
person of the bridegroom's father or some other respected person,
goes to the house of the bride. This is called t'ningnur tiuscr,
' the arrival of the matchmaker '. Afterwards there follows
a visit from the mother of the bridegroom, referred to as hodohol
tiuser, 'the arrival of tlie matchmakeress '. She spends two or
three days with the bride, is well entertained with rich feasts, as
her husband had been, and, when she departs, presents are given
to her train.' These, howevei-, are usually returned when tlie
bride goes to her new home.
Maak says that after this follows the bringing home of the bride ;
J>ut Sieroszewski describes another ceremony which probably pre-
cedes the visits of the prospective father-in-law and mother-in-law.
This is the betrothal, called Mtegan. Two or three of the most
honoured male relatives of the suitor accompany him to the house
of the girl's father, where they sit for two days on the billiri/Jc.'^
After this they leave the house, but return in a short time without
the suitor, ask the father on his behalf for his daughter's hand,
and arrange with him the amount of the Jcalpn. During all this
time the girl must be absent, and but seldom is her opinion asked.
She, however, often observes the groom without being perceived
by him. No one sends matchmakers to a house where a suitor
has been refused for a whole year after the refusal.^ Dui-ing the
time of her fiance's first visit to a girl he must avoid the rest of
her people, being comj^elled to remain behind a hanging which
cuts off her special sleeping-place from the rest of the yurta.^
When the marriage compact is concluded this is referred to as
sinnahh Ihongoruta, 'they have given their word'.^
At last the father and mother of the bride assemble their
relatives and conduct her to the bridegroom's house. This is
called tiungnur hodolioi tiuser, i.e. 'arrival of the matchmaker and
matchmakeress '. Horses with richly decorated saddles, called
charamni, bring the bride's tinna. Her clothes are known as dnnii
^ Maak, Jlie Viluijxk District of the Yakutsk Territonj, 1887, part iii,
pp. 93-5.
" Billinjk is a bench in the quietest and warmest nook of the wall in
the side of the yurta. The most honoured guest— the shaman who is
called in to perform his office, or the matchmaker — is placed upon it.
This hiUinjk must be distinguished from another called 'left' hilliryk,
the bench on which the Avomen and girls sit and sleep.
^ Sieroszewski, op. cit., pp. 328-30.
* Pavlinoff, Marnage Law of the Yakut, 1871, pp. 300-4.
° Priklonski, op. cit., p. 54.
tangaha, and the cattle she brings as iinnd sieJcJii. The meat and
other food that come "with her are called l\ijs lesif, ' gifts of the
bride '. In her retinue the men ride first, and the horse on which
she is mounted, as richly caparisoned as she herself is richly
dressed, is led by the bridle by one of her train. Among them is
usually a highly skilled horseman. As the cavalcade approaches
the house of the bridegroom there comes thence another good
rider, and the two ride a race. The loser is tied to the saddle of
the poorest girl in the bride's train, and during the wedding-feast
he has to wait upon the guests. This custom is known as ken
Jcersier, ' the race of the youths '. The bride does not at once enter
the t/urta. Three men who can drink much Icumijs are first sent
in, and are given large quantities of this liquor, which they must
drink Vl\). Only then does the matchmaker lead into the yurla
the bride and all her train.
Then comes the ceremony of ' the sacrifice to the fire ', which is
strictly observed even by Christian Yakut. ^
Priklonski- says that the bride approaches the fire from the
north, and throwing into it three sticks brought from her own
yurta, and a piece of butter, pronounces these words : ' I come as
mistress to rule the hearth '. Then she bows to her father-in-law
and mother-in-law, and the feast begins, the young couple being
seated apart from the rest of the company. After the feast, the
married pair retire to the sleeping-place prepared for them.
For three days the bride's gens is entertained by the gens of the
groom ; various gifts are then exchanged, and they depart to tiieir
homes.
The marriage ceremonies of to-day are without dances or songs,
says Sieroszewski ; ^ but he was told by several Yakut that
formerly the bride was welcomed to her new abode by a shaman,
and that a sacrifice was performed by him on her behalf.
A Yakut wife in her husband's house is surrounded by various
prohibitions, which affect both her and the other inmates mutually
in their relations to each other. The prohibition which binds the
woman is with regard especially to her father-in-law, but refers
also to other older male relations. It is known as kinitti, and
according to this she (i) is not allowed to pass in front of the fire
of the father-in-law and other older male relatives, but must pass
* Maak, op. eit.. pp. 94-5. * Op. cit., p. 56.
3 Op. cit., p. 219.
l)eliincl it from the north-west ; (ii) must not talk in a loud voice,
nor ut;e words with a douldo meaning; (iii) must not call her
father-in law by his name, and even if his name signilies an ol)ject
in common use, she can only name this object Ijy means of
a periphrasis— e. g. if he is called ' Flint', she must say 'fire-stone',
when speaking of a flint ; (iv) must not eat of the head of any
animal, for the father-in-law is head of the house ; (v) must, when
addressing her father-in-law or mother-in-law, draw her cap down
as far as possilde over her eyes ; (vi) must not show her hair to
her father-in-law, or bare her feet or any part of her body before
him.^
Sieroszewski - says that the custom of Jcinitti was formerly much
more strict. The bride was forbidden to show herself for seven
years after her marriage to her father-in-law or brothers-in-law, or
to any male relative of her husband. The married pair lived on
the left (women's) side of the yurta behind a special partition.
From there, through a crevice, the young woman could observe the
men of the household, and so as to avoid meeting them, must
pass in or out through the pig-sty entrance of the i/iida and not
through that used by the other inmates. If she could not avoid
a meeting, she must cover her face: so that sometimes a bride
might die without any of the men of the household having seen
her features. At the marriage ceremony the bride's sister must
not show her head, or so much as her hair, to the bridegroom or
to any of his male relations.^
The men of the household must also observe certain rules.
Formerly they had to avoid the bride altogether, saying, ' Ah, poor
child, she is bashful.'"* Nowadays they need do no more than
keep a guard upon their language, so as not to say anything
unseemly in her presence, for the Yakut customarily use great
freedom in conversation. They must not show in her presence
any part of their bodies bare — the arm above the elbow, or
the leg above the ankle. The bride enjoys the care and pro-
tection of everybody, and it is said that sometimes she does no
work for a whole year after marriage, but only eats and sleeps.
Her dowry is her personal property and inalienable.^
A Yakut usually takes his wife from another clan {aya-usa).
^ Priklonski, op. cit., pp. 60-1.
2 Op. cit., pp. 337-41. 3 ii^ij,
* Gorokhotf, Kinitti, E. S. S. I. R. G. S., 1887, p. 71.
^ Priklonski, op. cit., p. GO.
Sieroszewski knew of only one case of a man taking a wife from
his own gens, and when the woman shortly after marriage grew
blind, it was said that this was a pnnishment for breaking an old
custom.^ Gorokhoff states that rich Yakut look for their wives
not only outside their own clan, but outside the nasleg, i. e. in
another uhis.'-' '■'
When the Cossacks fii-st came among the Yakut, they found
polygyny fully developed ; but nowadays, as the Yakut have
become poorer, and the Icdlijm is somewhat large, it is not so much
practised. Another reason for the decline of the custom is that
girls die in infancy more frequently than boys, as they are not so
carefully tended. The less civilized an vlus is, the fewer women
it contains."* Jochelson says : ' The Arctic Yakut, having come
into contact with the Yukaghir, must have fallen under the in.
fluence of their marriage customs ; for the Yakut living in the
northern part of the Kolyma district, near the tundra Yukaghir,
do not observe at present their old exogamic custom.' ^
We suggest that the decline of exogamic custom among the
Yakut, ascribed by Mr. Jochelson to Yukaghir influence, may be
rather the result of environment, which, causing the people to
disperse, forces men to take wives from among their own gens.
On the other hand, the custom of exogamy among the Yakut
is not of an indefinitely ancient date. The following facts may be
adduced in support of this assertion : (i) In their legends and
traditions there are frequent references to unions between people
of the same clans, even between brother and sister ; (ii) the exis-
tence of regulations enforcing avoidance of each other among
members of the same family ; (iii) the terminology of relationships.
Some of the allusions in the traditions mentioned above are as
follows :
' Thy sister was thy wife ; thy mother was thy wife ; the wife
of thy brother was also thy wife.' *^ ' Of old when the youth could
draw the bow he took to wife his sister and led her to a quiet
place.' " * In ancient times when an older or younger sister was
^ Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 330. ^ GorokhofF, ibid.
^ An uliis is composed of several naslegs.
* Sieroszewski, op. cit., pp. 332-3.
^ Jochelson, The Yukaghir and Yiikaghirized Tungns, J. N. P. E., 1910,
p. 80.
® Recorded in the tdus of Bayagantay in 1885. Sieroszewski, op. cit.,
p. 335.
' Recorded iu the iilus of Namsk, 1891. Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 335.
given in nianiage into anotlier clnn, tlie brothers tlid not let her
go before they had lain with her (custom of t7/o/M«««r) When
strangers take to wife from her l)rothers a woman wlio is still
a virgin, the brothers account it a shame for themselves.'^ The
expression chohmnur is still used to denote having sexual inter-
course with a woman, and also making a hostess of her. In the
old folk-ballads, olongho, we have allusions to a hero being in
danger, and his sister-lover going to his rescue. -
If 3'oung women have sexual relations with men before marriage,
it is always within their own clan, and there is a decided tendency
towards such relations. In the idus of Kolymsk, in a village
called Andalykh, in the autumn the older girls, with the know-
ledge of their parents, go at night to small houses on the lake,
where they receive boys from the neighbourhood. One night in
1883, Sieroszewski lost his way, and found himself in one of these
houses. He heard also of other places in this neighbourhood
where girls spent their time in fishing through the ice, and
receiving boj's of their clan by day and by night.^
This tendency is restricted by different prohibitions, such as
that boys between the ages of ten and twelve must sleep apart
from their sisters, in spite of the fact that this entails additional
expense for beds. This is not to be accounted for by any con-
siderations of mere modesty, for it is not unusual for the girls
to appear quite naked in the presence of their brothers.^
The terms of relationship, which will be more fully treated
later, are characterized by an absence of any words for ' husband '
and 'father'. The term aga, corresponding to our 'father',
literally means only ' older ' : in inquiring some one's age people
say, ' Is he aga (older) or haJijs (younger) ? ' The term erim, corre-
sponding to our ' husband ', means in fact ' my man '. While the
ordinary word for wife is oijoJch, there is a special term for ' my
woman' — djaTihatcr-cm:' The term for 'mother' is ?/c, literally,
' womb ', ' embryo '. In the olongho the heroes often go on journeys
to find out who their fathers are. That the relation of the child
was primarily regarded as being only with the mother is shown
Ijy the older name of the clan, yc-vsa, which remains now only as
the name of a subdivision of the clan (aga-usa). The members
of ye-usa must be of the same blood, while the aga-usa may include
Ibid. 2 Op. cit., pp. 336-7. =» Op. cit., p. 342.
' Op. cit., p. 337. "^ Op. cit., p. 338.
others also. Tlius i/e-usa has retained only a part of its old signifi-
cance.^ The al)0ve considerations seem to point to a transition
from a matrilineal, matrilocal, and perliaps matripotestal endo-
gamic organization to one which is patrilineal, patrilucal, patri-
potestal, exogamic.
B. The Altaians.
Wierbicki,- the Kussian missionary, describes the marriage
ceremony among the Altaians as it was at the end of the nine-
teenth century. He distinguishes two types of the ceremony,
as it obtains among (a) the southei*n, and (b) the northern Altaians.^
He says that among the northern Altaians the wife is still
usually obtained by capture. From his description it is evident
that this form of marriage is so sanctified by public opinion that
the capture is now at the stage of becoming jiractically symbolic ;
for in the Altaian marriage ceremonies we see at the present day
nothing more than symbolic traces of original marriage by capture.
According to the southern form of marriage custom, a young
man sends to his jjrospective father-in-law matchmakers, one of
whom, kneeling before the father-in-law, delivers the following-
eloquent speecli : * I come, bending my knee upon your thres-
liold. I come, bowing to your beliefs. I come, in admiration of
your way of life. I come to ask you for a head ! May the union
that I come to make be as inseparable as two cheeks ; may it be
as impenetrable as a warrior's breastplate. May our kinship
be as close as the rings in a birch-trunk, or as stitches of silk in
a garment ! I come to ask of you a haft for a haftless knife.
Nine generations ago there \vas war : I come to make peace."*
' Op. cit., p. 293.
2 Wierbicki, The Xathr.'^ oftho Altai, 1893, pp. 81-5.
' By southern Altaians Wierbicki understands the so-called Kalmuk of
Altai. But the name Kalmuk is not correctly applied here, for it
implies that these people are Mongolic, whereas, linguistically at least,
they are a Turkic tribe. The second tribe included by Wierbicki among
the southern Altaians is that of thfi Kalmuk-Uriankhai, who have more
of a Mongol admixture. Still another group, according to him, are the
Teleut. The northern Altaians he takes to include the Tartars of
Chern, cheni being the name of the dense, dark forest which covers the
northern slope of the Altai. These so-called Tartars show little trace of
Tartar origin, and are the result of a mixture of Turkic and Mongolic
tribes. All these people have in common, however, the Turkic language
and traditions. (Wierbicki, op. cit., pp. 5-7.)
■* Priklonski says that among the Yakut when a matchmaker comes to
a family with whom his principal was formerly at feud, he must bring
I come ill admiration of your way of life. I come to make a union
between us. What answer will you give me ? '
With these words the matchmaker, still kneeling, otters to the
father a pipe filled with tobacco, turning the mouthpiece towards
him. Meanwhile a second matchmaker holds ready a piece of
burning fungus, to present it to the father as soon as he shall
stretch out his hand to take the pipe.
The taking of the pipe is a sign of acceptance of the offer ; but
the compact is not immediately concluded, for the father may sny
that he must consult with his family upon the matter, or the
question of kaJi/m hivs still to be settled. After this only is the
pipe of peace and acceptance smoked. Then the other match-
makei-s. preserving always a solemn mien, bring Jcumi/s and wine,
which they drink together. After this the matchmakers return
to the suitor, and inform him of their success, and of the amount
of the kali/m ; whereupon a second feast is held. When everything
is ready, two young men, friends of the bridegroom, arrive at the
bride's >/urta, each holding a rod of birch. Between these a sort
of screen^ is stretched. The bride mounts a horse, which has
been prepared for her. and the two men ride at her side, holding
the screen before her, until they ari'ive at the house of the groom.
During the journey she ought not to see either the path or the
new yurtu, until she enters it. She is followed by a long train.-
Before the girl leaves her own yiirta, a ceremony of ' blessing
the bride ' {algysli-sez) is held there. Her parents give her their
blessing, with instructions as to her behaviour in her new home,
and then seven old men appear, who bestow their blessing upon
her in poetic diction. During this ceremony a bright fire is
burning, before which she must bow. When she reaches the
yiirta of the groom she must bow before his hearth-fire too, and
place in it a piece of meat and some butter.''
Potanin,^ in describing the marriage ceremony among the
Teleut of the Kuznietsk and Biisk districts, says that at the
presents and pronounce these words : ' May your tongue utter no more
such words as it did before, and may your mind return to its former
kindly thoughts.' (Priklonski, Three Yiars in the Yukufsk Terriiunj,
1^91, p. 54.)
' This screen is CAWad kosh'ugo.
* This must be regarded as a symbolic survival of original marriage by
capture.
^ Op. cit., pp. Sl-4.
* Potanin, Hkelches of yorth- Western Monfjoli'f, 1883, vol. iv, p. G27.
I 2
niiirriage festiv.-il there is a custom called ail-huzar (' destroying the
liouse'). First they remove the door of tlie i/xrta, and through the
doorway a relative of the bride, richly dressed and mounted on
a richly caj^arisoned horse, tries to ride out of the house. The
opening being small, he attempts to enlarge it by breaking away
portions of the neighbouring walls. The occupants of the ijuiia
do everything they can to prevent the man's escape. They cling
to his stirrup, to his dress, and to the trappings of his horse.
Whatever is torn away from him in the struggle is presented to
the bride, and is called ' the bride's luck '.
According to the custom of the northern Altaians,^ the bride-
groom is supposed to capture the bride. As a matter of fact, the
girl has been apprised beforehand of his intention, the matter is
settled with her, and she gives to the young man's envoy a ker-
chief from her head as an earnest of the fulfilment of her part
of the compact. Then the bridegroom comes with one or two
friends on good horses, and carries her off at night. They take
her to the ulus of the groom,- and in the morning the young men
begin to build an odalch for the couple. This is composed of nine
poles of birch, each about ten metres in length, planted in the
ground so as to come together to a point at the top, where some
leaves are left so as to give the appearance of a broom at the
summit of the framework of the yurta. The walls are formed
of birch-bark. The bridegroom on entering the new abode must
kindle a new fire with his flint and steel, for no coals can be
l)rought into the yurta from any other fire for the purpose. From
the manner in which the sparks fly the future life of the young
couple is augured.
While her husband is tending the fire the bride offers to each
of the builders of the odaJ;h a copper ring ; for she has been
collecting rings for this purpose since her childhood, and has
sometimes got together as many as a hundred. The oclalh, or
green yurta, stands for three days, and during all this time the
young couple must not leave it. After three days the odalh is
pulled down, and the birch-poles are taken away into the forest,
where they remain until they rot. Nobody may borrow fire from
the odalJi.
The feasts held on the occasion of a marriage are known as
hai/ga. The first is given by the bridegroom, and is held around
^ Wierbicki, op. cit.
- This is an imlication that marriage among these people is exogamic.
the odaJili, but the four following ones are given ;it the home of
the bride.
Five or ten days after the 'capture' of the bride, the groom,
with some of his relatives and a considerable food-supply, comes
to the father-in-law to make peace and agree upon the amount of
the Mlifm he must pay for the bride he has carried oif. A rich
son-in-law pays his lail/im at once, a poor one in instalments
covering several years.
Sometimes the bride's parents give the whole hiliim as a dowry
to their daughter, and even make it larger by adding presents
from themselves.
To enable the bridegroom to pay the Irili/m, his bachelor friends
help him by making each a small offering from his store. But
the larger the Jcal/pn, the worse is the position of a woman in her
widowhood. Her father-in-law treats her as projierty bought for
much money, and if she wishes to marry again, he demands from
the suitor as large a JaJ//m as the deceased husband formerly paid
for her. Sometimes the widow marries her brother-in-law.
Marriages are usualh^ celebrated in spring. The first hai/r/d
is not held until the voice of the cuckoo is heard, even if a marriage
takes place before that time.
One month after the marriage the ' tobacco haijga ' is held, at
which the relatives of the bridegroom make presents of tobacco
to the bride's relations.
The third, or ' meat 6a^<7a ', takes place, among the rich, after the
harvest ; among those not so wealthy, it is not held until from
one to two years after the wedding. The poorest class celebrate
this feast whenever they can ajfford it.
At the last ha//f/a a horse is killed and eaten. Each hayga is accom-
panied by dances, games, &c.^
Marriage is exogamic among all the Altaians ; and a wife has
to observe various prohi])itions with regard to her father-in-law.
She must not show him her head or feet, or give him any object
with her hands. The father-in-law has to avoid her also, never
make any jokes in her presence, and run away when she does her
hair.'^ Among the Teleut the custom of avoidance holds also with
the relatives of the bridegroom.
^ Op. cit., p. 85.
"^ Radloff, Aus Sibirien, p. 314. See also T. Shvetzoff, Ideas of the
Altaiaus and Kirgis on Custom and Law, W. S. S. I. R. G. S., \y. 9.
X. Thk Mongolic Tribes.
A. The Buryat.
It is usually the i)arents who arrange marriages among the
Buryat, betrothing their children in infancy. There is also a
custom of interchange of children, by which one family will
exchange a daughter for the daughter of another faniilj\ In this
case, as soon as a girl reaches marriageable age, the parents make
a final compact called l(hal, and fix the day for her wedding to a
son of the fiimily into which she comes by exchange. If a family
contains only sons, they must acquire daughters-in-law by the
l>ayment of I'ali/m, which consists of cattle and mali/Jih, i. e. calves
still unborn.^
Buryat girls receive as dowry, clothes, household utensils, a
riding-horse with full equipment, and ii i/urta.'-
Potanin'' states that a father not only bestows on his daughter
at her marriage a dowry consisting of cattle, household utensils,
iKc, but makes similar gifts to his son-in-law, so that the value of
the dowry together with these other gifts offsets that of the ka1/jm.
Sometimes betrothal takes place between adults.
The Buryat are exogamous, and a symbolical representation of
the capture of the wife is the essential feature of the wedding
ceremony. On the day when the bride is to be taken to the
bridegroom, friends and relatives assemble at her parents' house.
But the bride hides herself within a ring which her girl friends
form around her, holding hands, and strengthening the chain with
their kerchiefs. When men try to break through the ring, the
girls do their best to prevent them, weeping and shouting aloud.
During this time preparations are being made in the bride-
groom's house for the arrival of the bridal party. First a birch is
planted in front of the ijiirta as a symbol of the hoped-for growth
and development of the new family, and on this tree are hung fur
coats and ongons. As the party conducting the bride approach her
new home, they send forward a group of riders called furusJii, one
of whom holds in his hand an arrow barbed with iron, and with
a bit of white cloth, called Icudylc, at the other end. This turusJii,
^ Samokvasoff, Code of Law among the Aborif/ines of Siberia, 1876,
pp. 74-5.
- M. Khangaloff, 'Customary Law among the Buryat,' E. R., 1894,
p. 138.
^ Potanin, Sketches of Xorth-Western Mongolia, 1883, vol. iv, p. 36.
on comina: near, dismounts, leaving his horse to be lieUl by some
of his companions, runs into the jiurta without greeting any one,
and sticks the arrow in the west tcnge, or partition which shuts
oK the fomily sleeping-place from the fire, so that the arrow
points westward. Then he occupies the place usually given to the
most honoured guest, roughly turning out the occupant, if tliere
happens to be one, even if he should be a person held in the
greatest honour ; and then only does the turuslii greet the match-
maker. The bridegroom's friends and relatives now go to meet
the approaching bridal train, and the feast is begun there in the
road ; then a feast is held in the house of the bridegroom's parents,
and another in that of the matchmaker. The bride, with her
mother and some other women, is taken into a special i/urfa of
the matchmaker. After the feast two shamans perform certain
ceremonies, one shaman in the i/urfa where the bride is, and the
other in that where the bridegroom is for the time being. In
their performance they mention certain spirits, first Bukha-Nolna,
and at the end, Bodon-Khatun. Then the bride is dressed in the
costume of a married woman, and various ornaments are put upon
her. Her fiice is covered with a veil, in which are holes for the
mouth and eyes. She is then taken out of the yurta, has to bow to
the newly-planted birch, and is led round the yurta where are the
bridegroom and his friends, while the matchmaker cries aloud,
* Give us the man who is under sentence ! ' The bridegroom is
thus summoned thrice, but only appears at the third call, this
being hLs first appearance during the whole of the proceedings.
The matchmaker puts into his right hand one end of the handker-
chief, giving the other end to the bride. Thus the marriage is
concluded. Now an old mail, not a shaman, makes a speech for
their benefit, and gives them a blessing. The bridegroom enters
the yurta to put some grease in the fire ; and when the bride and
her party follow him in, grains of corn are thrown upon their
heads.
After the feast the bride goes into the bridegroom's yurta, and
then at last the veil is removed from her head.
Before parting the two families exchange presents ; and the
bride returns to her parents' home, where she remains for some
time longer.
Langans ^ says that after the wedding a wife remains with her
' Tlie Buryat, 1824, vol. i, p. 59.
liusl)and for a month ; then he lets lier go for six months to her
parents, and (hiring- this time is not allowed to visit her. Khan-
galoff,^ a recent investigator, says that nowadays the wife does
not come to live with her husband until several months have
passed after the wedding, which is held in his house. Potanin
states similarly that after the wedding-feast the wife leaves her
husband with the guests, and goes for six months to her parents.
Then she spends one month with her husband, and returns again
to her parents, after which follows another visit to her new home.
The visits to her husband become more and more frecpient, until
at last she settles down with him for life.- From the myths
which relate to marriage reform, under which the husband came
to live with his wife, as well as from accounts of marriage customs
such as those given above, Maksimolf ' rightly concludes that in
former times the husband always went to live in the home of his
wife's parents.
The bride has to observe the following restrictions : (i) she
must never address her father-in-law or mother-in-law by name ;
(ii) all relatives of her husband older than he, and her father-in-
law as well, she must call Jchadam ; (iii) in the presence of a
Jchadam she must never be without her cap and face-covering ;
(iv) she must not remove or change her dress in his presence ;
(v) her sleeping-place should be in a separate ywr^a ; (vi) if she meets
a Jchadam, she must not cross his path, but pass behind him ;
(vii) she must not ride in the same wagon with him, an.d,
generally not be close to him.
He, on the other hand, must not dress or undress in her
presence, nor sit or lie down on her sleeping-place. He must not
utter any indecent language before her ; and before entering the
1/urfa, must make a signal to her of his approach, in order that she
may have time to put her dress in order.
These customs of avoidance are known as sorJchoho {sor, sin ;
IJiohii, to do)."*
After the death of a husband, the widow passes to his brother
or other near relative, or to her father-in-law. If, for some reason,
both parties ai"e unwilling, her father, or other near relative,
^ Some Data concerning the Node of Life of the Nor(h-Wcste)-n Buryat,
p. 161.
- Potanin, op. cit., p. 36.
' Contribution to the History of the Family amonq the Aborigines of
Biissia, 1902, p. 65.
* Khangaloff", 'Customaiy Law among the Buryat,' E. R., 1894, p. 140.
marries the woman to some one else, and turns over tlie new
kalifm to her tii'st husbamls family.
If a husband does not wish to live with his wife, he does not
recover the Jcalifin ; and if a wife is unwilling to live with her
husband, then her relatives have to return the Jc(il//m to him. If,
liowever, she was accjuired throuiih the custom of interchange of
daughters, her relatives have to make up a Jcali/in, which is paid
to the husband. When the marriage is dissolved by the mutual
consent of husl)and and wife, neither party has to restore any
l-ali/m, but the wife has tlie right to demand from her husband
one riding-horse, with full eouiument, one sumiiier and one
winter suit.^
B. The Kalmuk.
'Not having had an opi>ortunity of being present at any of the
marriages of the Kalmucks,' - says Pallas,"' ' I can only speak
from heai-say. Many betroth their children, not only in their
earliest infancy, but in the womb. This (latter) betrothing is,
however, sacredly performed, and conditionall)', i. e. provided
that such a one has a boy and such a one a girl. The young
couple are joined at fourteen years of age, or later. Two years
before marriage a bridegroom is allowed to take many little
liberties with his bride, but should pregnancy happen before the
day of marriage, an atonement is made to the bride's parents, by
presents."* Prior to the wedding, the bridegroom agrees with the
girl's father as to the portion he is to have with her, which
consists in a certain number of horses and cattle ; and the father
of the young man, in return, presents the bride with a new white
felt tent, some household furniture, bedclothes, and ornamented
foot-pillows, covered with cotton or silk, and laced.'
Other authors say that the yurfa and other things which the
girl receives are provided from the Jiuli/m which the bridegroom
gives for her.^
'The geUunfj is consulted with respect to the day of marriage,
and he searches, by astronomical calculations, for a propitious one.
' Samokvasoft", op. cit., p. 75.
^ Pallas calls Kalmuk, the Torgout, Syungorian, and Durbat tribes.
(Op. cit, p. 204.)
^ Pallas, Travels through Siheria and Tarlary, part i (vol. iii. of Trusler's
Habitable World Described), London, 1788, p. 277.
* Op. cit., p. 278.
' Jytecki, Sketch of the Mode of Life of tlie Kalniuh of Astrakhan,
pp. 21-2. See also Tereshchenko, The Ultis of Khoshotsk, 1854, p. 49.
The new tent is then erected ; the hridc, with her parents and
rehitions, goes to the bridegroom, who, with the gcUunfj, or priest,
accompanies them to the tent, where he reads some few prayers
and orders the bride's tresses to be undone and braided in the
manner of married women, into two tails. He next takes the
caps of the married couple, retires with thorn and his rfadsul
outside the tent, smokes them witli frankincense, says a prayer,
then returns to the couple, blesses them, gives the caps to some
of the j^ersons present to put them on the bride and bridegroom's
lieads, and the ceremony concludes with a feast. For a certain
time the bride is not permitted to leave her tent, and no one is
supposed to see her but her mother and the married women of her
acquaintance.
' At the nuptials of princes, great entertainments are given. A
large banquet is prepared, and those who carry the eatables to
table,^ served up in large wooden vessels, are preceded by a herald
or carver riding on a fox-coloured horse, splendidly dressed,
having over his shoulders a long tippet of fine white linen, and
his hat trimmed with black fox or other fur. On the wedding-
day all the priests of the iilus read prayers, and the day is con-
cluded with a variety of amusements, as horse-racing, wrestling,
shooting with the bow, &c.'
The bride is obliged to keep certain rules of behaviour with
regard to her father-in-law and the older male relatives of her
husband. She must not sit down while they remain in the yurta.
She enters their yurtas only when invited ; on going out she must
cross the threshold with her face turned towards the interior of
the yiuia. These rules, however, says Jytecki,^ bind not the
bride only, but all the younger members of the household. Other
rules concern her alone ; e. g. the one that she must not address
her husband's parents or other older relatives by their own name,
but must invent names herself for them. This custom holds even
with regard to the parents' dog.^
Tereshchenko ^ writes that the l)ride throughout her life must
not show her bare feet or head to her father-in-law or male
relatives older than her husl>and ; and, according to Lepekhin,'^
the bride is not allowed to see these people.
1 Pallas, op. cit., p. 279. = Op. cit., p. 34. ^ Ibid.
< Op. cit., p. 50. ° Dianj of a Jounieij, vol. ii, p. 371.
XI. Tin: Samuyep.
In the time of Pallas' (eiul of the eighteenth century) the
marriage customs of the Samoyed were as follows :
'When a Samojede (Samoyed) wants a wife, he looks for one in
some other family than his own. He never cares for beautj^ but
chooses one equal to himself in rank and propert}'. Having
appointed a negotiator of the business from among his own friends,
whom it is customary* to leward with a reindeer for his trouble —
with this man and his relations he goes to the habitation of the
girl's father, and being arrived, no one presumes to enter the hut,
but ranging all their sledges in a row. each man sitting on his
own. while the negotiator waits upon the father of the young
woman and inquires whether the young man can have her. If
the father refuses, which is but seldom the case, he gives the
negotiator a basket, which is the token of refusal, and nothing
more is said, the whole suite returning as they came. But if the
father accepts the proposal, the negotiator settles the Icahim, or
price to be paid, which is attended with more difficulty than among
the Eastjaiks (Ostyak). for such is the covetousness of the father
that he will keep the whole train a long time on their sledges,
that he may get as much for his daughter as he can.'
F. G. Jackson, a recent traveller among these people, says that
the matchmaker takes a gift (e.g. a good fox-skin) from the suitor
to the chum of the girl's father. On his second visit the nego-
tiator brings with him a stick marked with as many notches as the
suitor proposes to give deer. If the price is accepted, the stick is
broken in two. each party retaining one half. ' After this there is
nothing left but the round of gluttonous enjoyment of raw flesh
and bibulous dissipation in blood which accompanies their
marriage festivities.'- Jackson adds that among the Yurak
Samoyed the suitor accompanies the matchmaker, and during the
negotiations cooked meat and vodka are consumed. Waiting for
the final settlement, the suitor sits outside in his sledge, while the
deer he has perhaps i)resented is being consumed. The match-
maker, however, mindful of his client, brings him out some of the
meat.
^ S. Pallas, Travels through Siberia and Taiiary, part iii. (vol. iv of
Trusler's The Ifabltahle World Described, London, 1788), p. 12.
^ Notes on the Samoyed of the Great Tundra, collected from the
journals of F. G. Jackson by A. Montefiore, Journal of the Anthroj).
Institute, vol. xxiv, Aug. 1894-May 1895.
Tlie Jiuli/m generally consists of a variety of clothes, household
necessaries, reindeer, and small articles purchased from the
Russians. The father, indeed, can keep but part of this Jcalijm to
himself, it being usual to give some of it to his relations.
'As soon as the youth has paid the kah/m, the father-in-law
loads him and his company with I'eindeer meat, and during the
feast the young man and the bride's father sing to each otlier, the
father advising in his song the son to love his wife, and the son
recommending himself as well as he can to his new father. It is
then settled when the bride's portion is to be paid, and when
the bride shall be ready to give her hand. For a father always
gives w^ith his daughter in marriage a certain quantity of
clothes.''
Islavin^ and Schrenck '' say that the Samoyed bride of the present
day receives as her dowry a chum (tent), some reindeer, sledges,
harness, clothes, and meat, altogether amounting in value to that
of the Icalipn.
* On the day appointed, the bridegroom waits on his bride with
a number of strange women to fetch her. On this occasion small
presents are demanded from those relations that share the IcaJipn.
The bride is then forcibly placed on a sledge by these women,
tied on, and all the sledges with the presents and gifts (the first
three or four of which the father must cover with good cloth, and
the rest with reindeer skins) then set otf — the bride's sledge first
and all the rest following — and return to the young man's hut,
where it is the business of the bride to make his bed, in which she
sleeps by her husband, but undisturbed for the first month. Both
Eastjaiks (Ostyak) and Samojedes (Samoyed) make the bride's
mother a present, if it turns out that her daughter, when married,
was a virgin.
' Some time after marriage the young wife pays a visit to her
father, and stays with him a few weeks, during which time she
has the liberty to receive her husband. At their taking leave, the
father must make her a number of presents, and do the same at
every visit ; so that the young woman for a length of time shall
have no occasion to apply to her husband for anything. In cases
of divorce the Jcalt/m is returned. Should the woman die soon after
^ Pallas, op. cit.. p. 13.
^ The Samoyed, their Home and Social Life, 1847, p. 128.
^ A. G. Schrenck, Reise nach dem Nordosten des Europdischen liusdand,
p. 476.
Iier marriage, the wi^lower claims a return uf the htlf/itt, if respect
to tlie deceased does not prevent it.'^
Maksimoff, basing his observations on the researches of Ishivin,
says that thougli the bridegroom himself brings the hili/m to
the house of his future fatlior-in-la\v, he does not remain there as
a guest, but erects his own chum near by. First, a feast is held
in the chum of the father-in-law ; then they pass to the bridegroom's
chum, and thitlier bring the bride. The young couple sit side by
side, and the bridegroom feeds her with meat and wine. This is
held to be the essential symbol of the consummation of the
marriage. The feast over, the guests depart, leaving the married
pair alone. After midnight, the bridegroom is expected to leave
the chum unobserved, harness his reindeer, and set out for home.
The bride does not go to her husband's home until some time has
elapsed. When she arrives certain ceremonies are held whicli
symbolize the capture of the bride. -
None of these authors makes any mention of a custom of avoid-
ance among the Samoyed.
F. G. Jackson,^ from whose ' Notes ' quotation was made above,
found that polygamy was 'not in disfavour' among the Samoyed,
though it was rare to find a Samoyed with more than two wives.
The kali/m, he says, with which a wife is purchased amounts
sometimes to one hundred reindeer. This Jcali/m is recoverable,
and the wife is returned to her parents, if the husband finds her
unfaithful, or has other good grounds for dissatisfaction during the
first year of marriage. He also states that a Samoyed will some-
times sell his wife for a few teams of reindeer, or barter her for
another man's wife.
XII. The Finnic Tribes.
The Ostyak.
Pallas's * account of the marriage customs of the Ostyak refers to
these people in general, but especially to those settled on the Ob
near Beresowa at the time of his journey, in the last quarter of the
eighteenth century. His observations follow :
' The Eastjaiks (Ostyak), especially beyond Beresowa, who still
adhere to Paganism, take as many wives as they can afford. They
^ Pallas, op. cit., p. 13. ^ Maksimoff, op. cit., p. 70.
' Jackson, op. cit.
* S. Pallas, Travels through Siberia and Taiianj, part i (vol. iii of
Trusler's HahltahJe World Described, Lonaon, 1788), p. 302.
are fond of marrying sisters of other families; and believe^ that
a man's marrying with a wife's sister brings good hick, and by
doing this they pay the father only half the i>rice, or lali/)n, first
paid. They hold it sinful and disgraceful to marry relations of
the same name ; yet they attend only to the male line. If
a woman has married into another family, and has borne a
daughter, the brother of the mother, or his children, may legally
marry that daughter. In short, all marriages are legal, if only
the fathers of the bride and bridegi'oom respectively are of different
families.
* When an Eastjaik (Ostyak) goes a-courting, he chooses from
among his nearest relations and friends some companions of his
own age, and one to be the negotiator ; goes with them to his
sweetheart's dwelling, and enters the hut without ceremony.
A father who has a marriageable daughter, seeing such a company
arrive, readily guesses the reason ; therefore makes no question,
but treats them with what his tent will afford. When the guests
have filled their bellies they retire to another tent, and from
thence the bridegroom sends his suitor with the proposals, and
inquires the Icalijm, or price to be paid. The negotiation being
entered into, the poor suitor runs to and fro, from one tent to the
other, to settle matters between the two, till the agreement is
concluded. Then the bridegroom goes himself and pays part of
the Jcali/m, the whole being seldom paid at once, it being pro-
portioned to the fortune the father gives with his daughter.^
A rich Ostyak girl is not married without a gift of one hundred
reindeer and an assortment of all kinds of furs. The first instal-
ment being paid, the bridegroom directs the father to have a bed
prepared for him in his hut, and to have his daughter ready. If
the father-in-law agrees to this and accepts the first payment, the
bridegroom comes that night, and lies on the bed, or spot, ap-
pointed for him. Some time after, the bride lies down near him,
on a separate bench, and covered with a i:)articular fur, till the
fires are put out, Next morning the girl's mother inquires of the
bridegroom whether he is satisfied with her daughter. If he
replies in the affirmative, he must present the mother with
a garment and a reindeer ; and the mother then cuts the reindeer-
skin on which tlie young couple lay into pieces, and spreads it
around in triumph ; but should the bridegroom be dissatisfied,
1 Op. cit., p. 303. - Op. cit.. p. 304.
the mother gives him a iviiuleor. The bridegroom, utter this,
sleeps with his bride, but cannot take her home till the whole of
the kalipn, or purchase-money, is paid.'
When a bridegroom visits his bride before the lahjm is fully
paid, says G. Novicki,^ he must observe a certain custom of
avoidance with regard to his father-in-law. Should he meet him
by accident the bridegroom must turn his back or cover his face ;
and he must make his way as quickly as possible to his bride, and
as (^uickl}' return from her.
'Sometimes', continues Pallas,- 'it will happen that, when the
father is weak or ill and cannot follow, the husband shall take
away his wife, before the sum agreed on is paid ; in such cases,
the father takes the opportunity, at some future time, when his
daughter comes to pay him a visit, to detain her, and force the
husband to pay what is owing.'
The woman's dowry, according to Patkanoff,-' is provided,
strangely enough, from the Jcahjm which has been paid for her,
and consists of garments, bedding, &c.
To return to Pallas's account ^ : ' No married Avoman can appear
before her father-in-law whilst she lives ; nor the bridegroom
before his mother-in-law until he has children. They must avoid
them as much as possible ; and if they chance to meet them must
turn their backs and cover their faces. '^ Girls in Eastjaik (Ostyak)
families have no names ; the husband therefore calls his consort
" wife " {jemi) ; and the woman calls her husband " man " [tahe).
'Though the uncivilized Eastjaik (Ostyak) does not consider his
wife but as a necessary domestic animal, and scarcely favours her
with a good word for all her hard labour, yet he dares not strike
her, even for the greatest crime, unless he has consent of her
father ; for, in such a case, the provoked wife would run to her
parents and persuade her father to return the hdijin to his son-in-
law, and she would marry some other man.
' A Sho)-t DescriptKDi of the Oafi/al- y at ion, pp. 42-3.
2 Pallas, op. cit., p. 304. ^ Die Iiii/.sch-O.stJal-eu, p. 139.
* Pallas, op. cit., p. 305.
° More recent accounts than that of Pallas state that for several days
following the wedding the young couple must not so much avoid as
take care to cover their faces if they should meet their respective parents-
in-law. The woman, however, has to cover her face before her father-in-
law, or other male connexions on that side, during the whole of her
married life. (S. Patkanoff, Die Iiiysch-Ostjaken, vol. i, p. 139. See also
A. T. Dmitrieff-Mamonoffand K. M. Golodnikoff, Note-hook of the Tobolsk
Goi-eniment, 1S84, pp. 19-20. _)
' These people kno^v little about jealousy.'
Among tiie Ostyak of Yenisei the young coui)le live with the
husband's father-in-law for about a month after the wedding, and
only then does the husband take his wife home.'
The custom of avoidance is binding upon the bride as well as her
brothers-in-law. There are also certain restrictions governing the
relations ))etween a girl and her brothers. After she has reached
the age of thirteen she may not eat with them or talk to them.'"^
' A. Mordvinoff, The Natives of the Tunil-haush Countn/, I. R. G. S.,
1860, p. 43.
2 Tretyakoff, The Coitntnj of I'linikhaiid; 1871, pp. 388-91.
Chapter V
CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH BIRTH
PALEO-SIBERIANS.
I. The Kamchadal.
The most reliable information concerning the Kamchadal is
still that imparted by Krasheninnikoif, although it dates from the
end of the eighteenth century. He says they are not a prolific
people, and he had never heard of a woman who had had eight
or nine children. Except in rare cases, the w^omen have easy
delivery at child-birth. ' The shamanesses attribute the cause of
difficult labour to the father, who must have built sledges or bent
wood while the child was being born.'^
A woman gave birth to her child kneeling and in the presence
of all the villagers without regard either to sex or age. The new-
born child was wiped with, and wrapped in, a grass called touchitch ;
a stone knife was used to cut the umbilical cord, and the placenta
was thrown to the dogs. Then all the inhabitants of the camp
rejoiced in the infant, nursing and fondling it, but no further
ceremonies were remarked by Krasheninnikoff.^ An old woman
assisted at the accouchement, but she was not a professional mid-
wife ; any one, often the mother of the woman concerned, per-
formed this office. A woman who wished to become pregnant
had to eat spiders ; some of them also for this purpose would eat
the umbilical cord together with a grass called kiprei. On the
other hand, if a child was not desired, there was a widespread
custom of causing abortion by shock or by killing the child in the
womb. Old women specialists in these matters were found, but
they frequently caused the death of the mother. If the un desired
infant did not die before birth, the mother strangled it or gave it,
living, to the dogs to eat. In order to induce sterility, a drink
made from a grass called JconlaJchion was taken. ^
' KrasheninnikofF, Descrixttion of the Coiinti-y of Kamchatka, 1819, p. 171.
In this statement Krasheninnikotf again mentions only female shamans
in accordance with his general theory.
2 Op. cit., p. 172. ' 3 Op. cit., pp. 172-3.
The practice of infanticide was also sometimes clue to certain
beliefs — for instance, that one of a pair of twins must be killed,
and that a child born during a storm must be killed, though in
the latter case incantations might avert the evil. After the
delivery the mother was fed with soup called opnna, made from
fish and a plant called hale, and after a few days she was at work
again.
The father gave to the child the name of one of his ancestors,
but, according to Krasheninnikoff, without ceremonies. Among
the men's names mentioned by this author are Kemleia — * never-
die'; Chihouika—* spider ' ; Biroutch — 'he who was burned
alive ' ; Kene — ' mischievous spirit '.^
II. The Yukaghie.
All the cases of child-birth which Jochelson'^ observed among
the Yukaghir and Yakut were very difficult, and the barbarous
practices attendant upon them produce nervous diseases and pre-
mature age in the mothers.
The foundation of these practices is the belief that difficult
labour and unfortunate birth are caused by the entrance of an
evil spirit into the woman (supernatural cause) ^ ; this is the case
also among some Turkic and Mongolic tribes. At the same time
the Yukaghir also attribute difficult labours to a ' natural ' cause — ■
either to the failure of the mother to observe certain taboos or to
the ill-will of the child itself ; they therefore do not allow two
pregnant women to inhabit the same house in case the two unborn
children should communicate and decide which mother should
die."*^ This does not prevent the co-existence of a further belief,
that is, that before the birth the spirit of an ancestor enters the
child in the womb. Not only is successful labour dependent on
the behaviour of the mother and child, but in some cases the
presence of the father is necessary in order to * loosen that which
he fastened '.^ The midwife asks the sick woman, married or
unmarried, ' Who was the cause of your pregnancy ? ' Jochelson
was present when the husband of a woman who was suffering
terribly placed his arm about her abdomen, and thereupon she
gave easy birth to the child ; though some of those present knew
' Ibid.
"^ W. Jochelson, Tlte Yuka(/hir atid the Yul-righirized Tungus, J.N. P. E.,
vol. ix, 1910, p. 96.
3 Ibid. " Op. cit., p. 97. ^ Op. cit., p. 98.
that he was not the real father, the general feeling was that this
showed that she had spoken the ti'uth in naming him as the
father of her child. ^
The taboos connected with birth affect not only the mother but
also her husband and the rest of the household. Some of these
taboos are : the pregnant woman must not eat the fat of the cow
or reindeer, or larch-gum, because all these things are believed to
thicken or ' freeze ' in the stomach, and to fasten the child to the
inside of the womb ; but butter of the cow or horse's fat may be
eaten, for it will melt in the stomach.-
A pregnant woman must be active and energetic so that the
child also shall have these qualities and issue easily and quickly
from the mother. '•
She ought in walking to raise her feet high, and on finding
stones or lumps of earth in her path she should kick them away,
symbolizing the removal of obstructions at child-birth. After
setting out for a certain place she must on no account turn back
before she has reached it, otherwise the delivery will be checked
in the middle.
The other members of the household must refrain from shouting
and talking loudly in her presence, otherwise she will shout
during child-birth. No one may cross her path or stop her in her
walk, as this may cause delay in delivery ; in the last few days
when she is unable to observe the active taboos, her husband and
relatives perform them in her stead. ^ At the first attack of
labour-pains the wife, the husband, and the midwife must loosen
all the fastenings of their garments that the child may not be
hampered in any way ; except the father and husband of the
woman, no men are allowed to be present. The woman is forced
to walk about the room in order to facilitate the delivery — then
she is placed on the knees of her husband or her father, who
squeezes and presses her abdomen on all sides with his arm,
sometimes assisted by the women ; sometimes another man
assists the first, to add more pressure upon her abdomen.'^ Fre-
quently the woman dies under this treatment, a result which was
witnessed by Jochelson himself on one occasion. After the child
' Ibid.
^ .Jochelson say.s the Yukaghir knew nothing of horned cattle before
the arrival of the Yakut in the north, so that this custom must have
been borrowed from the latter people.
3 Op. cit., p. 99. * Op, cit., p. 100. ^ Op. cit., p. 101.
K 2
is born, the micl^Yife massages the abdomen of the mother or
forces her to walk about. Then she is dressed and lies down ' to
allow the bones disjointed during the birth to come together
again V but she begins to walk outside the house the very next
da)^ ' For the first three days she must not touch anything in
the house. On the fourth day the midwife washes her, and she,
in turn, washes the hands of the midwife and wipes them with
fresh shavings of willow or with a piece of newly-prepared
reindeer-skin. Braids of women's hair also serve for this purpose.
Then the midwife purifies the woman by means of smoke. Dry
grass is kindled on the floor of the house, and the woman passes
through the smoke, stopping a while and shaking her body. Then
she may attend to her household duties, but is still considered
unclean for forty days. The husband must have no intercourse
with her, and she must not have anything to do with the hunting
and fishing implements.' ^
Similar taboos are observed during menstruation. The birth of
a child is a very important event, for the celebration of which,
called pacil, the whole village is invited, whereas a marriage has
no special ceremonies connected "s^dth it.^ A name was formerly
not given to the child until it could speak, but now it is given
soon after birth ; the former arrangement allowed the child to
give the name of the ancestor aihi of whom he is the reincarna-
tion and whose name he ought to bear. It is still customary for
the parents, after the Ijirth of the first child, to be known by its
name — thus, ' the Father and Mother of So-and-So.' Jochelson
knew a blacksmith on the River Nelemna, whose Christian name
was Basil, but who changed his name to ' the Father of Chotini '
after the birth of his first child.'*
Sterility is a punishment and a sign of disfavour on the part of
dead relatives. ' A barren woman may ask the help of a shaman,
who descends to the world of the deceased and persuades the soul
of a relative to enter the woman's body, but such a child very
often dies.'''
In the old days, says Jochelson, new-born children were killed
if the mother died.'' Children as a rule are much desired, as is
shown in the following tale :
* There was once a hunter, who could not procure any game for
^ Op. cit., p. 101. 2 jbi(j 3 Op. cit., p. 105.
* Ibid. ^ Ibid. "^ Op. cit., p. 106. ' Op. cit, p. 105.
a long time. lie ami his wife and a suckling biibe were starving.
When the husband became so exhausted that he could not leave
the tent, the woman killed the child and began to feed the
husband at her breast, while she herself fed on berries. When
the husband reproached the wife for killing their child, she
replied : "' If you had died of hunger, I and the child would have
died too, but now, if I restore you to health again, we shall have
other children." This satisfied the husband. He was soon on his
feet again, began to procure food, and finally had other children.' '
III. The Chukchee.
The Chukchee are one of the most prolific tribes in north-eastern
Asia, the census of 1897 showing that many families have five,
seven, or even nine children alive.^ 'The Chukchee women are
delivered with little trouble. Custom strictly for])ids the woman
to groan, or to give way to the pain by any audible sign. Nor
may help be given by other women. The woman who has been
delivered has to attend to her own needs herself, and to those of
the new-born infant. She cuts the navel-string and puts away the
placenta. The woman who accepts help in these operations will
be mocked her whole life long, and even her husband will
occasionally receive the nick-name "the helped one ". Accordingly
a large pelvis, because it eases delivery, is considered one of the
chief features of womanly beauty.'^ The couple begin to keep
certain taboos as soon as the wife knows she is with child ; one of
them being that each morning the two get out of bed together,
dress as hastily as possil>le and go out to look at the rising
dawn, after which they walk round the tent in the direction of
the sun's path. The infant's garments are prepared in secret, and
when mentioned are called by a special name. Relations between
husband and wife do not cease until the last moment, and are
then interrupted for ten days, unless the child dies, when they are
resumed before tliis period has elapsed, as this is supposed to be
conducive to another conception.^
During the time of labour no stranger, especially of the male
sex, may enter the inner room. ' It is feared that some evil but
invisible influence will cling to them and try to approach the
' Op. cit., p. 106.
•^ Bogoras, The Chukchee, .J. N.P.E., vol. vii, 1909, p. 36. ^ Ibid.
* Bogoras, The Chukchee, 1907, p. 509.
lying-in woman.' ^ During the actual birth everybody must go
away, even the female members of the family, except one old
woman, who, in case of absolute necessity, may render her
assistance. If no one else is there the patient is assisted by
her husband. Captain Charles HalP mentions the fact that,
similarly among the American Eskimo, the husband is not
allowed to stay with his wife, and onl}' one old woman may
remain. After the birth the miother cuts the navel-cord with
a sharj) stone ' skin-scraper ', which will serve her for this purpose
all her life, and which she keeps in her clothes-bag. The mother
is fed frequently and abundantly for two weeks. Among the
Keindeer Chukchee, a young doe is killed for the purpose and
much broth is made." After delivery the woman is tightly bound
round the hips with a cord, which must remain thus for three
days in order to bring her bones back into position. On the fifth
day the ceremony of blood-painting is performed, before which no
person from outside may enter the house. Even the father of the
child has to subject himself to certain incantations before he can
enter. This prohibition is repeated when the child is ill, or in the
case of an infectious disease, and at such times nothing from the
house ma}^ be given away. Bogoras himself was forbidden several
times to enter a house for this reason.
The woman also may not leave the tent before the performance
of this blood-painting ceremony, as she may thus bring on a violent
snowstorm. ' The after-birth is placed on the ground in the corner
of the tent, three small sticks are tied together in imitation of the
three principal poles of the tent-frame, and are set over the after-
birth ; when the camp is left, a piece of leather is Avrapped around
them to represent the tent-cover. The Maritime Chukchee and
the Koryak place the after-birth and its small tent outside the
house in the open country.'*
The blood-painting ceremony begins with the conveyance of the
mother and child and the reindeer on the family sledge to the
sacrificial place behind the tent. The reindeer is slaughtered, and
with its blood the faces of the mother, child, and other members of
the family are smeared.^ After this comes the name-giving
ceremony. The mother holds a divinatory object (either a stone
or some part of her own or the child's dress) suspended before her,
^ Bogoras, Tlie Chidrhee, 1907, p. 509.
^ Life with the Esqiiitnaii.r, part ii, p. 303.
^ Bogoras, op. cit, p. 510. * Op. cit., p. 511. ^ Ibid.
and recites the names of the fiuiiily ancestors. At the mention of
the name which the chiki is to bear, the divinatory object loses its
balance. Sometimes the name is chosen from indications received
in dreams. Or the mother may name the child from the first o1)-
ject she comes across after the delivery, but even then it is usually
the name of an ancestor.^ Sometimes the name is changed one or
more times if the child does not thrive, but it is only a shaman or
' knowing person ' who can perform the necessary ceremony.'^
Many protective incantations are pronounced during the child's
early years, and are generally accompanied by the tying of neck-
laces or pictures of ' guardians ' to the child's garments. This is
especially advisable when the first child has not survived, and in
case he has left traces for the second one to follow. The period
chosen is that of the new moon, but in the daytime, and Bogoras
gives us the following description of this curious ceremony:
'A small fire is built u]) before the entrance, and a number of
plates laden with various meats, cooked or dried, are placed on
both sides of it. The performer gives each of the parents a small
piece of red stone wrapped in leather formed into a necklace. Then
he pronounces an incantation, of which the following may serve as
a fair specimen : —
' You are not on this earth, you are witJiin this stone. No ivind
may reach you ; no icehery may crush you, hut it tvill hreaJc in pieces
against the edges of tJie stone. You are not on this earth. In the
open ocean there lies a hig sea-animal horn at the same time tvith the
earth and the world. This animal is a sea-lion. Its hach is like
an island, it is covered with earth and stones. You are on its
haclc.'^
If the woman dies in child-birth the infant is usually smothered
and buried with the mother, but sometimes the people try to rear
the child.^
^ Similar methods of naming children are in use among the Asiatic
Eskimo. (Bogoras, ibid.)
2 Op. cit., p. 512. 3 Op. cit, p. 513.
■• Among the Asiatic Eskimo 'a child born prematurely is put into
the soft skin of a big sea-bird. This skin, taken off whole and turned,
has the feathers inside. Then it is tied up very securely, and hung over
a big lamp in which a small flame is kept constantly burning. In this
position the babe is kept from a week to four weeks, during which time
it is fed with small quantities of oil as well as with mother's milk drawn
from her breasts. Little by little the portion of milk is increased, and at
last the babe is allowed to suckle.' (Bogoras, op. cit., p. 514.)
IV. The Kokyak.
* The Koryak tribe,' as Jochelson says, ' taken as a whole, is at
present, after the Chukchee, the healthiest of all the tribes of
eastern Siberia. ' ^
Mortality among infants up to the age of one year is, however,
enormous. The Koryak believe that the souls of children are
timid and therefore more subject to attacks from evil spirits, hence
they are placed under the special protection of the good spirits of
the household.
The soul {ui/icif) of some ancestor is sent by the Supreme Being
into the child in the mother's womb. These souls are hanging on
the cross-beams of the house of the Supreme Being. The duration
of the life of the person who will reincarnate the soul is indicated
by the length of the strap which is attached to the soul's neck or
to its thumb. When the child is born the father gives him the
name of the ancestor whose soul has entered him. This is done in
the following way : * The father of the new-born uses a divining-
stone called "Little-Grandmother" {An-apel) to discover whose soul
has entered the child. The divining-stone is hung by a string to
a stick, the latter is lifted and the stone begins to swing ; or it is
hung from a tripod made of small sticks. The father of the child
enumerates the names of the deceased relatives on his and his
wife's side. When the name of the relative whose soul has
entered the child is mentioned, the divining-stone begins to swing
more quickly. Another way of determining the identity of the soul
is by observation of the behaviour of the child itself. A number
of names are mentioned. If the child cries when a name is pro-
nounced it shows that it is not the name of the soul reborn in the
child. When the proper name is pronounced the child stops
crying, or begins to smile. After the name has been given,
the father takes the child in his arms, carries it out from the
sleeping-tent into the house, and says to his people : "A relative
has come " {Qaitumnin ycti). On one occasion, during our stay in
the village of Kamenskoye, a child was named after the deceased
father-in-law of Yulta's son. The latter lifted the child and said
to the mother : ^ " Here, thy father has come." ' Sometimes if the
child does not thrive it is taken as a sign that the wrong name was
^ Jochelson, Tlie Kunjuk, J. N. V. E., 1908, p. 415,
2 Op. cit., p. 413. ^ Op. cit., p. 100.
given to it, ami with special divination ceremonies the name
is changed.
Jochelson was never present at a confinement, but he gives
us a description of taboos observed, as he was informed, by the
people. The woman is regarded as unclean for a month after
confinement, she must not remove her shoes in a strange house
nor in her own house in the presence of strangers, and during the
whole year she must observe certain food taboos. She is forbidden
to eat whale-meat during the autumn, but may do so in the winter ;
neither can she eat the flesh of the ringed seal, white whale, fresh
fish, nor of the raw thong-seal, though this latter she may eat if
it is caught in the river and boiled. These taboos are chiefly
in connexion with sea-animals, which are one main source of
sustenance, for, on the other hand, she may eat reindeer-meat
in any form. A newly-born child must not be taken out of
the house all the winter. In cases of necessity the mother must
keep it in her arms under her coat and must not take it out
in a strange house. The after-birth is placed in a bag and
hung on a pole at some distance from the village.^
V. The Gilyak.
According to Schrenck,^ the Gilyak woman ' never dares ' to give
bii-th to a child at home ; she must, in spite of severity of season
or stormy weather, go out of the hut for this purpose. In late
autumn or in winter they build a special hut for the woman,
but a very uncomfortable one, so that the mother and the child
suffer the cold and feel the wind. He himself witnessed this
custom in 1885 in the village of Kuik.
To help the woman in labour they carve a wooden figure in the
act of delivery, and to it they sacrifice different foods, trying
by this means to placate the evil influences which are at work."'
Access to the hut where the w^oman is being confined is only
free to the midwife or other women who may be helping her.
To cut the umbilical cord they use special knives called kysmrh or
Tcyssk dyalclco. The child receives its name at once, or very soon
after birth, either in the evening of the same day or in the
morning following the night when the child is born. ' This ', says
Schrenck, 'is not followed by any ceremonies, the father or any
> Op. cit., p. 101.
^ The Natives of the Anmr Country, 1903, vol. iii, p. 11.
=> Op. cit., p. 12.
other Gilyak announces the name.'^ No .shaman is present either at
the birth or at the giving of the name. Only wealthy people have
a feast on this occasion, to which they invite all their friends.-
The woman returns to the house on the eighth or tAvelfth
day after her confinement, but no purificatory ceremonies were
observed by Schrenck.
Dr. Seeland ^ says that the custom of driving the woman out
of the house before the delivery recalls another custom, that of
carrying dying people out of the house ; both practices show that
the Gilyak are afraid of the dead body in the house, and a woman
in confinement is in grave danger of death.
Schrenck himself, however, never saw this custom of carrying
a very sick person out of the house (except the woman at delivery),
and he even d( ubts whether Gilyak always leave or destroy the
house where a death has occurred.^
A woman who wishes to have a child carries various amulets
round her neck, such as a dog's tooth, &c. Generally, says
Schrenck, ' there are many superstitious customs in order to
assure to a woman a happy delivery.'^
NEO-SIBERIAWS.
VI. The Buryat.
Among the Buryat of Alarsk (Government of Irkutsk), during
the delivery the women of the familj^ are gathered near the
mother and take the child in order to drop it in a horizontal
position on to the floor, which has been made soft and easy for it,
after which it is washed and wrapped up. Two or three days
later a feast is held to which all the villagers come," without
waiting for an invitation. The parents slaughter a ram, a cow,
or an ox, according to theii- wealth. Then the ceremony of
WTapping up the child begins. One of the young boys or girls
present is chosen to reply to the questions put by a temporary
' mother ', who holds in her hands an arrow and a bone with some
flesh on it, from the right haunch of an animal. She asks the
chosen child : * Whom have I to wrap up ? the newly-born one
or the bone?' To which the reply comes. 'The newly-born.'
'With the head up or down?' 'Up,' is the answer. These
1 Op. cit., p. 13. = Ibid. ^ Die GhiUakett, 1882, p. 129.
* Schrenck, op. cit., p. 11. ^ Op. cit., p. 12.
•^ Potanin, Sketches of 2^'.W. Mongolia, vol. iv, pp. 26-7.
questions and answers are repeated three times ; then a name is
given to the child. The feast ends with the making of a iire
in the place where the birth occurred ; the guests, including the
father, surround the fire, and from their mouths they squirt into
it a liquid called salamafa, which has been prepared from meal
and oil, and all in one voice exclaim: 'Give more happiness!
Give a son ! ' This is repeated three times. General excitement
prevails, and they vie with each other in smearing their friends'
faces and clothes with oil, ashes, and fresh animal excrement.
The Buryat fears to be without children, and a childless man
says sadly, 'The fire of my hearth will go out.' The strongest
Buryat oath is 'May my fire be extinguished ! ' ^ Among the Buryat
of Alai-sk, if the first children die, the parents catch a brown owl
and feed it, thinking that this owl wall send away the bad spirit
AnakJiai, when the child cries in its cradle. Besides this they
prepare an ongon called iiseten in the following way. All the
neighbours are invited as well as the kam (shaman). The women
prepare a figure and the men a box for it. The woman in whose
interest all this is done carries during this time a child's swaddling
clothes or a specially made doll, and pretends to feed it at her
breast. Those present ask her sympathetically, ' How is your
child ? Is he quiet ? Have you much trouble with him '? ' Then
the guests take turns in nursing it, and if the woman should leave
the hut, they will call to her to return because the child is crying.
Among the same people there exists, in connexion with the rearing
of a child, the custom of becoming naydji with a shaman. The
word naydji really signifies ' friend ', but in this case it simply
indicates the intimate relations which exist between the parents
and a shaman.-
When, after the birth, a sheep is killed, a portion of the animal
is sent to a shaman, to indicate that he is invited to become naydji,
and soon after this he is actually called to the house. On his
arrival he orders a Morho (shaman's staff) to be prepared and
places it across the threshold ; then he hangs an amulet round the
child's neck. This visit is called salaiM hayuga. During the
following year the child is under the care of the shaman.^ If the
child is slightly unwell, or his teeth trouble him, or he has a slight
fever, the shaman is at once called in to pacify him. Sometimes
he will spend three whole days carrying the child in his bosom.
' Ibid. 2 Op. cit., p. 28. ^ Op. cit., p. 29.
At the end of the year this saliiJch (probably the amulet) is re-
turned to the shaman. Then the parents prepare fine new
garments and other presents, sometimes even a horse, and take
them to the shaman's house, where they are hospitably received.
One shaman can have at the same time as many as twenty nai/dji,
and when he wishes to consecrate a new drum the naydji give
him sheep and the other requisites for the ceremony.^
Among the Buryat of Idinsk, if there are no children in the
family, a feast is arranged to which the shaman is invited ;
the women and girls dance, and afterwards all sit down and the
shaman, taking his staff {khoyho), sings a hymn to the Bear ongon,
and then strikes the cheeks of those present. The ones who
receive the hardest blows will become parents.^
Among the Uriankhai (Tuba) in the Ulukhem district, when
the first children die young, the newly born is hidden under the
cooking cauldron, on the top of which is placed ag-prenya (an
ongon made from the skin of a hare) and also a figure representing
the child, made from barley-meal. Then the Mm (shaman) is
called, and begins to shamanize over this figure. According to
the Uriankhai who related this to Potanin, the figure then comes
to life, its abdomen is cut open, the blood begins to flow, and the
sufferer cries. Then its body is cut into three parts and buried
far away from the house. This ceremony will protect the child
from death. ^
The Diurbiut have a similar ceremony to protect the child from
death. Soon after birth it is stolen by some relatives and hidden
under a cauldron, where it remains for three days, well fed and
tended. At the same time these relatives make an image of grass
and throw it into the tent of the parents, who, when they find it,
pretend to see in it their own dead child and bewail and bury
it with much ceremony. This is to persuade the evil spirit
{chitJcur) who wished to harm the child that the latter is dead and
buried. '^
VII. The Altaians.
Among the Altaians the child is born before a great assembly
of people who shout and fire their guns. A name is given to the
child by the head of the family, who usually chooses the name of
the first person who enters the yiirta after the delivery. Generally
» Op. cit., p. 29. 2 Op. cit., p. 28.
=> Op. cit., p. 27. •• Op. cit., p. 28.
such names signify different objects, e. g. wontik (a gun), but if the
fii-st children die. thej' try to give the next a name implying
worthlessness or humility, e. g. It-koden (the haunch of a dog).
The fire of the ijurta where the child is born must not be taken
out of it for forty days — the more superstitious even lengthen
this period to a year.^ Potanin ^ says that when the first-born
of the Altaian parents die, the parents steal a child from some one
so that the real mother does not know where it is for three days,
and a month later the parents of the stolen child go to redeem it
with presents. To protect a boy from evil spirits an arrow and a
branch of a thorny plant are hung over his cradle.^ Among the
Teleut those who desire a child do not steal one, but buy it from
its parents and return it after a while.^
VIII. The Yakut.
According to Sieroszewski, ^ Yakut marriages are generally
fruitful, averaging ten children to a woman, but becoming less so
towards the northern districts, although the Yakut are every-
wliere more prolific than the Tungus. The lack of children they
ascribe entirely to the woman — as their proverb says, *If there
are no children, the woman is to blame.'"
According to Jochelson,' women from the north have very
difficult delivery. The Yakut regard the pain of child-birth as
sickness caused by evil spirits, and therefore, if the assistance of a
midwife or of the goddess of fertility Ayisit is of no avail, a
shaman is called in to fight the evil spirits, adass/jlar. Jochelson
thinks the Yakut appeal to the shaman not in order to save the
mother and child, but to prevent the evil spirit from winning a
victory. ' No consideration is shown to either mother or child ;
for women possessed of evil spirits are regarded by the Yakut as
no less perilous to society than those infected with epidemic
germs. This accounts for the entire absence of compassion, and
for the cruelty manifested by the Yakut towards women suffering
the pains of labour.' ^
1 Wierbicki, TJie Natives of the Altai, 1893, p. 85.
2 Potanin, op. cit., p. 627. ^ Ibid. ^ Ibid.
^ 12 Lat w Kraju Yakutow, 1900, p. 413.
^ Out of 140 Yakut coui'jlesF. Kohn (Fiziologiczne i hiologiczne spostrze-
zenia nad Yakutami, p. 64) found one woman who had had thirty,
another twenty-one, and a third Beventeen children.
■^ The Yukaghir and Yukaghirized Tungus, J. N. P. E., vol. ix, 1910, p. 101.
» Op. cit., p. 102.
In 1895 Jochelson himself witnessed such cruel treatment in
the district of the Kolyma Eiver, as a result of which the woman
died ; and a similar case was related to him by the Eussian
criminal exile Gel>ler.
The customary measures for hastening delivery are as follows :
* Two small posts are driven into the ground and a third one is
fastened across the top of them, forming thus a l)ar like that used
by a blacksmith in shoeing a horse. The woman kneels down
in front of this bar, and throws her arms over the crosspiece far
enough to In-ing the latter under her armpits. One man from
behind holds her shoulders and another in front holds her hands
to prevent any possibility of her resisting the obstetric operations
of the midwife. The latter kneels in front of the patient and
presses upon her abdomen, at the same time imploring the aid of
the benevolent goddess Ayisit, who is believed to be present at
child-birth and to assist the patient.'^
Maak - says that the reason why the Yakuts do not take care
of their lying-in women is that they believe the goddess is
pei'fectly capable of protecting them herself. The only protective
measure of w^hich Maak could hear was the food taboo observed
before child-birth ; the woman must eat neither swan's flesh nor
the eggs of wild birds, because the child might otherwise be deaf
and imbecile. Ayisit, sometimes called AniTcliyt, leaves the
woman on the third day. This is known as Ayisit-atarar Kiune
(i. e. ' the protectress leaves the birth-giving woman ').^ Among
the Yakut of the district of Kolyma Jochelson found a belief
similar to that of the Yukaghir — that the labour will be eased if
the woman names the father of her child. Usually she tells the
truth, but sometimes she does not wish to betray her lover and
refuses to answer, especially if she is the daughter of rich parents
and the man a poor servant, because then the child will be called
' the execrated child '.*
On the occasion of a birth the Yakut make holiday on the first
and the third days. The first day they prepare a large quantity
of fat, which they eat and melt and drink, sacrificing a portion to
the fire. On the third day the friends and relations visit the
mother and child, and it is customary for the former to serve the
1 Op. cit., p. 102.
2 TJie Vihnjsl: District of the Yakutsk Territory, 1887, vol. iii, p. 90.
3 Ibid.
* Jochelson, op. cit., p. 101.
guests hei-self. Nowadays it is not fat but meat which forms
the principal dish.^
Sieroszewski describes the coming of Ayisit to the woman at
child-birth as being similar to her appearance at the fertility
festival held in spring. Nine chaste boys and nine men are
actually present to attend on her, and, in imagination, many
other spirits help to form her retinue. A rich Yakut kills a
domestic animal at her appearance, and the head and entrails are
sacrificed to the goddess, while the rest of the beast goes to the old
woman who has been tending the mother and to the relatives and
guests. As soon as the child is born, the old woman approaches
the fire and pours some fat on it, saying ' Thank you, Ayisit, for
your gift, we ask you for more in the future '. If the woman is to
die, Ayisit does not come at all. For the three days that Ayisit
is present the woman must lie on straw in the yurta and no man
is allowed to enter. Only at the end of that time does she return
to her sleeping place. The straw, with the placenta, is taken to
the forest far away from the yioiu by the old woman, who places
it high up on the trunk of a tree.^
Jochelson ^ says that similar ceremonies are performed by the
Yakut at the birth of cattle. Severe measures are employed to
deliver the animals ; a benevolent goddess is believed to be present,
and a special shaman is called in to pronounce an incantation.
The following is the formula used at the birth of a calf : ' Lax !
Lax ! Lax ! Be faster than an arrow, lighter than a hair, as
usual march through a white straight road.'*
IX. The Finns and Lapps.
Nonvegian missionaries as early as the eighteenth century
described curious purification ceremonies in connexion with birth
among the Lapps.
After Christian baptism °^ the child received another — Lapp —
name in the ceremony called ' same nahma '. This name was
usually that of an ancestor, and had been revealed to the mother
in a dream or during shamanistic performances. The name-
giving ceremony was usually performed by a woman — often by
the mother herself. During child-birth the woman was under
the protection of a goddess called Saralla (Creator-woman).
' Maak, op. cit., p. 91. ^ Sieroszewski. op. cit., pp. 413-14.
' Op. cit., p. 103. * Op. cit., p. 104.
» Kaarle Krohn, E. R. E., ' Birth ', vol. ii, 1909, p. 647.
Ui SOCIOLOGY
A woman (riscm-cdne), who seems to have corresponded to the
modern godmother, presented the child with a brass object ^
called nahma-sJciclls, which was used during the ceremony, and
afterwards placed on the child as a charm, under the arm if the
child was a boy, and on the breast if it was a girl. The child was
dedicated to the goddess Sarulka. Later, if the child did not
thrive, this ceremony could be repeated and the name changed.
The name-giving ceremony is similar to that found all over
Siberia, but wherever water is used we may, with Krohn, assume
that this is due to Christian influence. 'As late as 1534 the
Finns under the dominion of Novgorod (the Chudes) had oracle-
men whom they summoned to give a new-born child its name
— a ceremony which they performed "' in their own peculiar
way ".'2
'The magician of the Finno-Ugrian Mountain Cheremiss
adopts the following method in bestowing the name. Taking the
child in his arms as it is on the point of screaming, he begins a
list of names, swaying the child to and fro as he speaks, and
that name which he happens to be uttering when the crying
ceases is the one selected. Among the adjacent Chuvasses the
magician is called in to the child, and is received with tokens of
the greatest respect by the domestics and the assembled guests,
who with one voice express the desire that he will give the child a
name of good omen. He takes a bowl of water in his hand,
mutters certain words over it, and gives both the mother and the
child to drink. Then he works himself into an ecstasy, and at
last bestows upon the child a name which he professes to have
received by divine revelation. ' ^
^ The brass object must have been borrowed from Scandinavia, and
Krohn (ibid.) suggests that this custom is not genuine Lapp.
2 Ibid. 3 Op. cit., p. 648.
Chapter VI
DEATH. BURIAL, FUTURE LIFE, AND ANCESTOR-
WORSHIP
PALAEO-SIBERIANS.
I. The Kamchadal.
Among the Kamchadal at the time of Krasheninnikoff ^ a
corpse was treated in the following manner : Leather thongs were
bound round the throat and the body dragged out of the yurta and
left at a short distance from the door to be eaten by dogs, the idea
being that the person whose corpse was thus eaten would have
power to drive those animals in the future life ; the house in
which a person died was always deserted, and its inhabitants at
once removed to another dwelling at a certain distance. With
the corpse, his clothes were also thrown away, and any one who
should wear these afterwards was believed to be in danger of an
early death. There existed also certain purification ceremonies
for anything with which the dead had come in contact. Children
were buried in hollow tree-trunks.
II. The Yukaghir,
Among the Yukaghir the dead were formerly placed on plat-
forms raised on poles. Those of the Kolyma district used to
distribute the flesh and bones among the relatives, who would
dry the portions they received and place them in leather bags.^
These were used as amulets, called ' Grandfathers ', and were
considered very effective in sympathetic magic.
IIL The Kerek.
Among the Kerek, who live near the mouths of the rivers
emptying into the Pacific Ocean between Capes Anannon and
Barykoff, and who have no timber or driftwood for building pyres,
' Description of the Country of Kamchatka, 1755, vol. ii, pp. 135-6.
^ Bogoras, The Chukchee, 1907, p. 517.
tlie corpses, dressed in funeral attire, are let down into the ocean ;
they tie them to long poles, tow them out to sea, and then push
them into the water with poles. ^
IV. The Chukchee.
Among the Chukchee the whole of the funeral rites are a series
of i^rotective magical ceremonies against the evil influences of the
dead. Though the latter are sometimes benevolent, the idea that
they work harm to the living is much more prevalent. * The
most dangerous are the double dead, the completely dead. They
are beyond being reborn into this world, and hence they become
evil spirits in the other world. They live on the very border of
the country of the deceased people, and walk along the water's
edge together with the Jcelet. During the funeral ceremony, some
such dead are overturned with the sledge and fall face downward,'
said a native to Bogoras.'-^ Directly after death the body is
stripped of its apparel and laid between two leather skins in the
sleeping-chamber, care, however, being taken to cover the genitals
and the face. The corpse is deserted by all except for one man
by day and two by night, who must watch in case the dead
should come to life. This watch usually lasts only twenty-four
hours, during which time ceremonies are performed by a man or
woman, called a ' fortifier ' {tano mnal'm), because he is supposed
to fortify the house and people against the influences of the
deceased.^ Some other people, called 'the followers', wash and
dress the body with special ceremonials, keeping the head of the
corpse turned towards the exit. The dress for the dead is also
prepared with ceremonies. For three days after the death no
drum is beaten, and noisy domestic work by the women, such as the
scraping of pans, ceases. The body is then either burned or exposed
on the ground in some lonely spot, the latter being most usual.'*
During these ceremonials the corpse is questioned as to its choice
of manner of burial and the disposing of its goods, and the
questioners pretend to obey its will. The body is usually drawn
up through a hole in the roof, or in the back of the tent, and then
all traces of tlie passage are removed to prevent the possible return
of the dead. All his private property is conveyed on the same
1 Jochelson, Tlie Konjal; J. N. P. E., 1908, p. 104.
^ Bogoras, The Chukchee, J.N. RE., 1907, p. 518.
3 Op. cit., pp. 519-20. ■• Op. cit., p. 524.
sledge and attached to the body. On arrival at the appointed
place, the sacrificial reindeer is killed and the sledge, which is
usually specially made for the occasion, is broken up, and, with
all other objects used in the ceremony, is formed into a pile on
which the broken bones of the reindeer are placed. The followers
next transform themselves into ravens or foxes, making appro-
priate noises, the straps which held the body to the sledge are
torn in pieces, and the clothes torn off and placed beside the body,
which is then covered with pieces of reindeer flesh. 'Then "the
fortifier", or nearest relative of the deceased, proceeds to rip up
the body. He does it with a long knife, carefully avoiding
touching the body with his hands, though they are protected with
mittens or with gloves of special form (that is, those witli three
fingers only). With two strokes of the knife which cross each other,
" the fortifier " opens the breast and lays bare the internal organs.
Of these the liver and the heart are also split with the knife, and
'• the fortifier ", on inspecting them closely, will proclaim to the
bystander the probable reason of the death.' ^ Sometimes this
reason is merely the evil spells of an enemy.^ Before leaving
the body, which now forms part of the pile, ' the fortifier ' cuts its
throat. Bogoras was told that in former days the flesh of the
deceased was distributed and eaten by relatives ; now each relative
takes a small piece of fur from the clothes of the deceased and
adds it to the string of such pieces which form the ancestor
charms (sympathetic magic).''' ^ When the body is not exposed,
but burned, the entrails are not always inspected, but the throat
is always cut, and the face and genitalia are always covered. The
fire is produced by a fire-drill specially prepared for the occasion,
which is left on the pyre.'' On the return journey the people
change their order of progress and perform many protective
incantations, e.g. 'the fortifier' throws behind him a few small
stones which shall turn into mountains. The funeral train are
received on their return by the two oldest women of the i:)lace,
who meet them with charms."
Next day the relatives perform the ceremony of 'visiting the
dead ' or * fetching of iron ', the latter title being due to the fact
' Op. cit., p. 527. 2 Op pjt^ p 528. 3 Qp. cit., p. 517.
* It is curious to note that, on p. 518, Bogoras states that the dead
body or any portion of it is especially harmful and is used in preparing
dreaded spells. It appears that according to the quality of the incanta-
tion the dead body or its clothes may be either harmful or protective.
» Op. cit., p. 532. « Op. cit., p. 528.
L 2
that the iron implements are brought away from the pyre and
wooden ones left in their stead. If they find that the body has
been disturbed by wild beasts they feel more secure. The iron
objects are purified before being carried home, and the reindeer's
antlers are left as a sacrifice.^
The funeral rites, like the Inrth rites, terminate on the fifth
day : the corpse is again visited ' to see if wild beasts have at last
mutilated the body ',^ and, on returning from this visit, the
antlers ceremony is performed (even if it is out of season), and
then the whole family remove their tent to another spot. ' Es-
pecially is this the case if the corpse was carried out, as sometimes
happens, through the usual entrance.'"^ The following year the
family leaves some more antlers on the pyre, or a communal sacri-
fice of antlers for the dead in general is performed, and in this
way arise high mounds which are termed ' Antler Stores ', and are
associated with the family rather than the individual.'* Of course,
in the case of the Maritime Chukchee, we do not find so many
sacrifices of reindeer and antlers, but the general forms are the
same. The ceremony of the sacrifice to the dead is performed in
a special place called ' Hearth Enclosure ', except "when the dead
has perished in the sea, when it is performed in a special place on
the shore. ' A man who is supposed to have perished at sea, but
w^ho in the end escapes and lands on shore, must imdergo a
purifying ceremony.' ''
There are several places of abode for the dead, where life
similar to the earthly is led by the inhabitants, who are often
called either ' Upper People ' or ' Lower People ', that is, inhabi-
tants of several worlds situated either above the earth or under-
ground.'^ ' Children that die here are born there and vice
versa.' While some of the dead are in the upper worlds, their
usual abode is under the ground." A dead person has to traverse
difficult paths before reaching the other world ; he has also to
pass through the country of dogs, and a man who has ill-treated
these animals wall be severely injured by them. His dead
relatives w'ill assist him in finding the way, and he must not
take with him any stolen article in case the rightful owner should
' Op. cit., pp. 530 1. 2 Op. cit., p. 532. ^ Ibid.
' Op. cit., p. 533. '^ Op. cit., p. 536. « Op. cit., p. 334.
^ Besides these worlds there exists one in each direction of the compass.
These are receiving-phices for sacrifices. There is also a separate world
under the water. (,0p. cit., p. 331.)
meet him. In the other world the sacrificed animals form large
herds belonging to the dead.^- -
'The Aurora Borealis is chiefly the place of abode for those
who die a sudden or violent death. The whitish spots are the
people who died from contagious diseases ; tlie red spots are those
stabbed with a knife ; the dark spots are those strangled by the
"spirits" of nervous diseases; the changeable rays are deceased
people running about and playing ball witli a walrus-head, which
is alive. '"^
Deceased women who had no husbands go to a world of their
own situated in the lower portion of the sk}-. ' They live there
catching reindeer with nooses and nets.'^
V. The Koryak.
Among the Koryak a person is declared dead when breathing
ceases. This is considered to signify that the chief soul {uyicit),
being attacked by the Jcalau, deserts the body, although death can
also be sent as a punishment from the Supreme Beings.^ There
is, however, another soul called ' breath ' {ivui/ivi), and still another
called ^ shsido^y ' {wuyil-icu7/il).° When the Koryak says that the
kala eats the soul, he understands that the spirit eats the human
flesh, being particularly fond of human liver, although the body
really remains untouched until it is burned. The soul does not
immediately quit the earth, but wanders aliout for some time, and
it is possible for a very clever shaman to bring it back. Yulta,
a Koiyak from Kamenskoye, told Jochelson that his father after
one death had Ijeen brought back to life by a shaman and lived
for some years before his second death."
According to Jochelson, among the Koryak there exist two
conceptions of the abode of the departed. One soul of the
deceased may rise to the Supreme Being, this idea being very
indefinite, but another one goes to the underground world, that
of 'people of the ancient times', peninelau, and the description of
the future life of the departed is based on their life in this world.
^ Bogoras notes that this description does not harmonize with the
assertion that people when they die are killed by the Met, who also eat
their souls. (Op. cit., p. 336.)
* Op. cit., pp. 330-6. 3 Op. cit., p. 335. " Ibid.
^ Of a belief in this kind of death we have, however, no further
evidence, while all funeral rites take into account death by the kalau.
• Jochelson, TJie Koryak, J. N. P. E., 1905, p. 104.
' Op. cit., pp. 1-2.
The peninelau live in the underground world in similar villages
and in a similar way to their manner of life on earth, and the
new-comer at once finds his place among his relatives. At the
entrance to this underworld are found dogs as guardians, and
a person who used to beat his dog during his life on earth will be
stopped by them, though, in order to propitiate the guardians, he
can carry in his mittens the fins of fishes, of which they are very
fond.^ Communication between the underground world and the
earth was formerly much easier, and on the occasion of the
burning of a corjjse advantage is taken of the opportunity by
many people to place presents for their relatives on the same
pyre. ' In olden times, children killed their aged parents. This
custom, which still prevails among the Chukchee, is now com-
pletely abandoned.'- On the contrary, if the dying man is able
to eat he is given the choicest morsels ; if the agony lasts long he
is turned on to his left side, because they think that thus he will die
sooner. Immediately on the death of a person the news is spread
in all directions by messengers, and all the villagers begin to
make incantations to protect themselves from the evil influence of
the deceased. * One of the relatives of the deceased holds the
head of the dead on his knees until all the inhabitants of the
village have been informed ' ^ ; and only then is the deceased
placed on his bed and his face carefully covered. In former
times, the whole settlement ceased work on the occasion of
a death, but this is now done only by the members of the house-
hold who are entirely occupied in their preparations for the
funeral. Tlie men prepare the pyre, the women the clothes.
The funeral garment is elaborately embroidered. This has been
secretly made during the man's lifetime by a woman, and it must
not be shown to any one or finished before death has occurred, as
such action would hasten the end.'* As soon as the clothes are
ready, within three days at most, the body is taken out of the
house and burned ; until this is done the relatives behave as if
the man were alive, they are not even allowed to show sorrow.
In dressing the corpse certain differences are made, such as
placing the cap on the head fi'ont to back."' ' The Eeindeer
Koryak do not carry out their dead through the usual door, but
under the edge of the tent-cover, which is lifted up.' ^ Some
families have special places for the funeral ceremonies, and in
^ Op. cit., p. 103. 2 Ibid. » Op. cit., p. 104.
* Op. cit., p. 105. ^ Op. cit., p. 109. " Op. cit., pp. 110-11.
certain parts, as in Kanienskoye, women do not accompany the
body.^ All the personal belongings of the man are placed on the
pyre with the corpse, the reindeer are slaughtered and eaten by
the company, and only the remains left on the pyre.- Jochelson
related that at one funeral where he Avas present the grandfather
walked round the pyre, first from right to left and then from left
to right, in order to confuse his tracks so that the dead might not
follow him. He then took a few steps in the direction of the
house, drew a line on the ground, jumped over it and shook
himself, the whole company doing likewise ; this was supposed to
have the etfect of forming a large river between the village and
the funeral pyre.^ Like the Chukchee, the Reindeer Koryak,
especially those of the Palpal Ridge, dissect the body of the dead
in order to find out the probable cause of death. Among other
Reindeer Koryak of the Taiganos Peninsula, and among the
Maritime Koryak of Penshina Bay, the custom exists of stabbing
the corpse with a knife as it lies on the pyre ; this is to prevent
the child who will reincarnate the soul from having the same
illness as the deceased.^ The sleeping-place of the dead man is
destroyed, but for ten days his position is taken by one of his
relatives, so that the htla may believe that he was not successful
in obtaining the soul of the deceased ; this relative is known as
incnjulan, and if he leaves the house some one else must take his
place : sometimes an effigy formed of dried grass plays the role of
an inenjulan. The finale of the funeral ceremony is the beating
of the drum, which takes place among the Reindeer Koryak
immediately after the burning of the body, and among the
Maritime Koryak at the end of ten days.^ Annual sacrifices for
the dead are still performed among the Koryak, and consist
either in slaughtering reindeer or in placing antlers on the spot
where the body was burned, though some Koryak content them-
selves with sending presents to their dead relatives on the occasion
of another funeral. Jochelson thinks that some traditions point
to another form of funeral rites according to which the body was
left in the desei-ted house.'''
VI. The Gilyak.
According to the Gilyak, death always results from the action of
bad spirits, who usually do not continue to persecute the deceased ;
^ Op. cit., p. HI. 2 Krasheninnikoff, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 166.
' Jochelson, The Korijah, J. N. P. K., 1907, p. 112.
* Op. cit., p. 130. 5 Op. cit.. 130. « Op. cit., p. 114.
but before the soul can find its resting-place {Mhj-vo, the habitation
of the dead) it requires much care and attention from its relatives
on earth. The body is clothed in fine new garments, beautifully
embroidered, that of a man receiving one, three, or six gowns, and
that of a woman, two, four, or eight ; they also prepare most
elaborate weapons, and during this time the corpse is entertained
in a sumptuous manner ; from morning till evening many people
feast in the yurta, giving portions of the rich food to the corpse,
and laughing and shouting, because it is not well that silence
should reign where the dead lie.
When everything is ready, the corpse is tied to the sledge with
leather straps. The dead man's favourite dog is placed next him
for a time, and will receive and keep for a few months a portion of
his master's soul. During this time the dog lies in the sleeping-
place and receives the best food ; this ceases when the portion of
the soul returns with all the other souls to its master in Mly-vo.^
When the corpse is brought to the spot chosen for the funeral it is
put on the top of a symmetrical pyre, with its face towards the west ;
the ceremonial fire is obtained by friction, and all the company,
even small children, assist in making the fire burn more quickly.
Four men, one at each corner, stand with poles stirring the fire, and
many objects such as weapons, sledges, and pans, are broken up
and, with the sacrificial dogs, are cast upon the pyre.^ Schrenck^
says that the widow sets light to the pyre^ and that the skins
of the sacrificed dogs are made into a coat for her. Part of the
flesh of the dogs is eaten by the company, small pieces of it being
scattei'ed in all directions.^ A few weeks later, near the place
of the funeral, a toy house is built with a window and a door,
a small figure of a man dressed in silk is placed inside, and above
this a representation of the cuckoo, which in Gilyak mythology is
the emblem of the goddess of love ; with the doll are placed food
and smoking apparatus.'' Schrenck says that the small house —
called raff — is built over the spot where the relatives have placed
a vessel containing the ashes of the dead, and that a small part of
the clothes, hair, and skull is kept inside it. Not every dead
person has a raff; the corpse of a small child is not burned, but
* 'It is interesting', sajs Sternberg (p. 75), 'that this portion of the
soul, sometimes termed "little soul", has alwaj's, for the Gilyak, the
shape of a small ^gg.^
"^ Sternberg, The Gilyak, 1905, pp. 76-7.
s The Natives of the Amur Country, 1899, pp. 136-44.
* Sternberg, op. cit., p. 77. ^ Op. cit., p. 78.
buried at once, as its soul does not wander after death ; again, that
of a person killed by a bear is placed in a shed called chijr-nijykh,
near the plac^ of the accident, and food is brought thither several
times.^ His soul, however, goes to the forest, and becomes trans-
formed into a bear.-
According to Sternberg, for a few months, and according to
Schrenck, for a year, the relatives visit the raff with presents
of food.
Mli/-io is reached by the soul passing through a hole in the
earth, the exact location of which is unknown to the living.
This realm is a counterpart of the physical world, and the dead
live in the same way as they did on earth — fishing, hunting,
marrying, and having children — except that the poor man becomes
rich there and the rich man poor. They have sickness and death,
after which the soul goes to the third world. Some souls are
transformed into birds and gnats and finally into ashes, but some
are reborn into this world. The souls of those who die a violent
death do not go to Mly-vo, but to Tlo, which is in the sky.^
VII. The Ainu.
Among the Ainu, ' when a person is about to be buried, whether
man, woman, or child, the spirit is still spoken to as if it were
present in the corpse, and is supposed to partake of the burial
feast together with the mourners.' The possessions of the dead
and his hut are burned. Batchelor* says that after death the
Ainu ' look for judgement ', the ' worthy ' go to Kanun-Kotan
or Kanun-moshiri ('the land' or 'country of gods'), and the
'wicked' to Tei-nei-pdkna-moshiri ('the wet underground place ').^
But as the common word for dying is ra-i-oman, i. e. ' going to the
lower place ',^ and as, during the ceremonies of sacrificing to
ancestors, they pray : ' 0 ye ancestors now dwelling in the under-
world ',' it seems that the former ideas of a future life were
associated rather with the underworld.'*
On the other hand, there exists among them at present the notion
of the vertical division of the universe into six worlds aljove and
' Schrenck, op. cit., p. 137. ^ Qp. cit., p. 131.
' Sternberg, op. cit., p. 76.
* Batchelor, 'The Ainu,' E.R.E., vol. i, p. 251. = Ibid.
* Ibid. 7 Ibid.
* Batchelor (p. 251) says there are other terms for death such as 'to
pierce the skies ', ' to sleep the other sleep ', but they are not in
common use.
six below the earth. Batchelor calls these six heavens and six
hells.i
The future life will be very much like the present : the same
work and pleasures. To prevent the spirit of the dead from coming
to disturb his relatives, prayers and sacrifices are made to him.
These are the most regular ceremonies in the Ainu religion ; even
women, who do not join in religious ceremonies as a rule, take part
in the sacrifices for dead husbands and ancestors.
' The ceremony of ancestor- worship is called shinnurappa, i. e.
•'libation-dropping", and takes place outside the huts, by the east-
end window and a little towards the west.' Meals and fetishes are
offered and prayers are said. Batchelor quotes the following
prayer: '0 ye ancestors, now dwelling in the underworld, we
offer you beer and lees, receive them and rejoice. Your grand-
children have met together specially to offer these things. Rejoice !
Watch over us and keep us from sickness. Give us a long life so
that we may continue to offer such gifts.'
VIII. The Eskimo.
Although the Eskimo do not ethnographically belong to the
group of Palaeo-Siberians, they do geographically, and for the
purpose of making comparisons it will be advisable to consider
their beliefs concerning death.
When the Eskimo anticipate the death of one of their fellows,
they build a small snow^-hut or erect a tent, according to the time of
the year, and place the sick man therein. He is carried in through
an entrance specially made at the back, all signs of which are
afterwards removed. Food and drink are placed in the dwelling,
but no one remains there to attend to liim. although his relatives
visit him from time to time. At the approach of death, however,
they retire, carefully closing the entrance and leaving him to die
alone.- The Eskimo of Greenland obtain their chief supplies of
food fifom the sea, and they imagine that the place of the depai'ted
is below the floor of the sea, and that communication between
it and the earth is by way of the caves in the rocks. It is
the country where Torngarsuk and his mother live, and where
it is always summer and always day. Fresh w^ater to drink,
abundance of fish, birds, seals, and herds of reindeer, which
are easily caught, as well as stocks of food ready for eating kept in
' Ibid.
^ Boas, quoted by Mikhailowski, Shamanism, 1892, p. 17.
huge cauldrons, make life very comfortable. It is very difficult for
the soul of the departed to find his way to this country. It must
wander for five days on very hard rocky roads sloping downwards
and often covered with blood, and in the winter the way is especially
trying owing to violent storms. In some cases the soul here dies
the 'second death '.^ In connexion with the future life, Kink says
that the Greenland Eskimo believe in two abodes of the dead, one
in the sky and one below the earth ; of the two, the latter is pre-
ferred, because the former is cold and deficient in food. Here the
inhabitants occupy themselves by playing ball with the head of
a walrus, and this game causes the Aurora Borealis,^ The
American Central Eskimo, on the other hand, imagine that
the warm plenteous land, called Kudlivum or Adlivum, where
there is no ice and snow, is in the sky, and that the cold, dark
land, called Adilparmiut, is below the earth."'
NEO-SIBERIANS.
IX. The Tungus.
Among the Tungus, according to Shashkoff,^ the corpse is sewn
up in a reindeer's skin, and hung upon a tree together with the
dead man's armour and a co()king-vessel, the bottom of which
is pierced. Patkanofif ^ also mentions the sewing of the corpse into
a reindeer's skin, but states that it is then placed in a wooden
coffin, together with many other things which belonged to the
dead man, except his ai-mour and a cooking-vessel, which are
hung on a neighbouring tree ; the coffin is then placed on high
posts in the forest. During the funeral ceremony, a reindeer and
a dog are killed ; the flesh of the former is eaten, and its bones,
together with the dog, are tied to a post or a tree near by. The
widow preserves silence during the ceremony, but at the conclusion
she throws her arms round the tree and weeps. These ancient
funeral ceremonies are celebrated for people who die in the tayga,
and, indeed, most deaths occur there. The pastoral people of
the Baikal province bury their dead in the ground.'' Mordvinoff"
states that, as they return from the funeral ceremony, the relatives
' Cranz, vol. i, p. 258, quoted by Mikhailowski, p. 18.
2 Boas, p. 113. " Boas, pp. 588-90.
* Shashkoff, Shamanism in Siberia, 1864, p. 58.
* Faikanoff, Essay on the Geoyraphxj and Statistics of the Tungusic Tribes
in Siberia, 1906, vol. i, part ii, p. 282.
* Ibid.
try to obliterate the tracks they have made in the snow, or else
cut down trees so that .they fall across the way, in order to prevent
the return of the dead.^ Maak gives the following description of
a Tungusic grave in the western part of the Viluy district : The
corpse lay with its head towards the north-east, the coffin was
made of four planks of wood and placed on two tree-trunks about
eight feet high ; on the right side of the corpse lay the palma
(a long knife with a wooden handle), and a very elaborate sheath
containing six arrows, on the left-hand side, a bow ; beside the
knees was a small wooden box containing some arrows of copper
or of mammoth-bone, beside the feet there lay a copper cooking-
pan with a pierced bottom in which had been placed the stomach
of a reindeer filled with the flesh of that animal — the bottom must
be accurately pierced, though Maak could not discover the signifi-
cance of this. A few paces from this grave, stumps were fixed in
the ground, and on them the skin of the sacrificed reindeer was
exposed.^
The Olchi Tribe, who are akin to the Tungus, believe that
all the dead, irrespective of the manner of dying, go to the
country of Biin, which is not, like the Gilyak Mly-vo, situated in
the centre of the earth ; but its exact location Schrenck could not
discover.^ This future life is arranged in much the same way
as the present. They have summer during our winter and vice
versa: certain prominent shamans can reach this country alive.
The Olchi as well as the Orochi, who are akin to them, expose
their dead in a little shed somewhat larger than the Gilyak raff;
the corpse is put in a coflSn which is placed on a platform in this
shed, and the face must be turned to the sea or a river. The
Tungus, says Schrenck, never burn their dead.^
X. The Buryat.
Among the Buryat, the corpse of a shaman is either burned, and
the remains placed in the trunk of a birch-tree called hogi-narhan,
' the birch of a shaman ' (and any one who cuts down such a tree
dies immediately), or the body is exposed on an aranga (platform).
A grove of shaman-birches is taboo or dkha.^ Klementz thus
^ Mordvinoff, The Natives of the Tunil-hansk Country, 1860, partii,p. 36.
* Maak, The Viluyslc District of the Yakutsk Territory, part iii, p. 104.
' Schrenck, op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 131-2.
* Op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 144-5.
^ Agapitoff and Khangaloff, Materials for the Study of Shamanism in
Siberia, 1883 p. 153.
describes the burial of a shaman. A dead shaman's body is kept
in the ijurta for three days, dressed in a new costume, over which
his onjoii is put. The j'oung people, his nine ' sons ', compose and
sing hymns to his memory, and fumigate his body with sacred
herbs. Thereupon the body is put on the back of the horse named
by the deceased, one of those present sitting with the body and
supporting it on the horse's back. When the horse has been led
three times round the yurta, the dead body is taken into a wood,
to the cemetery for shamans. His relatives and clients accompany
the dead man, making libations, and at a place half-way to the
cemetery they set a table with eatables. On arrival at the cemetery
the dead body is placed upon a felt mat, and the ninth arrow is
discharged in the direction of the house, the remaining eight, with
quiver and bow, having been placed with the body to enable the de-
ceased to defend good people from evil spirits. All the other marks
of the shaman's calling are either broken or burnt. A pyre is then
erected, they set the body on fire, kill the horse, and return home.
On the third day they return to collect the shaman's bones, put
them into a sack, and, having made a hole in a thick pine, put the
sack into it, cover the hole, and plaster it over. Sometimes the
shamans' bodies are not burnt, but placed upon a scaffolding erected
for the purpose in a wood. ' The custom of burning, now restricted
to dead shamans, was formerly general. A dead man was attired
in his finest raiment and given a knife, bow and arrows, and
a supply of food. A fire was arranged in the form of a square,
and the corpse and these objects were placed on it, the head
resting on the dead man's saddle. Sometimes his horse was
burned with him. After the fire was kindled the i-elatives
returned home, and only on the third day did they go back to
collect the remains, which they placed in a rough vessel made
of birch bark, and then buried the whole. ^'^
At the present time the Buryat do not burn their dead, owing
to the prohibition of the practice by the Eussian Government.
The corpse is washed, dressed in its best clothes, and provided
with money, a pipe, and tobacco. Sometimes it is placed in a
1 Klementz, 'The Buiiats', E. R.E., p. 17.
^ Agapitoft' and Khangaloff, op. cit., p. 157.
^ Agapitoff and Khangaloff say that the clay urns now found in some
graves in places where the Buryat now live, belong not to them but to some
other people of higher culture who inhabited the district before them,
and were acquainted with the art of making pottery, which is not known
to the modern Buryat. (Op. cit., p. 158.)
coffin, but often it is laid in the grave with only a saddle-cloth
under the head ; sometimes the cloth, saddle, and a slaughtered
horse are burned near the grave. If the horse is not slaughtered,
it is set free, and should it return home it is driven away, because
they fear it. Such a horse is called kliolgo} Gmelin^ says that the
horse is consecrated by the shaman during its owner's life and is
never ridden. A broken cart [arlm) belonging to the dead man is
placed on the grave with other broken or burned objects, such as
weapons and tools. These heaps are visible at a distance, for a
Buryat cemeteiy is usually on the slope of a hill at the summit of
which is a shaman's birch-grove. For three days after the death
they do no work, and remain at home ; these mourning-days are
termed Ihaura-horo. During this time the soul of the deceased
wanders round his former habitation. On the third day the
relatives hold a feast for their friends.^
The Burj'at fancy that the soul is quite a different being from
the body, and that sleej) and illness are periods of temporary
separation of the two, and death a permanent separation. The
soul is material and visible to human beings, and usually takes
the form of a hee. A Buryat story relates how a man saw a bee
issue from the nose of his sleeping friend, fly round and outside
the yurta. return, and nearly drown itself in a vessel of water, but
then recover and return to his friend by the same way. The
latter when he awoke related a dream he had had, the details of
which coincided with the movements of the bee in every way.
Such stories tend to strengthen these beliefs. During an illness
the soul is held captive by spirits sent by the Supreme Being, and
to discover which spirits are at work, the shaman performs
incantations with the scorched shoulder-bone of a sheep. While
these spirits are persecuting the soul, the latter tries to escape by
taking the form of different animals — thus a woman's soul
frequently assumes the form of a magpie. It is especially
dangerous to sneeze during sleep, for then the soul springs
momentarily from the bodj", and the evil spirits who are on the
watch seize it before it can hide.'' A good shaman can, however,
recover the soul of a sick person even if it has been captured by
Erlik Khan himself.^
The future life is very similar to the present. There are
' rotanin, Sketches ofN.W. Mongolia, p. 37. - Vol. iii, p. 33.
^ AgapitoflFand Khangaloff, op. cit., pp. 158-9.
< Op. cit., pp. 160-2. '" Op. cit., p. 163.
feasting ami nianiage ceremonies, and people are dressed well or
badly according to the condition of their burial garments.^
In spite of this similarity the soul of the dead man acquires new
qualities. It is visible to the living, but leaves no tracks on the
ashes of the hearth and passes noiselessly over dead leaves ; it can
be killed, and it then takes the form of a pelvis, but it has the
power to become a soul again after three days unless prevented by
a slight learning of the pelvis ; in some parts there is a belief that
the soul disappears after its second death without leaving any
trace. 2
When a man dies, the souls of his dead relatives anxiously
await his arrival in the other world and prepare a feast for him ;
he, however, finds it difficult to realize that he is dead, and only
after three days (during which the other souls make him pass
over the ashes on the hearth of his living friends in order to see
that he leaves no tracks) is he persuaded of the fact. According
to Klementz, the Buryat believe that souls of the dead which
become harmful belong to different categories : as, for example,
the dalchidz, which may be the transformed souls of poor people
and are harmful only to little children, and mu-slm-hii (' malicious
bird '), which may be the transformed souls of girls and young
women.
With regard to ancestor- worship, Klementz states that only
distinguished persons are venerated after death. In former times
the old people were depi'ived of life — 'aged men and women were
dressed in their very best clothes, were seated in the place of
honour, in the circle of their relatives and friends, and after
conversation and libations of wine, were made to swallow a long
strip of fat, which naturally resulted in their death from suffo-
cation." ^ This custom was established by Esseghe Malan Tengeri,
who was one of the most popular of the Western (good) Tengeris,
and quite recently Klementz heard of a Buryat who drove his
aged grandfather into a wood and left him to die. This explains
the existence of numerous stories of parents killing their children
to avoid being maltreated by them later on.
' The idea of judgement after death is absent fi-om pure Shamanism,
so that where it is found it must be considered as borrowed from
Bhuddism. (Op. cit., p. 165.)
= Op. cit., p. 169.
^ Klementz, op. cit., p. 9.
XI. The Yakut.
' Send me some melted butter, some vodka and some meat, if
you have it, for I am dying, and would once more enjoy the good
things of the earth ' ; such was the message sent to Sieroszewski ^
by a poor Yakut, Tarsatyng, who lived near him. The behaviour
of several people at whose death this writer was present corre-
sponded to that implied in the above message. The only thing
which a Yakut really cares for before death is to be certain that an
animal will be slain directly after he dies, in order that, accom-
panied by this animal, his soul may make the journey to the
abode of the departed. On the death of a man a bullock or a
horse is killed on the death of a woman, a cow or a calf ; if the
deceased was rich the animal is fat and able to be ridden, other-
wise the soul must either drive it in front of him or drag it by the
horns. The flesh of the dead animal is eaten by the gravediggers
and all the funeral company. The custom is called Ichailijga or
kJiailige. In the north, where these customs are more strictly
practised, even the poorest man will kill his last cow to fulfil the
conditions. When a Cossack asked some Yakut to place a monu-
ment on the grave of his brother who had died at Kenurakh Station
while on a journey, they said, ' If you wish to hire us you must
first slay an animal, for there was no blood shed on the grave of
your brother and we fear to work there.' ^
When a man dies, the body is clothed in a rich garment and
placed in a corner of the dwelling, where it lies for three days ; on
the third day it is placed in a wooden coffin, which is drawn to the
grave by a horse or bullock. No one but the gravediggers accom-
pany it, and even they hasten to complete their work and return
home ; on their way back they do not stop or look behind, and
when they enter the gate of the village they and the animal must
pass through a fire made from the straw on Avhich the dead man
lay and the wood left from the making of the coffin. Other things
which have been in contact with the dead, such as the shovel, are
also broken and burnt. On the death of a child, its cradle is left
on the grave and its toys hanging on the nearest tree.
Pripuzoff says that, while in former times at the burial of an
important man his riding-horse with all its trappings, rich furs,
and provisions for a journey, as well as a servant, were buried
1 Sieroszewski. 12 Lett ir Kraju Yal-utdw, 1900, p. 616.
^ Op. cit., p. 617.
alive with him, this is now restricted to the killing of the best
horse.^ The Yakut have great fear of a corpse before it is burned :
it is supposed to be able to disturb the forces of nature, producing
great storms, and the influence of the corpse of a shaman is even
more powerful. A great wind is held to be favourable, as it will
smooth out the tracks on the way to the place of the funeral,
otherwise many of the living will follow the dead. Sieroszewski
says that in olden times the Yakut exposed the dead on a tree or
on a platform placed on two poles called arancjJca.'^ He saw such
platforms on which skeletons still remained, but he thinks that
this custom has been borrowed from the Gilyak or Yukaghir.
There is. however, still another form of linrial among the Yakut,
which consists in leaving the dead in the house with all the
utensils belonging to him.
There existed formerly the custom that an old or very weak
person requested his relatives to bury him. All the villagers were
invited to a three days' feast, during which the old man, attired in
his finest garments, occupied the chief position. On the third day
his relatives took him to the forest, where a grave had been pre-
pared, and one of them would suddenly strike him down. With
him in the grave were placed food and his weapons. Sometimes
husband and wife were buried together, or a living animal was
buried with the person or was tied to the nearest tree (surge).
Sieroszewski tells how a Cossack brought an old woman from a
grave in the forest who lived for some years afterwards. Until
the corpse is buried the soul remains near the house and
endeavours to remind the relatives of its existence. Some souls
never leave the earth and are never quiet ; such souls are called
1/or. The souls of those who have died young or suffered death
by violence, or who were buried without ceremonies, as well as of
the shamans and great people, become yor.'^
XII. The Altaians.
Among the Altaians the corpse is treated in different ways. It
is sometimes exposed on a raised platform or buried in a mountain
with the best horse of the deceased person ; sometimes it is burned
or exposed on a tree.'* Potanin says that in former times the body
' Pripuzoff, Materials for the Study of Shamanism among the Yakut,
p. 6.T.
^ Sieroszewski, op. cit., pp. 616-17. ' Ibid.
* Wierbicki, The yatives of the Altai, p. 68.
)«79 M
was laid on the gvound and covered with boughs of trees.^ The
corpse is elnhoraf ely dressed, a cap placed on the head, and in a
liouch different kinds of foud.^ It receives a cup and a spoon,
says Potanin, but there is no feasting after the death.^ Yadrintzeff
mentions that among the Altaians during the seven days following
the death the relatives pray to Tin Shaitan. The father and
mother of a dead child may not enter any one's i/urfa till after the
expiration of forty days.'^ Among the Uriankhai the corpse of a
shaman is exposed on a raised platform and his drum and coat
are hung above its head. The corpse of an ordinary person is
placed in a hollow tree-trunk. Near its head is placed a pole, the
top of which is carved in the form of a cup. A rich man's corpse
wears a fine new coat, liut a piece of an old coat is attached to the
new one. A fire is made near the place, and portions of flesh,
meal, and oil are burned. The relatives for the next seven days
must not carry anything out of the i/urta either to sell or to give
away, but they may dispense hospitality within ; this custom is
called shirWxJi, and we find the same restriction as to carrying
things out of the house during a certain period among the Mongols,
who term the custom Iccrcldey udur sertcy, but it is not asso-
ciated with burial.'''*'
If the death occurred l)y lightning, then the Uriankhai prepare
a scr, i. e., a raised platform, for the corpse. The flesh of an
animal struck by lightning is never eaten.
XIII. Samoyedic and Finnic Tribes.
Among the Samoyed, according to Castren, there is no belief in
a future life for the ordinary man. The dead, with whom many
of his belongings are buried, is supposed to exist still for a short
while, and during that time food is brought to the grave and the
' Potanin, op. cit., 1882, vol. ii, p. 36. ^ wierbicki, op. cit., p. 86.
3 Potanin, vol. iv, 1883, p. 36.
* Yadrintzeff, The Siberian Aborigines, 1891, pp. 110-20.
'^ Potanin, vol. iv, 1883, p. 36.
''' Among the Buryat of Alarsk this custom is observed after the
sacrifice to the fire and is called l-Jiurir or serote// ; among the Darkhat
and the Diurbiut, during the period reserved for cattle-breeding. Among
the Diurbiut this i>rohibition holds good on the day of death and on any
day the number of which contains the number of the day of death ;
e.g., if the death occurs on the 3rd, the prohibition holds on the 13th,
23rd, &c.
Similar numerical arrangements in connexion with the custom of not
carrying things out of the house are found to hold good on other occa-
sions, such as sacrificing a horse to a god. (Potanin, vol. iv. ed. 1883, p. 37.)
I
sacrifice of the reindeer is repeated several times, but when the
body has once turned to dust there is nothing beyond. Only the
tadibeif (shaman) attains to the privilege of a future life.^
Death is usually ascribed to the power of a bad female spirit,
Kmnsi/a Buni&si, who steals the soul, but a good shaman can some-
times recover the soul and return it to its owner.^ In former
times the Samoj-ed used a special incantation to prevent the return
of the dead, and when the body was taken away from the chum
(dwelling-house) the women of the clium jumped over the body.^
Krohn. who is a great authoritj- on the subject, believes that
among the Finnic tribes the cult of the dead and ancestor-worship
is common to them all, and is their oldest form of religion,
'Their places of sacrifice frequently stand in close proximity to
their places of burial ; their images are chiefly representations of
the dead, their ofierings are to be explained by the needs (food,
clothes, <S:c.) of the dead : and their whole system of magic seems
to aim at a union with the spirits of the dead,' ^
Among the Vogul, at the moment of death the relatives place in
the mouth of the dying a sniaTl stick to prevent the closing of the
teeth, and immediately afterwards the head of the corpse is
covered. The body is then attired in its best clothes and is laid
again in the sleeping-place. All this is performed in silence.
Then the women loosen their hair and begin to bewail the dead
and extol his virtues, his great power as a hunter, his goodness in
the family ; sometimes the men assist them, but they are usually
busily engaged in making the coffin and preparing the grave.
The body is placed in the coffin l)y members of its own sex.
Sometimes they draw with charcoal on the lid of the coffin the
form of a bird or a fish. Then the eldest w^oman of the family
slightly raises the coffin. If it is heavy, she promises to sacrifice
to the spii-its. Then each member of the family, first the women
and then the men, in each case beginning with the youngest
member, slightly raises the coffin. After this the coffin is carried
or driven to the grave. ^ Usually the body is buried on the day of
death, and it is carried out through a window of the house, or if it
is a chum, through a specially-made hole. The graveyard, among
' Castren, Reiseerinneninqen aits den Jahren 1838-77, p. 267,
2 Tretyakoff, Tlie Country of Turiikhansl; p. 204.
' Lepekhin, Diary of a Journey, i>art iv, p. 117,
* Krohn, ' Cult of the Dead,' E. li. E., vol. i, p. 467,
^ N. L, Gondatti, Traces of Payanism among the Ahoriaines of N.W.
Siberia, 1888, p. 44.
M 2
the Vogul and their nearest neighbours, the Ostyak, is usually in
a forest; the body is either carried or drawn by reindeer, Avhich
animals must later be killed on the grave in the following manner.
A loop of rope is placed round the neck and the other end of it
tied to a tree. The animal is then beaten with sticks, and in
attempting to escape it chokes itself with the rope. Then only is a
wooden spear driven into its heart ; the flesh is eaten at the grave,
the bones placed with the corpse, and the skin buried close at
hand.^ Among the Vogul and the Ostyak of the Upper Obi, the
graves are no deeper than three or four feet and the sides are lined
with wooden planks or branches of trees, the body is placed in the
grave, either in a small boat with flattened ends and covered with
bi'anches, or, if no boat is available, in a coffin made somewhat in
the form of a boat. Above the grave a small roof is erected
slightly sloping, with its sides about a foot from the ground and
formed of interlaced branches of the birch-tree. Three or four feet
above this another similar roof is erected. The small belongings
of the dead man are placed in the grave, and the larger, such as the
oars and ])oat and skis, outside it. It is interesting to note that if
a Vogul man dies away from his home while on a fishing or similar
expedition, exactly the same ceremonies are performed for him in
his village. After the corpse has been buried the relatives hold a
feast, some of the food is placed on both sides of the grave, and
then a cooking-vessel with a pierced bottom is placed inside the
grave.
Among the Samoyed and the Ostyak of the Lower Obi, similar
funeral ceremonies are performed, but the grave is not dug. They
place the body on the ground, and cover it with the inverted skis ;
among the same people there exists the custom that the wife of the
dead man makes a figure which represents her husband, from
portions of the boat, skis, branches, &c. This figure, which is
dressed and adorned like the deceased, and whose features even are
sometimes made by a careful widow to resemble him, is treated as
the husband for six months after the death ; it is placed in the
most important seat, is fed by and sleeps beside the wife. No
widow is expected to marry during this period of mourning. The
external signs of mourning of some of the natives of north-west
Siberia consist in loosened hair among the men for five days and
the women for four days, or in wearing the hair in plaits in front of
^ N. L. Gondatti, Traces of Paganism amonq the Ahorigines of N.W.
Siberia, 1888, p. 44.
CUSTOMS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 1G5
the face, the men for five months and the women for four months.
The men sometimes also wear a conl round the neck with hanging
ornaments.^ The soul {lili khcl mkholas) of the deceased passes
into the body of a newly-born child of the same stock, or, at least, of
the same clan or nation. As to the shadow [is), it must climb high
mountains and cross streams of fire. To assist it in this, one must
burn the portions of hair and nails which were cut and preserved
during his lifetime, together with a few feathers of spring birds.
The implements placed in the grave, and the food which is taken
thither from time to time, are also destined to assist it on this
terrible journey. Sometimes the shadow of the deceased takes
with him the shadows of some relatives who will therefore die
soon. The land of future life is situated under the ground in the
Arctic Ocean beyond the mouth of the Obi, where it is ruled by
the underground god Kul-Odyr. Here the shadow lives as long
as the man lived on the earth, and follows similar occupations : if
the man were a fisherman, hisxshadow is the same in the shadow-
land. Towards the close of its life the shadow Ijegins to diminish
in size and becomes as small as a black-beetle {Jcer-khomlaJch).
According to some natives, it does become a black-beetle, and
finally disappears. People who have lived evil lives have to work
continually in the other land, and their work will not be
successful.'^
Kul-Odyr has to take away the shadows of people according to
the command of the heavenly god Numi-Torum, and drives them
with a big stick through the tundra to his land ; if by mistake he
takes a shadow too soon, then at Numi's request he gives it back :
thus is explained a fainting fit.^
' Op. cit., pp. 42-4. 2 Op. cit., pp. 39-40. =" Op. cit., p. 41.
Chapter VII
SHAMANISM ^
Shamanism is understood by some people to be a primitive
form of religion or religio-magic practised by the aborigines of
northern Asia as "well as by all other aborigines in other parts
of the world. This opinion is held by Mikhailowski, Kharuzin,
and some other Russian scientists. Others hold that Shamanism
was only one form of expression of the religious cult of northern
Asia, practised in order to avert the evil spirits. This opinion is
found in the writings of Jochelson and Bogoras. There is still
another view put forward, which it is well for us to consider.
This view we find expressed very clearly in the following extract
from Klementz :
' One must not lose sight of the fact that in the various beliefs
of the Siberian tribes a very close connexion is noticeable, and,
likewise, there can be observed an uninterrupted identity in the
foundations of their mythology, and in their rites, even extending
as far as the nomenclature — all of which gives one the right to
suppose that these beliefs are the result of the joint work of the
intellectual activity of the whole north of Asia.'-
In the writings of the Buryat scientist Banzaroff we find a very
similar statement : ' The old national religion of the Mongols and
the neighbouring nations is known in Europe as ''Shamanism",
whereas among those who are not its followers it has no special
name.
'After the introduction of Buddhism among the Mongolic
nations, they called their old religion "The Black Faith" {Ehara
Shadjin), in contradistinction to Buddhism, which they called
"Yellow Faith "' {Shim Shadjin). According to Father Jakiuv, the
Chinese call Shamanism Tao-Shen (gambolling before the spirits).
' For certain suggestions as to the construction of this chapter I am
indebted to my friend, Miss Byrne, of Somerville College.
2 Em: liil. ami Eth., 'The Burials,' p. 26.
I
These names, however, do not give any idea of the true character
of Shamanism. Some are of opinion tliat it originated along-
side with Biahminism and Buddhism, while others find in it
some elements in common with the teachings of the Chinese
philosopher Lao-Tze. . . . Finally some hold that Shamanism is
nothing but Nature-worship, likening it to the faith of the followers
of Zoroaster. Careful study of the subject shows that the
Shamanistic religion . . . did not arise out of Buddhism or any
other religion, but originated among the Mongolic nations, and
consists not only in superstitious and shamanistic ceremonies . . .,
but in a certain primitive way of observing the outer world —
Nature — and the inner world — the soul.'^
Of course, Banzarofif speaks especially of the Shamanism of the
Mongols. We cannot agree with him that Shamanism is limited
to these people. We find it all over northern and part of central
Asia.
As we see them now the Palaeo-Siberians may be considered
as possessing the simplest, and the Neo-Siberians the most complex,
form of Shamanism. Thus among the former we see more
' Family' than 'Professional' Shamanism ; that is, the ceremonials,
beliefs, and shamans are practically limited to the family. Pro-
fessional Shamanism, that is, ceremonies of a communal kind
performed by a specialized or professional shaman, is here only
in its infancy, and, being weaker, has been more affected by
Christianity.
Among the Neo-Siberians, where professional Shamanism is
strongly developed (for example, the Yakut), family Shamanism
has been more affected by European influences. We cannot,
however, argue from this that the Palaeo-Siberian form is the
more primitive. Professional Shamanism may be a development
of family Shamanism, or it may be a degenerate form, w^here
environment is such that communal life is no longer possible.
That the dissimilarity between the Shamanism of the Palaeo-
and Neo-Siberians is no doubt due to the differences in the
geographical conditions of northern and southern Siberia seems
to be proved by the result of a careful study of certain Neo-
Siberian tribes (Yakut) who migrated to the north, and of certain
Palaeo-Siberians (Gilyak) who migrated to the south. The ease
with which they absorbed the customs and beliefs appertaining to
^ Banzaroff, Tlie Black Faith, pp. 4-5.
their new surrountlings shows that there was no fundamental
diffei'ence between their shamanistic practices. The differences,
being due to environment, disappear in migration. It cannot be
said that the change is due to contact, since this, in many cases, is
very slight. Indeed, Shamanism seems to be such a natural
product of the Continental climate with its extremes of cold and
heat, of the violent hurgas and hurans,^ of the hunger and fear
which attend the long winters, that not only the Palaeo-Siberians
and the more highly cultivated Neo-Siberians, but even Europeans,
have sometimes fallen under the influence of certain shamanistic
superstitions. Such is the case with the Russian peasants and
officials who settle in Siberia, and with the Russian Creoles. -
According to the official census, only a small part of the abori-
gines are ' true Shanianists', but, as a matter of fact, we see that
though they are registered as Orthodox Catholics and Buddhists,
they are in reality nearly all faithful to the practice of their old
religion.
In psychological terminology, Shamanism consists of animistic
and preanimistic conceptions ; although most of the people at
present engaged in research work on Siberia have been so much
influenced by the Tylor theory of Animism that they misuse the
word ' soul ', and the phenomena that they describe as animistic
are very often in a different category altogether.
The reader must decide for himself whether Shamanism appeals
to him as a cult peculiar to this region, or Avhether it is part
of a very general primitive magico-religion. It appears to the
author personally to be as difficult to speak in general terms
of primitive religions as it would be to speak of Christian religions.
This might be the task of a separate work — to determine whether
Shamanism in its conception of the deities, nature, man, and in
its rites, forms a special ' sect ' in the Animistic Religion.
* See chapter on Geography. ^ See Bogoras, The Chufichee, -p. 417.
Chapter VIII
THE SHAMAN
As among all primitive religions, the role of the priest, as the
repository of religious beliefs and traditions, is of the greatest
importance ; therefore we shall first proceed to the study of the
shaman himself.
The organization of the shamanhood varies slightly in different
tribes. In some cases this office is hereditary, but everywhere
the supernatural gift is a necessary qualification for becoming
a shaman. As we should expect from the generally higher culture
of the Neo-Siberians, their shamanhood is more highly organized
than that of the Palaeo-Siberians. The family shamans pre-
dominate among the Palaeo-Siberians, and the professional shamans
among the Neo-Siberians, though Bogoras says : ' In modern
times the importance of family shamanism is losing ground among
all the tribes named, with the exception of the Chukchee, and
there is a tendency to its being replaced on all occasions by
individual shamanism.' These individual or professional shamans
are called among the Chukchee ' those with spirit ' [cneniVd], from
enen, * shamanistic spirit '.^
Although hysteria (called by some writers ' Arctic hysteria ') lies
at the bottom of the shaman's vocation, yet at the same time the
shaman differs from an ordinary patient suffering from this illness
in possessing an extremely great power of mastering himself in
the periods between the actual fits, which occur during the
ceremonies. ' A good shaman ought to possess many unusual
qualities,^ but the chief is the power, acquired by tact and know-
^ Bogoras, op. cit., p. 414.
* In the district of Kolyma, Sieroszewski used to meet a young but
very skilful shaman, who could do most of the difficult shiimanist tricks :
he swallowed a stick, ate red-hot coals and j)ieces of glass, spat coins out
of his mouth, was able to be in different places at the same time— and
in spite of all this he was not considered a first-class shaman ; whereas an
inspired old woman-shaman, who could not perform all these tricks, was
held in great esteem and fame. (Op. cit., p. 631.)
ledge, to influence the people round him.' ^ His reserved attitude
has undoubtedly a great influence on the people among whom he
lives. He must know how and when to have his fit of inspiration,
which sometimes rises to frenzy, and also how to preserve his
high * tabooed ' attitude in his daily life.^
^ In speaking of the shaman's vocation, we do not include the
family shaman of the Koryak. Asiatic Eskimo, Chukchee, and
Yukaghir, whose position and capacity are rather vague, as we
see from the following description of his duties : ' Each family has
one or more drums of its own, on which its members are bound
to perform at specific periods : that is, to accompany the beating
of the drum with the singing of various melodies. Almost always
on these occasions one member at least of the family tries to
communicate with " spirits "' after the manner of shamans.'^ Some-
times he even tries to foretell the future, but he receives no
attention from his audience. This is done in the outer room and
in daylight, whereas the 'shaman's', or professional shaman's,
actions are performed in the inner room and at night.
' Besides this, every adult Chukchee will occasionally take his
drum, especially in the winter, and beat it for a while in the warm
shelter of the sleeping-room, with the light or without it, singing
his melodies to the rhythm of the beats.' ^
We see from the above that one member of the family has the
duty of beating the drum during certain ceremonials, and amuses
himself sometimes by shamanizing, just as he amuses himself by
beating the drum at any time, apart from ceremonials. Of course,
we cannot call this member of the family a shaman, but a master
of the ceremonies, &c., who imitates the shaman ; we can call
shamans only those individuals having special skill and vocation,
whether or not they are shamans by heredity.
However, the same Koryak, Asiatic Eskimo, Chukchee, Yuka-
ghir, &c. — practically all the Palaeo- Siberians — possess the pro-
fessional shaman, sometimes in decadence,^ but still there is no
^ Sieroszewski, 12 Laf w Krajii Yakiitoio, 1902, p. 630.
- He must also have good mannere, as we see from the following :
'The shaman Yetilin had an incessant nervous twitching in his face,
[and] the Chukchee said hiughingly, that he was probably "with an owl
kele'' (spirit), comparing his afHietion to the jerking motion of the owl's
head when it devours its prey.' (Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 428.)
^ Bogoras, op. cit., p. 413. * Ibid.
° During the stay of Jochelson among the Koryak (1900-1) he had the
opportunity of seeing only two shamans. Both were young men, and
neither enjoyed special respect on the part of his relations. (Jochelson,
llie Koryak, p. 49.)
doubt of liis existence. Krasheninnikoff,' who travelled through
the land of the Kanicliadal in the middle of the eighteenth century,
says that 'among the Kamchadal there is only one great annual
ceremony, in November, and the chief roles at this ceremony
belonged to old men '.
The same author says : ' Among the Kamchadal there are no
special shamans, as among other nations, but every old woman
and loekchuch (probably women in men's clothes) is a witch, and
explains dreams.' -
From this meagre information we can scarcely decide whether
among the Kamchadal of the time of Krasheninnikoff there was
or not a family shaman, because as the old men played the role
not at ceremonials in separate families, but at communal cere-
monies, we must rather call them communal shamans. But there
was some form of professional shamanism, though not specialized,
since every old woman could shamauize. On the other hand, the
following quotation shows that there were certain qualifications
necessary for the shaman :
' The female sex is nicer '■' and probably cleverer, therefore there
are more women and JcoclrJinch among the shamans than there
are men.'*
Thus Krasheninnikoff. Jochelson says'*: 'Both Steller and
Krasheninnikoff assert that the Kamchadal had no professional
shamans, but that every one could exercise that art, especially
women and Koekchuch ; that there was no special shaman garb ;
that they used no drum, but simply pronounced incantations and
practised divination (Krasheninnikoff. iii. p. 114 ; Steller, p. 277),
which description appears more like the family shamanism of the
present day. It is impossible that the Kamchadal should form an
exception among the rest of the Asiatic and American tribes in
having had no professional shamans.'
In support of Jochelson's opinion just quoted, it may be said
that, in spite of Krasheninnikoff's statement to the contrary, pro-
fessional shamanism does seem to have existed, at least in germ,
among the Kamchadal, alongside of the communal shamanism
' Krasheninnikoft', Description of the Coxintnj of Kamchatka, ed. 1775,
1). 85.
* Op. cit., p. 81.
^ This epithet is somewhat vague, but for this I am not responsible, as
the original has a similar vague expression.
* Krasheninnikoff. p. 15, quot. Troshchanski.
'' Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 48.
which was in the hands of the old men. This appears clear fi'om
Krasheninnikoff's own words quoted above. That those who could
shamanize most effectually were women, ' nice and clever ', points
to the fact that some sort of standard was already set up for those
who aspired to be special practitioners of this extra-communal
shamanism, and that women most nearly approached this ideal.
A. The Shaman's Vocation.
Whether his calling be hereditary or not, a shaman must be
a capable— na}', an inspired person. Of course, this is practically
the same thing as saying that he is nervous and excitable, often
to the verge of insanity. So long as he practises his vocation,
however, the shaman never passes this verge. It often happens
that before entering the calling persons have had serious nervous
affections.^ Thus a Chukchee female shaman, Telpina, according
to her own statement, had been violently insane for three years,
during which time her household had taken precautions that she
should do no harm to the peojile or to herself. ^
'I was told that people about to become shamans have fits of
wild paroxysms alternating with a condition of complete ex-
haustion. They will lie motionless for two or three days without
partaking of food or drink. Finally they retire to the wilderness,
where they spend their time enduring hunger and cold in order
to prepare themselves for their calling.'-^
To be called to become a shaman is generally equivalent to
being afflicted with hysteria ; then the accepting of the call means
recovery. * There are cases of young persons who, having
suffered for j^ears from lingering illness (usually of a nervous
character), at last feel a call to take up shamanistic practice and
by this means overcome the disease.''*
^ To the believer the acceptance of the call means accepting
several spirits, or at least one, as protectors or servants, by which
means the shaman enters into communication with the whole
spirit world. The shamanistic call sometimes manifests itself
through some animal, plant, or other natural object, v/hich the
^ Bogoras met several shamans who were alwa3's ready to quarrel, and
to use their knives on such occasions ; e.g. the shaman Kelewgi wanted
to kill a Cossack who refused to buy furs from him. (Bogoras, op. cit.,
p. 426.)
2 Op. cit., p. 428. " Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 47.
* Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 421.
person comes upon at the 'right time", i.e. when very young,
often in the critical period between childhood and maturity (or
else when a person more advanced in age is afllicted with mental
or physical troubles). * Sometimes it is an inner voice, which
bids the person enter into intercourse with the "spirits". If the
person is dilatory in obeying, the calling spirit soon appears in
some outward visible shape, and communicates the call in a more
explicit way.' Ainanwat after an illness saw several ' spirits ', but
did not pay much attention to them ; then one * spirit ' came,
whom Ainanwat liked and invited to stay. But the 'spirit' said
he would stay only on the condition that Ainanwat should become
a shaman. Ainanwat refused, and the 'spirit' vanished.^
Here is an account by a Yakut-Tungus shaman, Tiuspiut
('fallen-from-the-sky '), of how he became a shaman : -
'When I was twenty j^ears old, I became very ill and began
"to see with my eyes, to hear with my ears" that which others
did not see or hear ; nine years I struggled with myself, and I did
not tell any one what was happening to me, as I was afraid that
people would not believe me and would make fun of me. At last
I became so seriously ill that I was on the verge of death ; but
when I started to shamanize I grew better ; and even now when
I do not shamanize for a long time I am liable to be ill.'
Sieroszewski tells us that Tiuspiut Avas sixty years of age ; he
hid his shamanistic gift nine years, and had been shamanizing
thirty-one years when Sieroszewski met him. He was a man of
medium size, thin, but muscular, with signs of former beauty.
In spite of his age he could shamanize and dance the whole night.
He was an experienced man, and travelled a great deal both in
the south and in the north. During the shamanistic ceremonies
his eyes had a strange expression of madness, and a pertinacious
stare, which provoked to anger and excitement those on whom his
look rested.
' This is the second shaman with such strange eyes whom
I have met in the district of Yakut. Generally in the features of
a shaman there is something peculiar which enabled me, after
a short experience, to distinguish them from the other folk
present. ' '*
A similar statement is made about the Chukchee shamans by
Bogoras : ' The eyes of a shaman have a look different from that
' Bogoras, op. cit.
'^ Sieroszewski, 12 Lat w Kraju Yakutow, p. 396. ^ Ibid.
of other people, and they explain it by the assertion that the eyes
of the sliaman are very bright {niJceraqen), which, by the way,
gives them the ability to see "spirits" even in the dark. It is
certainly a fi\ci that the expression of a shaman is peculiar —
a combination of cunning and shyness ; and it is often possible to
pick him out from among many othei'S.' ^
* The Chukchee are well aware of the extreme nervousness of
their shamans, and express it by the word ninirJc'dqin, '' he is
bashful ". By this word they mean to convey the idea that the
shaman is highly sensitive, even to the slightest change of the
psychic atmosphere surrounding him during his exercises.'
' The Chukchee shaman is diffident in acting before strangers,
especially shortly after his initiation. A shaman of great power
will refuse to show his skill when among strangers, and will
yield only after much solicitation : even then, as a rule, he will
not show all of his power.' ^ 'Once when I induced a shaman to
practise at my house his "spirits" (of a ventriloquistic kind) for
a long time refused to come. When at last they did come, they
were heard walking round the house outside and knocking on its
walls, as if still undecided whether to enter. When they entered,
they kept near to the corners, carefully avoiding too close prox-
imity to those present.'
The shamanistic call comes sometimes to people more advanced
in years :
' To people of more mature age the shamanistic call may come
during some great misfortune, dangerous and protracted illness,
sudden loss of family or property,' &c. 'It is generally con-
sidered that in such cases a favourable issue is possible only with
the aid of the "' spirits ", therefore a man who has undergone some
extraordinary trial in his life is considered as having within him-
self the possibilities of a shaman, and he often feels bound to
enter into closer relations with the "spirits", lest he incur their
displeasure at his negligence and lack of gratitude.' "'
Katek, from the village of Unisak at Indian Point, entered into
relations with the ' spirits ' when he was of mature age, during
a teiTible adve'nture he had while hunting seal.
He was carried away on the piece of ice on which he was
standing, and only after a long time of drifting came upon an
iceberg, on to which he climbed. But before he encountered
^ Bogoras, op. cit., p. 116. - Ibid. " Op. cit., p. 421.
the iceberg, he had trit'd to kill himself with his belt-knife, when
u large walnis-head suddenly appeared out of the water quite close
to him and sang: '0 Katek, do not kill yourself! You shall again
see the mountains of Unisak and the little Kuwakak, your elder
son.' When Katek came back home he made a sacrifice to the
walrus-head, and from that time on he was a shaman, much
respected and very famous among his neighbours.^
However, very old people are not supposed to hear the shaman-
istic call. In a Koryak tale,- when Quikinnaqu (who had already
a grown-up daughter) unexpectedly makes for himself a drum out
of a small louse, and becomes a shaman, his neighbours say scepti-
cally : • Has the old Quikinnaqu really become a shaman ? From
his youth up he had no spirits within his call.'
But young people when they get into trouble also call for the
help of ' spirits ' ; when the latter come to them, such youths also
frequently become shamans.
'A man, Yetilin by name, who belonged by birth to an Arctic
maritime village, but afterwards married into a reindeer-ljreeding
family on the Dry Anui River, and joined its camp, told me that
in his early childhood his family perished from a contagious
disease (probably influenza), and he was left alone with his small
si.ster. Then he called to the " spii'its ". They came and brought
food and said to him : " Yetilin, take to beating the drum I We
will assist you in that also."' ' ^
The Chukchee tales contain accounts of poor and despised
orphans, who were protected by 'spirits', and turned into
shamans.
The vocation of the shaman is attended- with considerable
danger : ' The slightest lack of harmony between the acts of the
shamans and the mj'sterious call of their " spirits " brings their
life to an end. This is expressed by the Chukchee, when they
say that "spirits" are very bad-tempered, and punish with
immediate death the slightest disobedience of the shaman, and
that this is particularly so when the .shaman is slow to carry out
those orders which are intended to single him out from other
people.' *
We have similar statements from the more advanced tribes.
• The duties undertaken by the shaman are not easy ; the struggle
which he has to carry on is dangerous. There exist traditions
' Op. cit., p. 421. 2 .Jochelson, T/o- Konjak, p. 291.
^ Bogora.s, op. cit., p. 424. ^ Op. cit., p. 417.
about shamans who were carried away still living from the earth
to the sky, about others killed by "■ spirits ", or struck down at
their first meeting with the powers whom they dared to call upon.
The wizard Avho decides to carry on this struggle has not only
material gain in view, but also the alleviation of the griefs of his
fellow men ; the wizard who has the vocation, the faith, and the
conviction, who undertakes his duty with ecstasy and negligence
of personal danger, inspired by the high ideal of sacrifice, such
a wizard always exerts an enormous influence upon his audience.
After liaving once or twice seen such a real shaman, I understood
the distinction that the natives draw between the "' Great ",
"Middling", and "Mocking" or deceitful shamans.'^ Although
exposed to danger from supernatural powers, the shaman is
supposed to be safer from human anger than any other person.
One Chukchee tale says : ' She [the murderer] came to her
neighbour, a woman who was busy with her fireVtoard, trying to
make a fire. She stab1)ed her from behind. But the girl con-
tinued to work on the fire, because she was a shaman-girl,
a woman able to stal) herself [ in a shamanistic performance].
Therefore she could not kill her, but only severed the tendons of
her arms and legs.' ^
A man who can pierce himself through with a knife, so that its
end shows at his back,^ or cut his head off, put it on a stick, and
dance round the yurta,"* is surely strengthened sufiiciently against
an enemy's attacks. Yet the shaman, Scratching-Woman, when
he refused to drink the alcohol offered to him by Bogoras, and
which he had previously demanded, explained as follows : ' I will
1)0 frank with you. Drink really makes my temper too bad for
anything. Usually my wife watches over me, and puts all knives
out of my reach. But wdien we are apart, I am afraid.' '^
On the whole, the shamans are very much attached to their
vocation, in spite of the persecutions which they have to suffer
from the Government. Tiuspiut was many times punished by the
Eussian officials and his shamanistic dress and drum were burned;
but he returned to his duties after each of these incidents. 'We
have to do it, we cannot leave off shamanizing,' he said to
Sieroszewski, 'and there is no harm in our doing it.'
Another shaman, who was old and blind, affirmed that he had
^ Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 639. - Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p, 32.
^ Sieroszewski, op. oil., p. 398. * Ibid.
^ Bogoras, TJie Chukchee, p. 428,
l)een a shaman some time before, but after he l)ecame convinced
that it was a sin lie stoi>ped shamanizing, and 'although another
very powerful shaman took from him the " sign ", amaijijat, still
the spirits made him l)lind '}
In the village Baigantai Sieroszewski met with another instance
of a shaman who, however many times he vowed to abstain from
shamanism, still returned to it when the occasion arose. He was
a rich man, who did not care for gain, and he was so wonderful
that 'his eyes used to jump out on his forehead ' during shaman-
istic performances.
Tiuspiut was poor and cared for monej'^, 1)ut he was proudly
regardful of his reputation, and when some of his neighbours
called in another shaman, one who lived farther away than
Tiuspiut, he became quite offended.
Bogoras never met shamans among the Palaeo-Silierians who
could be said " to live solely on the profits of their art. It was
only a source of additional income to them.' ^
Among the Tungus and Yakut the shaman is recompensed
only when his arts are successful ; and now, since Kussian money
has come into use, he receives from one to twenty-five roubles for
a performance, and always gets plenty to eat besides.
The shamanislic call among the Tungus of Trans-Baikalia
shows itself in the following manner : A dead shaman appears in
a dream and summons the dreamer to become his successor. One
who is to become a shaman appears shy, distrait, and is in
a highly nervous condition."
Similar instances are to be found in the records of all Siberian
tribes.
As to the shamanistic office being hereditary, this is the case
wherever a descendant of a shaman shows a disposition for the
calling.
Among the Ostyak, the father himself chooses his successor,
not necessarily according to age, but according to capacity ; and
to the chosen one he gives his own knowledge. If he has no
children, he may i)ass on the office to a friend, or to an adopted
child. +
The Ostyak shaman occasionally sells his familiar spirit to
another shaman. After receiving payment, he divides his hair
' Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 394. ^ Bogoras, The Chukchce, p. 425.
' Anonymous article in Siberian Xeivs, 1822, pp. .39-40.
* Bielayewski, A Journey to the Glacial Sea, pp. 113-14.
1679 jj
into tresses, and fixes the time when the spirit is to pass to his
new master. The spirit, having changed owners, makes his new
possessor suffer : if the new shaman does not feel these effects, it
is a sign that he is not becoming proficient in his office,^
Among both the Yakut and the Buryat, although the office is
not necessarily hereditary, it is usually so in part ; for it will
generally happen that the shamanistic spirit passes from one to
another of the same family.^
The Altaians believe that no one becomes a shaman of his own
free will ; rather it comes to him nolens volens, like a hereditary
disease. They say that sometimes when a young man feels
premonitory symptoms of the call, he avoids shamans and
shamanistic '^.eremonies, and by an effort of will occasionally
cures himself. The period when the shamanistic call comes to
the descendant of a shamanistic family is known as tes ha::in-yal,
' the ancestor (spirit) leaps upon, strangles him '.-^
B. The Shaman's Preparatory Period.
I. Palaeo-Siberians.
Tlie Chiilchcc. The Chukchee call the preparatory period of
a shaman by a term signifying 'he gathers shamanistic power'.
For the weaker shamans and for female shamans the preparatory
period is less painful, and the inspiration comes mainly through
dreams.
But for a strong man this stage is very painful and long ;
in some cases it lasts for one, two, or more years. Some j'oung
people are afraid to take a drum and call on the 'spirits', or
to pick up stones or other objects which might prove to be
amulets, foi* fear lest the ' spirit " should call them to be shamans.
Some 5^ouths prefer death to obedience to the call of spirits.*
Parents possessing only one child fear his entering this calling
on account of the danger attached to it ; but when the family
is large, thej^ like to have one of its members a shaman. During
the time of preparation the shaman has to pass through Ijoth
a mental and a physical training. He is, as a rule, segregated,
and goes either to the forests and hills under the jDretext of
hunting or watching the herds, ' often without taking along any
1 TretyakofF, Tlie Counlt-y of Titnil-hansl; 1871, p. 223.
' Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 395; Potanin, Troshchanski,
^ Wierbicki, The Natives of the Altai, p. 44.
* Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 450.
arms or tho lasso of the herdsman'^; or else lie remains in
the inner room tho whole time. ' The young novice, the " newly
inspired " (turene niivillin), loses all interest in the ordinary affairs
of life. He ceases to work, eats but little and without relishing
his food, ceases to talk to people, and does not even answer their
questions. The greater part of his time he spends in sleep.' This
is why 'a wanderer . . . must be closely watched, otherwise he
might lie down on the open tundra and sleep for three or four
days, incurring the danger in winter of Ijeing buried in drifting
snow. When coming to himself after such a long sleep, he
imagines that he has been out for only a few hours, and generally
is not conscious of having slept in the wilderness at all.'-
However exaggerated this account of a long sleep may be, we
learn from Bogoras that the Chukchee, when ill, sometimes 'fall
into a heavy and protracted slumber, which may last many days,
with only the necessary interrruptions for physical needs '/'
The Koryal;. The mental part of the training consists in coming
into contact with the right spirits, i. e. with the spirits who are to
be the shaman's protectors in his shamanistic practice. ' Every
[Koryak] shaman ', says Jochelson, ' has his own guardian spirits,
who help him in his struggle with disease — inflicting kalau in his
rivalry with other shamans, and also in attacks upon his enemies.
The shaman spirits usually appear in the form of animals or 1)irds.
The most common guardian spirits are the wolf, the bear, the
raven, the sea-gull, and the eagle.' ^ One of the two shamans whom
Jochelson met among the Koryak related to him how the spirits
of the wolf, raven, l^ear, sea-gull, and plover appeared to him (the
shaman) in the desert — now in the form of men, now in that
of animals — and commanded him to become a shaman, or to die.
Thus we see that, while they are in solitude, ' the spirits appear to
them in visible form, endow them with power, and instruct them.'
But Bogoras describes the mental training of a new shaman
differently. ' The process of gathering inspiration is so painful to
young shamans, because of their mental struggle against the call,
that they are sometimes said to sweat blood on the forehead and
the temples. Afterwards every preparation of a shaman for a per-
formance is considered a sort of repetition of the initiative process :
hence it is said that the Chukchee shamans during that time are
easily susceptible to haemorrhage, and even to bloody sweat. "^
' Op. cit., p. 420. " Op. cit., p. 421. ^ ji^j^i
* Jochelson, 77«e Koryak, p. 47. '' Bogoras, op. cit., p. 420.
N 2
Bogoras himself saw two cases of nose-l)leeding and one of
l)loody sweat among the shamans; but in the last instance he
suspected the sliaman of smearing his temples with the blood
from his nose.^
As to the physical training of a novice, he must learn singing,
dancing, various tricks, including ventriloquism, and how to beat
the drum.
'The beating of the drum, notwithstanding its seeming simplicity,
requires some skill, and the novice must sjiend considerable time
before he can acquire the desired degree of perfection. This
has I'eference especially to the performer's power of endurance.
The same may be said of the singing. The manifestations con-
tinue for several weeks, during which time the shaman exercises
the most violent activity with scarcely a pause. After the per-
formance he must not show any signs of fatigue, because he is
supposed to be sustained by the '"spirits", and, moreover, the
greater j^art of the exercise is asserted to be the work of the
spirits themselves, either after entering the shaman's body or
while outside his body. The amount of endurance required for
all this, and the ability to pass quickly from the highest excite-
ment to a state of normal quietude, can, of course, be acquired only
by long practice. Indeed, all the shamans I conversed with said
that they had to spend a year, or even two years, before sufficient
strength of hand and freedom of voice were given to them by the
spirits. Some asserted that, during all this preparatory time, they
kept closely to the inner room, taking up the drum several times
a day, and beating it as long as their strength would allow.' ^
Of course a certain diet must be adhered to during the time of
the training and before each individual ceremonial.
Have the novices any teachers ? One would suppose that they
must have, if only to learn the difficult magical tricks, but it
is hard to get any detailed information on this point, because the
natives ascribe all the cleverness of the shaman to the ' spii'its '.
' There are many liars in our calling ', the shaman Scratching-
Woman said to Bogoras.'^ 'One will lift up the skins of the
sleeping-room with his right toe and then assure you that it
was done by " spirits " ; another will talk into the l)osom of his
shirt or through his sleeve, making the voice issue from a quite
unusual place.' Of course he himself was ready to swear that he
never did such tricks.
• Ibid. - Op. cit., p. 424. ^ Bogoras, TJie Chukchee, li. 426.
Sometimes the old men teach the young shamans. ' Tlie man
who gives a part of his power to another man h)ses corresponchngly ,
and can hardly recover the loss afterwards. To transfer his power,
the older shaman must blow on the eyes or into the mouth of the
recipient, or he may stab himself with a knife, with the blade
of which, still reeking with his '* source of life " {telke/jun), he will
immediately pierce the body of the recipient.'
Bogoras did not hear of any transferring of shamanistic power
while he was among the Chukchee. He found it, however, among
Eskimo women, who were taught by their husbands, and whose
children were taught by their parents. In one family on St. Law-
i"ence Island the shamanistic power has been retained tlirough
a succession of generations, evidently having been transferred
from father to son.^
The Gili/ak. Sternberg ^ says that although shamans do not play
so important a role among the Gilyak as among some neighbouring
tribes, still their jwwer among this folk is almost unlimited.
Sternberg was told by a Gilyak shaman that before he had entered
on his vocation he had been very ill for two months, during which
time he w^as unconscious, lying quite motionless. Sometimes, he
said, he almost regained consciousness, but sank again into a swoon
before recovering his senses. ' I should have died ', he explained,
' if I had not become a shaman.' During these months of trial he
became ' as dry ', he said, ' as a dry stick.' In the night he heard
himself singing shaman's songs. Once there appeared to him
a bird-spirit, and, standing at some distance from it, a man, who
spoke to him in these words : * Make yourself a drum and all that
pertains to a shaman. Beat the drum and sing songs. If you
are an ordinary man, nothing will come of it ; but if you are to be
a shaman, you will be no ordinary one.' When he came to him-
self he found that he was being held by head and feet close to the
fire by his friends, who told him that they had thought him
already dead, carried off by the evil spirits {kcJcJin). Forthwith
he demanded a drum, and began to beat it and sing. He felt
half dead, half intoxicated. Then for the first time he saw his
spirit-protectors, JceJchn and Jcenchkh. The former told him, ' If you
see any one ill, cure him. Do not trust kencJtkh. He has a man's
face, but his body is a bird's. Trust us only.'
Sternberg himself was once witness of a first manifestation of
shamanistic power.
^ Op. cit., p. 420. » Sternberg, Ttie Gilyak, p. 72.
KoYnit was a little guest of Sternberg's, a boy of twelve. In
spite of bis youth be bad two souls, being tbe son of a great
sbanian, Cbamkb, who bad as many as four souls (one from tbe
mountains, another from tbe sea, a third from the sky, and
a fourth from the underworld). Once on being suddenly awakened
from sleep, KoTnit began to throw himself about, and to shout
aloud in different pitches or intonations of the voice, as shamans
are accustomed to do. When this was over, the boy's face looked
worn and tired, like that of an old man. He said afterwards that,
during the sleep which bad preceded his outbreak, two Icckhns had
appeared to him. He knew them for his father's lieMns ; and they
said to him : * We used to play with your father — let us play with
you also.'^
II. Neo-Siberians.
Passing from the Pnlaeo- to tbe Neo-Siberians, we notice that
the shaman's protectors among the latter are highly developed
beings.
Three kinds of ' spirits ' are associated with a Yakut shaman,
namely, cimag/jat, yeh/ua, and halianij (Sieroszewski). Amtigyat is
the indispensable attribute of every shaman.
But iimagt/at is also the name of the iron breast-circle, the sign
of the shaman's dignity.
Even the weakest shamans possess amiigyat - and yckyua — the
latter is 'sent from above, animal picture, bewitching spirit,
devilish devourer ' [YcJcyita ohm ahassyuaJi, sinuih ahassyuah, iissiif-
tan ongorudh).
The yehjiia is carefully bidden from the people. *My yckyua
will not be found by any one ; it lies hidden far away, there, in
the rocky mountains of Edjigan.'-^
Once a year, when the snow melts and the earth is black, the
yckyua arise from their hiding-places and begin to wander. They
hold orgies of fights and noises, and the shamans with whom
they are associated feel very ill. Especially harmful are the
yckyua of female shamans.
^ Op. cit., pp. 73-4.
* Sieroszewski, in speaking about the division of the shamans into
three kinds, says that the last or third kind are not real shamans, as
they have not (iniagi/ot, but are sorcerers and other people in some way
peculiar (12 Lat ic Kraju Yakiifoir, p. 628).
^ Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 626.
The weakest and most cowardly are tlie nelcijua of dogs ; the
most powerful are those of enormous bulls, stallions, elks, and
black bears. ' Those shamans who have as their animal incarna-
tion a wolf, bear, or dog, are the most unfortunate ; these animals
are insatiable ; they are never satisfied, however much the shaman
may provide for them." The dog especially gives no peace to his
two-footed ft How ; he ' gnaws with his teeth the shaman's heart,
tears into pieces his body '. ^ Then the shaman feels sick and
suffers pain. The crow is also a bad f/eb/ua ; the eagle and hairy
bull are called 'devilish fighters and warriors' [ahassy keiktah).
This title is the most flattering one for a shaman.- When a new
shaman appears, the other shamans recognize him at once by the
presence of a new yekyua, whom they have not seen before.
Only wizards can see i/cki/ua ; to ordinary people they are invisible.
Troshchanski ' says of the //eki/ua : * Among the protectors of
the shaman, the most important role is played by the yekymi
(literally, " mother-animal "). It is said that the shamans incar-
nate their kut ^ in certain animals, e. g. in stallions, wolves, dogs,
and that these animals are thus the yekijiia of shamans.
' If one of these animals kills another of its species, then the
corresponding shaman will die.' Troshchanski thinks that the
shaman incarnates his kut only during the time that he is actually
shamanizing.
Whereas this • black ' animal-protector seems to be of a totemic
and personal nature, to a certain extent ' of one blood and flesh '
with his protege, on the other hand Cimayyat strikes us as being
a more impersonal power.
Sieroszewski '' explains that it is in most cases ' the spirit of
a deceased shaman ', or, in some rare cases, one of the secondary
heavenly beings. But it seems that the term ' spirit ' is used here
quite vaguely; e.g., we read further on: 'The human body
cannot contain the power of great gods, and so the spirit-protector
remains always near the beloved man (outside of him) and
willingly comes at his call ; in difficult moments it helps him,
defends him, and gives him advice.' *^ ' The shaman sees and
heai-s only through his cimayyat ', says the shaman Tiuspiut.
Amiiyyat comes to a shaman through an accident, or as a
' Ibid. = Ibid.
^ Troshchanski, The Evolution of the Black Faith, p. 138.
* The part of the soul which, according to the Yakut, is common to
animals and men.
^ Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 626. ^ Ibid.
heavenly destiny. 'When I was travelling in the north,' says
Tius2)iut, ' I came upon a heap of wood {m'iba) in the mountains,
and as I just wanted to cook some dinner, I set this on fire. Now
under this heap was buried a well-known Tungus shaman (Tius-
piut was a Yakut), and so his iimagijat leapt into me.'^ If the
great shamans at death take their umCujiiat to heaven, they are
transformed into heavenly beings ; but if the amugijat is not
removed to heaven, then it will appear on the earth sooner or
later. -
Besides the two so-called spirits mentioned above, there comes
to the Yakut shaman, during shamanistic performances, still
another kind of spirit, a rather mischievous one, which forces
the shaman to talk and to imitate various, often indecent,
gestures. These spirits are called Jialkiny, and their representa-
tives may be a Kussian devil, a devil's daughter with a devilish
groom, who, being blind, is in the habit of groping about in the
dark, &c.
Thus Sieroszewski, on the mental training of the novice.
Further light is thrown on the question by Troshchanski.^
Following out his main idea of treating black and white sliamans
separately, he says: 'Not every one can become a shaman, either
white or black ; only a person whose silr has obtained a suitable
education.
' The silr of a white shaman is educated under the care of one of
the a'ty, and the siir of a black shaman studies with an ahassi/.
How the Stir of a white shaman is educated among the Yakut is
not known to us. The silr of a black shaman lives with his tutor
on the ninth floor (underground — in their ideal division of the
universe). If the silr is educated on the ninth floor, then a most
powerful shaman will arise from it ; if on the eighth floor, then
the shaman will be of medium power ; if on the third floor, then
the shaman will be only a sorcerer.'
The education consists in the silr's learning ' the habits,
character, and behaviour of ahassijlar and shamans.'
As to the education of a shaman himself, and his initiation, the
Yakut shaman is taught by an older shaman, who consecrates
him by ' placing on him the iimiigijid '."* This sign is taken away
by the shaman from a person who does not wish to be a shaman
any longer. There is in the Yakut language a word nsiii, which
^ Op. cit.. J). 627. - ibid. ^ Troshchauski, op. cit., p. 146.
* Trosbchaiiski, op, cit., p. 147.
means to teacli the art of shamaniziiig and to consecrate a
shaman.
Pripuzoff^ describes the consecration of a shaman among the
Yakut as follows : ' The old shaman leads his pupil up a high
mountain or into a clearing in the forest. Here he dresses him
in a sliaman's garment, gives him a rattle, and places on one side
of him nine chaste youths, and on the other nine chaste maidens.
Then the shaman puts on his own garment, and directs the youth
to repeat after him certain words.' He demands of the novice
that he shall give up all that is most dear to him in the world,
and consecrate his life to the service of the spirits who shall come
at his call. He tells his pupil where certain ' black ' spirits dwell,
what diseases they cause, and how they may be propitiated.
Finally the young shaman must kill a sacrificial animal, and
sprinkle himself with its blood. The flesh is eaten by those who
have been present at the ceremony.
A child chosen to be a shaman is recognized among the Buryat
by the following signs - : ' He is often absorbed in meditation,
likes to be alone, has mysterious dreams, and sometimes has fits
during which he is unconscious.' According to the Buryat beliefs,
the soul of a child is then in process of being trained, among the
' West Tengeris ' if he is to be a ' white ' shaman, among the ' East
Tengeris ' if he is to become a ' black ' one. Living in the dwelling
of the gods, his soul, under the tutelage of deceased shamans,
learns the various secrets of the shaman's vocation ; the soul must
remember the names of the gods, the places where they live, the
means by which they may be propitiated, and the names of the
spirits which are subordinate to the high gods. After a period of
trial the soul of the child returns to the body, which for a time
resumes its normal life. But on his reaching adolescence,
peculiar symptoms show themselves in the person who has under-
gone these experiences. He becomes moody, is easily excited into
a state of ecstasy, leads an irregular life, wandering from ulus to
nlos to watch the shamanistic ceremonies. He gives himself up
with great earnestness to exercises in the shamanistic arts, for
which purpose he segregates himself, going to some high mountain
or into the forest, where, before a great fire, he calls on the spirits,
' Pripuzoff, Materials for the Study of Shamanism amotuj the Yakut,
pp. 64-5.
* Agapitoff and Khangaloff, Materials for the Study of Shamanism in
Siberia, pp. 42-53.
18G RELIGION
and afterwards falls into a swoon. In the meanwhile, to prevent
him from doing himself an injury, his friends keej^ watch over
him unobtrusively.
While the novice is preparing himself for his new life, his
relations call in a good shaman, who makes a sacrifice to propitiate
the spirits and induce them to help the young shaman-to-be. If
the future shaman belongs to a poor family, the whole community
helps to procure the sacrificial animals and other things which
are indispensaljle for the ceremonies.
The preparatory period lasts for several years, its length
depending largely on the capacity of the young man. He cannot,
however, become a shaman until he reaches the age of twenty.
Finally he undergoes a purification ceremony. One such ceremony
does not confer all the rights and powers of a shaman ; there are,
in fact, nine. But very few shamans go through all these purifi-
cations ; most only undergo two or three ; some, none at all. for
they dread the responsibilities which devolve upon consecrated
shamans. To a fully consecrated shaman the gods are very
severe, and punish his faults or mistakes with death.
The first consecration ceremony is preceded by a purification of
water. For this an experienced old shaman, called the • father-
shaman ', is chosen, together with nine young men to be his
assistants. These are spoken of as his ' sons '. The water for the
ablution must be drawn from a spring — sometimes from three
springs. They go in the morning of the day of consecration to
fetch the water, taking with them turasun ^, with which they
make a libation to the master- and mistress-spirits of the spring.
As tliey return, they pluck up from the earth birch-seedlings, of
which they make a broom, and take it to the house of the novice.
Next the water is heated over a fire, and into it are thrown certain
herbs and pieces of bark. Then from the ears of a he-goat pre-
pared beforehand they cut pieces of hair, and some shavings from
its horns and hoofs, and throw these also into the pot. The he-goat
is then killed in such a manner that its blood drips into the pot.
Then only is the water ready for the consecration ceremony.
The flesh of the goat is given to the women present, who cook
and eat it.
Now tlie father-shaman foretells the future from a sheep's
shoulder-blade. He summons the shamanist ancestors of the
^ A native Buryat drink, coiuposed of milk and wine, called also 'wine
of milk'.
novice, and oft'ers libations of wine and tarasmi. Then he dips
the birch-broom into the water and beats the candidate on the
naked back, as do also the nine ' sons " of the ' fathor-shaman ',
saying at the same time : ' When tlioii art called to a poor man,
ask little in return for your trouble, and take what is given.
Take care of the poor always, help them, and pray to the gods to
defend them against the power of evil spirits. If thou art called
by a rich man. go to him riding on a l)ullock, and do not ask
much for your trouble. If thou art called at the same time by
a poor and by a rich man, go first to the poor.' The candidate
repeats these precepts after the shaman, and promises to observe
them.
Then follows a libation of farasun to the guardian spirits ; this
closes the ceremony.
The purification of a shaman by water is performed at least
once a year, but sometimes once a month, at the new moon ; or
else at any other time when he considers himself to have been
defiled, e. g. by touching some unclean object. If the defilement
is especially gross, then purification is performed with blood.
The shaman also purifies himself after a death has occurred in the
This ceremony is followed after some time by the first consecra-
tion, called Jcherege-kkulkhe, the expenses of which are shared by
the community. Again a ' father-shaman ' and nine ' sons ' are
chosen, and they, accompanied by the novice, ride on horseback
from yurta to yurta, collecting offerings. Before each yarta they
stop and announce their coming with a shout. They are
hospitably entertained, and offerings of different kinds — votive
handkerchiefs, Avhich are tied to a birch staff carried by the novice,
and sometimes money — are brought to them. They buy wooden
cups, little bells tied to horse-staves, wine, &c. The day before
the ceremony a certain number of stout birches are cut from the
groves by the ' sons ' under the direction of the ' father-shaman ' ;
from the straightest of these they make horse-staves. The grove
from which these are taken is one in which the dead of the hIus
are buried, and for the propitiation of the spirits there they make
offerings of mutton and tarasun. At the same time they prepare
the shaman's accessories, and meanwhile other shamans of similar
standing with the ' father-shaman ' summon the spirits.
1 Ibid.
In tlie morning of the day of the consecration the birch-trees
cut the day before are planted. The stoutest birch, which has
its roots still attached to it, they plant in the south-west corner
of the yurta, where the ground is left bare for the fire ; the top
of the tree projects through the smoke-hole above. This birch
represents symbolically the porter-god who allows the shaman
ingress into heaven. It points the way by which the shaman
can reach the sky, and remains permanently in the yurta as a sign
that the dwelling is that of a shaman. The other birches are
planted in front of the yurta in the place where sacrifices are
usually oifered, in the following order, from west to east :
(i) A birch under which, on a carpet of felt, is placed some
tarasun. To the branches of this ribbons of black and yellow are
tied if the shaman is to be ' black ', of white and blue if he is to
be a ' white ' shaman, and of all four colours if he is to serve
both kinds of spirits.
(ii) A birch to which are tied a big bell and the sacrificial
horse.
(iii) A fairly stout birch which the novice has to climb. — These
three trees are planted with their roots, and are called serge (posts).
(iv) Nine saplings, in groups of three, the saplings in each
group being bound together with a rope made of white horsehair.
To these are tied ribbons of different colours in the following
order — white, blue, red, yellow, and so on again. On the saplings
are hung skins of animals.
(v) Nine posts to which sacrificial animals are tied.
(vi) Some stout birches to which the bones of the sacrificial
animals are tied after being bound up in straw. These birches
form a row.
From the principal birch in the yurta to all those which stand
outside are led two ribbons, red and blue. This is a symbolical
representation of the path of the shaman to the spirit-world. To
the north of the row of birches are placed nine pots for cooking
the sacrificial meat.
When evei-ything is ready, the novice and the others who take
part in the ceremony don their ceremonial dress. Then the
shaman's accessories are blessed, after which the horse-staves are
said to turn into real horses. All the morning the assembled
shamans have been summoning the spirits and sprinkling tarasun.
The ' father-shaman ' now calls upon the guardian gods, and the
novice repeats after him the words of his invocation. The candi-
date climbs the birch inside the ifurta, gets on to the roof, and
from there summons the spirits in a loud voice. When the
moment comes for leaving the >/urfa. four shamans take hold
of a certain felt carpet, each by a corner.' Just outside the
entrance to the >)Uffa a fire is made, and various herbs are thrown
into it : everybody and everything which passes over the fire is
purified by it.
The people leave the ifuria in the following order: first the
'father-shaman', then the candidate, then the nine 'sons', and
finally the relatives and guests.
The ceremony ends with feasts and sacrifices.^
Among the Samot/ed and Ostyah of the Turukhan country the
future shaman spends his youth in exercises which stimulate his
nerves and excite his imagination. ^ At the consecration of a
novice, according to Tretyakoff,^ he must stand with his face
towards the west, while the officiating shaman asks the Dark
Spirit to help the candidate and to give him a spirit to serve him.
At the end of the ceremony the shaman sings a hymn in praise of
the Dark Spirit, and the novice repeats it after him. The
beginner is tested by the spirits, who recj[uire of him certain
sacrifices, as of his wife or son, and he has to promise them
various other sacrifices.
Both Castren ' and Islavin ^' speak of the special training of the
novice by an old shaman. One of the Samoyed shamans told
Castren of how he was entrusted to the care of an old shaman for
training, when he was fifteen, as he (the candidate) came of an
^ According to Potanin, the felt carpet alluded to by Agapitoff and
Khangaloff provides the means of performing what is considered the
most essential part of the ceremony. The novice is can-ied on it, by the
four shamans mentioned, out of the yu)-ta to the row of nine birches.
Of the moment of his elevation on the carpet, they say ho heyde, ' the
shaman ascends'. On reaching the birches, the shaman must leap from
the carpet on to one of them, which he climbs. From the top of this
birch he must jump to that of the one next to it, and so on to the end of
the row, whence he must return in the same manner to his starting-
point, and is then again placed on the carpet. After this ceremony the
new shaman begins to shamanize, to foretell the future, and to heal the
sick — but all this without the use of the drum. This accessory he is not
permitted to acquire until after the third year from his consecration.
(Potanin, Sketches of Notih-Western Monrjolia, vol. iv, pp. 58-9.) According
to Agapitoff and Khangaloff (op. cit,, p. 141), the custom thus described
by Potanin is peculiar to the Buryat of Balagansk.
^ Ibid. ^ Bielayewski, op. cit., p. 113.
* Tretyakoff, The Countnj of Tnrukhansk, pp. 210-12.
* Castren, Xordische Reisen and Forschuvgen, p. 191.
* Islavin, The Samoyed, their Home and Social Life, p. 109.
old shamanist family. The means of education was as follows :
Two fadibei/ (shamans) blindfolded him with a handkerchief, and
then beat him, one on the back of the head and the other on the
shoulders, till his eyes were dazzled as with too much light, and
he saw demons dancing on his arms and feet. It must bo remem-
bered, of course, that he had been taught beforehand about the
Samoyed world of spirits.^ In former times Lapland was a school
of shamanism, and all neighbouring tribes sent youths thither to
be trained as shamans.^ At present only among Kussian Lapps
are noijda (shamans) to be found, and they are but degenerate
copies of their predecessors.
' Castren, op. cit., p. 191.
2 Scheft'erus, Lapjionia, p. 120. N. Kh;inizin, Tlie XoijiU among the
Ancient and the Modern Lapps.
Chapter IX
TYPES OF SHAMANS
Palaeo-Siberians
In* this chapter, which deals ^Yith the different tj-pes of
shamans, the duties of a shaman will be enumerated. In nearly-
all the more advanced tril)es we shall see that certain shamans
specialize in one sort of duty or another, while among the more
primitive peoples each performs many different kinds of duties —
a state of things made possible by the less complex nature of those
duties. The high conception of a shaman's duties among certain
tribes may be seen from Banzaroifs ideal picture of a Buryat
shaman. He is (a) priest, {h) medicine-man, and (c) prophet.
(a) ' As a priest, he knows the will of the gods, and so declares
to man what sacrifices and ceremonies shall be held ; he is an
expert in ceremonials and prayers. Besides the communal cere-
monies at which he officiates, he conducts also various private
ceremonials."^
[h] As medicine-man, the shaman jierforms certain ceremonies
to expel the evil spirit from the patient,
(c) As a prophet, he foretells the future either by means of the
shoulder-l>lade of a sheep or by the flight of arrows.
This ideal type of shaman was probably rare even in Banzaroff's
time, for he himself says that the shaman was not present at all
communal sacrifices.'- It is the same with some family sacrifices :
the onyons are fed by the master of the house ; and certain other
sacrifices, as, for instance, those offered at child-birth, are made
without the assistance of the shaman.^'
The fact that a communal or family ceremony is sometimes
presided over by the head of the commune or family, or that
a private individual occasionally performs divination, does not
alter the fact that the original type of Buryat shaman had the
performance of all these rites in his hands.* They had among the
' Banzaroff, Black Faith, 1893, pp. 107-15.
= Ibid.
' Klementz, E.R.E., 'The Buriats', p. 13.
' Ibid.
Mongols in the time of Djingis Khan, when the shamans were at
the heiglit of their power.^ We cannot therefore agree with
Mr. Mikhailowski, wlio says, ' Of all the actions of the shaman,
the most characteristic of his calling is what is known as Jcamlanie,'
i. e. invocations of spirits.- Although it may be that in the
decadence of his office a shaman is sometimes nowadays no more
than a medicine-man, even now in certain places shamans are
present, not only at communal, hut also at family rites, and even
when not so present we find in the rites traces of their original
participation.
The Konjalc. Among the Koryak, as among the Palaeo-Siberians
and most Neo-Siberian tribes, we may distinguish •' (1) family
shamans, and (2) professional shamans.
Family shamanism is connected with the domestic hearth,
Avhose w^elfare is under its care. The family shaman has charge
of the celebration of family festivals, rites, and sacrificial cere-
monies, and also of the use of the family charms and amulets, and
of their incantations.
Professional shamans are those who are not definitely attached
to a certain group of people. The more powerful they are, the
wider is the circle in which they can practise their art.
' There is no doubt that professional shamanism has developed
from the ceremonials of family shamanism', says Jochelson.'* It
seems, however, necessary to add another category of (3) com-
munal shamans, forming a transitional class between family and
professional shamans. These shamans have to deal with a group
of families taking part in important ceremonials. The admission
of this third category must not be taken to mean that we agree
unconditionally with the idea that the professional shaman is
a development from the family, or the communal, shaman,
though many practices, and the opinions of such serious investi-
gators as Jochelson and Bogoras, lend some weight to this notion.
It was among the Koryak that professional shamans were first
affected by Christianity.
The Chulchce. — Among the Chukchee, the above division into
family and professional shamans needs to be supplemented, since
we find '' that there exist three categories of professional shamans :
^ Mikhailowski, Sha»ia)iis>», p. 5<S. - Op. cit., p. 55.
^ Jochelson, The Kon/ok, p. 47. ■• Ibid.
^ Bogoras, The Chukchee, pp. 430-1.
(A) Ecstatic shamans, (B) Shaman-prophets, (C) Incantation
shamans.
Of course, the duties of the shamans of all these categories
merge into each other ; still, a certain specialization is to be
observed.
A. The ecstatic shaman communicates with 'spirits' and is
called Jcalatkourgin.
'This includes all kinds of intercourse with "spirits" which
become apparent to the listeners ; that is, the voices of "spirits"
talking through the medium of the shaman, ventriloquistic per-
formances, and other tricks — generally speaking, the whole spec-
tacular part of shamanism, which forms the main content of the
shamanistic seances.* As observed aliove, 'all this is often con-
sidered merely as a kind of jugglery. For performances of this
sort, young people are said to be better adapted than older ones.
With increasing years some of the shamans discontinue most of
these tricks.'^
B. The shaman-prophet, i.e. one who is 'looking into', hefola-
tirr/in.
'This branch of Chukchee shamanism is held in the highest
veneration, l)ecause the shaman possessing it has the faculty of
seeing the danger lying in wait for the people, or the good in
store for them, and accordingly he is able to advise them how to
avoid the first and to secure the second. Most of the instructions
given are of a ritualistic kind, and refer to certain details of such
and such a ceremonial, which must be arranged after a certain
manner in order to secure the desired result.' -
There are shamans who, though they have Idef at their disposal,
cannot give any advice ; while others, on the other hand, cannot
communicate with ' spirits ', but ' give magical advice as a kind of
internal subjective inspiration, after self-communion for a few
moments. These, notwithstanding the simplicity of their pro-
ceedings, usually enjoy the highest consideration of their neigh-
bours.'^
For instance, the shaman Galmuurgin was said by the Chukchee
to be ' (with) only his (own) body ' {em-iviMl'm), because no other
}>eings helped him with their inspiration.
'When giving a seance, he began l)y beating a drum and
singing, but in a few minutes he would leave off the exercise,
' Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 430. - Op. cit., p. 431. ^ Ibid.
1679 O
and drawing a few long, almost hysterical breaths, would imme-
diately proceed to foretell the future. He talked to many people
present, one by one. When he was through with one case, he
would stop for a while, as if recollecting himself, and then, after
several deep-drawn sighs, would pass on to the next applicant.' ^
C. Incantation shamans [ewganva-t'irgin, ' producing of incan-
tations '), who carry on the more complicated practices of sha-
manism.
Incantations, together with spells, form the greater part of
Chukchee magic. The incantations may be of a benevolent or
malevolent character. Hence there are two types of shamans in
this class :
1. 'Well-minded' {ten-cimnulln), who \Ay tlieir art in order to
help sufferers.
2. 'Mischievous' {l;urg-cncnUit, or Icunich-enenilit, literally 'mock-
ing shamans '), who are bent on doing harm to people.
Good shamans have a red shamanistic coat and bad shamans
a black one. The same colours are used by the Yukaghir shamans.
The majority of shamans, however, coml)ine in themselves the
gifts of all these categories and in the name of 'spirits' perform
various tricks, foretell the futui'e, and pronounce incantations.
The Neo-Siberians.
TJte YaJcut. Troshchanski - suggests that the division of
shamans into black and white is the most essential division
among all Sil)erian tribes, though many travellers speak of
shamans in a general way as if there were only one kind. It
would seem, however, that Troshchanski overlooks the distinction
between the religious conceptions of the Palaeo-Siberians and
those of the Neo-Siberians. They live under different environ-
mental conditions ; and, besides, the Neo-Siberians have un-
doubtedly been to i-ome extent influenced by contact with the
higher Asiatic religions.
It is among the Neo-Siberians that magico-religious dualism
appears more distinctl)'. Again, within the class of Neo Siberians
themselves differences are found. Among the Yakut "' the black
shamans predominate, the Avliite hardly existing ; while among
' Op. cit., p. 431.
- Troshchanski, The Evolution of the Black Faith, 1902, p. iii.
=* Op. cit., p. 110.
the Voty.ik tlio white are ahuost the only shaiiKins now to be
foinul, as the cult of the bright god has almost entirely displaced
that of the black.
The Yakut white shamans are called a'iif-ohOHi. They take part
in the spring festivals, marriage ceremonies, fertilization rites, and
the curing of diseases, in cases where li(t has not yet been taken
away from the patient.^
We read in a certain tale that at one wedding there were
piesent nine aiij-oitina (white men-shamans) and eight aqi-udagana
(white women-shamans).^ White shamans also ask, in cases of
the sterility of women, the maghan sylgiilalcli to descend to earth
and make the woman fertile. At the autumn fishing, in former
times, they lighted torches made of wood cut from a tree struck
by lightning, purged the waters of all uncleanness, and asked the
ichchi (spirit-owner) of the lake for a benefit. This, he considers,
was certainly done by white shamans, if only for the reason that
the ceremony was held in the daytime.^ But, on page 105 of the
same work, Troshchanski writes : ' Only the spring festivals were
called liiii-iisiialh ; the autumn festivals were known as ahassij-
i/si/alh.' Hence the ceremony of fertilization of the lake must have
l>een performed l)y black shamans, ahas>:i/-oiuna, in spite of the
fact that this ceremony was held in the daytime.
As to the characters of the two kinds of shamans, Gorokhoff
says that he knew personally several ai/j-ohiua, who were very
good people indeed, quiet, delicate, and really honest, while the
abassy-oiiina were good for nothing.^ But Troshchanski says that
the ' black shaman ' among the Y^'akut is only professionally
* black ', that his attitude has no specially evil character, and that
he helps men no less than the white shaman does. He is not
necessarily bad, though he deals with evil powers, and he occupies
among the Yakut a higher position than among other Neo-
Siberians.
Black shamans offer sacrifices to ahass/jlar and shamanize to
maintain their prestige. They foretell the future, call up spirits,
wander into spirit-land, and give accounts of their journeys
thither. '5
At the present day there are among the Yakut special story-
tellers and also special sorcerers {apfah-kisi).
> Op. cit., p. 149.
* Kbudiakoft", Verkhoyansk Antholofjy, p. 88. ' Troshchanski, ibid.
* Gorokhoft; YuvungUolan, E. S. S. 1. R. G. S., 1887, p. 56.
* Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 152.
o 2
11»G RELIGION
According to the degree of esteem in which they are held by
the people, Sieroszowski ' classifies Yakut shamans as follows :
(1) The Great Shaman — nlahan-oiitn.
(2) The Middling Shaman — orto-o'lun.
(8) The Little Shaman — Iccnniki-o'iun.
A ' great shaman ' has the amCuijiat from Tlu-To'icn himself.
A shaman of middling power also possesses (imari>/af, but not of
so high a quality or to so great an extent as the former.
A ' little shaman ' does not possess amiigi/af. He is not, in fact,
really a shaman, but a person in some way abnormal, neurotic, or
original, who can cure trifling illnesses, interpret dreams, and
frighten away small devils only.
With regard to the classification of shamans into ' white ' and
' black ', Troshchanski puts forward the hypothesis that these two
classes of shamans originated and developed independently :
' One might imagine that the class of white shamans came into
existence first, and that it derived from the class of heads of
families and clans. The custom of the choice of one leader
(shaman) for common ceremonies or sacrifices may have helped in
this evolution of the white shaman from the heads of families.
The wisest and most respected member of the community would
probably have the best chance of being chosen, as he could please
not only the people but also the spirits.'^
The same persons might then have been chosen repeatedly, and
presently a class of white shamans might arise for the communal
cults and sacrifices. In the meantime the head of the family
could still keep his priestly power in his own home, until the
professional shaman took his place, as we see at the present day
among certain tri])es, e.g. the Yakut.-'
Why should we regard the head of the family as the prototype
of the white shaman ? We shall find in Troshchanski's book no
more satisfactory reply to this question than is contained in the
following short passage :
' I think we are right in saying that the heads of the familj',
or the chosen priests, in their practice and i)rayers do not address
themselves to the evil spirits, which in Yakut are called abassylar;
hence it is here that we find the origin of white shamans.*^
If we follow Troshchanski, we must draw the conclusion that
' Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 628. - Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 120.
3 Op. cit., p. 124. " Op. cit., p. 113.
among the Neo-Siberians. e.g. the Buryat and the Yakut, the
white shamans form a quite distinct chiss, although we see that
on certain occasions the head of the family may take the place of
the white shaman :
^Taihjan is a communal sacrifice in which the whole family or
clan takes part. This ceremony is designed to show humilitj- :
the BurN'at call it the ''asking ceremony". The performer of
taihjan may be the shaman, or the whole group of family heads
without the assistance of a shaman.'^
Among the Palaeo-Siberians there is no class of white shamans,
and the family cult is in the hands of the father, assisted by the
mother, the participation of professional shamans being often
prohibited. Among the Gilyak the assistance of shamans at
sacrificial feasts, e.g. the bear-ceremonial, is even forbidden. Is
this because there is no white shaman among these people ? Or
is it an indication that, after all, family and professional
shamanism have developed separately?
Among the Yakut, from the observation of whom Troshchanski
formed his hypothesis, the white shaman may be a woman, in
cases where the woman stands as family head.-
Now as to the black shamans, they were originally women,
says Troshchanski, and he draws attention to the following
linguistic and sociological jiarticulars wliich are made to act as
evidence in support of his hypothesis.
What is the essential meaning of the word shaman? In
Sanskrit ^ram to be tired, to become weary; ha))iana work,
religious mendicant. In the Pali language the word samana has
the same meaning. These two latter words have been adopted by
the Buddhists as names for their priests."' But, according to
Banzaroff, the word sltanian originated in northern Asia : sainan
is, a Manchu word, meaning ' one who is excited, moved, raised ' ;
mmmun (pronounced shaman) and hamman in Tungus have the
^ Agai^itoff and KhangalofF, Materials for the Study of Shamanism in
Siberia, E. S. S. I. R. G. S., p. 36.
* How this may occur, in the patriarchal Yakut family, Troshchanski
explains as follows : ' Each wife of a polygynous Yakut lived separately
with her children and relations and cattle ; during the frequent absences
of her husband she was actually the head of the family, and performed
family ceremonials. Several such ye-usa (matriarchal famiUes) formed
one aga-usa (imtriarchal family) ' (p. 116).
^ I am indebted for this information to Mr. M. de Z. Wickremasinghe,
Lecturer in Tamil and Telugu in the University of Oxford.
same ineaiiing. Sdnidamhi is Manchu : 'I shamanize ', i.e. *I call
the spirits tlaiK-iny before the charm.' ^
From the above we see that the essential characteristic of
a shaman is a liability to nervous ecstasy and trances. Women
are more prone to emotional excitement than men: among the
Yakut most of the women suffer from mcncriJc (a nervous disease,
one type of the so-called 'Arctic hysteria ').'-
Thus Troshchanski. But the only conclusion — if any — that he
could draw from this would be tliat women are ]>y nature more
disposed to shamanizing than men. And why should this make
her the original llacJc shaman ? Only one piece of evidence is
adduced to connect women with ' black ' shamanizing, and that is
taken from Kamchadal life, not from that of the Yakut, upon
which chiefly he grounds his hypothesis. Among the most
primitive Kamchadal, Avhere there were only women (or loel-
clmeh) shamans, these practised only black shamanism, sum-
moning evil spirits.^
As to the linguistic evidence :
Among the Mongols, Buryat, Yakut, Altaians, Torgout, Kidan,
Kirgis, there is one general term for a woman-shaman, which has
a slightly different form in each tribe : utugun, udagan, udayhan,
nhalchan, iitygan, vtiugioi, idiian (duana) ; whereas the word for
man-shaman is different in each of these tribes.
In Yakut he is called ohm ; in Mongol, huge ; Buryat, huge and
ho ; Tungus, samman and hamman ; Tartar, Jcam ; Altaian, Imn and
gam ; Kirgis, halsa {hasl'g) ; Samoyed, tadihcij.
From the above Troshchanski concludes that during the migra-
tion of the Neo-Siberians they had only women-shamans, called
by a similar general name ; and that the men-shamans appeared
later, when these people scattered, settling in lands distant from
one another, so that the term for man-shaman originated in-
dependently in each tribe."^
Of course this linguistic evidence concerns only the Xeo- and
not the Palaeo-Siberians.
Troshchanski gives us further the following religio-social evi-
dence, drawn exclusively from the Yakut, in support of his
^ Zakliaroff, CoDrplctc Mcnichii-Iiui^siaii Didioiuoy, 1875, p. 568.
^ Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 119.
^ Krasheniiiuikoft', Description of the Country of Kanichatlrt, pp.
81-2.
■* Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 118.
hypothesis of the evolution of the 'black* man-shainan from the
* black ' woman-shaman :
(a) On the Yakut shaman's apron there are sewn two iron
circles, representing breasts.^
{h) The manshaman dresses his hair like a woman, on the two
sides of the head, and braids it ; during a performance he lets the
hair fall down.-
((•) Both women and shamans are forbidden to lie on the right
side of a horse-skin in the ifioia.'''
{d) The man-shaman wears the shaman's costume only on very
important occasions ; in ordinal y circumstances he wears a girl's
dress made of the skin of a foal.^
(e) During the first three days after a confinement, when Ayisit,
the deity of fecundity, is supposed to be near the M-oman who is
lying-in, access to the house where she is confined is forbidden to
men, but not to shamans.''
How the female black shaman was displaced by the male black
shaman Troshchanski explains as follows, again using exclusively
Y'akut evidence :
The smith who made the ornaments for the female shaman's
garment acquired some sliamanistic power. He was in contact
with iron, which was of magical importance, and power came to
him througli this contact. (The smiths were, like the shamans,
' black ' and ' white ', but among the Y^'akut one hears more of
'black' smiths than of 'white'.) Thus the similarity between
the vocation of a shaman and that of a smith becomes close,
especially when the calling of smith descends through many
generations in the same family. Smiths come to be considered as
the elder brothers of shamans, and then the differences between
them finally disappear, the smith becoming a shaman.
The v.'oman, then, since she could not be a smith, had even-
tually to give up her place to the man.
In modern times, as there are no longer any ' magical smiths ',
new shamanistic garments cannot be made.''
' Krasheninnikoft', op. cit., pp. 81-2. ^ Ibid.
^ Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 123. * Ibid. ^ Ibid.
" Troshchanski. op. cit.. p. 125. It will be interesting to quote here
what Sieroszewski says about the vocation of the smith: 'Those who
approach most nearly to the shamans in their office, and are partially
related to them, are the smiths. "The smith and the shaman are of one
nest", says a proverb of the Kolyma district. The smiths also can cure,
advise, and foretell the future, but their knowledge does not possess
This hypothesis of women being the first Ijlack shamans is,
however, not borne out by the evidence. Even if we allow that
the above quotations, especially that containing the linguistic
evidence, tend to show that women were shamans before men. it
does not follow that they were the first hkicJc shamans. There is
not enough evidence in Troshchanski's book to support his
hypothesis of two separate origins and developments for black
and white shamans.
On the other hand, the evolution which Troshchanski ascribes
to black shamans might be ascriljed to professional shamanism, if
we reject Jochelson's and Bogoras's view that professional de-
veloped out of family shamanism.
The Altaians. Wierbicki ^ says that among the Altaians, besides
the shaman, called lam, there are also (i) rijnchi, ' who, during
attacks accompanied by pain, can foretell the future ' ; (ii) telgochi,
or 'guessers'; (iii) yarinchl, or those who can divine by means of
the blade-bone ; (iv) Jcoll-lcurcchi, who divine from the hand ; (v)
yadachi, who control the weather by means of a stone, yada-tash,
which is found in narrow mountain defiles, where winds )dow
continually. To obtain these stones a yadachi must swear away
all his possessions. Hence he is poor, lonely, and usually a
widower.
Tlie Buryat. Among the Buryat, according to Shashkoff,-
shamans are divided into {«) hereditary shamans and {b) shamans
of the first generation. Another division is into («) real, (fc) false
a magical character ; they arc simply clever people, who know much,
and who i^ossess " peculiar fingers ". The profession of smith is gene-
rally hei-editary, •especially in the north. It is in the ninth generation
that a [hereditary] smith first acquires certain supernatural qualities,
and the more ancient his ancestry, the more marked are these qualities.
The spirits are generally afraid of iron hoops and of the noise made by
the blowing of the smith's bellows. In the Kolyma district the shaman
would not shamanize until I [Sieroszewski] removed my case of instru-
ments ; and even then his bad luck in shamanizing was explained by
him as due to the fact that, as he said, " the spirits are afraid of smiths
[in this case Sieroszewski], and that is why they do not appear at my
call." Only a smith of the ninth generation can, without harm to him-
self, hammer out the iron embellishments of the shamanistic dress, the
iron for the drum, or make ihndgyat. If the smith who makes a shaman-
istic ornament has not a sufficient number of ancestors, if the noise of
hammering and the glare of the fire does not surround him on all sides,
then birds with crooked claws and beaks will tear his heart in pieces.
Respectable hereditary smiths have tools possessed of" spirits " [ichchilah)
which can give out sounds by themselves.' (Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 632.)
^ The yatired of the Altai, pp. 44-6.
2 Shashkoff, Shamanism iii Siberia, W. S. S. I. R. G. S., p. 82.
shamans. Again tliere are {a) white {sagan-ho) and {h) black
{Juirahi-hd).
The \Yhite and bhick shamans, the Buryat say, fight with each
other, hurling axes at one another from distances of hundreds of
miles. The white shaman serves the West tcngerl and West
Ihafs, and has charge of the ceremonies held at birth, marriage,
&c. He wears a white coat and rides a white horse. A famous
white shaman was Barlak of the Balagansk district, at whose
grave liis descendants still go to w'orship.
The black shaman serves the tengcri and lihats of the East.
These shamans are said to have power to bring illness and death
upon men. They are not liked, but much feared, by the people,
who sometimes kill black shamans, to such a point does this
dislike develop.^ The grave of a black shaman is usually shaded
)jy aspens, and the body is fastened to the earth by a stake taken
from this tree.
According to Agapitoff and Kangaloff, there are also a few
shamans who serve both good and bad spirits at the same time.
The Samoycd. Lepekhin - says that the Samoyed sliamans are
not divided into distinct classes, black and white, as among the
Buryat, but serve both for good and bad ends, as occasion arises.
The Lapps likewise make no strict distinction between good
shamans and bad. Some of the Lapp no//da (shamans) are known
as ' Big ', and others as ' Little ', noyda.
The VotyaJc. The whole Votyak hierarchy arose from the white
shamans. The chief of the shamans is the tuno. At the present
day the tuno^ is the chief upholder of the old religion.
As the soul of a tuno is ' educated ' by the Creator, he is
without doubt a white shaman. Besides the tnno, there are
priests, chosen either by himself or by the people under his
advice. ' In most cases the profession and knowledge of a tuno
descend from father to son, althougli any person who has the
opportunity of acquiring the knowledge necessary to a tuno can
become one.'^
Among the Votyak there is a classification of shamans into
(a) permanent and {b) temporary. The latter are chosen to
perform some particular sacrifice. Besides these there are
* Agapitoff and Khangaloff, op. cit., pp. 85-6.
^ Lepekhin, Diunj of a Journey, p. 262.
^ Bogayewski, A Sketch of (he Mode of Life of the Volijuh of Sniapul,
p. 123.
* Op. cit., p. 126.
secondary priests appointed by the iioio and called Uirc and
parch is.
In former times black shamans also were to be found among
the Votyak, but they have given way to the white, just as among
the Yakut the white shaman has been largely displaced by the
black.
The Votyak black shaman of former times has been converted
into an ordinary sorcerer. He is called pellaslds, and ' he can aid
the sick, and find lost cattle through his incantations ; but all this
without any connexion with the deities '.^ Another kind of
sorcerer is called vedin. He is feared and hated by all.'-
When the tuno has finished his education under Kijlclim-Inmar
(the Creator), the latter takes his pupil to a place where the
candidates for the position of sorcerer reside. He examines them,
and to those who answer satisfactorily he gives permission to
enchant and destroy men.
* Bogayewski, op. cit., p. 125. ^ Op. cit., p. 126.
Chapter X
THE ACCESSORIES OF THE SHAMAN
In everyday life the shaman is not distinguishable from other
people except by an occasionally haughty manner, but when he
is engaged in communicating with spirits he has to make use of
a special dress and special instruments. Of these the most
important and the one in most general use is the shaman's drum.
It may be said that all over Siberia, where there is a shaman
there is also a drum. The drum has the jjower of transporting
the shaman to the superworld and of evoking spirits by its
sounds.
Authors of the eighteenth century, like Pallas and Krasheninni-
koff, pay great attention to the shaman's accessories. Though
the}- have probably only been atti'acted by their picturesque side,
yet their descriptions are very valuable in view of the modern
attempt to reach the primitive mind through its symbolical forms
of expression.
Shashkoff ^ enumerates the following items as indispensable to
the shaman's dress all over Siberia — the coat, the mask, the cap,
and the copper or iron plate on the breast. The Samoyed tad'ihey
substitute for the mask a handkerchief tied over the eyes, so that
they can penetrate into the spirit-world by their inner sight.
This use of a handkerchief is also mentioned by Wierbicki, who
says that the shamans of northern Altai wear one round the fore-
head to keep the hair out of the eyes.
These four accessories — the coat, the mask, the cap, and the
iron plate— are used by the Neo-Si])erians only, since among
Palaeo-Siberians the dress is much less complicated.
Each tribe has, moreover, some particular object which plays
the chief part in the shamanistic ceremony.
Gmelin,'-^ describing the Tungus shaman's costume, says that
over the usual shamanistic garment an apron, adorned with iron,
is also worn ; his stockings, likewise remarkable, are made of skin
* Shamanism in Siberia, p. 8(5. ^ Reise diirch Sibinen, ii, 193.
ornamented with iron. Among the Gilyak and the Olchi it is the
shaman's girdle which is of the greatest significance ; ^ among the
Buryat,- the horse-staves, &c. Iron and copper objects seem
also to be especially associated with the Neo-Si)jerians.
The whole costume with its appurtenances used during sha-
manistic performances throughout Siberia has, according to
Mikhailowski,"' a threefold significance :
1. The shaman wishes to make a profound impression on the
eyes of the people by the eccentricity of his costume.
2. The ringing of the bells and the noise of the drum impress
their sense of hearing.
3. Finall)', a symbolic meaning is attached to these accessories
and adornments, a meaning known only to believers, especially to
the shamans, and closely connected with the religious conceptions
of shaman sim.
Thus Mikliailowski. But this interpretation does not bring out
the whole imi)ortance of the relation of these objects to the
spiritual world. They are of great importance, for the spirits will
not hear the voice of the shaman unless the right dress and im-
plements are used, and the drum beaten ; they are sacred because
of their contact with a supernatural and often dangerous power.
Being sacred, these accessories must not be used by any one but
a shaman, otherwise they are impotent to produce any result. It
is only a good shaman, a real one, who can possess the full
shaman's dress.
Among the Palaeo-Siberians it is usually the shaman himself
who makes all accessories, and that only when the spirits give
their permission. Among the natives of Altai it is not all
shamans wdio have the right to wear manyah (the coat) and the owl-
skin cap.*
Among the Yakut even the blacksmith, who undertakes the
oi-namentation of the costume, must have inherited the right.
' If the blacksmith who makes a shamanistic ornament has not a
sufficient number of ancestors, if ho is not surrounded on all sides
by the noise of hammering and the glow of fire, then birds with
crooked claws and beaks will tear his heart in pieces." ' For this
' Schrenck, The Natives of the Amur Country, iii, 124-6.
^ Agapitott" and Khangalotf, J/rt<(-r/rt/.s- /or the Study of Shamanism in
Siberia, p. 43.
^ Shatnanisin, p. 72.
* Potanin, Sketches of Xorth-Wesfern Monyolia, iv, 53.
^ Sieroszewski, The Yakut, p. 632.
reason the blacksmitlrs vocation comes next in importance to the
shaman's. In modern times it is practically impossible among the
Yakut for the shamans coat to be made, since there is now no
class of hereditary blacksmiths. In his description of the Tungus
shaman's garment. Gmelin relates how the shaman whom he saw
had no cap because the old one was burnt and the spirits would
not grant him a new one.^ Of the Buryat shamans he observes
that many of them do not possess drums, since the spirits with-
hold permission to make them, and two long sticks which are
stiaick crosswise against each other are therefore substituted at
the performance.'- Mikhailowski quotes the above statement in
explanation of the fact that Khangaloff had seen only one drum
among the Buryat shamans.
* With the degeneration of shamanism ', says Mikhailowski, ' the
number of people who know how to prepare the sacred instrument
with due regard to magical custom is decreasing.' ^ This, however,
is not the true explanation of the disappearance of the drum among
the Buryat, for the importance of the other chief Buryat accessory,
the horse-staves, which demand equal cai-e in the making, must
also be taken into account. Without them the shaman cannot
perform any of the principal rites. They are usually made of
birch-wood, no one but a shaman who has passed his fifth con-
secration being allowed to use iron horse-staves.'* The Lapps take
great care of their drum and keep it covered up with furs. No
woman may touch it.
A. Palaeo-Siberians.
The ChuTccJice. Among Palaeo-Siberians there are no strict regu-
lations as to the shape and quality of the shaman's dress. Origi-
nality of costume is what is most sought after, and Bogoras tells us
that the Chukchee shamans sometimes adopt some old coat brought
from the American shore. * The Chukchee have nothing similar
to the well-known type of coat covered with fringes and images,
which is in general use among the Yakut and Tungus, and which
probal)ly was borrowed from the latter by the Yukaghir and
perhaps also by the Kamchadal.'"'
The absence of a peculiar shaman's dress among the Chukchee V
' Op. cit., p. 193.
* These are probably what are called by later writers ' horse-staves '.
■■ Op. cit., p. 68. " Klementz, E. It. E., p. 16.
'' The Chukchee, pp. 457-8.
may ))e accounted for by tlie fact that the shamans pertorm their
ceremonies in the darkness of the inner room of the house, in an
atmosphere so hot and stifling that they are obliged to take off
their coats and to shanianize with tlie uppei- part of the body quite
naked.
The only shamanistic garments that Bogoras speaks of are a coat
and a cap. "As far as I know,' he says, 'among the other
neighbouring tribes also female shamans have no outward dis-
tinguishing mark, nor do they use the special shamanistic garb
which is assigned only to the male shamans.'^
After this statement the custom among certain tribes of the
adoption by tlie male shaman of the clothes and manner of
a woman appears still more strange. The shamanistic coat is
characterized Dy a fringe round the sleeves a little above the
opening, or round the neck a little below the collar. This coat
may be adopted by the shaman or by the patient. Besides the
fringe there are slits ornamented with cured leather. ' These slits
and fringes are usually said to represent the curves and zigzags of
the Milky Way. '2
But if we remember the many other ways in which the Chukchee
shaman imitates the Tungus shaman, we may conclude that both
slits and fringes in the shamanistic coat are but another instance
of the same imitation. The garment represented in Bogoras's book
has in front of it an image of tetheyun, that is, ' vital force ', which
resides in the heart and assumes its form. It is made like
a leather ball and filled with reindeer-hair. The other figure,
likewise of leather, represents a reH-en, or 'assisting' spirit of the
shaman.^
The shamanistic cap is also supplied with fringes, with a tassel
on the top and a long double tassel on the left side. The tassels
are of the type adopted for magic purposes, that is, they are formed
of alternating pieces of white and black fur. ' Another cap with
the opening on top, and likewise fringed and tasselled, was used
by the shaman as a I'emedy against headache.''*
In addition to these garments, the Chukchee shaman uses in his
performances many small instruments, such as the knife, the handle
of which is embellished with magical objects, and a small flat piece
of ivory, which is said to be usually employed when cutting open
a body. The ivory of the shaman, ' Scratching- Woman ', had three
1 Op. cit., p. 458. 2 Op. cit., p. 459. ' Ibid. ■■ Op.cit., p. 460.
leather images fastened to it. 'One was said to represent a feZe
from the "direction" of the darkness, with the arms longer than the
legs. The middle image with only one arm and one leg, and with
the two eyes one above the other, represented the kele lunietun.
The third image represented a crawling " spell '' sent by an enemy
of the shaman, who intercepted it on the way and thoroughly sub-
dued it so that it began to do his bidding.' ' These different amulets,
in the form of pendants and tassels, are made of skin and beads by
the shaman himself, and are fastened to various parts of the body
or dress. Such are also the "round patches of skin, often with
a tassel in the centre',^ which are considered highly effective
amulets among the Chukchsp, the Koryak, and the Asiatic
Eskimo. They are sewn to the coat, on the breast or on the
shoulders, or against the affected part of the body. An image
of the ' guardian ' is placed in the middle, and is often replaced by
an ornamental figure of a woman, of a dancing man, or of a warrior.
These objects, as well as those already mentioned, serve both
a magical and an ornamental purpose.
The most imjiortant object in shamanistic performances all over I
Siberia is the drum. Thus the Chukchee use the drum which is
common to both Asiatic and American Eskimo.
The drum used by the Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee is
different from that adopted in north-western Asia by the Yakut,
Tungus, Koryak, Kamchadal, and Yukaghir, which is rather of
a southern type.
The southern drum is large and somewhat oval in shape, and is
held by four loose bands, which are fastened to the hoop of
the drum on the inner side. The other ends of these bands
meet in the middle, where they are tied to a small wheel or
a cross, which is without any other support. When these are
grasped by the liand the drum hangs loosely, and may be shaken
and its position changed at will. The drum-stick is made of wood
and covered with skin or with cured leather.
The Chukchee drum has a wooden handle "• which is lashed with
sinews to the wooden hooix The diameter of the hoop, which is
nearly circular in shape, is from 40 to 50 centimetres. The head
is made of very thin skin, usually the dried skin of a walrus's
stomach. In order to stretch the skin it is moistened with water
or wine, and the edge is then tied with sinew cord. The ends of
' Op. cit., p. 466. 2 Op. cit., p. 468.
' According to Mr. Henry Balfour this shows Eskimo influence.
this cord are fastened to the handle. The drum is very h'ght,
weighing from half a pound to a pound and a half. The drum-
stick varies according to its purpose. It is either a narrow, light
strip of whalebone from 30 to 40 centimetres long, or a piece of wood
from 60 to 70 centimetres long, which is sometimes adorned with
fur tassels. The former is used during the magical performances
held in the inner room at night, the latter during ceremonials
performed in the outer tent during the day.^
When the family is moving from place to place, the cover of the
drum is removed, folded, and fastened to the hooj) to be replaced
when needed. In the winter house the drum remains in front of
the sleeping-place, and in the summer tent it hangs near the sacred
fire-board.
Tlic Koriialc. The shaman accessories of the Koryak, another
Palaeo-Siberian tribe, are described by Jochelson as follows : ' The
Koryak shamans have no drums of their own ; they use the drums
belonging to the family in whose house the shamanistic per-
formance takes place. It seems that they wear no special dress ; at
least the shamans whom I had occasion to observe wore ordinary
clothing.' -
One embroidered jacket, which was sold to Jochelson as an
Alutor shaman's dress, is very much like the ordinary man's
dancing-jacket used during the whale ceremony, but more elabo-
rate. The Koryak drum belongs not to the shaman but to the
family. It is used both as a musical instrument and as a sacred
object in the household. Everybody who pleases can beat the
drum, but there is usually one competent i^erson who knows
how to shamanize with it.
The Koryak drum, iPjai, is oval in shape and covered with
reindeer-hide on one side only, its diameter being 73 centimetres.
The drumstick is made of thick whalebone, wider at the end with
wdiich the drum is struck, and this end is covered with the skin of
a wolf's tail.
Inside the drum at four points in the rim a double cord of nettle
fibre is fastened and joined l)elow to form the handle. These cords
run towards one side of the drum. On the top of the inside rim
is attached an iron rattle. Jochelson says that this custom of
attaching the rattle has been borrowed from the Tungus and that
not all Koryak drums possess it.^
^ Bogoras, Tlte Chidrhee, pp. 356-7.
2 The Kori/al; pp. 54-5. "" Op. cit., p. 56.
Tlic KamcJiadal {Ifelmen). Among- the Kamchadal there is
apparently no shamanistic garment or drum. Two early travel-
lers to their country. Steller and Krasheninnikoflf. say that
everybody, especiallj' women, could shamanize. and hence this
occupation was not professional enough to demand a special dress.
The Yiilaijliir. The Yukaghir drum is a rough oval. It is
covered with hide on one side onl5\ Inside the drum there is
an iron cross near the centre, which serves as a handle. The
ends of the cross are fastened with straps to the rim, to which
four iron rattles are attached.^ There is a great similarity between
the Yukaghir and the Yakut drum, not only in the iron rattles,
iron cross, and general shape, but also in the small protuberances
on the outer surface of the rim, which according to the Yakut
represent the horns of the shaman's spirits. The stick is covered
with the skin of a reindeer's leg. In Yukaghir traditions the
drum without metallic additions is still traceable, the iron pieces
having been borrowed from the Yakut.
The Yukaghir word for drum is yalgil, which means 'lake',
that is, the lake into which the shaman dives in order to descend
into the shadow-world.'^
The Eskimo. This is very much like the conception of the
Eskimo, the souls of whose shamans descend into the lower
Avorld of the goddess Sedna. The Eskimo drums are not large ;
the largest are to be found at Hudson Bay. They are either
symmetrically oval or round, and a wooden handle is fastened
to the rim. J. Murdoch^' says that such drums are used by
the Eskimo from Greenland to Siberia. The Eskimo as well as
the Chukchee beat the lower part of the drum with the stick.
The Koryak drum also is struck from below, and is held in
a slanting position. Other Asiatic drums are mostly beaten in
the centre. Among the Indians living south of the Eskimo Ave
find broad-rimmed drums used for purposes of shamanism, as well
as in dancing-houses.'^
Tlie Gih/aJc. The most important accessories of the Gilyak
shaman are the drum, Jias, and the shaman's girdle, yangpa.
Schrenck gives us the following description of them : ' One night
when I Avas sitting in a tent in the village of Yrri, they brought
in two shamans' drums and other accessories, and at my request
» Ibid. 2 Op. cit., p. 59.
'■' A Point Barrow EsVtmo, 1887-8, p. 385.
* Jochelson, Tlie Koryak, p. 58.
1679 p
they allowed me to be present at the pro]iara,tioii for the ceremony.
First of all the drum was heated l)y the fire, to make the hide taut,
so that the sound might be more sonorous.' The drum was made
of the skin of a fj^oat or reindeer, and whilst it was l)ein.<>' i>repared
the shaman made ready. lie took off his outer garment, put on
the so-called losha, a short apron, and tied round his head a band
of grass, the end of which hung over his shoulders like a tress of
hair. Then he took the shaman's leather girdle, with many iron
plates,- copper hoops, and other metal pendants, which produce
a loud clanking noise during the shamanistic dances.' This girdle
is called in Olcha dialect //anr/pa. Its chief pendant is a large
copper disk with a small handle ornamented in relief, showing
Manclui influence ; this circle, called tolr, makes the most im-
portant sound. There are also many iron links called tasso, and
many irregular pieces of iron called kijire, which make a very loud
noise ; a few rolled iron plates called l-onf/oro, and, finally, some
small copper Ijells M'ithout tongues, called IvnqoJdo. When the
girdle is put on all these objects hang together at the back. This
shamanistic girdle is of considerable weight,''
Although the Gilyak belong to the Palaeo-Siberians, the metal
accessories seem to be of Tungus origin, as are some other features
of their culture. We read in Gmeliu's * description of the costume
of a Tungus shaman that he wears over the ordinary dress an apron
ornamented with iron. This suggests that this apron-form of the
shaman's coat was borrowed either by the Gilyak from the Tungus,
or vice versa.
B. The Neo-Siberians.
Among the Neo-Siberians all their philosophy of life is repre-
sented symbolically in the drum, and great significance is also
attached to various parts of their dress.
The Yalnit. Among the Yakut even those who, like the black-
smith, help in the adornment of the shaman's garment, occupy
a half-magical position, being credited with 'peculiar fingers'.'
The hereditary l)lacksmiths have tools with ' souls ', khcJii/laJxh,
Avhich can give out sounds of their own accord. The black-
^ Exactly the same preparations are mentioned by Jochelson, Tlie
Korjiah, p. 56.
"^ Compare the leather apron hung with jingling iron pieces worn by
Manchu shamans. [Suggestion of Mr. Henry Balfour.]
' Schrenck, op. cit., iii. 126. •* Op. cit., p. 193.
" Sieroszewski, The Yahuf, p. 632.
smiths are tliose who approach most nearly to the shauiau in
their oftice, ami are. in a way, related to them. 'The black-
smith and the shaman are of one nest ', says a proverb of the
Kolyma district, cited by Sieroszewski. * The smith is tho elder
brother of the shaman' is another saying quoted by Troshchanski.
Blacksmiths can sometimes cure, give advice, and foretell the future,
but their knowledge is simply a matter of cleverness and does not
possess magical value. The profession of blacksmith is mostly
hereditary, especially in the north ; in the ninth generation the
blacksmith first acquires certain supernatural qualities, and the
longer his line of descent, the greater his qualities. The spirits are
generally afraid of the iron hoops and of the noise made by the
smith's bellows. In the district of Kolyma the shaman would
not shamanize until Sieroszewski had removed his case of metal
instruments, and even then attributed his l)ad luck to them : ' The
spirits are afraid of the blacksmith (Sieroszewski), and that is why
they do not appear at my call.' ^
The shaman's dress, according to Sieroszewski, consists chiefly
of a coat It is of cowhide, so short in front that it does not
reach the knees, but touching the ground at the liack. The edges
and the surface of this coat are ornamented at the back with
different objects, each having its own name, place, and meaning.
The shaman's coat, which is not an indispensable part of the ritual
costume among Palaeo-Siberians, is most elaborate among the Neo-
Siberians.
Linguistically also there is a curious point connected with the
terms for coat and drum. While the drum has a common name
(with dialectic differences) among most Neo-Siberians, tiinUr, tiingiir,
&c., the term for the shaman's coat varies : Jatmu, ereni, maw/al;^
This seems to show that the ceremonial coat is a comparatively
newer invention than the ceremonial drum.-'
Sieroszewski* gives us an account of the meaning of the coat
ornamentation, which he heard from an old Yakut. It is as
follows :
1. Kiingeta (the sun), a round, smooth, shining disk, the size of
a small saucer, hanging between the shoulders, on a short strap
of leather which passes through the hole in the middle of the
disk.'
' Ibid. 2 Wierbicki, Altaian Dictioiuo-i/, p. 487.
=* Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 131, " Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 632.
* Troshchanski (p. 143) says that according to Piekarski there is no
p 2
2. Oibon-Kiinga (hole-in-the-ice sun), a disk of the same shape
and size as the first, hut with a larger hole in the middle. It
hangs above or below the first plate on a long leather strap.^
3. Kondei Jci/Jian, rolls of tin about the size of a thumb, but
longer, hanging at the back on the metal rings or loops.
4. Chillirijt Injlian, flat plates as long as fingers, hanging in great
numbers at the back, above the waist.
5. Hobo, copper bells without tongues, suspended below the
collar ; like a crow's egg in size and shape and having on the
upper part a drawing of a fish's head. They are tied to the
leather straps or to the metal loops.
6. Biirgiine, two round fiat disks, similar to those which adorn
the woman's c.\p, tusalta, but without any design on them ; they
are tied like an epaulet on the shaman's shoulders.
7. Oiogos fimiria, two plates about the breadth of four fingers
and a little shorter, fastened on both sides of the body.
8. Tahgfaua, two long plates two fingers broad, which are
fastened to both sleeves.
9. Amiigyat, abagyta amafiat (in many places called enichet), a
copper plate as long as the first finger and half as wide as the palm
of the hand. It is covered either with a drawing of a man,
* with feet, hands, head, nose, mouth, eyes, and ears ', - or with
an engraving in relief on a copper medallion, having a man's
figure in the middle.
' Only a blacksmith who has nine generations behind him can,
sucli word as kungeta; it is, he says, hnmisd, or l-iisihul, but the meaning
of l-i'oias/'i is uncertain. However, Troshchanski thinks that the Yakut
word kun — ' sun ' — is not etjnnologically connected with kundsd. Khud-
yakot!" translates the Yakut word kusiinn as 'bell'. According to Katanoft',
krmina means (1) 'oracular time' (?). or (2) 'iron circle' fastened to the
shaman's coat and representing the sun.
^ Troshchanski (p. 144) converts this term into oihon-kilndsdtd (hole-
in-the-ice circle). Kundsafd is the genitive of kilndsd ; the genitive
form is used to show that these objects belong to the shaman's coat.
Priklonski {Tliree Years in the Yakutsk Territory, 1891, p. 54) calls it
kuJar-kusanat (happy, joyous sun), which, according to Troshchanski
(p. 144 1, is also wrong. He says it ought to be ki'ddr kusdnd (laughing
circle). Potanin (op. cit., iv. 51) states that among the Mongolians of
north-western Asia there are sewn on the back of tlie shaman's coat two
round copper disks, called by the Altaians kusunfiy, or kuler-kusuugii,
and sometimes two others on the breasts. Tretyakoff (op. cit., p. 214)
informs us that the shamans of Dolgan have a disk hanging on the
breast, which represents the chief evil spirit called kiiganna. Trosh-
chanski (op. cit., p. 145), however, suggests that kuganna is simply the
Yakut kuf!diid, and is not a term for an evil spirit, but for the disk.
- Sieroszewski quotes a native description of it, op. cit., p. 634.
without danger to himself from the spirits, make an iimagi/af, a
copper plate such as has been described, which the shaman, when
he begins to shamanize, hangs on his breast.' ^ What exactly
ihmgi/at means, whether it is a personal or an impersonal power,
it is difficult to determine. We shall go on to review the various
references to this subject, since the word dma(///at is used in the
double sense of (1) an invisible power and (2) of a visible symbol.
In this chapter we shall confine ourselves to the latter. The
absence of umayi/at dift'erentiates the less important shamans,
called kenniJci oi/iiun, from those who possess it and who are
known as orto oijuun. The power of those in partial possession of
dmagyat varies according to 'the strength of their unui(ji/at\'~
The great shamans are those whose ' spirit-protector was sent
them by Ulu-Toyen himself {drmgyatitiah tiJutoer ulutoenton
otujondah)?
Describing the shaman in action, Sieroszewski "^ says that the
shaman implores the assistance of his ' (iyndgijat and of other
protecting spirits ' ; and it is only when the dmiiggat descends upon
the shaman that he begins his frenzied dances.
Whenever a family numbers a shaman among its members, it
continues to do so, for after his death the dindggat seeks to
re-embody itself in some one belonging to the same clan (aga-usa).''
^ Amdggat', says Sieroszewski in another place, '^ 'is a being
quite apart ; in most cases it is the soul of a departed shaman ;
sometimes it is one of the secondary supreme beings.'
The human body cannot endure the continuous presence of a
power equal to that of the great gods ; hence this spirit-protector
(if amdggat can be so called) resides not within, but close beside
the shaman, and comes to his assistance at critical moments, or
whenever he needs him,"
'The shaman can see and hear only with the help of his
amdggat ','^ said the shaman Tiuspiut to Sieroszewski.
Possession of the dmdggut does not in any way depend upon the
shaman ; it comes either by an accident or by a decree from
above. Tiuspiut obtained his dmdgyat (of Tungus origin) quite
accidentally.
The great shamans at death take their dmdggat with them, and
thus change into heavenly beings, most of whom are ex-shamans ;
^ Op. cit., p. 632. 2 Op. cit., p. G28.
* Op. cit., pp. 642-3. '- Op. cit., p. 625.
^ Op. cit., p. 627. « Ibid.
Ibid.
' Op. cit., p. 626.
if the amiigyat does not depart in this way, then sooner or hiter it
will show itself on the earth.
Troshchanski says that the most important ornament of the
Yakut shaman's coat is iinidgyat, which represents a man. On one
of the coats that he reproduces there is an ilmaij/iat on the left side
made of molten copper. On another coat iimiujijats were on hoth
sides of the breast and made of tin.^
Amiigtjat is the sign of the shaman's vocation, which is always
given by the old shaman to the new. It is quite possible, thinks
Troshchanski, that it represents the shaman's ancestor and
protector.-
Speaking of the preparatory stage of the shaman, Troshchanski
says that the Yakut shaman is taught by an older shaman, who
initiates him by suspending round his neck the iimagyat. This
symbol is taken aAvay from the shaman Avho no longer wishes to
shamanize. An old blind Yakut, however, told Sieroszewski
(p. 625) how he gave up his shaman's vocation, thinking it a sin,
and although a powerful shaman removed the ihmgyat sign from
him, nevertheless the spirits made him blind.
In the Mongolian language iimagCdcJzi signifies the figure of the
protective genius of the house, family, and goods, and is made of
tin. According to Katanoff, this word is derived from iimugan,
grandmother.
10. Balyk-timlr (the fish), a plate a metre long, two fingers
wide, made in the form of a fish with head, fins, tail, and scales.
It hangs on a long leather strap. In some places, like the district
of Kolyma, it drags on the ground to entice the secondary spirits,
which run after it and try to catch it.^
11. CJioran, small hollow copper balls, fastened to the ends of
long leather straps reaching to the heels and hanging like a fringe
from the lower edge of the coat. This fringe is called hgtijri/s
(the weed).
The coat is plain in front, and fastens on the breast Avith
leather straps, and under the chin with a buckle in the form of a
colt's tongue {hdun ii/l lu rdi(k). On the front of the coat are sewn
figures of animals, birds, fishes ; vai'ious disks ; images of the
sun, moon, and stars ; and also some iron representations of the
human skeleton and bowels.
In the north, in case of the absence of this costume, the shaman
^ Troshchanski, op. cit., }\ 140. - Ibid. •' Op. cit., p. 147.
* Sieroszewski, p. 634.
weal's the woman's saii(]i/nhi}i, a coat of calf's skin, witli the hair
outside, on the feet of which are occasionally hung some of the
most iuiportant iron accessories, like the two ' suns ' (or sun and
moon), the lish and the bihyiine ; sometimes two round circles,
which represent the breasts, are hung in the front.
A good shaman's dress requires about 35 to 40 pounds of iron.
In the north the shaman wears a woman's travelling cap with
ear-flaps, but this is not to be seen in more southern regions,
where the shaman is in most cases bareheaded.
According to general belief, the iron and the jingling pendants
of the shaman's coat have the power to resist rust, and possess a
soul — khchifc.^
The shaman wears his magical coat next his skin, and
receives it from the hand of a kuturu'ksuta (page, assistant), i.e. the
man whose duty it is to shout during the performance: sch !
Jcirdik ! choo ! o o ! (' well ! true I choo I o o I '), and who helps the
shaman in other ways, such as preparing the drum.
The Yakut drum is called, according to Sieroszewski, tiingiir,'^
and according to Troshchanski,-^ tiiniir or diiniir.
The drum is always egg-shaped, and is covered with the hide of
a young bull. Its longest diameter is 53 cm., the width of the rim
11 cm., and the length of the stick 32 cm. The wider part of
the stick is covered with cowhide. According to Jochelson, there
are twelve raised representations of horns on the drum."* Sieros-
zewski'" says that they are always found in odd numbers, 7, 9, or
11. The cross inside is attached to the rim by means of straps.
Little bells, jingling trinkets, and other rattles of iron and bone
are attached inside round tiie rim, especially in the places where
the straps are fastened.
The term tangiir seems to be a universal name for the drum
among most of the Neo-Siborian tribes ; sometimes t changes to d,
giving the form dnngiir. ^
In Manchu the drum is called tunJccn ; in Mongol dungiir; in
Altaian tilngur; in Uriankhai donliir ; in Soiot and Karagass
tiingur.
Among the Yakut, as has been said, there are two names,
tinuir and diiniir. Maak''^ records that the Yakut of Viluy
1 Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 635. * Op. cit., p. 635.
" Op. cit., p. 128. * ITie Konjah, pp. 56-7.
* Sieroszewski, p. 635.
^ The Villi i/sh Dint rid of the Yakutsk Territory, iii. 118.
explained to him tluit ' the shamans in addition to the ti'tmir
(drum) have also a stringed instrument, dilnfir '.
The word titniir among the Yakut means also kinship through
marriage : Umuruttur, ' match-making '.
Troshchanski ^ thinks that this double meaning is not accidental,
and that as the shaman was originallj^ the head of a family, the
drum might be regarded as the bond of unity between the shaman
and the community, as well as between the shaman and the
spirits.
Besides the drum, the shaman uses two other musical
instruments, one of which is a stringed instrument like the
Russian haJalaiJM (a kind of banjo), the other an instrument like
that known at a jews' harp, a small frame with a long wooden or
metal tongue, which is moved by the finger ; the narrow end of
the instrument is held between the teeth, so that the mouth acts
as a sounding-board.
Among the Yakut the jews' harp, called liomus [hamys), is
apparently not a shaman's instrument, though the shamans of
other Neo-Siberians have been known to use it.
Among the Buryat from Irkutsk, this instrument is called
7i7«/r, and is used only by the shamans.- This is also true of the
Uriankhai. The Soiot call it Jcomus, but the Altaians (using the
term in the narrowest sense), who also have the word Icomus, use
it to designate the stringed instrument resembling the Russian
halalaika, which only shamans, play.^ The Kirgis call the
shaman's drum Icobuz.^ According to Wierbicki, the Altaians use
the two-stringed Icabys or Iconms as an accompaniment to the
recital of heroic tales.^
There are sometimes minor shamanistic performances without
the drum and without the special garments. The shaman sits in
his everyday dress on a small chair in the middle of the room and
holds in his hands a branch ornamented with bunches of white
horsehair, of which there may be three, five, or seven, but never
an even number. The fire is not put out for these performances,
and some of the horsehair is thrown on to it. The shaman does
not dance, but sings and whirls about.''
1 Op. cit., p. 129.
- Katanotf, A Journey to Karar/ass in 1S90, I. R. G. S., 1891, p. 201.
^ Wierbicki, A Dictionary of the Turkic Language, p. 141.
* Troshchanski, p. 130. ' ^ Tlie Natives 'of the Altai, p. 139.
^ Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 635.
Troshchanski ^ thinks that, among the Yakut, white and black
shamans have different coats. The coat of the white shaman has
no animal pictures on it, because their spirit-protectors belong to
the aiy (good spirits), which are not symbolized by animal
pictures. The coat of the black shaman should not (according to
Troshchanski) have representations of the sun, for these are
peculiar to white shamans. The drums of the two shamans also
differ. When Troshchanski showed an old Yakut woman, who
knew a great deal about the shaman dress, a certain drum
(op. cit., fig. II, h), she at once recognized it as a white shaman
drum, since horsehair was fastened round the iron rim inside it.
Tribal and clan differences exist in the shaman's coat, and it
would be difficult to say whether a sharp line can be drawn
between black and white shamanistic garments. Troshchanski is
much influenced by this conception of dualism, but from the
materials in our possession, a few very imperfect photographs, it
would be unwise to come to a decision. It should be remarked,
however, that neither of the writers on the Palaeo-Siberians in
describing shaman instruments makes this division, and but few
of the writers on the Neo-Siberians.
Potanin ^ describes how, on a shaman's coat of the Uriankhai
tribe, among other properties, there was a small doll with a
minute drum in its left hand. On the same string to which the
doll was tied there was another small figure of an animal re-
sembling the sacrificial animal of the real shaman. The signifi-
cance of this is, of course, obvious. The shaman's ancestor resides
in a symbolic form in the shaman's coat. Thus the small doll of
the Uriankhai shaman's coat takes the place of the Umagi)at among
the Yakut, if we are to take ihmg>jat as the symbol of the shaman's
ancestor.
The skeleton figuring on the shaman's coat in Troshchanski's
book must probably also be ascribed to the shaman's ancestor, for
quite near it are sewed hawks' wings, and none but a shaman can
fly or be represented by wings.
One might suppose from what has been said above that we
have here to deal with three ways of representing the shaman
ancestor : by the doll, the amcigi/at, and the skeleton. It would
be interesting to know, however, whether or not the dmiujijat is to
be found side by side with either of the other symbols. If so, it
1 Op. cit., p. 133. 2 Op. cit., iv. 100.
is possible that iimugijat is not a symbol of the ancestor spirit, but
has a meaning of its own. On the Yakut coat the skeleton exists
independent of iimCujijat. On the Altaian coats described by
Potanin, the doll is found side by side with the iimugyat. Both
Troshchanski and Sieroszewski descril>e iimagijat as an indis-
pensable ornament of every shaman's coat.
The coat possesses an impersonal power of itself. It is said to
bear the names of ongor (Mongol) and tanara (Yakut) in addition
to the classified names for the coat.
By assuming this coat the shaman receives supernatural power,
which allows him to go to the upper- and under-worlds to meet
spirits and deal with them. It is called ' shaman's horse ' among
the Yakut.
The coat as a whole is a tanara of the shaman, and each
symbolic picture on the coat is also his tanara, i.e. protector.^
Another interpretation of the coat is given by Pripuzoff.^ The
picture of a perforated sun and a half-moon, he says, represents
the dusk which reigns in the kingdom of the spirits. The strange
animals, fishes, and birds which hang on the coat point to the
monsters that are said to inhabit the spirit-land.
The iron chain hanging on the back signifies, according to some,
the strength of the shaman's power, and according to others, the
rudder which he uses in his journeys through the spirit country.
The iron disks are there to defend the shaman from the blows of
the hostile spirits.
Potanin'"' gives us an interesting description of the shaman's
garment among the natives of Altai and north-western Siberia.
According to him, it is in comparatively good preservation among
the natives of Altai.
Natives of Altai. The shaman's coat is made of goat or reindeer
hide. All the outer side is covered with pendants of varying
length in serpent form, and has pieces of many-coloured stuff
stitched on to it. The pendants, which terminate in serpents'
heads, hang freely. Bundles of reindeer leather straps are also
attached here and there. The term mumjak is applied by the
natives of Altai to the small pendants as well as to the coat as
a whole.
There can further be found on the coat various symbolic figures
and jingling pendants, such as iron triangles, a small bow and
' Troshchanski, p. 135. ^ p, 95, 3 Qp. cit., iv. 49-54.
arrow to frighten hostile spirits, &c. On the back and sometimes
on the front of the coat there are sewed two copper disks. One
hint (shaman) hud four empty tol)acco-bags hanging on his coat
with imaginary tobacco inside, which he offers to the spirits
whilst he is wandering in their country.
The collar is trimmed with owl's feathers. One lam had,
according to Potanin, seven little dolls on his collar, which,
Potanin was told, were heavenly maidens.
A few bells are sewed on here and there ; the more prosperous
shamans have as many as nine. The ringing of the bells, a lam
told Potanin, is the voice of the seven maidens whose symbols
are sewed to the collar calling to the spirits to descend to
them.
The cap ' of the Altaian shaman is formed of a square piece of
the hide of a reindeer calf. On one side there are two buttons
and on the other two loops. On the top, bunches of feathers are
sewed, and from the lower edge hangs a fringe made of string and
shell-fish. This is placed on the head with the two sides buttoned
to the back, thus forming a cylindrical cap on the shaman's head.
If the hide is hard, the top of the cap with its feathers sticks up
like a coronet.
Among some shamans of the Teleut, the cap is made of brown
owl skin ; the feathers remain as ornaments, and sometimes also
the bird's head.
It is not all shamans who can wear the manijaJc and the owl-
skin cap. The spirits generally announce to the chosen man
when he may wear them.
Among the Tartars of Chern the shaman wears a mask {locho),
with squirrels' tails for eyebroAvs and moustaches. Among the
same people Yadrintzeff noticed the use of two crutches ; one of
them was a crook, the other was supposed to be a horse, similar
to the horse-staves of the Buryat.
All the drums which Potanin saw among the natives of Altai
and north-western Mongolia were round in shape. -^ Yadrintzeff
says that the Tartars of Chern have oval drums resemljling the
egg-shaped drum of the east Siberians.
The Altai drum has a hoop as large as the i)alm of one's hand,
covered on one side \vith hide. Inside the drum there is
a vertical wooden stick and a horizontal iron chord with rattles
' Op. cit., p. 52. ^ Op. cit., iv. 44, 679.
attached. The drum is held by the wooden stick, and not at the
intersection of the stick and the iron crossbar.
The wooden vertical stick is called bar by the natives of Altai.
Among other north-western tribes it has various names. The
bar has a man's head and feet at the two ends. The upper part
is often carved, the eyes, the nose, the mouth, and the chin
being cut with great exactness. The horizontal iron stay is
called by the Altaians Jcrlsh, and from it hang various iron rattles
called Jcungru. The number of Jcungru varies according to the
ability of the shaman. It is a guide to the quantity of chayit
(Potanin translates this word * spirits ', but it seems rather to
mean ' spiritual power ') possessed by the shaman, since the more
chayu the shaman possesses, the more Jiungni are found in his drum.
Under the chin of the figure on the wooden bar are fastened
long strips of gaudy material called yauasua. Eadloff^ calls this
yalama.
On the hide of the drum, sometimes on both sides, sometimes
on the inner side only, circles and crosses and other lines are
drawn with red dye.^
Some Altai drums have drawings of animals on them, like
those on the drums of the North- American Indians.'^
The drums of the Chern and Kumandinsk Tartars differ from
those of the Altaians ; instead of bar, JirisJi, and jingling plates
there are here representations of the two worlds, above and
underground, separated by a horizontal line, which divides the
drum into two parts, an upper and a lower. ^
On the outer side of the drum of the Chern Tartars, pictures of
animals and plants are found. On the upper and larger part an
arch is drawn, with indications of sky, inside of which are two
trees with a bird on each. To the left of the tree are two circles —
the sun and the moon — light and darkness. Below the horizontal
line are pictures of frogs, lizards, and snakes.^ These drawings
have a particular importance, since the symbols described show
more than any others the shamanistic view of the natural and the
supernatural.
There is unfortunately very little material of a reliable character,
the studies of Potanin and Klementz being the most valuable.
On the whole, it is safe to say that the drums of the natives of
^ Ahs Sibirieii, ii. 18. ^ Potanin, iv. 40-9.
■' Jochelson, The Konjak, i. 58-9. * Potanin, op. cit., iv. 680.
" Op. cit., iv. 44-5.
north-west Asia, especially in the southern parts, are adorned
with representations of the upper and lower worlds divided by
a horizontal line.^
The following interpretation of this same ornamentation is
given by Klementz in his study of the drums j^eculiar to the
neighbourhood of Minussinsk.- His information was given him
by a lam of high standing.
Although by no means all drums are ornamented in the same
way, yet in this account we may perceive certain traditional rules
embodying the Altaian and Mongolian conception of the meaning
of the drum and its decoration.
A. The lower part of the drum :
1. Bal-Kazfiu (painted in white), 'a rich birch' — alluding to
the birches round which annual sacrificial ceremonies are held.
2. Ulug-hai-Jcazyn (in white) — two trees growing in Ulu-
khan's country.
3 and 4. Ak-haga ("white frog') and Kara-haga ('black frog'),
the servants of Ulu-khan.
5. Chsliity-us, spirits associated with seven nests and seven
feathers.
6. Chshlty-hjz (' seven maids ') ; these bring seven diseases
on man.
7. ZJJgere, to whom prayers are offered for the curing of
toothache and of earache.
8. Of-hncze {' Mother of the fire ').
B. The upper part of the drum :
1. Souhan-ir. The Jcani translated this 'aurora' (whether
with the meaning of dawn or the aurora borealis is impossible to
decide from Potanin's description).
2. Kgun, ' sun '.
3. IJcc-l-aragus, two black birds, flying as messengers from
the shaman to the shaytans.
4. Aha-tgus (the bear's tooth).
5. Siiggzngm-laragaf. According to the Jcam, this means ' the
horses of Ulu-khan '.
6. Kjizgl-Yilch-'khan. to whom one pi-ays when Ijeginning any
undertaking.
The other figures drawn in white paint are animals, which
Kyzyl-kikh-khan is hunting.
' Mikhailowski, p. 68.
^ Types of Drums of the Minussinsk Natives, E. S. S. I. R. G. S., p. 26.
Many other authoi-s also comment on this method of dividing
the pictures on the Neo-Siberian drum. Wierbicki,^ descril)ing
the tangi'ir of the natives of Altai, says : ' On the outer side the
hide is painted with red ochre ; on the upper part are repi'esented
the sky, a rainbow, sun, moon, stars, horses, geese, the liam on
a horse, and, on the lower part, the earth.'
According to Dr. Finscli's description - the drums of the
Samoyed and of the Ob-Ostyak are, like the Altai drums, round
in shape, broad-rimmed, covered on one side only, and have
a diameter of from 30 cm. to 50 cm.
The Ostyak drums described by Potanin'' have the same
division of the drum into lower and upper parts representing
lower and up)ier worlds, as among the Tartars of Chern.
The Jlurijal. The Buryat shaman's costume was first described
by Pallas."^ It belonged to a female shaman, who was accom-
panied by her husband and two other Buryat, each of them
holding a magical drum.'' She herself held in her hand two
sticks, ornamented at the top end with a carving of a horse's head
suri-ounded by small bells. [This implement is called by recent
travellers 'horse-staves'.] From the back of the shoulders reach-
ing to the ground hung about thirty snakes, made of white and
black skin, in such a way that the snakes seem to be composed of
white and black rings. One of the snakes was divided into three
at the end, and was accounted indispensable to each Buryat
female shaman. The cap was covered with an iron casque having
horns with three branches, projecting on both sides like those of
a deer.
Gmelin ''' saw a costume of another old and revered female
^ The Natives of the Altai, p. 45.
2 Finsch, Reisr nacli West-Sihinen, p. 550 (Berlin, 1879), quoted by
Jochelson, The Korifah, p. 59.
3 Op. cit., iv. 680.
* liehe durch rerschiedene Proriiizen detf 7-ussi>iclie7i Reiches, 1777, pp. 102-3.
^ The more recent aocounts deny the existence of the drum among
the Buryat. Khangaloff saw it only once, and this was in the case of
a young and inexperienced shaman. Klementz states that the drum is
very seldom in use among the Buryat. Nevertheless he says: 'At great
shaman ceremonies, in which a shaman and his nine sons take part
(some of which the writer witnessed on the estuary of the river Selenga,
among the Kuda Buryat), one of the assistants holds in his hands a small
tambourine, but neither the meaning of the tambourine nor the role of
the assistant is quite clear.' Curiously enough, Pallas, writing in the
eighteenth century, agrees with the contemporary witness in describing
the assistants' use of the drum.
6 ii. 11-13.
shaman near Selenginsk. Her costume was hanging in her ynrla,
but, according to her account, was not complete. Among other
things he mentions a box, full of strips of cloth, small stones,
thunderbolts, (Sc. which she used for magical purposes.^ There
was also a felt bag full of various felt idols.
In the exhaustive work of Agapitoff and Khangaloff there is
a description of the old shaman costume among the Buryat —
a costume of a kind which, however, is very rarely to be met
with at present. According to them, the coat [orgoij), the cap,
and the horse-staves {morini-lcliorho) are the chief ajipurtenances of
a shaman.
1. The orgoi/ is of white material for the white shaman, and of
blue for the black shaman. Its shape does not differ from that
of the ordinary coat.-
Klementz-^ says that the old-fashioned orgo// was shorter than
that of the present day.
The front of the coat is covered with metal figures of horses,
fishes, birds, &c. The back is covered with twisted iron repre-
senting snakes, with rattles hanging from them {slmmshorgo),^
together with a whole row of little bells and tambourine-
bells.
On the chest above the thin plates used to hang little shining
copper disks, and on the sleeves were also hung thin iron plates,
in imitation of the bones of the shoulder and forearm. This
gave Gmelin the ground for his assertion that two shamans who
came to him from Nijne-Udinsk resembled chained devils,'*
2, The cap, which is i>eaked, is made of lynx skin, with a bunch
of ribbons on the top. After the fifth consecration the shaman
can wear the iron cap ; it is composed of a crown-like iron hoop
with two half-lioops crossing each other, above which is an iron
plate with two horn-like projections.
In the place where the intersecting hoops are tied to the hoop
round the head there are three groups of l-JtouhoJiJto,''' or Mtolbogo,
conical weights of iron. From the back of the hoop hangs an iron
' Agapitoff and Khangaloff (pp. 42-4) call an identical box shire.
^ Agapitoff and Khangaloff, p. 42. ' E. B. E., p. 16.
* Klementz uses the same native word shamshorgo for (i) the rattles
attached to the snakes on the shaman's coat, and (ii) for the conical iron
weights fixed to the upper part of the horse-staves, but he does not
intimate whether this word has two meanings or not.
' Klementz states that the orgoy is in some places now only put on
after death, for burial,
* Klementz calls them shamshorgo, E. E. E., p. 16.
chain composed of four links and ending in small objects resem-
bling a spoon and an awl.^
Klementz^ calls this cap the metal diadem, 'consisting of an
iron ring with two convex arches, also of iron, crossing one
another at right angles, and with a long jointed chain M^liich
hangs down from the nape of the neck to the heels — we know of
them only from the descriptions of travellers and from specimens
preserved in a few museums'.
3. The horse-staves {morini-Miorbo) are to be met with among all
the Buryat of Baikal, but among the Buryat of Balagan they are
not used. Each Baikal shaman possesses two. They are made of
wood or of iron ; but the iron staff is only given to the shaman after
the fifth consecration, when he .also receives the iron cap. The
wooden horse-staves are cut for the novice the day before his first
consecration, from a birch-tree growing in the forest where the
shamans are buried. The wood for the horse-staves must be cut
in such a way that the tree shall not perish, otherwise it would
be a bad omen for the shaman.
This implement is 80 cm. long ; the upper part is bent and has
a horse-head carved on it ; the middle part of the stick forms the
knee-joints of the horse, and the lower end is fashioned into
a hoof.
Little bells, one of which is larger than the rest, are tied to the
horse-staves. Likewise small conical weights of iron, Ihouholho,
or Jcholbogo, blue, w^hite, yellow and red-coloured ribbons, and
strips of ermine and squirrel fur. To make it look more realistic
miniature stirrups are also attached.
The iron horse-staves are not very different from the wooden
ones. They represent the horses on which the shaman rides to
the upper and lower worlds.
According to Khangaloff, it is in the drum that the horse, on
which the shaman makes his flight, is symbolized. Khangaloff,
however, also speaks of the rarity of the drum among the Burj^at.
The only drum which he saw among them was of the form and
size of a small sieve, and was covered with horse-hide fastened to
the back with leather straps. He did not notice any pictures
either on the outside or on the inside, but the outside surface, he
says, was daubed with some white stuff.''
^ AgapitofF and Khangaloflf, op. cit., pp. 43-4.
- E. R. E., p. 16.
^ Agapitoft' and KhangalofF, op. cit., pp. 42-4.
Klementz saj'S that the drum, l/iesc, is very little known among
the Buryat, who substitute the horse-staves for it, and that the
little bell is sometimes also called l-Jiese; nevertheless, among
the Mongol shamanists and the Mongolized Uriankhai, the drum
is in use.^
The Buryat Buddhists use in their divine services either drums
covered on both sides with hide, like those found among the
North- American Indians, or those with hide on one side only.
These drums are round, and have leather handles attached to the
outer edge of the rim.-
Klementz mentions as the next accessory of the shaman the
Ihur, a 'tuning-fork' ('jews' harp'?), with a wire tongue between
the two side-pins, an implement largely in use among shamanists.
It may be met with, he says, from the sources of the Amur to the
Ural, and from the Arctic Ocean down to Tashkent, Here and
there it is merely a musical instrument."'
On the shaman's boots there were formerly sewed iron plates,
but these are no longer in use.
The Olkhon Buryat, say Agapitoff and Khangaloff, have one
other property, called shire. It is a box three and a half feet long
and one foot deep, standing on four legs, each two feet high. On
the box are hung ribbons, bells, strips of skin, and on one of the
long sides different figures are carved or painted in red. Usually
on the right side is represented the sun, and on the left, the moon.
The sun is depicted as a wheel, and in the middle of the moon
there is a human figure holding a tree in one hand. In the
middle of the long side there are three images of secondary gods,
one woman and two men, in whose honour wine is sprinkled
several times a year. There are also war implements — bow and
quiver and sword, and under each human figure there is a horse.
The sit ire is used to hold horse-staves, drums, and other ritual
implements. The shaman acquires the right of carrying the shi)-e
after the fifth consecration.'' It is asserted, says Klementz,^ that
with eveiy new consecration up to the ninth, the height and other
dimensions of the shire increase.
Nil '' mentions two things more : abagaldeij, a monstrous mask
of skin, wood, and metal, painted, and ornamented with a great
» E. R. E., iii. p. 16. ^ Jochelson, llie Kori/al; p. 59.
^ E. R. E., ibid. * Agapitoff and Khangaloff, pp. 43-4.
» E.R.E., ihid.
^ Archbishop of Yaroslav {Buddhism in Siberia, 1858j.
1679 Q
beard ; and foli, a inetul looking-glass with representations of
twelve animals on it ; this is hung round the neck and worn on
the breast ; sometimes it is sewed on the shaman's coat.
Occasionally the Buryat shaman has also a whip with bells, but
generally all these implements tend to disappear in modern times.
Two other ethical and linguistic groups, which, although they
live only partly in Siberia, yet belong to the Neo-Siberians, are
the Samoyed and the Finnic tribes, and a survey of their
shaman accessories is of special interest in connexion with those
of the Mongolic, Turkic, and Tungusic shamans.
The most important belonging of a fadibe/j (Samoyed shaman) is
his pcnser (drum), which he prepares according to a special set of
rules. He must kill a male reindeer-calf with his own hands,
and prepare the skin in such a way that no veins are left on it.
In these preparations inJca (i. e. a woman), being considered unclean,
cannot assist.^
The drums, which are ornamented with metal disks and plates,
and covered with transparent reindeer hide, are round in shape
and of various sizes. The largest drum seen by Castren was
nearly two feet in diameter and two and a half inches in height. -
According to Dr. Finsch's description, the drums of the Samoyed
and of the Ob-Ostyak are like the Altai drums, round, broad-
rimmed, covered on one side only, and with a diameter of from
30 cm. to 50 cm.
The shaman's costume consists of a chamois-leather coat called
samburzia, ornamented with red cloth. Eyes and face are covered
with a piece of cloth, since the tadihey is supposed to penetrate
into the spirit-world with his inner sight. Instead of a cap there
are two bands round his head to keep the cloth over the face in
position. An iron disk hangs on his breast.''
In certain jDlaces the tadihey uses a cap with a visor, and over
the leather coat jingling trinkets and little bells and strips of
cloth of various shades are hung. In this ornamentation the
number seven plays an important role.*
Among the Laj^ps. the drum, kanniis or Icvobdas, which is now
but an antiquarian curiosity, j^layed a most important part.' It
' V. Idavin, The Samoyed, 1847, pp. 112-13.
^ Castren, Reiseerinnerungen aus den Jahren 1838-1844 (Petersburg,
1853), p. 192.
I Op. cit., pp. 192-3. " Islavin, op. cit.. p. 113.
■' Scheft'erus, Lappland (Kunigsberg, 1675), p. 137, &c.
was made of birch or pine wood, grown if possible in a sunny
spot, since such a tree would be acceptable to the sun and the
good spirits. There are two kinds of drum. One is composed
of a wooden hoop, with two cross-pieces of wood inside covered
with hide ; the other is an egg-shaped flat box, hollowed out
of the trunk of a tree, and also covered with hide. The most
significant ornaments are the drawings in red. They represent
good and bad spirits, the sun. the stars, various animals, lakes,
forests, and men. The division between this W'orld and the upper
is clearly shown. Among many other symbolic figures thei'e is
also the image of a noiida (shaman). Each drum has its metal
ring with small pendants and a drum-stick of reindeer horn.
The Lapps take gi-eat care of their drums, and when not in use
they and the drum-sticks are wrapped in furs. No woman dares
to touch the drum.
Chapter XI
THE SHAMAN IN ACTION
Since the performances of shamans as professionals called in
to treat diseases, to answer inquiries, for soothsaying and other
similar purposes, are very much the same among the different
tribes of Palaeo-Siberians, we shall confine ourselves to giving a
few typical examples of these performances. The same procedure
will be followed with regard to the Neo-Siberians.
Palaeo-Siberians.
Tlie Konjalc. Professional shamanism among the Koryak is at
a most primitive stage of development, yet at the same time,
thanks to the influence of European culture, it is also decadent.
Jochelson speaks ^ of the shamanistic performances which he
saw as follows : ' During the entire period of my sojourn among
the Koryak I had opportunity to see only two shamans. Both
were young men, and neither enjoyed special respect on the part
of his relatives. Both were poor men who worked as labourers
for the rich members of their tribe. One of them was a Maritime
Koryak from Alutor. He used to come to the village of
Kamenskoj'^e in company with a Koryak trader. He was a
bashful youth, his features, though somewhat wild, were flexible
and pleasant, and his eyes were bright. I asked him to show me
proof of his shamanistic art. Unlike other shamans, he consented
without waiting to be coaxed. The people put out the oil-lamps
in the underground house in which he stopped with his master.
Only a few coals were glowing on the hearth, and it was almost
dark in the house. On the large platform which is put up in the
front part of the house as the seat and sleeping-place for visitors,
and not far from where my wife and I were sitting, we could
discern the shaman in an ordinary shaggy shirt of reindeer skin,
squatting on the reindeer skins that covered the platform. His
face was covered with a large oval drum.
' Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 49.
'Sudilenly he commencetl to beat the drum softly and to sing
in a phiintive voice ; then the beating of the drum grew stronger
and stronger ; and his song — in which coukl be heard sounds
imitating the howling of tlie wolf, the groaning of the cargoose,
and the voices of other animals, his guardian spirits — appeared to
come, sometimes from the corner nearest to my seat, then from
the opposite end, then again from the middle of the house, and
then it seemed to proceed from the ceiling. He was a ventrilo-
quist. Shamans versed in this art are believed to possess
particular power. His drum also seemed to sound, now over my
head, now at my feet, now behind, now in front of me. I could
see nothing ; but it seemed to me that the shaman was moving
around, noiselessly stepping ujion the platform with his fur
shoes, then retiring to some distance, then coming nearer, lightly
jumping, and then squatting down on his heels.
'All of a sudden the sound of the drum and the singing ceased.
When the women had relighted their lamps, he was lying,
completely exhausted, on a white reindeer skin on which he had
been sitting before the shamanistic performance. The concluding
words of the shaman, which he pronounced in a recitative, were
uttered as though spoken by the spirit whom he had summoned
up, and who declared that the "disease" had left the village, and
would not return.'
The other shamanistic ceremony was performed by a shaman at
Jochelson's request for the purpose of divining whether he would
reach home safely.
During this ceremony ^ the shaman suddenly asked Jochelson
for his knife, saying, 'The spirits say that I should cut myself
with a knife. You will not be afraid ? ' ^
Jochelson gave him, not without some scruples, his travelling
knife, which was sharp and looked like a dagger. 'The light in
the tent was put out ; but the dim light of the Arctic spring night
(it was in April), which penetrated the canvas of the tent, was
sufficient to allow me to follow the movements of the shaman.
He took the knife, beat the drum, and sang, telling the spirits
that he was ready to carry out their wishes. After a little while
he put away the drum, and, emitting a rattling sound from his
throat, he thrust the knife into his breast up to the hilt. I
noticed, however, that after having cut his jacket, he turned the
' Op. cit., p. 51. 2 iijij^
knife downwards. He drew out the knife with the same rattling
in his throat, and resumed beating the drum.''
Then he said to Jochelson that he would have a good journey,
and, returning the knife to him, showed through the hole in his
coat the blood on his body. ' Of course, these spots had been
made before ', says Jochelson. ^ * However, this cannot be looked
upon as mere deception. Things visible and imaginary are
confounded to such an extent in primitive consciousness that the
shaman himself may have thought that there was, invisible to
others, a real gash in his body, as had been demanded by the
spirits. The common Koryak, however, are sure that the shaman
actually cuts himself, and that the wound heals up immediately.'
The CJiukcJice. Among the Chukchee, says Bogoras,'^ a typical
shamanistic performance is carried on in the inner room of the
house, when it is closed for the night. This room, especially
among the Reindeer Chukchee, is very small. Sometimes the
performance here descril)ed is preceded by another, held in the
outer room, in da)dight, and usually connected with a communal
ceremonial.
When the drum is tightened and moistened, and the light is
put out, the shaman, who is often quite naked down to the waist,
begins to operate.
In modern times Chukchee shamans imitate the Tungus
shamans in smoking a pipe filled with strong narcotic tobacco.
The shaman beats the drum and sings tunes; at first slowly,
then more i-apidly. His songs have no words, and there is no
order in their succession. Though the audience take no actual
part in the ceremony, they are in fact of some assistance, as
forming a very primitive * chorus '. Their frequent exclamations
encourage the shaman's actions.
Without an ocitJcGlin {' to give answering calls," participle) a
Chukchee shaman considers himself unable to perform his office
fittingly ; novices, therefore, while trying to learn the shamanistic
practices, usually induce a brother or a sister to respond, thus
encouraging the zeal of the performer.'*
' Among the Asiatic Eskimo, the wife and other members of the
family form a kind of chorus, which from time to time catches up
the tune and sings with the shaman. Among the Russianized
Yukaghir of the lower Kolyma, the wife is also the assistant of
1 Op. cit., p. 52. " Ibid. ' The Chukchee, p. 433.
* Op. cit., p. 434.
I
her sli.iman husband, ami during the performance she givos him
encouraging answers, and he addresses her as his ''supporting
staff"".' •
When the IrJct come to the shaman, he acts in a different way,
according to whether he has or has not a ventriloquistic gift.
If tlie shaman is only 'single-bodied', the kcht Avill sing and
beat the drum through his body, the sound only of the shaman's
voice being changed. "SVhen he is a ventriloquist, the At?c/ appear
as ' separate voices '.
Bogoras says that shamans could, with credit to themselves,
carry on a contest with the best practitioners of similar arts in
civilized countries. The voices are successful imitations of
different sounds : human, superhuman, animal, even of tempests
and winds, or of an echo, and come from all sides of the room ;
from without, from above, and from underground. The whole of
Nature may sometimes be represented in the small inner room of
the Chukchee.
Then the spirit either l)egins to talk or departs with a sound
like the buzzing of a fly. Wliile it stays, it beats the drum
violently, speaking in its own language, if it happens to be any
animal except the wolf, fox, and raven, which can speak in the
language of men ; but there is a peculiar timbre in their voices.
Usually it is not only one spirit which appears, and this part of
the performance might be called a dialogue. Sometimes the
shaman does not himself understand the language he is using, and
an interpreter is necessary. There are cases when spirit-language,
comprising a mixture of Koryak, Yakut, and Yukaghir, has to be
translated into Russian for the Russianized shamans and natives,
especially those of the Kolyma district.
Jochelson tells of a Tungus shaman nicknamed Mashka, whose
' spirits ', being of Koryak origin, spoke through him in that
language : ' I asked him several times to dictate to me what his
spirits were saying, and he would invaribly reply that he did not
remember, that he forgot everything after the seance was over, and
that, besides, he did not understand the language of his spirits.
At first I thought that he was deceiving me ; but I had several
opportunities of convincing myself that he really did not under-
stand any Koryak. Evidently he had learned by heart Koryak
incantations which he could pronounce only in a state of
excitement.'^
' Op. cit., p. 435. * Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 52.
There is no regular shanianist language among the Cliukchee,
merely a few special expressions.
'Among the north-western branch of the Koryak, the "spirits"
are said to use a special mode of pronunciation, similar to that
used by the south-eastern Koryak and the Chukchee. A few
words are also said to be peculiar to them. Among the Asiatic
Eskimo the '* spirits " are said to have a special language. Many
words of it were given me by the shamans, and most of them are
analogous to the '' spirit " language known to various Eskimo
tribes of America, both in Alaska and on the Atlantic side.'^
Sometimes the spirits are very mischievous. In the movable
tents of the Reindeer people an invisible hand will sometimes turn
everything upside down, and throw different objects about, such
as snow, piece? of ice, &c.
* I must mention '. says Bogoras,- ' that the audience is strictly
forbidden to make any attempts whatever to touch the " spirits ".
These latter highly resent any intrusion of this kind, and retaliate
either on the shaman. Avhom they may kill on the spot, or on the
trespassing listener, who runs the risk of having his head broken,
or even a knife thrust through his ribs in the dark. I received
warnings of this kind at almost every shamanistic performance.'
After the preliminary intercourse with the ' spirits ', the shaman,
still in the dark, gives advice and utters prophecies. For example,
at one ceremony, where Bogoras was present, the shaman Galmu-
urgin prophesied to his host that many wild reindeer would be at
his gate the following autumn. ' One buck ', he said, ' will stop on
the right side of the entrance, and pluck at the grass, attracted
by a certain doe of dark-grey hair. This attraction must be
strengthened with a special incantation. The reindeer-buck,
while standing there, must be killed with the bow, and the arrow
to be used must have a flat rhomboid point. This will secure the
successful killing of all the other wild reindeer.*''
After his introductory interview with the spirits, the shaman
sometimes * sinks ' ; he falls to the ground unconscious, while his
soul is wandering in the other worlds, talking with the ' spirits '
and asking them for advice. The modern shamans actually ' sink '
very seldom, but they know that it was done in the old days.
When shamanistic performances are connected with ceremonials,
they are carried on in the outer room. Veiitriloquism is not
1 Bogoras, Tlie Chuhcliee, p. 438. - Op. cit., p. 439.
=5 Op. cit., p. 440.
practised on tliose occasions, and tlie Icle ' is bent on mischief, and
among other thinj^s, seeks to destroy the life which is under
his temporary pcsver.'^ Many tricks are performed by shamans
even in daylight.
Upune. the wife of a dead Chukchee shaman, possessed won-
derful shamanistic power ; she herself declared that she had
only a small part of her husband's ability. In a shamanistic
performance " she took a largo round pebble of the size of a man's
fist, set it upon the drum, and, blowing upon it from all sides,
began to mumble and snort in the same kele-Yike manner. She
called our attention by signs — being in the possession of the Jccle, she
had lost the faculty of human speech — and then began to wring
the pebble with both hands. Then a continuous row of very
small pebbles began to fall from her hands. This lasted for fully
five minutes, till quite a heap of small pebbles had collected below,
on the skin. The larger pebble, however, remained smooth and
intact.' -
At the request of Bogoras the female shaman repeated this feat
with the same success, and all the upper part of the body being
naked, it was easy to observe her movements. The practice of
stabbing oneself through the abdomen with a knife is universal in
shamanistic performances ; Kamchadal and Eskimo, Chukchee
and Yukaghir, even the Neo-Siberian shamans of northern
Asia, are familiar with this trick.
It would be ditficult to describe all the tricks performed by the
shamans : some of the commonest are the swalloAving of burning
coals.^ setting oneself free from a cord by which one is bound, &c.
Neo-Siberians.
The Yakut. For comparison with the Palaeo-Siberian methods
of shamanizing, we shall take a Yakut shaman in action, as
described by Sieroszewski.* * Outwardly, shamanistic ceremonies
are very uniform,' says Sieroszewski. The ceremony now de-
scribed ' is the part of the shamanistic ceremony which remains
always and everywhere unchanged, and, sanctioned by custom,
forms, so to speak, the basis of the rite.'
When the shaman who has been called to a sick person enters
the yurla, he at once takes the place destined for him on the
' Op. cit., p. 442. 2 Op. cit., p. 444.
^ Sarytchetf, lite Voyage of Capt. Sarytcheff's Fleet along the N.E. Coast
of SOm-ia, through the Polar Sea and the Pacific, p. 30.
* Sieroszewski, 12 Lat w Kraju YakiUow, 1902, p. 639.
billiri/J; agon. He lies on his white mare's skin and waits for the
night, the time when it is possible to shamanize. Meanwhile he
is entertained with food and drink.
* When the sun sets and the dusk of evening approaches, all
preparations for the ceremony in the yurta are hurriedly
completed : tlie ground is swept, the wood is cut, and food is
provided in larger quantity and of better quality than usual.
One by one the neighljours arrive and seat themselves along the
wall, the men on the right, and the women on the left ; the
conversation is jieculiarly serious and reserved, the movements
gentle.
* In the northern part of the Yakut district the host chooses
the best latchets and forms them into a loop, which is placed
round the shaman's shoulders and held by one of those present
during the dance, in order to prevent the spirits from carrying
him off. At length every one has supper, and the household
takes some rest. The shaman, sitting on the edge of the hilliri/Jc,
slowly untwists his tresses, muttering and giving orders. He
sometimes has a nervous and artificial hiccough which makes his
whole body shake ; his gaze does not wander, his eyes being fixed
on one point, usuallj^ on the fire.
' The fire is allowed to die out. More and more deeply the
dusk descends on the room ; voices are hushed, and the company
talks in whispers; notice is given that anybody ■wishing to go out
must do so at once, because soon the door will be closed, after
which nobody can either go out or come in.
' The shaman slowly takes off his shirt and puts on his wizard's
coat, or, failing that, he takes the woman's coat called sangi/niah.^
Then he is given a pipe, which he smokes for a long time,
swallowing the smoke ; his hiccough becomes louder, he shivers
more violently. When he has finished smoking, his face is pale,
his head falls on his breast, his eyes are half-closed.
'At this point the white mare's skin is placed in the middle of
the room. The shaman asks for cold water, and when he has
drunk it he slowly holds out his hand for the drum prepared for
him; he then walks to the middle of the room, and. kneeling for
a time on liis right knee, bows solemnly to all the four corners of
the world, at the same time sprinkling the ground about him
with the water from his mouth.
^ Gmelin speaks of special embroidered stockings -wliich the shauian
dons in the yurta. {Reise (lurch Sibirien, pp. 351-6.J
'Now evorytliing- is silent. A handful of white horsehair is
thrown on the lire, putting it quite out ; in the faint gleam of the
red coals the black motionless figure of the shaman is still to be
seen for a while, with drooping head, big drum on breast, and
face turned towards the south, as is also the head of the mare's
skin upon which he is sitting.
•Complete darkness follows the dusk; the audience scarcely
breathes, and only tlie unintelligible mutterings and hiccoughs of
the shaman can be heard ; gradually even this sinks into a
profound silence. Eventually a single great yawn like the clang
of iron breaks the stillness, followed by the loud piercing cry of a
falcon, or the plaintive weeping of a seamew — then silence again.
' Only the gentle sound of the voice of the drum, like the hum-
ming of a gnat, announces that the shaman has begun to play.
'This music is at first soft, delicate, tender, then rough and
irrepressible like the roar of an oncoming storm. It grows louder
and louder and, like peals of thunder, Avild shouts rend the air ;
the crow calls, the grebe laughs, the seamews complain, snipes
whistle, eagles and hawks scream,'
' The ^ music swells and rises to the highest pitch, the beating
of the drum becomes more and more vigorous, until the two
sounds combine in one long-drawn crescendo. The numberless
small bells ring and clang ; it is not a storm — it is a whole cascade
of sounds, enough to overwhelm all the listeners. . . . All at once
it breaks off — there are one or two strong beats on the drum,
which, hitherto held aloft, now falls to the shaman's knees.
Suddenly the sound of the drum and the small bells ceases.
Then silence for a long moment, while the gentle gnat-like
murmur of the drum begins again.'
This may be repeated several times, according to the degree of
the shaman's inspiration ; at last, when the music takes on a
certain new rhythm and melody, sombrely the voice of the
shaman chants the following obscure fragments :
1. ' Mighty bull of the earth . . . Horse of the steppes ! '
2. ' I, the mighty bull . . . bellow ! '
3. ' I, the horse of the steppes . . . neigh ! '
4. "I, the man set above all other beings I '
5. • I, the man most gifted of all ! '
6. ' I, the man created by the master all-powerful ! '
* Sieroszewski, oi^. cit., p. 641.
7. * Horse of the steppes, appear ! teach me ! '
8. ' Enchanted bull of the earth, appear ! speak to me ! '
9. ' Powerful master, command me ! '
10. ' All of you, -who will go with me, give heed with your
ears ! Those whom I command not. follow me not I '
11. 'Approach not nearer than is permitted! Look intently!
Give heed ! Have a care ! '
12. ' Look heedfully ! Do this, all of you ... all together . . .
all, however many you may be ! '
13. ' Thou of the left side, O lady with thy staff, if anything be
done amiss, if I take not the right way, I entreat you— correct me !
Command ! . . . '
14. ' My errors and my path show to me ! 0 mother of mine !
Wing thy free flight ! Pave my wide roadway ! '
15. ' Souls of the sun, mothers of the sun, living in the south,
in the nine wooded hills, ye who shall be jealous ... I adjure you
all . . . let them stay ... let your three shadows stand high ! '
16. * In the East, on your mountain, lord, grandsire of mine,
great of power and thick of neck — be thou with me ! '
17. "And thou, grey-bearded wizard (fire), I ask thee : with all
my dreams, with all comply! To all my desires consent . . .
Heed all ! Fulfil all ! . . . All heed ... All fulfil ! ' ^
At this point the sounds of the drum are heard once more, once
more wild shouts and meaningless words — then all is silent.
Adjurations similar to the above are used in all the Yakut
districts and all ceremonies begin with them. There is, however,
another formula still longer and more complicated, which Sieros-
zewski sa5's he could not procure. The ritual which follows
this formula consists of an improvisation appropriate to each
person and occasion.
In the ensuing prayers the shaman addresses his umagyat and
other protective ' spirits ' ; he talks with the Jcaliani/, asks them
questions, and gives answers in their names. Sometimes the
shaman must pray and beat the drum a long time before the
spirits come ; often their appearance is so sudden and so
impetuous that the shaman is overcome and falls down. It is a
good sign if he falls on his face, and a bad sign if he falls on his
back.
'When the (imagyat comes down to a shaman, he arises and
^ Sieroszewski, op. cit., pp. 641-2.
begins to leap and dance, at first on the skin, and then, liis move-
ments becoming more rapid, he glides into the middle of the
room. Wood is (quickly piled on the fire, and the light spreads
through the ijurta. which is now full of noise and movement.
The shaman dances, sings, and beats the drum uninterruptedly,
jumps about furiously, turning his face to the south, then to the
west, then to the east. Those who hold him by the leather
thongs sometimes have great difficulty in controlling his move-
ments. In the south Yakut district, however, the shaman dances
unfettered. Indeed, he often gives up his drum so as to be able to
dance more unrestrainedly.
"The head of the shaman is bowed, his eyes are half-closed ;
his hair is tumbled and in wild disorder lies on liis sweating
face, his mouth is twisted strangely, saliva streams down his chin,
often he foams at the mouth.
' He moves round the room, advancing and retreating, beating
the drum, which resounds no less wildlj' than the roaring of the
shaman himself ; he shakes his jingling coat, and seems to become
more and more maniacal, intoxicated with the noise and move-
ment.
* His fury ebbs and rises like a wave ; sometimes it leaves him
for a while, and then, holding his drum high above his head,
solemnly and calmly he chants a prayer and summons the
"'spirit".
'At last he knows all he desires; he is acquainted with the
cause of the misfortune or disease wuth which he has been
striving ; he is sure of the help of the beings whose aid he needs.
Circling about in his dance, singing and playing, he approaches
the patient.
' With new objurgations he drives away the cause of the illness
by frightening it, or by sucking it out with his mouth from the
painful place: then, returning to the middle of the room, he
drives it away by spitting and blowing. Then he learns what
sacrifice is to be made to the " powerful spirits ", for this harsh
treatment of the spirit's servant, who was sent to the patient.
'Then the shaman, shading his eyes from the light with his
hands, looks attentively into each corner of the room ; and if he
notices anything suspicious, he again beats the drum, dances,
makes terrifying gestures, and entreats the "spirits".
' At length all is made clean, the suspicious " cloud '' is no
more to be seen, which signifies that the cause of the trouble has
been di'iven out ; the sacrifice is accepted, the prayers have been
heard — the ceremony is over.
* The shaman still retains for some time after this the gift of
prophecy ; he foretells various happenings, answers the questions
of the curious, or relates what he saw on his journey away from
the earth.
' Finally he is carried with his mare's skin back to his place of
honour on the hillirijJc'.^
The sacrifice offered to the ' spirits ' varies according to the
importance of the occasion. Sometimes the disease is transferred
to the cattle, and the stricken cattle are then sacrificed, i.e. ascend
to the sky.- It is this journey to the sky, together with the
spirits and the sacrificed animal, which the dance symbolizes.
In the old days (according to the native accounts) there were, in
fact, shamans who really did ascend into the sky while the
spectators saw how 'on the clouds there floated the sacrificed
animal, after it sped the drum of the shaman, and this was
followed by the shaman himself in his wizard's coat'."^
There were also wicked and powerful shamans who. instead of a
real animal, carried up into the sky a mare formed of cloud, but
the evidence for the existence of these shamans is indefinite.
During this difficult and dangerous journey every shaman has
his places of rest, called ounM [ololcli) ; when he takes a seat
during the dance, this signifies that he has come to an ouokh;^
w^hen he rises, he is ascending further up into the sky ; if he falls
down, he is descending under the earth.
Every shaman, however far he may have proceeded on his
journey, knows where he is, on which ouoJcli, and also the route
taken by every other shaman who is shamanizing at that moment.
Sometimes the leading of the * spirit ' and the sacrificed cattle
into the sky forms a separate ceremony performed a few months
after the first, in which they had promised this sacrifice. The
sacrifices are either bloody, when the shaman tears to pieces the
' Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 644.
^ Troshchanski says (p. 105): 'Instead of the human kut whicli the
ahassy had captured, he receives an animal kut. Usually, between the
spirit who took away the kut of the man and the representative of
the latter, there takes place (through the shaman) a keen bargaining, in
which the spirit gives up some of its demands.'
^ Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 645.
* These ouokh occur in a series of nine, in conformity with the usual
arrangement of objects in nines which characterizes the whole religious
and social system of the Yakut. (Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 472.)
body of the animal with rage and fury, or l)loodless ; e.g. when
some grease or meat, or other material, such as hair, «S:c., is
offered up.
The Samoyed. The shamauistic ceremonial among the Samoyed
of the Tomsk Government has been described by Castren,' from
whose account we take the following picture.
On arriving at the ijurta the shaman takes his seat on a bench,
or on a chest which must contain no implement capable of inflicting
a wound. Near him, but not in front, the occupants of the jiiaia
group themselves. The shaman faces the door, and pretends to be
unconscious of all sights and sounds. In his right hand he holds
a short staff which is inscribed on one side with mystic symbols ;
and in his left, two arrows with the points held upwards. To each
point is affixed a small bell. His dress has nothing distinctive of
a shaman ; he usually wears the coat either of the inquirer or of
the sick person. The performance l^egins with a song summoning
the spirits. Then the shaman strikes the arrows with his staff, so
that the bells chime in a regular rhythm, while all the spectators
sit in awed silence. When the spirits appear, the shaman rises
and commences to dance. The dance is followed by a series of
complicated and difficult body-movements. While all this is
going on the rhythmical chiming of the bells never ceases. His
song consists of a sort of dialogue with the spirits, and is sung
with changes of intonation denoting different degrees of excite-
ment or enthusiasm. When his enthusiasm rises to a high pitch,
those present join in the singing. After the shaman has learnt all
he wishes from the spirits, the latter communicate the will of the
god to the people. If he is to foretell the future, he employs
his staff. He throws it on the ground, and if it falls with
the side inscribed with mystical signs turned upward, this is
a good omen ; if the blank side shows, ill-fortune may l>e
looked for.
To prove his trustworthiness to those present, the shaman uses
the following means. He sits on a reindeer skin, and his hands
and feet are Ijound, The room is completely darkened. Then, as
if in answer to his call to the spirits, various noises are heard both
within and without the yxirta : the beating of a drum, the grunting
of a bear, the hissing of a serpent, the squeak of a squirrel, and
mysterious scratchings on the reindeer-skin Avhere he sits. Then
' Castren, Reiseben'chte unci Briefe, 1845-9, pp. 172 4.
the shaman's bonds are untied, he is set free, and every one is
convinced that what they heard was the work of the spirits.
The Altaians. The Mms (shamans) of the Turkic tribes of the
Altai have preserved with great strictness the ancient shamanistic
ceremonial forms. Potanin ' gives a curious description of the per-
formance of a young shaman, Enchu, who lived by the River Talda,
about six versts from Anguday. Four stages, each marked by
a different posture of the shaman, characterized his performance :
in the first, he was sitting and facing the fire ; second, standing,
with his back to the fire ; third, a sort of interlude, during which the
shaman rested from his labour, supporting himself with his elbow
on tlie drum, which he balanced on its rim, while he related
what he had learned in his intercourse with the spirits ; and fourth,
a final shamanizing, with his back to the fire, and facing the place
where the drum usually hangs. Enchu declared afterwards that he
had no recollection of what happened while he was shamanizing
with his back turned to the fire. While he was in that position he
had been whirling about madly in circles on one spot, and without
any considerable movement of his feet ; crouching down on his
haunches, and rising again to a standing posture, without inter-
rupting the rotating movement. As he alternately bent and
straightened his body from the hips, Ijackwards and forwards
and from side to side, with lively movements or jerks, the
manyalc (metal pendants) fastened to his coat danced and dangled
furiously in all directions, describing shining circles in the air.
At the same time the shaman kept beating his drum, holding it
in various positions so that it gave out different sounds. From
time to time Enchu held the drum high above his head in
a horizontal position and beat upon it from below. The natives
of Anguday explained to Potanin that when the shaman held the
drum in that way, he was collecting spirits in it. At times he
would talk and laugh with some one apparently near by, but in-
visible to others, showing in this manner that he was in the
company of spirits. At one time Enchu fell to singing more
quietly and evenly, simultaneously imitating on his drum the
hoof-beats of a horse. This was to indicate that the shaman,
with his accompanying spirits, was departing to the underworld
of Erlik, the god of darkness.
Mr. Potanin gives a description of this voyage which he heard
from a Russian missionary, Mr. Chivalkofl".
' Potanin, Sketches of N.W. Mongolia, vol. iv, pp. 60-2.
The him directs liis way towaiils the south. He has to cross
the Altai Mountains and the red sands of the Chinese deserts.
Then he crosses a yellow steppe, such as no magpie can traverse.
• Singing, we shall cross it ', says the kam in his song. After the
yellow steppe there is a ' pale ' one, such as no crow can pass over,
and the Jcam in his imaginary passage once more sings a song full
of hopeful courage. Then comes the iron mountain of Tamir
Shayha, which 'leans against the sky'. Now the lam exhorts
his train to be all of one mind, that they may pass this barrier
by the united force of their will. He describes the difficulty of
surmounting the passes and, in doing so, breathes heavily. On the
top he finds the Ijones of many lams who have fallen here and died
through failure of power. Again he sings songs of hope, declares
he will leap over the mountain, and suits the action to the word.
At last he comes towards the opening which leads to the under-
world. Here he finds a sea, bridged only by a hair. To show the
difficult)' of crossing this bridge, the lam tottei-s, almost falls, and
with difficulty recovers himself. In the depths of the sea he
beholds the bodies of many sinful kams who have perished there,
for only those who are blameless can cross this bridge. On the
other side he meets sinners who are receiving punishment suited
to their faults ; e. g. an eavesdropper is pinned by his ear to
a stake. On reaching the dwelling-place of Erlik, he is confronted
by dogs, who will not let him pass, but at last, being appeased by
gifts, they grow milder. Before the beginning of the shamanistic
ceremony gifts have been prepared for this emergency. Having
successfully passed these wai-ders, the Jiam, as if appi-oaching the
7/urta of Erlik and coming into his presence, bows, brings his drum
up to his forehead, and says, ' Jlergu 1 mergu!' Then he declares
whence and why he comes. Suddenly he shouts ; this is meant to
indicate that Erlik is angry that a mortal should dare to enter his
ijurta. The frightened kam leaps Ijackward towards the door, l)ut
gathers fresh courage and again approaches Erlik's throne. After
this performance has been gone through three times, Erlik speaks :
'Winged ci-eatures cannot fly hither, l)eings with bones cannot
come : how have you, ill-smelling blackbeetle, made your way to
my al>ode ? '
Then the kam stoops and with his drum makes certain movements
as if dipping up wine. He presents the wine to Erlik ; and makes
a shuddering movement like that of one who drinks strong wine,
to indicate that Erlik has drunk. When he perceives that Erlik's
1679 R
humour is somewhat milder under the influence of his draught he
makes him off'erings of gifts. The great spirit (Erlik) is moved by
the offerings of the Icam, and promises increase of cattle, declares
which mare will foal, and even specifies what marking the young
one will have. The Tiam returns in high spirits, not on his horse
as he went, but on a goose — a change of steeds which he indicates
by moving about the jiurta on tiptoe, to represent flying.
Chapter XII
SHAMANISM AND SEX.
In this chapter I propose to deal not only with the male and
female shamans and their relation to each other, but also with
a curious phenomenon— the mystical change of sex among
shamans, by which a male shaman is ' transformed ' into a female,
and vice versa.
Nearly all writers on Siberia agree that the position of the
female shaman in modern days is sometimes even more important
than that occupied by the male.
Krasheninnikoff ascribes the shamanistic gift among the Kam-
chadal almost exclusively to women ; Steller, who travelled
through Kamchatka after him, states, however, that there were
also men-shamans among the Yukaghir, Koryak, and Chukchee.
Bogoras, Jochelson, and others saw as many notable women-
shamans as men. Tretyakoff (op. eit., p. 213) affirms the
existence of women-shamans side by side with men-shamans
among the Samoyed of Turukhan, and the same, according to
Bielayewski,^ is true of the Ostyak. Among the Tungus of
Baikal - the woman can be a shaman as well as the man ; and
Gmelin" met among them a woman eighteen years of age who
was held superior to any man-shaman. Among the Yakut and
Buryat there are shamans of both sexes.'* Solovieif ' thinks that
among the Yakut the female shamans are considered less impor-
tant than the male, and the people ask their help only when there
is no man-shaman in the neighbourhood. The shamanesses,
according to him, are especially good in foretelling the future,
looking for things that are lost, and curing mental diseases.
Among the Palaeo-Siberians, women receive the gift of shaman- !f
izing more often than men. " The woman is by nature a shaman,'
' A Jouniey to the Glacial Sea, p. 114.
2 Siberian News, 1822, pp. 19-39.
* Sieroszewski ; Potanin.
eroszewski ; Potanin.
mains of Paganism among the Yahiit, 'Siberia' (Annual), i. 414.
R 2
'declared u Cliukchee shaman to Bogoras. She does not need to
be specially prepared for the calling, and so her novitiate is much
shorter and less trying. Ventriloquism, however, is not practised
among female shamans.
Taking into account the present prominent position of female
shamans among many Siberian tribes and their place in tra-
ditions,^ together with certain feminine attributes of the male
shaman (such as dress, habits, privileges) and certain linguistic
similarities between the names for male and female shamans,^
many scientists (Troshchanski, Bogoras, Stadling) have been led
to express the opinion that in former days only female shamans
existed, and that the male shaman is a later development which
has to some extent supplanted them.
Concerning the supposed evolution of the shaman from female
to male there is no certain knowledge ; one can only surmise.
The different views of the origin of shamanism naturally affect
the theory that shamans were originally female.
^ Among several tribes traditions exist tliat the shaman's gift was first
bestowed on woman. In Mongolian myths goddesses were both shamans
themselves— like the Daughter of the Moon — and the bestowers of the
shamanistic gift on mankind.
^ Neo-Siberians nearly all have a common name for the woman-shaman,
while each of these tribes has a special name for the man-shaman. The
Yakut call him «(/»>) ; the Mongols, ?>»(/e ; the Buryat, fcw(/f and lio ; the
Tungus, samnian and l-hamman ; the Tartars, l-am ; the Altaians, lam
and yam; the Kirgis, halsy; the Samoyed, tadiheij. The Yakut, it is curious
to note, though they have the word l-hamna, nevertheless do not call the
shaman by a name similar to that in use among other Neo-Siberians, but
give him a special appellation. This, according to Troshchanski (p. 118),
may be explained by the fact that when the Yakut appeared in the
present Yakut district they did not possess a man-shaman, but they had
already a woman-shaman, for whom all these tribes have a name in
common. Among Mongols, Buryat, Yakut, Altaians, Turgout, and Kir-
gis, the following names for the woman-shanian occur, tdagan, udctycni,
ithakhan, iitygan, utiUjini, i<hiaii, cluana. All these words come from
a root the meaning of which has not been certainly determined. In
some Tartaric dialects ildecfe, 'female shaman', means also 'housewife'
and 'wife'. In Tungus, titalan means 'sorcerer' and 'cannibal'; but
ittctfjaii seems to be a Mongol word in origin. According to Potanin
and Banzaroff, the term in question is otymologically connected with
the Mongol word Eiiigen, 'earth-goddess' (Etiigen-eke, 'mother-earth').
Potanin further connects the word for p]arth-Goddess among different
Altaic and Finno-Ugric tribes with the names of constellations, espe-
ciall}- with the two bear constellations. In one Tartaric dialect utygan
means 'bear'. According to ancient Mongol and Chinese myths, the gods
of certain constellations are connected with the protective spirits of the
family hearth, just as they are connected with the goddess of the earth.
Thus these terms for female shamans are related to the genesis of certain
ijoddesses.
Jochelson ' expresses the opinion that there is no doubt that
professional shamanism has developed from the ceremonials of
family shamanism. The same author- also states that in family
shamanism among the Koryak some women possess a knowledge
not only of those incantations M'hich are a family secret, but of
many others Itesides, of which they make use outside the family
circle on request. From this we can see very clearly how family
shamanism among the Korj'ak has developed into professional
shamanism.
Some one with unusual gifts, often a woman, is requested to
use them on liehalf of a larger circle outside the family, and
thus becomes a professional shaman. This is especially true of
the Koryak. There is, however, no evidence that among them
the woman-shaman preceded the man. In the old days, as at the
present time, the women-shamans were considered as powerful
as the men. sometimes, indeed, an individual female shaman is
even cleverer than a man. The ' transformed ' shamans are
considered very powerful also, though they exist merely in
Koryak traditions. But since the change of sex is ' in ol)edience
to the commands of spirits','^ it seems to belong to another
category of facts and to have no connexion with the theory of an
originally universal feminine shamanism.
Among the Chukchee,^ family shamanism, being quite simple
and primitive, probably preceded individual shamanism, and the
latter seems to have grown out of the former. The mother shares
with the father the role of shaman in the family ceremonials ; she
has charge of the drum and amulets, and in exceptional cases it is
she, and not the father, who performs the family sacrifice. Thus
shamanism is not restricted to either sex, l>ut ' the gift of inspi-
ration is thought to be bestowed more frequently upon women,
though it is reputed to be of a rather inferior kind, the higher
grades Ijelonging rather to men. The reason given for this is
that the Ijearing of children is generally adverse to shamanistic
inspirations, so that a young woman with considera])le shamanistic
power may lose the greater j^art of it after the birth of her first
child. '-^
The above statements of the two best authorities on the Koryak
and the Chukchee make it clear that among these people there
are visible traces that family shamanism preceded the individual,
' The Koryak, i. 78. ^ Qp. cit., p. 47. ^ Qp. cit., p. 52.
* Bogorud, The Chukchee, ii. 41o. '" Op. cit., p. 415.
or professional, kind ; and although woman plays an important
role in both, there is no sufficient reason to suppose that in
former times she alone could shamanize. Of course, the adherents
to the theory of universal mother-right would try to see in this
case a proof of the former higher position of woman in society,
her moral supremacy, tVc. As far as our materials go, we do not
see evidence either of a superior position in the social structure or
of the moral supremacy of women in these societies, but only of
the superiority of individuals of either sex.
A similar state of things may be observed among other Palaeo-
Siberians and Neo-Siberians, although among the latter a woman-
shaman is not very often met with.
In spite of the low social position of women among these
natives, it is personal ability, irrespective of sex, which is the
decisive factor in the case of the shamanistic vocation.
As proof that women were the original shamans, certain
authors adduce the fact that the professional shaman does not
possess his own drum. But neither is this the case with women-
or men-shamans among those peoples where professional shaman-
ism is not yet clearly differentiated from family shamanism. As
regards the female dress and habits of the shaman, I shall have
opportunity to discuss this point when dealing with tribes whose
shaman's garment is more elaborate, i. e. the Neo-Siberians.
Troshchanski ^ and, following him, Stadling- believe profes-
sional shamanism to be a special institution which has no direct
connexion with the communal cult, though in the latter there are
also shamanistic elements. In the later stages of its development
the office of shaman is connected in certain cases with the
communal cult, and thus ' white ' shamanism came into existence.
Troshchanski develops his theory chiefly on Yakut evidence, and
though he tries to apply it to the whole of Siberia, we shall
confine ourselves to what he says about the Yakut. '^
Among them, where there are two categories of shamans, the
* white ', representing creative, and the * black ', destructive forces,
the latter tend to behave like women, since it is from women-
shamans that they derive their origin. In support of this theory
of theii' origin Troshchanski puts forward the following argu-
ments :
1 Tfie Evolution of the Black Faith, 1902, pp. 123-7.
^ Sliamanismen i Norm Asien, 1912, pp. 82-92.
' Op. cit., pp. 123-7.
1. The shaman has on liis coat two iron circles representing
the breasts.
2. He parts his hair in tlie middle like a woman, and braids it,
letting it fall loose during the shamanistic ceremony.
3. In the Kolyma district neither a woman nor a shaman lies
on the right side of the horse-skin in the i/urta, because, as they
say, it is on this side that one beats a horse.
4. It is only on very important occasions that the shaman
wears his own garment ; on lesser occasions he wears a girl's
jacket made of foal's hide.^
5. For three days after the l)irth of a child, at which the
goddess of fecundity, Aiasyt, is present, no man may enter the
room where the mother is lying, but only women and shamans.
Finally, according to Troshchanski, the female ' black ' shaman
was replaced by the male * black ' shaman. This transition was
effected by means of the smith, who, as the maker of the woman-
shaman's garment, held an influential position, and whose power
increased in proportion to the length of his ancestry.^ Through
their contact with shamanistic implements they acquired mana
and themselves became sorcerers and shamans.
The evolution of the ' white ' shaman took place, he opines, on
different lines. In family ceremonial the cleverest head of a
family or member of a community was chosen ; he was elected
anew for each ceremony until eventually his tenure of the office
became permanent.^
This theory of a dual evolution of shamans is not easy to sub-
stantiate. In the first place, we find that the ' white ' shaman's
garment is made by a 'white' smith ; which fact, by Troshchanski's
mode of argument, would seem to imply a line of development
for 'white' shamanism parallel to, and not divergent from, that
of ' black ' shamanism.
Again, all the supposed feminine habits of the shaman of to-
day would not go to prove that the earlier female-shaman was the
servant of ahassi/ alone. We find in the past as well as in the
present that the woman can be the priestess of the family cult
and a professional shamaness, the servant of either a'ii/ or ahass/j.
Among the Yakut, however, where the worship of abassjj is more
developed than that of ai[i, the ' black ' shamans, both men and
' Jochelson (The Konjalc, i. 53) was present at a ceremony in the
Kolyma district where the shaman wore such a costume.
'^ Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 125. ' Op. cit., p. 124.
women, ])i-e{loniinnte. On the otlior hand, among the Votyaks,
where the cult of a'i/i is more developed than that of ahassij, the
* white ' shamans are much more numerous, and form the whole
hierarchy.^
All that has been cited concerning the feminine habits of the
present-day shaman was taken by Troshchanski as proof of his
theory of the evolution of the ' black ' shaman from the ' black '
shamaness and by Jochelson as ' traces of the change of a
shaman's sex into that of a woman '.-
Jochelson thus binds together the two questions dealt with in
this chapter — the relation of the shamaness to the shaman, and
the ' transformation of shamans ', called also ' the change of sex '.
This latter phenomenon, following J. G. Frazer,^ I should prefer
to call 'the change of dress', since (with the exception of the
Chukchee, perhaps) the change of dress is not nowadays, at least,
followed ])y what the physiologists would call ' change of sex '.
Frazer'* says that the interchange of dress between men and
women is an obscure and complex problem, and thinks it unlikely
that any single solution would be applicable to all cases. In
enumerating instances of such cases among the priests of Khasis ^
and the Pelew Islanders'"' — instances, that is, of men dressing
and acting like women throughout life — he ascribes these pheno-
mena to the inspiration of a female spirit, which often chooses
a man rather than a woman for her minister and inspired mouth-
piece."
As to the people of Siberia, the ' change of sex ' is found chiefly
among Palaeo-Siberians, namely the Chukchee, Koryak, Kam-
chadal, and Asiatic Eskimo.^
Even the earliest travellers record instances of this pheno-
menon. Thus Krasheninnikoff in 1755,'^ Steller in 1774,^" Wrangel
^ Bogayewski, p. 123. - Jochelson, op. cit., i. 53.
3 J. G. Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Ozirin, ed. 1907, pp. 384-433.
* Op. cit., p. 433. ^ Major Gurtlon. ^ J. Kubary.
'' Effeminate sorcerers and priests are found among the Sea-Dyaks
of Borneo (Ch. Brooke, Schwaner) ; the Bugis of South Celebes (Capt.
Mundy); Patagonians of South America (Falkuer); the Aleutians, and
many Indian tribes of North America (Dall, Langsdorff, Powers, and
Bancroft). Frazer, Adonis, d-c, p. 429.
'^ Similar changes of sex were observed by Dr. Karsch (Uranismus oder
Pddernsfie und Tribadie hei den Natiordlhern. 1901, pp. 72-201) all over
the American continent from Alaska to Patagonia.
' Description of the Countnj of Kamchatka, ii. 24.
*° Beschreibioig von dein Lande Kamtschatka, p. 289.
in 1820,' Liidke in 1837,'- ami others. They do not give complete
accounts, but merely mention the fact. It diflers, however, in
their description from ordinary homosexualism in that there is
always reference to shamanistic inspiration or evil biddings.
More detailed descriptions are to be found in the excellent
modern works of Bogoras and Jochelson. Bogoras describes the
facts relating to the Chukchee in a chapter on 'Sexual Perversion
and Transformed Shamans '.
'The sexual organs play a part in certain shamanistic cere-
nionies.' says Bogoras.'' Tlie shaman is said to be veiy often
naked during his incantations, e.g. that used to invoke the moon,
and to mention his genital parts. ^ The change of sex is called
in Chukchee ^ sofi-nmn-heing'. i/irla-Jaid-rairgin, 'soft man' {i/irka-
laul) meaning a man transformed into a being of the weaker sex.
A man who has ' changed his sex ' is also called ' similar to
a woman' [neuchka). and a woman in like condition 'similar to
a man ' {qa cilicJieca). These latter transformations are much
rarer.
Bogoras distinguishes various degrees of 'transformation' among
the Chukchee :
1. The shaman, or the sick person at the bidding of a shaman,
arranges and braids his hair like a woman.
2. The change of dress : Kimiqai, for instance, wore woman's
clothes by order of the spirits. In his youth he had been
afflicted by an illness and had been greatly benefited by the
change of dress. At the time described he Avas an elderly man
with a beard, and had a wife and four children."'
3. The change in the habits of one sex is shown when the man
'throws away the rifle and the lance, the lasso of the reindeer
herdman, and the harpoon of the seal-hunter, and takes to the
needle and the skin-scraper ".'' He learns the use of these quickly,
because the 'spirits' help him all the time. Even his pronun-
ciation changes from masculine to feminine. His body loses its
masculine appearance, and he becomes shy.
4. In rare eases the 'soft man' begins to feel himself a woman ;
he seeks for a lover, and sometimes marries.
^ Heise Idnrjs der Xonlkilste von Sibirien tind auf dem Eismeere, ed. 1841,
p. 227.
2 Journey Around the World, 1834-6, p. 143.
^ The Chukchee, ii. 448. < Op. cit., p. 449.
' Op. cit., p. 450. « Op. cit., p. 451.
The marriage is performed with the usual rites, and tlie union
is as dural)le as any other. The ' man ' goes hunting and fishing,
the ' woman ' does domestic work. Bogoras thinks they cohabit
modo Socratis, though they are sometimes said to have mistresses
in secret and to produce children by them.^ The wife does not,
however, change her name, though the husband sometimes adds
the name of his wife to his own.
Ihihlic opinion is ahcays against them,'- but as the transformed
shamans are very dangerous, they are not opposed and no out-
ward objections are raised. Each ' soft man ' is supposed to have
a special protector among the 'spirits', who is usually said to
play the part of a supernatural husl)and, the ' Z:e?e-husband ' of the
' transformed ' one. This husband is supposed to be the real head
of the family and to communicate his orders by means of his
* transformed' wife. The human husband, of course, has to execute
these orders faithfully under fear of prompt punishment. •'
Sometimes the shaman of untransformed sex has a 'kdc-wife'
in addition to his own.
Bogoras himself was best acquainted with a ' soft man ' called
Tiluwgi, who, however, would not allow himself to be inspected
fully. His human husband described him as a normal male
person. In spite of this, his habits were those of a woman. The
husband of Tiluwgi was an ordinary man and his cousin. The
' transformed shamans ' generally chose a husband from among
their nearest relations.
Bogoras never met a woman transformed into a man, but he
heard of several cases. One transformed shamaness was a widow,
who had children of her own. Following the command of the
' spirits ', she cut her hair, donned the dress of a man, adopted the
masculine pronunciation, and even learned in a very short time
to handle the spear and to shoot with a rifle. At last she wanted
to marry and easily found a young girl who consented to become
her wife.^
Jochelson '' states that he did not learn of the transformation
of women-shamans into men among the Koryak of to-day ; we
find, however, accounts of such transformation in legends. Neither
did he meet any men-shamans transformed into women.
' The father of Yulta, a Koryak from the village of Kamenskoye,
who died not long ago and who had been a shaman, had worn
^ Op. cit., p. 451. ^ The italics are mine.
^ Op. cit., p, 452. * Op. cit., p. 455. ^ The Kori/ak, p. 53.
women's clothes for two years by order of the sjnrits ; but since
he had been unable to obtain complete transformation he implored
his spirits to pei'mit him to resume men's clothes. His request
was granted, l)ut on condition that he should put on women's
clothes during shamanistic ceremonies."^
This is the only case familiar to Jochelson of the change of sex,
or rather change of dress. The Koryak call the transformed
shaman Jcavau or Kevcu ; they are sui>posed to be as powerful as
women-shamans.
The narratives concerning the Kamchadal JcoeJiChuch are much
confused, for Krasheninnikoff does not rightly explain either who
they were, or whether they were men or women. The hockchuch
wore women's dress, did women's work, and were treated with
the same lack of respect as is shown to women. They could
enter the house through the draught-channel, which corresponds
to the opening in the roof of the porch of the Koryak underground
house,- in the same Avay as the women and the Koryak qavau.
Piekarski ^ finds that Krasheninnikoff contradicts himself in his
statements concerning ^ JcoeJicJiiich women, who do not come into
contact with men '.
Krasheninnikoff's descrii^tions of lioelxclmch are as follows : ' The
Kamchadal have one, two, or three wives, and besides these some
of them keep JcoeJcckuch who wear women's clothes, do women's
work, and have nothing to do with men, in whose comjDany they
feel shy and not at their ease ' (p. 24, ed. 1755).
' The Kamchadal women are tailors and shoemakers, which
professions are considered useless to men, who are immediately
regarded as kockclmch if they enter these vocations ' (p. 40, ed. 1755).
' The women are not jealous, for not only do two or three wives
of one man live together in peace, but they do not even object to
the Icockchuch, whom some Kamchadal keep instead of concubines '
(p. 125, ed. 1755). * Every woman, especially an old one, and every
koekcJmcJi , is a sorcerer and interpreter of dreams ' (p. 81, ed. 1755).'*
From the alcove quotations the Jcockchuch seem rather to be of
' Op. cit., p. 53.
- Krasheninnikoff, ii. 114 ; see Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 120.
^ See Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 120.
* 'The female sex being more attractive and perhaps also cleverer,
more shamans are chosen from among women and koekchiich than from
among men,' p. 15. ' The natives of the Kuril Islands have two or three
wives each ; . . . they have also koekchuchs, like the Koryak and Kam-
chadal'(p. 183, ed. 1755).
the eunuch typo, though sometimes they play the role of con-
cubines.
The hoekcliuch who was regarded by the community as being of
an unusual type probably enjoyed special privileges higher than
those of a sorcerer or a shaman. The worship of the pathological
may have verged here into the worship of the supernatural.
The ' change of sex ' is met with only among the Palaeo-
Siberians,^ whilst among the Neo-Siberians only does the shaman-
istic dress more often resemble female garments. It is true that
among Yakut men-shamans traditions exist of their bearing
children,^ but this is connected rather with the idea of the power
of shamanistic spirits which makes such miracles possible. As
a rule, child-birth among the Palaeo-Siberian shamanesses results
in either a complete or at least a temporary loss of the shamanistic
gift. In a Koryak tale ^ the shamanistic power of Ememqut, son
of Big-Raven, 'disappeared after the mythical Triton had be-
witched him and caused him to give birth to a boy. His power
was restored to him after his sister had killed the Triton's sister,
by which deed the act of giving birth was completely eliminated.'
We observe also that in many Siberian communities a woman-
shaman is not permitted to touch the drum.
The question of the change of sex, especially as it concerns the
most powerful shamans, cannot l)e explained on a purely physical
basis. Several perversions occur among these j)eople, as they do
in all primitive and even in more civilized societies ; but it does
not follow that every pathological individual is the subject of
^magical worship. On the contrary, when reading the detailed
description of the transformed shamans in Bogoras and Jochelson,
we see that in nearly every case these shamans are at first normal
people and only later, by inspiration of spirits, have to change
their sex. As described in previous pages, some of them have
secretly, along with an official husband of the same sex, normal
sexual relations Avith a person of the other sex, and we may even
assume that some of them actually became sexless, although in
certain cases the outward show required by religious considerations
may cover abnormal passions.
It is scarcely possible to see in these cases a religious con-
^ The Yukaghir form an exception. Jochelson saj^s : * I found no
indications of sucli an institution among the Yukaghir, except in the
dress of the shamans, which includes articles of female attire.' {TJie
Yukaghir and Yukaghirized Tiingits, p. 11'2.)
^ Sieroszewski. ^ Jochelson, op. cit., p. 55.
ception of a divine two-sexeil shaman embodying in one being
n perfect man- and woman-nature. We do not find such gods or
spirits among the Palaeo-Siberians, though we encounter this
idea among tlie more advanced Neo-Siberians. In the religion of
the natives of the Altai this idea is expressed by the name ' mother
and father of the man '. given to the Supreme Being.
It may l)e that the most satisfactory basis for an attempt at the
solution of this problem would be the sociological one.
The extraordinaiy rights granted by the community to the
shaman are clearly evident in the exceptional position he occupies.
Shamans (male and female) may do what is not permitted to
others, and indeed they must act differently, because they have
a supernatural power recognized by the community.^
Taking some of the characteristics ascribed to shamans in
previous chapters, we see that, inspired by the spirits. ' they may
cut and otherwise injure their bodies without suffering harm.'-
They may. during shaman istic performances, 'ascend to the sky
together with the shaman's drum and sacrificial animal.'^
They may give birth to a child, a bird, a frog, &c.,"^ and they
may change their sex if they are ' real shamans ', with super-
natural powers, with a true vocation. —
Socially, the shaman does not belong either to the class of
males or to that of females, but to a third class, that of shamans.
Sexually, he may be sexless, or ascetic, or have inclinations of
homosexualistic character, but he may also be quite normal.
And so, forming a special class, shamans have special taboos
comprising both. male and female characters. The same may be
said of their costume, which combines features peculiar to the
dress of both sexes.
The woman-shaman is not restricted to taboos specifically
female, for her social position is much higher than that of the
ordinary woman : whilst purely male taboos are not applied to
the man-sliaman, who has, together with certain male taboos,
some privileges of a woman ; e.g. among the Yakut, access to the
house of lying-in women during the first three days after the
birth of a child.
' From this point of view it would appear that the high respect shown
in individual cases to the female shaman is due to the position which
a shaman, as such, of whatever sex, occupies in society, and does not
imply an earlior general female shamanism,
"^ .iochelson, 'H^e Koryak.
' Sieroszewski, 12 Lat w Krajn Y(il-ii(6ir, p. 403. ■* Op. cit., p. 399.
Shamanhood is separated from society by a boundary-line of
many taboos. When the shaman cannot keep those taboos he or
she ceases to be a shaman ; e. g. the woman during the period
of child-birth and menstruation, when she again belongs to the
community of women.
The class of shamans, in which the woman acquires certain
attributes of a man, and the man certain attributes of a woman,
seems in Siberia to be independent of father- or mother-right. It
would be interesting to ascertain whether the ' spirits ' inspiring
the change of sex are of opposed sexes, as was suggested by
J. G. Frazer.^
The shaman class, through the exclusion of its members from
both the male and the female sections of society, may in some
cases be pathological, but this is in no sense a significant or
indispensable characteristic, since in the only instances where the
* marriage ' of transformed shamans with persons of the same sex
has been observed in our time (i.e. among the Chukchee) it is
always disapproved by public opinion. -
The magico-religious and sociological explanation of the change
of dress among shamans does not, however, apply satisfactorily to
the koekchiich, for professional shamanism among the Kamchadal
W'as not organized and developed to the point of producing
a distinct section of society inspired bjj- shamanistic spirits.
Neither does this explanation cover cases in which men are
dressed in women's costume without being shamans at all.
Perhaps we may here find aid in the suggestions put forward by
Mr. Crawley^ in treating of the belief, very widespread among
primitive jjeoples, in the possibility of the transmission of
feminine qualities, especially weakness, by contagion. He cites
' Op. cit., 1907, pp. 384-433.
^ Since this chapter was written I have been able to familiarize m3'self
with a very interesting pamphlet by the prominent Russian sociologist,
A. Maksimoff, dealing with the same subject under the title 'The Change
of Sex', Russian Anthrop. Journ., xxix. I was glad to see that Mak-
simoif also is not satisfied with the physiological explanation of this
phenomenon. He gives two reasons for his doubts : (1) The phenomenon,
in common with the shamanistic practices, is in decadence everywhere
in Siberia ; and if it were only due to sexual perversions it would
probably be rather on the increase during the present period of coloniza-
tion, when we know that all sorts of diseases and every kind of sexual
licence have increased among the Siberian natives. (2) In many similar
cases among other peoples we can see that this phenomenon is purely
ritualistic, e.g. in the case of the Mujerados of New Mexico (pp. 17-18).
* 'Sexual Taboo : a study in the Relations of the Sexes,' Journal of the
Anthrop. Inst., xxiv. 124-5.
many instances of 'the custom uf degrading- the cowardly, infirm,
and conquered to the position of females" by putting women's
clothes on them. Quoting from L. Morgan {The League of the
Iroquois, p. 10) he says: 'When the Delawares were denationa-
lized by the Iroquois and prohibited from going out to war, they
were, according to the Indian notion, "made women", and were
henceforth to confine themselves to the pursuits appropriate to
women.' Is it not reasonable to suppose that we have in the
loekchuch of the Kamchadal simply another instance of a similar
practice, especially when we consider the accounts given by
Jochelson, Bogoras, and others of the treatment of slaves
among some other Palaeo-Siberians ? The object aimed at in the
treatment referred to by Mr. Crawley is the weakening to the
point of emasculation of the character of enemies held captive or
in subjection, so as to reduce their capacity for working mischief
to the conquerors to a minimum. Jochelson, speaking of slavery
as it formerly existed among the Yukaghir, says: 'The slave
(captive) stayed in the house with the women . . . and did the
housework on equal terms with the women.' ^ He makes a simi-
lar statement about the status of the captive slaves formerly held
by the Koryak.- Close association with women, the primitive
argues, produces effeminacy in a man, by contagion. Keep him
with the women, put their clothes on him, and he is no longer
dangerous, if hostile, and may be made useful in occupations
suited to females. In the absence of satisfactory evidence for the
other hypothesis put forward, and taking into consideration the
attitude towards captive slaves of other Palaeo-Siberians as ex-
hibited above, it would seem at least probable that the JcoeJcchuch
of the Kamchadal were, or had developed from, a class of captive
slaves.
Though Bogoras, in his account of the slave-class which existed
until comparatively recent times among the Chukchee, does not
refer to any definite attempt made by these people to feminize
their captives, his statement that the word amulin applied to such
slaves means primarily 'weakling', and that all the other terms
applied to captive slaves have an implication of contempt, sup-
ports the assumption that the Chukchee held the same view as
other Palaeo-Siberians, including the Kamchadal, of what was the
ideal condition of a slave-class.
' Jochelson, TJie Yul-rn/hlr, p. 133. ^ 77/e Konjal; p. 766.
Chapter XIII
GODS, SPIRITS, SOUL.
I. The Chukchee.
Benevolent supernatural beings are called by the Chukchee
vairg'tt, i. e. ' beings '. The most important are the ' benevolent
beings sacrificed to ' {taaron/jo vairgit), those to whom the people
l)ring sacrifices. They live in twenty-two different ' directions '
of the Chukchee compass. The chief of these brings is the one
residing in the zenith, which is called ' being-a-crown ' {kanoirgin),
or ' middle-crown ' (glnon-lunon). Mid-day, the Sun, and the Polar
Star are often identified with the ' middle-crown '. The Dawn and
the Twilight are ' wife-companions ', several of the tales describing
them as being married to one wife. The ' directions ' of the evening
are together called ' Darkness '. Sacrifices are made to them only
on special occasions, and are often mingled with those offered
to the kelet ('evil spirits') of the earth. ^
The sun, moon, stars, and constellations are also known as
vairgit; but the sun is a special vairgin, represented as a man
clad in a bright garment, driving dogs or reindeer. He descends
every evening to his wife, the ' Walking-around-Woman '. The
moon is also represented as a man. He is not a vairgin,- however,
but the son of a Ae?e of the lower worlds. He has a lasso, with
which he catches people who look too fixedly at him. Shamans
invoke the moon in incantations and spells.
Among the stars, the pole-star is the principal vairgin, and
is most often referred to as unpencr, ' the pole-stuck star ', a name
which, Mr. Bogoras asserts, is universal throughout Asia.''
There are several other vairgit beneficent to man, wdiich Bogoras
supposes to be merely vague and impersonal names of qualities.
'They represent a very loose and indefinite personification of
the creative principle of the world, and are similar to Vakanda
or Great Manitou of the Indians,' he says.^ Their names are
^ Bogoras, TJie Chukchee, 1907, J. N. P. K., pp. 303-5.
^ Vf(ir(/i)i, 9.[ngu\av ; niiiyif, ]Anva\. KeJe, t^ingnVciv ; Zr^f^ plural.
=* Op. cit , pp.'305-7. ' Op. cit., p. 314.
Tenan-tomgiu ('Creator', lit. 'One who induces things to be
created'); Girgol-Yairii:in ('Upper-Being'); Marginen ('World',
literally ' The Outer-One ') : Yaivac-vairgin (' Merciful-Being ') ;
Yagtac-vairgin ('Life-giving Being'); Kinta-vairgin ('Luck-giving
Being '). These do not receive special sacrifices, but are all, except
'Creator', mentioned at the sacrifices to the Dawn, Zenith, and
Middaj-. The ' Luck-giving Being ' is sometimes represented as
a raven, but the Creator is never so represented by the Chukchee
(as he is among the Koryak), although he is sometimes known as
'the outer garment of the Creator'. The Chukchee, however,
have many tales about Big-Eaven, whom they call Tenan-tomgin.
Besides these 'Beings', the Reindeer Chukchee have also
a 'Reindeer-Being' {(^orcn-vairgin), who watches over the herds;
and the Maritime people have their ' Beings of the Sea ' [Anqa-
vairgit), of whom the most important are Keretkun and his wife,
sometimes called Cinei-new. ' They live on the sea-bottom or in
the open sea, where they have a large floating house. They are
larger than men, have black faces, and head-bands of peculiar
form, and are clad in long white garments made of walrus-gut
adorned with many small tassels.^ Another sea-spirit is the
' Mother of the Walrus ', living at the bottom of the sea, and
armed with two tusks like a walrus. Besides her, there is still
another sea-spirit like a walrus, which is believed to work harm
to people, crawling into their houses at night. These walrus-
beings do not receive regular sacrifices, and sometimes assist the
shaman in the capacity of Iclet. Keretkun, however, is the
recipient of sacrifices at the autumn ceremonials. The Asiatic
Eskimo have sea-deities similar to those of the Maritime Chukchee.'-
The Chukchee classify the winds also as ' Beings ', whose names
are mentioned in incantationsptEe local prevailing wind being
always regarded in a given locality as the chief of these ' Beings '.•'
Spirits of tents and houses are called 'House-Beings' [Yara-
vairgit). They are attached to houses, not to people, and if a house
is destroyed they cease to exist with it. If the inhabitants of
a house abandon it, the house-spirits turn into very dangerous
earth-sinrits.^ A small share of eveiy important sacrifice is
placed for them on the ground in the corners of the sleeping-
room.
Other spirits, which are neither hclet nor vairgit, also exist ;
' Op. cit., p. 316. 2 Op. cit., pp. 316-18.
' Op. cit., p. 320. * Op. cit., p. 318.
e. g. the spirits of intoxicating mushrooms, which form a ' Separate
Tribe' (j/anra-varat).'^
Some 'Beings' have so called ' assistants ' (vi^oZef) which receive
a share of the sacrifices. The ' assistant ' is very often represented
as a raven or as half a raven. Even the Jielet have ' assistants '.-
All the forests, rivers, lakes, and the classes of aninials are
animated by 'masters' [awiralit) or 'owners' {etinvif). Some-
times the Chukchee call these Met— a, word which, though it
usually means ' evil spirits ', sometimes is used in the simple
sense of ' spirits \^ Wild animals are said to have the same sort
of households as the Chukchee themselves and to imitate men
in their actions. For instance, ' one family of eagles has a slave,
Eirultet, whom they stole from the earth a long time ago. He
prepares food for all of them, and his face has become blackened
with soot.'^ Animals, like spirits, can take the form of men.
The ermine and the owl become warriors on certain occasions ;
the mice become hunters. ' In most cases, animals, while im-
personating human beings, retain some of their former qualities,
which identify them as beings of a special class, acting in a human
way, but different from mankind.' So the fox-woman retains her
strong smell, and the goose-woman does not take animal food.^
Lifeless objects, especially if they have originally been parts of
living organisms, may become endowed with life ; e. g. skins ready
for sale may turn at night into reindeer, and walk about.'''
These various ' owners ' are very often of the lelet class ; but,
according to Bogoras, no Chukchee will confess to having made
sacrifices to evil spu'its, except under extraordinary circumstances."
Bogoras divides the ]:elef of the Chukchee into three classes :
(a) invisible spirits, bringing disease and death ; (b) bloodthirsty
cannibal spirits, the enemies of Chukchee warriors especially ;
(c) spirits which assist the shaman during shamanistic per-
foimances.
Kelet of the class (a) are said to live undergi'ound, and to have
also an abode above the earth ; but they never come from the sea,
for, according to a Chukchee proverl> ' nothing evil can come from
the sea'.^
' Op. cit., p. 333. 2 Op. oit., p. 319. ^ Op. cit., p. 286.
' Op. cit., p. 283. 5 Op. cit., p. 284.
« Op. cit., p. 281. ' Op. cit., p. 2'JO.
^ Op. cit, p. 292. In apparent contracliction to the belief expressed
in this proverb is the existence of the kele in the form of a walrus, men-
tioned by Mr. Bogoras on p. 316, which is harmful to men.
The kekt do not remain in their homes, but ^Yander abroad and
seek for victims. They are too numerous to be distinguished by
special names. Some of them are one-eyed ; they have all sorts of
strange faces and forms, most of them being very small. They are
organized in communities resembling those of men. On the Pacific
shores they are often known as rchieiiit (sing, rckken). These have
various monstrous forms, and animals which are born Avith any
deformity are sacrificed to them. The kekt have an especial fond-
ness for the human liver. This belief is the origin of the Cluikchee
custom of opening a corpse to discover from the liver which spirit
has killed the deceased.' The class {h), which is especially inimical
to warriors, is spoken of chiefly in the tales. While incantations
and charms are employed against spirits of the first class, against
the giant cannibal kekt of the second category ordinary weapons of
war are used. These spirits once formed a tribe of giants living on
the Arctic shore, but being much harassed by the Chukchee, they
changed themselves into invisible spirits. -
The third class (c) is that of shamanistic spirits, sometimes
called 'separate spirits' or 'separate voices'. They take the
forms of animals, plants, icebergs, &c., and can change their
form very quickly — and also their temper; on account of tliis
last peculiarity the shaman must be very punctilious in keeping
his compact with them. The shaman says of them, ' These are
my people, my own little spirits.''^ We do not find in Bogoras
any reference to benevolent shamanistic spirits or assistants of
the shaman.
Besides these tj'pical evil spirits, there is also a class of
'monsters". Among these the chief is the killer-whale, which
is surrounded by a taboo among all Arctic peoples: any one who
kills a killer-whale is sure to die very soon. These monsters in
winter are transformed into wolves and prey upon the reindeer of
the Chukchee. An exaggerated rejjresentation of a polar bear also
appears as one of the ' monsters '. The mammoth plays an impor-
tant part in Chukchee beliefs. It is said to be the reindeer of
the keUt. If the tusks are seen above ground, this is a bad omen,
and unless an incantation is uttered something untoward will
happen.
'According to one story, some Chukchee men found two mam-
moth-tusks protruding from the earth. They began to beat the
' Op. cit., pp. 292-8. 2 Op. cit., pp. 298-300.
' Op. cit., pp. 300-2.
s 2
drum and performed several incantations. Then the whole carcass
of the mammoth came to sight. The people ate the meat. It was
very nutritious and tliey lived on it all winter. When the bones
were stripped of all the meat, they i)ut them together again, and
in the morninj^ they were again covered with meat. Perhaps this
story has for its foundation the finding of a mammoth-carcass good
for eating, as happened on the Obi in the eighteenth century, and
also more recently in the Kolyma country.
' Because of these beliefs, the search for ivory of the mammoth
was tabooed in former times. Even now, a man who finds a mam-
moth-tusk has to pay for it to the ''spirit" of the place by various
sacrifices. The search for such tusks is considered a poor pursuit
for a man, notwithstanding the high price which the ivory brings.' ^
In the pictorial representations of these ' monstars ', oi*, rather,
exaggerated animals, all which have a reindeer as the foremost
figure are intended to represent benevolent spirits ; while others
in which a dog, horse, or mammoth stands in front, represent
lielet.
Monstrous worms, blackbeetles, birds, and fish are the other
exaggerated animal forms which Bogoras calls ' monsters '.-
Soul. The soul is called uvint or uvekhirghi (' belonging to the
body '). Another term is tctheyun, meaning " vital force of living
being'. The soul resides in the heart or the liver, and animals
and plants as well as men possess it. One hears, however, more
about other 'souls' — those which belong to various parts of the
body : e. g. there is a limb-soul, nose-soul, &c. And so a man
whose nose is easily frost-bitten is said to be ' short of souls '.
Very often the soul assumes the form of a beetle, and hums like a
bee in its flight. When a man loses one of his souls, he may
obtain its return through a shaman, who, if he cannot discover
the whereiibouts of the missing soul, can send a portion of his own
into the person who has suffered this loss. If a hclc steals a soul,
he carries it into his own dark abode, and there binds its limbs to
prevent its escaping. In one of the tales ' a Icelc forces a stolen
soul to watch his lamp and trim it '. Bogoras knew of a case of a
a man who struck liis ^vife with a firebrand, and when the woman
died after two days, and her relatives had examined her body and
found no injury to any organ, they said that the husband's blow
had injured her soul.
1 Op. cit., p. 326. 2 Op. cit., pp. 323-30.
^ Kdd also have souls of their own, which may be lost or
spirited away by shamans.' ^
C/iidiChec View of the Universe. According to the Chukchee
belief there are several worlds, one above another. Some reckon
five such worlds, others seven or nine. A hole, under the pole-
star, forms a passage from one world to the other, and through
this hole shamans and spirits pass from one to another of the
worlds. Another way to reach the otlier world is to take a step
downwards in the direction of the dawn. There are also other
'worlds' in the 'directions' of tlie compass, one under the sea.
another small dark ' world ' vaguely described as being above,
which is the abode of the female A;e?e-birds. Some of the stars
also are distinct 'worlds' with their own inhabitants. The sky,
they say, is a 'world ' too, jhkI touches our earth at the horizon,
where at four points there are gates. When the wind IjIows these
gates are believed to be opening. -
II. The Kokyak.
In contrast to the Chukchee and the Eskimo, who have whole
classes of Supreme Beings [vairgit, Chukchee ; Idijaniarak, Asiatic
Eskimo), the Koryak, as Jochelson thinks, have a tendency to
monotheism ; although he considers it ' possible that all names
now applied l)y them to one deity may have formerly been
applied to various beings or phenomena of nature, and that,
owing to their intercourse with the Russians, a monotheistic
tendency of uniting all names of the various deities into one may
have developed *.'' That the Koryak conception of one Supreme
Being is not indigenous, or at least not very old, may be judged
from the very vague account of his nature and qualities which was
all that Jochelson was aide to obtain from these people, and also
from the fact that he takes no active part in shaping the affairs of
men. He is, of course, a lienevolent anthropomorphic being, an
old man with a wife and children, dwelling in the sky. He can
send famine or abundance, but seldom uses his power to do either
good or evil to men.
Jochelson says that the abstract names given to him are hardly
consistent with the conception — distinctly material, as far as it
goes — which the Koryak seem to have of his nature. Some of
1 Op cit., pp. .332-3. "- Op. cit., pp. 330-2.
' Jochelson, The Konjak, p. 24.
these names are : * Naininen (Universe, World, Outer one) ;
Inahitelan or Ginagitelan (Supervisor) ; Yaqhicnin or Caqhicnin
(Something-Existing), called )jy the Paren people Vahicnin, by
those of Kanienskoye, Vahitnin, or by the Reindeer Koryak,
Yahiynin (Existence, also Strength) ; Gicholan (The-One-on-High) ;
Gicholetinvihm (The-Master-on-IIigh) or simply Etin (Master);
Thairgin (Dawn). In Tale 113 we meet Avith the name Kihigilan
(Tliunder-Man) for the Sup'-eme Being.' ^
The Supreme Being is propitiated for purely material reasons,
such as the i)rocuriiig of a food-supply by hunting land and sea
animals, the i)icking of berries and roots, and the tending of the
leindeer herds. If the Supreme Being ceases to look upon the
earth disorder at once begins ; e. g. Big-Raven is unsuccessful in
his hunting when Universe (Naininen) has gone to sleep (Tale 9).
In like manner, failure to ofifer sacrifices may bring some such
misfortune on a man. In one of the tales (111), when young
Earth-Maker (Tanuta), the husband of Yineaneut, Big-Raven's
daughter, fails to make the customary sacrifice to Inahitelan's
(Supervisor's) son Cloud-Man (Yahalan) at his wedding, Supervisor
forces Yineaneut, or rather her soul, to the edge of the hearth,
where her soul is scorched by the fire, and she v.'astes away.
Though the Supreme Being does not interfere actively in the
aflfaiis of men, their souls [uykit or iiyirit) go to him after death
and hang in his dwelling on posts or beams, until the time comes
when they are to be re-born. The duration of the future life of
each soul is marked on a thong fastened to it, a short thong
indicating a short life. Supervisor dwells in the clouds or the
sky or the heaven-village. His wife is known variously as
Supervisor-Woman, Rain-Woman, or Sea-Woman. His son,
Cloud-Man (Yahal, or Yahalan), is the patron of young couples,
and if a lover, young man or woman, desires to conquer the
heart of the one beloved, this is accomplished by beating the
drum ; and the propitiation of this patron is also the reason why
the bridegroom sacrifices a reindeer to Cloud-Man after marriage.
Jochelson found only one tale (9) relating directly to the
Supreme Being, though there are references to him in some
others. In this tale, which is full of coarse details, Universe
sends heavy rain uj^on the earth from the vulva of his wife. Big-
Raven and his son are obliged to change themselves into ravens,
1 Op. r.it., p. 24.
fly up to heaven, aiul put a stop to the incessant rain by a trick.
This tale must not be tokl in line weather, but only to put an end
to rain or a snow-storm.
As stated above, the Supreme Being sends Big-Kaven to order
human aflfaiis. The native name for Big-Raven is Quikinnaqu or
Kutkinnaku, Avhich are augmentative forms of the words for
'raven'. He is also known as Acicenaqu (Big-Grandfather), or
Tenantomwan (Creator). The tales about Big-Raven form part of
the Pacific Coast cycle of raven myths, for we find this figure in
the mythology of the north-western Amerinds as well as in that
of the Siberians of north-eastern Asia. But, among the Koryak,
Big-Raven plays a part also in the ritual of their religious
ceremonies. 'Creator' is really a misnomer, for this being did
not exercise any truly creative function : he was sent by the
Supreme Being to carry out certain reforms in the already
organized universe, and was therefore, so to speak, a reorganizer
and the first man. He is also a supernatural being and a
powerful shaman ; and his name is mentioned in almost every
incantation in shamanistic performances. ' When the shamans
of the Maritime Koryak commence their incantations they say,
•'There, Big-Raven is coming!" The Reindeer Koryak told me
that during shamanistic ceremonies a raven or a sea-gull comes
flying into the house, and that the host will then say, " Slaughter
your reindeer, Big-Raven is coming ! " ' '
The personage known by this name turns into a bird only when
he puts on a raven's coat. The ordinary raven also figures in the
mythology as a droll and contemptible character, a scavenger of
dogs' carcasses and of excrement. One of the tales (82), about the
swallowing of the sun by Raven (not Big-Raven) and the rescue
of the luminary by Big-Raven's daughter, recalls a tale of the
setting free of the sun told by the Indians of the North Pacific
coast. The Koryak do not count it a sin to kill a raven.
Various contradictory accounts are given of the origin of Big-
Raven. Some say that he was created by the Supreme Being ;
others that they do not know whence he came, although ' the old
people ' knew it.
Most of the Koryak tales deal with the life, travels, and
adventures of Big-Raven, his wife Miti, and their children, of
whom the eldest, their son Ememqut, is the best known. In
' Op. cit, p. 18.
these tales, Big-Raven sometimes appears as a being of very low
intelligence, who is often outmatched in cunning, not only by his
wife, but even by mice, foxes, and other animals. Transforma-
tions, especially of the sexual organs of Big-Raven and his wife
(allusions to whicli figure very largely throughout), supernatural
deeds, and indecent adventures, form the subject of the gi'eater
part of the tales. ' The coarseness of the incidents does not
prevent the Koryak from considering the heroes of these tales as
their protectors.'^ Many of the tales serve no other purpose than
the amusement of the people.
In spite of the frivolous character ascribed to Big-Raven in
some of the tales, he is said to have been the first to teach the
people how to catch sea and land animals, the use of the fire-drill,
and how to jn-^tect themselves against evil spirits. He lived on
earth in the manner of the Maritime Chukchee, but some of his
sons were reindeer-breeders. It is not certain how he disappeared
from among men. According to some, he and his family turned
into stones ; others say that he wandered away from the Koryak.
Traces of his having lived among them are still pointed out by the
Koryak : on a sea-cliff in the Taigonos Peninsula are some large
stones which are said to have been his house and utensils. His
foot-prints and the hoof-marks of his reindeer are to be seen, say
the Koryak, in the village of Kamenskoye.^
The Koryak, in common with other Siberian peoples, believe in
another class of supernatural beings, known as ' owners ' or
'masters' (etln) of certain objects in which they are supposed to
reside. Jochelson thinks that this conception among the Koryak
is ' not 3'et differentiated from a lower animistic view of nature '.
He finds the idea more highly developed in the inna of the
Eskimo, the 2)ogil of the Yukaghir ; and especially so among the
Neo-Siberians, e. g. in the Yakut iccl and the Buryat ecen or isin.
That the conception of a spirit-owner residing in * every important
natural object ' is not so clear and well defined among the Koryak
as among the other tribes mentioned, Jochelson considers to be
proved by the vague and incoherent replies he received in answer
to questions about the nature of these 'owners'.
The Koryak word for ' master of the sea ' is anqdken-etinvUan
{anqa, sea). A Reindeer Koryak who had gone to the sea for
summer fishing, and had offered a reindeer as a sacrifice to the sea,
^ Op. cit., p. 20. - Op cit., pp. 20-3.
on being asked by Jochelson whether his offering was made to
the sea or to the master of the sea, replied, 'I don't know. We
say "sea " and ''owner of the sea " ; it 's just the same,' Similarly
some of the Koryak say that the ' owner * of the sea is a woman,
and others consider the sea itself as a woman. Certain hills,
capes, and cliffs are called apapcl {apa, 'father' in Kamenskoye
dialect, 'grandfather* in that of Paren), These are protectors of
hunters and travellei-s, but it is doubtful whether the term is
applied to the hill itself or to the spirit residing in it.^
The sk}^ is considered as a land inhabited by a stellar people.
The sun (' sometimes identified with The-Master-on-IIigh '), the
moon, and the stars are animated beings, and sacrificial offerings
are made to the sun. ' Sun-Man (Teikemtilan) has a wife and
children, and his own country, which is inhabited by Sun people.'^
Marriages are contracted between his children and those of Big-
Raven (Tales 12, 19, 21).
Mention is also made in the tales of a Moon-Man (or woman),
and a Star-Man.'^
The Koryak ' guardians ' and ' charms ' sei-ve as protectors to
individuals, families, or villages, whereas such greater supernatural
beings as The-Master-on-High, Big-Raven, and the malevolent
lalau are deities or spirits of the entire tribe — excepting those
kalau that serve individual shamans. ' Guardians ' form a class of
objects that avert evil from men. Those about which Jochelson
was able to ol)tain information include the sacred implements for
fire-making, which comprise a fire-board {gicgic or gecgei), a bow
[eiiel), a wooden drill {maxem, ' arrow '), and a headpiece of stone
or bone (ceneijinc).'^
The fire-board is of dry aspen wood, which ignites easily, and
has holes in it for receiving the drill. It is shaped roughly to
resemble a human being. The consecration of a new fire-board to
the office of jirotector of the hearth and herd is accompanied with
the sacrificing of a reindeer to The-Master-on-High, the anointing
of the fire-board with the sacrificial blood and fat, and the
pronouncing of an incantation over it. It would thus appear,
Jochelson thinks, that the power to direct some vaguely con-
ceived vital principle residing in a crude inanimate object to an
activity beneficiol to man lies in the incantation pronounced overit.'*
The headpiece has a hollow socket, which is placed upon the
' Op. cit., pp. 30-1. 2 0]i. cit., Tales 12 and 21.
Op. cit., p. 31. " Op. cit., p. 33. ^ Ibid.
thin upper end of the drill. ' The headpiece is held by one
person, the l)oard by another, while the bow is turned by a third
person,' the drill rotating on its thick lower end in one of the
holes of the fire-board. The charcoal dust produced by drilling is
collected in a small leathern bag, for 'it is considered a sin to
scatter' this dust.^
Evil Spirifs.^ Evil spirits are called lakm (sing. JcaJa), corre-
sponding to the Chukchee Icdct.'' In the time of Big-Raven they
were visible to men, but now they are usually invisible. In most
of the myths which refer to them they are represented as living in
communities like human beings. They are very numerous, and
have the power of changing their size, so that sometimes they are
very large and then again very small. Sometimes they seem to
be ordinaiy cannibals and not sui^ernatural beings at all. ^ When
ih.elalau are visible they appear sometimes in the form of animals,
or as dogs with human heads, or as human beings with pointed
heads. * Their arrows are supplied with mouths, and they can be
shot without the use of a bow, and fly Avherever they are sent.'^
Some of the Ixolau live underground and enter the houses of men
through the fire on the hearth ; others dwell on the earth, in the
west. Although invisible, they can make their approach felt.
' Thus, when Big-Raven's children begin to ail, he says : '' The
Tiolau must be close by.'"''
Kalau are divided into Maritime and Reindeer kalcm. Some
live in the forests, others in the tundra. Human beings are the
spoils of their chase, as reindeer and seals are those of human
hunters. The Jialau of diseases form a special class, and the most
prominent of these evil spirits have special names.
We do not find among the Koryak a class of spirits well
disposed towards men, who will fight with the Imlau. There is no
generic name for good spirits. But the natural enemies of the
Icalau appear to be Big-Raven and his children. Some myths
represent Big-Raven and his children as being destroyed by the
Mlmt, or, again, the l-alau are destroyed or made harmless by Big-
1 Ibid. - Op. cit., pp. 27-30.
^ ' The people of Paren call them also kaJcik or kamak, and among the
Reindeer Koryak tliey are frequently called neuveticnin or niuvit.' (Op. cit.,
p. 27.)
* Jochelson thinks that in this respect they resemble certain male-
volent beings of the Yukaghir, called Mythical-Old-Men and Mythical-
Old-Women. (Op. cit., p. 28.)
^ Jochelson, op. cit., p. 28. " Ibid.
Raven : 'lie oausos them to fall asleep ; he takes out their canni-
bal stomachs during their sleep, and puts other ones in their
places, usually those of some rodents. At still other times he
devises some other means of protecting himself and his children
against the invasion of tlie cannibals. In one story it is told that
he heated stones in his house until they were red-hot, invited the
lalau to sit on them, and thus burned them. At another time he
got rid of them by making a steam Ijath for them, in which they
were smothered. At times an incantation serves him as a means
of rescue. In another story Big-Raven appealed to the Master-on-
High for help against the mouthed arrows of the Mlau with
whom he had been at war ; and the deity gave him an iron
mouth, which caught all the arrows sent by the lalau.' ^ It will
be seen, however, from the above that Big-Raven defends him-
self and his family rather than men from the attacks of Icalau ;
and, as Jochelson says in one place, * Men seem to be left to their
own resources in their struggle with evil spirits, diseases, and
death.'- For, as we have seen, even the Supreme Being plays no
active part in the protection of men. ' On the contrary, he sends
kalau to men ' that they may die, and that he may create other
people'.^ An old man called Yulta, from the village of Kamen-
skoye, told Jochelson that the lalau formerly lived with The-
Master-on-IIigh, but he quarrelled with them and sent them
down to our world.' Another version has it that Big-Raven
sent the lalau down to the people to give the latter a chance to
test the power of the incantations he had taught them against the
lalau. One of the tales relates that ' the dead ancestors send the
lalau from the underground world into the village of their descen-
dants to punish the young people for playing games at night and
thus disturbing the rest of the old people '.'"'
Kalati are, however, not always only harmful to men.
' Although ', says Jochelson, ' on the whole the -word lala denotes
all powers harmful to man. and all that is evil in nature, there
are numbers of objects and beings known under the name of
lalak or lamal that do not belong to the class of evil spirits.
Thus, the guardian spirits of the Koryak shamans, and some
varieties of guardians of the village, of the family, or of indi-
viduals, are called by this name.'"
In the Koi^ak cosmogony there are five worlds—tsvo above
^ Op. cit., p. 29. - Op. cit., p. 2.5. ' Op. cit., pp. 24-6.
* Op. cit., p. 27. 5 ii,ij c ]ijij 7 Op. cit., p. 30.
and two below the earth. Tlie uppermost is the seat of the
Supreme Being, the next is inhabited l)y Cloud-People (Yahalanu) ;
next comes our earth ; of the two worlds below, that nearest ours
is the dwelling of the J.-almi ; and, lowest of all (Ennanenak or
Nenenqal — ' on the opposite side '), is the abode of the shades of
the dead (Peninelau, 'ancient people').^
At the present day only the shamans can pass from one world
to another ; but in the ancient days of Big-Raven (comparable to
the Arunta age of Alcheringa) this was possible for ordinary
people.^
The luminaries, the wind, fog, and other phenomena of nature,
as well as imaginary phenomena, are supposed to l)e endowed
with anthropomorphic souls ; hence, all the wooden images of
spirits have human faces. In the time of Big-Raven men could
transfoim themselves either into the form of animals, or into that
of inanimate objects,-'' by donning an animal's skin or some
covering of the shape of the object into which they desired to be
transformed.^
' In the time of Big-Raven there was no sharp distinction
between men, animals, and other objects ; but what used to be
the ordinar)-, visible state in his time became invisible afterwards.
The nature of things remained the same ; but the transformation
of objects from one state into another ceased to be visible to men,
just as the Jcalau became invisible to them. Only shamans, that
is, people inspired by spirits, are able to see the lalau, and to
observe the transformation of objects. They are also able to
transform themselves by order of the spirits, or in accordance with
their own wishes. There is still a living, anthropomorphic
essence concealed under the visible inanimate appearance of
objects. Household utensils, implements, parts of the house, the
chamber-vessel, and even excrement, have an existence of their
own. All the household effects act as guardians of the family to
which they belong. They may warn their masters of danger,
and attack their enemies. Even such things as the voice of an
animal, sounds of the drum, and human speech, have an existence
independent of the objects that produce them."'
' Op. cit., p. 121. 2 jiji^|_ 3 Op. cit., pp. 115-16.
* Jochelson thinks that the transformation of men into women after
putting on women's clothes, and vice versa, is closely related to this
group of ideas. (Op. cit., p. 116.)
* Jochelson, op. cit., p. 117.
Tlie Korynk word for the soul is iii/icit. They appear to have a
conception also of * some other vital principle or a secondary soul V
whose name Jochelson was not able to learn, nor could he ascer-
tain anything definite relating to it, 'Some vital principle', he
thinks, * is implied in the words iviii/ivi {'' breathing "') and ivuy'il-
tcuyil C' shadow ").' - They draw no very sharp line of demarcation
between life and death. A corpse is not ' deprived of the ability
to move. The deceased may arise, if he is not watched \"' How
death occurs, according to their belief, is explained by Jochelson
as follows : ' The soul (ui/icit), or, to be more exact, the chief soul
of the man, frightened by the attack of hdau upon it, deserts the
body, and rises to the Supreme Being. According to some tales,
the kala himself pulls the soul out of the body, and sets it free to
go oif to the sky, in order to possess himself of the body, or of the
other souls * of the deceased.' ''
The soul of a deceased person does not leave the earth at once,
but hovers high above the corpse. It is like a flame. During
illness it is outside the body, hovering low over it if the illness is
slight, higher if it is severe. A powerful shaman is believed to
be able to bring back the soul to the body of a person recently
dead. When the soul of the deceased rises to the Supreme Being,
the deceased himself and his other soul, or his shadow, descend
underground to dwell with the Peninelau — * the ancient people,
people of former times'.''
III. The Kamchadal.
At the time of Krasheninnikoff and Steller the Kamchadal had
several names for the Supreme Being, but these writers do not
give any detailed descriptions of the Kamchadal's relations to
their deities. On the contrar}', Krasheninnikoff thought that
they paid no religious worship to their god Kutchu or Kutkhu ;
and Steller, taking into account their rude and indecent mytho-
logy, calls the Kamchadal gchorcne Gottesliistercr.' The following
» Op. cit., p. 101. 2 Op. cit., p. 102. » Ibid.
* Bogoras {Chukchee Materials, p. 17) says that the Chukchee attribute
to a man the possession of five or six souls (uiririt). Many North-
American Indians have a similar belief. The Yukaghir belief that a man
has three souls is said to be borrowed from the Yakut, who give a sepa-
rate name to each of the three (ibid., footnote).
•> Op. cit., p. 101. « Op. cit., pp. 102-3.
^ Steller, lieiie von Kamtschatka iiach Amerika, p. 253.
names of deities are recorded by Krasheninnikoff : ^ Kutklui
(Kutclui), liis wife Ilkxuni, his sister Xutlizic, his sons Simskalin
and Tizil-Kutkhu, and his daughter Siduku. Tizil-Kutkhu
married Siduku. They had a son Amlei, and a daughter, who
also married each other, and the Kanichadal are the descendants
of this last pair. Neither Steller nor Krasheninnikoff describes
the functions of these gods. Kutkhu is called by Steller 'the
greatest deity of the Kamchadal, who created the world and every
living being'.- He mentions also another name for the Supreme
Being, Diistechtschitsch, and Jochelson thinks that this deity may
have corresponded to the benevolent Supreme Being of the
Koryak. The Kamchadal of the present day call the Christian
God by a similar name."'
According to other Kamchadal tradition?, the earth was
created by Kutq (Raven). In one such legend he makes it out
of his son Simskalin : another has it that he brought the earth
down from the sky with the lielp of his sister and fixed it immov-
ably in the sea."*
The Koryak say that Big-Raven went away from them. The
Kamchadal have a similar tradition ; but according to them,
Raven (Kutq) left them to go to the Koryak and Chukchee."'
Volcanoes and hot springs were regarded as the habitations of
evil spirits called lamuli. Heaven and earth were densely
populated by spirits, some of whom were good, but most were
evil ; sacrifices which are not offered to the gods were made to the
spirits.''
When the Kamchadal feared being attacked by the whale or
the walrus, they used special incantations to appease them and
induce them to spare the boat and its crew. They venerated also
the bear and the wolf, and never pronounced tlie names of these
animals." They offered sacrifices of fire at the holes of sables and
foxes.'^
They believed that animals and men lived on after death in
another world.'
' Krasheninnikoff, The Deso-'qition of the Coitnfii/ of Kamchatka, ed.
1755, p. 100.
2 Op. cit., p. 253.
^ Jochelson, Ttte Kori/ak, p. 18.
* Op. cit., p. 121. " Op. cit., pp. 23-4.
* Krasheninnikotf. op. cit., pp. 73-5. ' Op. cit., p. 80.
" Ibid. '•' Ibid.
IV. The Gilyak.
The highest benevolent deity of the Gilyak is known as Ytsigy,
according to Schrenck.^ But Sternberg - says that they call
the universe Kurn, and apply the same name to their highest
anthropomorphic deity. The ' owner ' spirit of the mountain, and
the mountain itself, is named Pal, and the sea and its ' owner'
they call Tol. Their name for the island of Sakhalin is Mif,
literally 'earth', and they believe that the island is a sort of
covering for a certain immense god.'' Natural objects all have
a life of their own, and if one commits violence of any kind upon
them sacrifice must be made to the injured ' owners '. Thus, when
cutting down a tree, the Gilyak, lest they might hurt its 'owner',
place upon it an inau^ {chelduiJiun-inau), into which the spirit can
pass and retain its life.
Visible objects in general are merely masks or coverings for
various anthropomorphic spirits which reside in them, and this is
especially the case with objects such as stones or roots which have
an outward resemblance to the human form.-' Animals, though
outwardly differing in form from man, are in reality human beings,
with human feelings and souls, and human institutions, such as the
clan. Some of them, indeed, are superior to man, with higher
qualities of mind and body. Such are the bear, on land, and
a certain large bird at sea. Both these cause all other animals
to avoid their neighbourhood. The bear is not dangerous to man
in the wilderness, except for a short time in the spring ; and the
bii'd is not only not harmful to men, Init beneficent, for when he
appears the terrified fishes, fleeing before him, are an easy prey for
the fishermen. It is not the animal, however, which is the object
of their cult, but only its ' owner ', i/s. The ' owners ' of the tayga,
of the mountain, of the sea, and of the fire, are, of course, the most
important for men from the economic point of view. The gods of
the sky are regarded as less important, for men do not come into
direct contact with them. These live in the sky in clans, and are
called thj nlvulch. Of less importance, too, are the gods of the sun
and moon ; and nearly all sacrifices are offered to the ' owners ' of
the taijga, mountains, sea, and fire.**
' Natives of the Amur Count) ij, vol. iii, p. 107.
2 The Gilyak, p. 42. » Op. cit., p. 4-3.
* Sternberg says that the cult of inau is borrowed from the Ainu (ibid.).
" Op. cit., p. 44. « Op. cit., pp. 45-9.
Sacrifices, says Sternberg, are not usually accompanied by any
elaborate ceremonials. They are based on the principle of ex-
change, i. e. one does not offer fish to the god of the sea, or game
animals to tlie god of the taijga. When a Gilyak at sea fears the
oncoming of a storm, he throws some tea-leaves into the water,
and says : ' I pray thee see to it that the sea be not angry and that
I return home safe and sound.' ^ Wherever a Gilyak goes he
carries with him certain objects intended for sacrifices, such, for
example, as roots and leaves of certain plants, especially of the
martagan. They also make bloody sacrifices. In this case the
victim is a dog. Offerings of dogs are made chiefly at the begin-
ning of the season for the trapping of sables and at the bear-
festival. On these occasions the victims are killed by strangling,
and as the dogs are dispatched they ask them to make intercession
to the gods for them.'''
Clan-gods form a special category. They are the spirits of
clansmen who have died by drowning or fire, or have been killed
by bears. To them periodical sacrifices are made by the clan.
The bear-festival belongs to this class of sacrifices.
Besides all these benevolent deities there are classes of less
important good spirits — hoi, lot, and urif. The malevolent beings
are called mill: or linr {knin). They are very numerous, have
various forms, and cause all sorts of misfortune, illness, and
death. Many incantations and shamanistic ceremonies are prac-
tised to ward off their attacks ; but even a shaman cannot deal
with them by his own unaided power. He has to call to his
assistance two spirit-helpers, TieJchn and Ja'ncJilh. These assistants
of the shaman are exceedingly clever and sometimes very wicked. •'
The Gilyak believe that an ordinary man has one soul, a rich
man two, while a shaman may have as many as four. Thus the
shaman Chamkh had four souls, one of which he received from
the mountain, another from the sea, the third from the sky, and
the fourth from the undervrorld. His son Koinit, who had been
chosen by the spirits to be a shaman, had already two souls,
although he was only twelve years old, and Chamkh was a very
poor man. Besides these jirincipal souls, every one has a lesser
soul, which they imagine as being like an egg, residing in the head
of the principal soul. All that a man sees in dreams is the work
of this lesser soul. After a man's death, which they believe to be
> Op. cit., p. 50. "" Op. cit., pp. 50-2. ' Op. cit., p. 70.
caused by his body being devoured by evil spirits, the soul, also
attacked by the same spirits, may escape from them, and goes
to the land of the dead called niiflvo. Here it has the form of
a man, and leads the same kind of life as on earth, except that
a poor man becomes rich, and a rich man poor. From this place
the soul goes to another land, and so on from land to land, turning
into smaller and smaller beings in transit — a bird, a gnat, and at
last a speck of dust. Some souls return to earth and are born
again. The lesser soul continues to live for some time in the
best-beloved dog of the deceased, which is especially cherished and
cared for (see chapter on ' Death ').^
V. The Ainu.
Batchelor says that the Ainu believe in one Supreme Being,
Creator of all worlds, whom they call Kotan Kara Kamui, Moshiri
Kara Kamui, Kando Koro Kamui — 'the maker of places and
worlds, and possessor of heaven '. Kamui means, in the first place,
' he who ' or ' that which is greatest ' or ' best ' or ' worst " ; a
secondary (or more modern) meaning is ' he who ' or ' that
which covers ' or * overshadows '. In both meanings the word
is akin to that for ' heaven '. which itself has for its root a word
signifying 'top ' or ' above '. When applied to good powers lamiii
is a title of respect ; and when the evil gods are called by this name
it implies the fear or dread inspired by them. Besides these names,
the Ainu sometimes refer to their Supreme Being under the title
Tuntu, which means 'pillar', 'support', 'upholder'. He is the
Creator, ' the summit, centre, and foundation (of the world), its
originator and mighty "support".'-
Batchelor thinks that the Ainu regard this being as (i) the
creator and preserver of the world ; (ii) the sustainer of men
in general ; (iii) the special protector of every individual, with
whom men can communicate in prayer.''
There is, according to the Ainu belief, also a multitude of
less important deities, who are subject to the highest, and carry
out hLs decrees. By their means he created and still sustains
the world and mankind. Some of these gods are benevolent
and have a double who is malignant. E. g. there are two gods
of the sea called Hep un kamui. They are brothers. The younger,
' Oi). cit., pp. 75-7.
"^ Batchelor, The Ainu ofJayan, pp. 248 51, 258. ^ Op. cit., p. 261.
3Io uclta, 'uncle of peace', is beneficent to man, bringing fivir
weather for fishing: while his elder brother, Slii acha. is an evil
deity who chases 3Io acha from the seaside, and brings bad
weather to spoil the fishing and wreck the boals.^ Similarly
with other deities of the waters, W<{lla-ush hiinul. These are
female, and have charge of springs, streams, waterfalls, lakes, and
ponds, Chiwash ekot mat, 'female possessor of places Avhere fresh
and salt waters mingle '. watches over river-mouths and allows the
fish to go in and out. Nusa, i.e. clusters of Icma-ush-inao, or
'legged inao' (i. e. iiiao tied to stakes thrust into the ground), are
set up by the water as sacrifices to these gods. Fet-ru-ush mat,
' females of the waterways ", have oversight of all streams from
the source to the sea. They, too, are worshipped with offerings of
niisa, and appealed to for protection in descending the rapids, and
for good fortune in fishing.- SaraJc Icamui, on the other hand,
is the evil god of the rivers. The word sarah denotes accidental
death, and this god is said to bring about death not only by
drowning, but also by mishap of any kind.^
The goddess of the sun is generally regarded as the chief of
the secondary gods, for she is considered to be the special ruler of
all good things in the universe. There is also a god of the moon.
Some consider the moon a female, and the sun a male ; but
the majority speak of the sun as being female. These luminaries
would seem to be regarded rather as the dwellings of deities than
as being deities themselves. If the god of the sun or of the moon
depart from their dwellings, the day or the night is darkened.
Hence the fear which the Ainu have of eclipses.^
The stars are not worshipped, though the term lamui {' god ') is
sometimes applied to them. The Milky Way, or 'river of the gods',
' crooked river ', is a favourite resort of the gods for fishing. '
Next in importance to the deity of the sun is the goddess of
fire. She warms the body, heals sickness, enables man to cook
his food. Slie is especially to be feared because she is a witness
to note the acts and words of men. Hereafter they are punished
or rewarded, says Batchelor, according to her testimony con-
cerning their actions in life. It appears that it is not the fire
which is worshipped, but the goddess residing in the fire.*^
' Every Ainu hut is supposed to have its special guardian god
who is thought to rest upon the roof when the master is at home,
» Op. cit., p. 92. 2 Op. cit., pp. 93 4. =* Ibid.
* Op. cit., pp. 273-4. ' Op. cit., \\ 276. « Op. cit., p. 277.
:ind give warning of approaching dangoi-. and who accompanies
the head of a family when he goes forth to his wars and on liis
liunting expeditions.' ' Batchelor says also that they believe that
every person has his own protecting spirit.-
'Traditions inform us that the gods gather themselves togetlier
and consult with one another as to ways and means before they
act, the Creator, of course, acting as president, just in the same
way as the Ainu chiefs used to meet together for consultation
before they acted.' ^
If an Ainu finds that the particular god worshipped does not
answer his prayer, he appeals to the Creator, sometimes even
accusing the lesser god to him of neglecting his duty.^
They believe that their first ancestor, whom they call Aioina
hinud, became divine, and, as Batchelor says, 'has now the
superintendence of the Ainu race '. '
The Ainu believe in evil as well as in good spirits. The chief
evil spirit is j.V//;^e kamui, and there are also other malignant
beings who preside over accidents and diseases of the body and
mind.''
The souls both of animals and men are believed to survive
bodily death ; and, according to Batchelor, the Ainu belief in
a judgement of souls is strong and well defined."
The Ainu believe that the soul will inhabit after death a body
almost exactly resembling that which it has occupied in life ; and
that the community of souls in the future life, in its pursuits and
enjoyments, is practically the same as the Ainu community on
earth. Souls can revisit this earth as ghosts whenever they
desire to do so; and some of the living also have the jiower to go
among the ghosts in their dwelling-place. In neither case can the
visitor make himself heard, but he himself can both see and liear."*
The ghosts of deceased women are greatly feared, and that of
an old woman especially is believed to have an extraordinary
capacity for doing harm to the living. Even while alive on earth
old women have great power over men, and children are much
afraid of them. Formerly the hut in which the oldest woman of
a family died was burnt after her death to prevent the spirit
returning to work mischief to her oilfspring and to her sons- and
daughters-in-law. The soul returning from the grave to exercise
' Op. cit., p. 261. 2 iijij_ 3 Op. cit , p. 263.
' Op. cit., p. 26-t. ' Op. cit., p. 252. « Op. cit., p. 217.
' Ibid. « Op. cit., p. 225.
27G RELIGION
its spells upon the living was thus unable to find its former home,
and wandered about for a time in a furious rage. During this
period the grave was carefully avoided.^
All souls go first to Pokna-Moshiri, the underworld. Here
there are three roads, one leading to Kanna-Moshiri, ' the upper
world ', our world ; another to Kamui-Kotun, 'the place of god',
or Kamui-Moshiri, ' the kingdom ' or ' woild of god ' ; and the
third to Teinei-Pokna-Shiri, ' the wet underground world '. On
reaching Pokna-Moshiri, the soul is sent, on the testimony of the
goddess of fire, either to Kamui-Kotan or to Teinei-Pokna-Shiri,
to be rewarded for a good life, or punished for an evil one. If
the spirit denies having done evil, he is confronted by a picture
representing his whole life which is in the possession of the fire-
goddess. ' Thus the spirit stands self-condemned ' to punishment
in Teinei-Pokna-Shiri. -
Some of the Ainu hold that women, who are considered
inferior to men ' both spiritually and intellectually ', have * no
souls, and this is sometimes stated as a reason why women are
never allowed to pray'. But Batchelor thinks that the real reason
for this prohibition is that the Ainu are afraid that the women
will appeal to the gods against their ill-treatment by the men.''
Such are the views attributed by Batchelor to the Ainu about
a future judgement, heaven, and hell. According to Chamber-
lain,"* these conceptions are not original with the Ainu. He says :
' Some of the Ainos say that Paradise is below the earth, and
Hell Ijelow that again. But as they use the modern Japanese
Buddhist names for those places, they would appear to be, con-
sciously or unconsciouslj'', giving a foreign tinge to their old
traditions. The fact that many Aino fairy-tales mention Hades
under the name of Pokna Moshiri, while none seemingly mention
Heaven or Hell, favours the view that no moral thread was
woven into the idea of the next world as originally conceived by
the Aino mind.'
I Op. cit., p. 223. 2 Op. cit., pp. 237-8.
" Op. cit., pp. 234-5. This statement of Batchelor's implies that the
Ainu women have a very low social position. On the other hand, both
Sternberg and Pilsudski, who have an intimate acquaintance with Ainu
life, say that the social position of women among the Ainu is better than
in any other of the tribes of Siberia, and consider that this is probably
due to the existence of a matriarchate among the Ainu in comparatively
recent times.
* The Languoge, Mythology, and Gcogvaphudl yoiiiencJafure of Japan
viewed in the Light of Aino Studies, p. 19.
VI. The Turkic Tribes.
(1) The Yakut.
According to Troshclianski, the chief l)enevolent god of the
Yakut is Uriin-Aiy-Toyon, the white lord and creator of the earth
and man. This writer thinks that Ihun-Aiy-Toyon was regarded
as the father of light, and since among all the Turkic tribes tlie
sun is considered the father of light, his opinion is tliat this god
was originally the Yakut god of the sun. When the Yakut
migrated northward, where the sun is not so much in evidence as
in the south, they kept the name Urun-Aiy-Toyon as that of their
principal * white ' god, and gave a new name to the sun — Kun-
Toyon, ' Sun-Lord ', or simply Kun, the latter being the ordinary
word for ' light ', ' day '. However, ai>/ and Jatn are often used
sj^nonymously. ^ AVhile Troshchanski,'-^ following Piekarski, says
that Urun-Aiy-Toyon is sometimes called Art-Toyon-Aga, ' Father-
Euler-of-All ', or Ar-Aiy-Toyon, Sieroszewski •' and Priklonski
think that Art-Toyon-Aga is the highest god, living in the Ninth
Sky, and that Urun-Aiy-Toyon, who lives in the Third Sky, is
next to him in dignity. Sieroszewski says that the Yakut
Olympus is organized on the j^lan of the clan-system of the
Yakut. The sky-gods are divided into nine bis or agas, and the
gods of the lower world into eight. The sky-gods are arranged
in the following order :
(i) Art-Toyon-Aga, the powerful ruler of light and life, speaking
in the storm and thunder, somewhat indifferent to human affairs,
and to be appealed to only in exceptional circumstances. In his
honour are celebrated the great clan ceremonies, ysyakh, in which
sacrifice of kumys is made to him. Generally speaking, bloody
sacrifices are not made to the benevolent deities. Only to the
god of hunting, Bay-Nay, is sacrifice involving bloodshed offered,
and even in this case such sacrifices are limited in the quantity of
blood that may be shed.
(ii) Urun-Aiy-Toyon, ' White-Lord-Creator '.
(iii) Nalban-Aiy, Kiibay-Khotun-Lii, ' Kind-Mother-Creatress '.
(iv) Nalj'gyr-Aissyt-Khotun, the benevolent goddess who pre-
sides over child-birth.
' The Evolution of the Black Faith {Shamanism) among the Yakut,
pp. 33-7.
* Op. cit., p. 37.
^ Sieroszewski, 12 Lut w Krajit Yukutow, pp. 388-9,
(v) An-Alay-Khotun, the tutelary goddess of the earth, fields,
and valleys, with her children, the spirits of iiraha-djuruM.
(vi) Silttii-kiirJi-Djasagai-Aiy, seven brothers, godsof light, war, &c.
(vii) Mogol-Toyon and his wife, the deities of the cattle.
(viii) Bay-Nay, god of hunting.
(ix) Gods who guard the roads to the sky,^
Sieroszewski says that the natives are quite ready to give
information about the clan arrangement of the sky-gods, but that
it is very difficult to get similar information about the gods of the
underwoild, since very few of the ordinary people know anything
about them, and the shamans are afraid of betraying the secrets
of these formidable beings. The chief of the ' dark ' spirits
is Ulutuyer-Ulu-Toyon, 'Omnipotent Lord'. He is always
described as living in the western sky, and, in contrast to the
inactive Art-Toyon-Aga, he is the personification of action and of
the passions. Ulu-To3'on is not always harmful to men, for he
gives to them one of his souls, silr, and defends them from the
attacks of ahassylar. In some descriptions he appears as the
highest of the active supernatural powers, and not necessarily
evil ; Init in other accounts he is described as a ' dark ' spirit, the
ruler of abassylav, just as Art-Toyon-Aga is the ruler of aiy, who
inhabit the eastern sky.-
The ohass>/lar are divided into ' Upper ', living in the western
sky; 'Middle', living on the earth; and 'Low^er', inhabiting the
subterranean world ; but, wherever they live, they are all harmful
to men.''
Ichchi, literall)'^ "owner', signifies an ' owner '-spirit of various
objects. Every river, lake, stone, and sometimes even parts of
these, has its own ichchi, who controls it. Movable objects and
those which can produce sounds also have their iclichi. Ichchi do
not belong either to the aiy or to the ahassylar, though in many
cases, like the ahassylar, they are harmful to men. Thus, for
example, Kurar-Ichchi, the ' owner ' of the wind, is by many
writers considered as a ' black ' spirit, since the wind is very often
dangerous and harmful.^ In the wanderings of the tribe through
difficult country, by dangerous roads, or through trackless regions,
accidents may often happen to a cart or some part of its equip-
ment. Such misfortunes are attributed to the local ichchi, who
must therefore be placated bj'^ sacrifices. The Yakut have a
1 Op. cit., p. 390. ^ Op. cit., p. 391.
^ Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 190. * Troshchauski, op. cit., pp. 26-80.
special languago for use during those journeyings. In this
language, implements oi- i)tiier valuable objects are given certain
nicknames instead of names proper to them, in order that the
ichcJii may not know that the ol)ject3 in question are referred to —
for if they did. they would destroy or harm them. For the same
reason the Yakut often employ Russian names for things they
value, being certain that the icJirhi will not understand tliese.^
The Yakut division of the universe is mainly horizontal,
comprising two parts — east and soutli, the habitation of good
spirits, and west and north, of evil spirits. The great evil
spirit, Allara-Ogoniir, * Underground-Old-Man ', lives in the far
north. There is also a vertical division into upper, middle, and
lower worlds, but this is less precise and not so important as the
horizontal division, since dbassylar, or evil .spirits, are found in all
three divisions, so that no one of the vertical worlds is restricted
to the ' white ' or good spirits, u'iij.
The Yakut believe that man is composed of (i) fijn, 'life',
'breath'; (ii) Icut, the physical soul ; and (iii) si\r, the j^sychic soul.^
Tijn is common to men, animals, and plants, as among the
Altaians. Kut is common to men and animals, and is composed
of three parts: {a) huor-lait, literally 'earth-soul', i.e. soul com-
posed of earthly elements; [h) salgi/n-lut, literally 'air-soul',
i. e. composed of air ; (c) uja-lcut, ' mother-soul ', the maternal
element. It might seem, says Troshchanski, that there are here
three souls, but in fact lad is one soul composed of these three
elements. A Yakut woman is always delivered of her child on
the bare ground within the yurta, for the Yakut believe that the
huor-lcut is communicated to the infant from the earth at the
moment of birth. Salgyn-lad it receives from the air shortly
afterwards ; while the third element, iijd-lut, comes to the child
from the mother."' Troshchanski considers that the proof of Jcut
being but one soul composed of three parts is found in the fact
that the Yakut believe that fishes have no Jad, being cut off from
both air and earth and not being viviparous.
The Altaians also have a conception of a Jcid, )>ut theirs does
not comprise three elements as does that of the Yakut.
Kid is a physical conception of the soul, while silr, although in
some degree a material conception, has more of a psychical
' Op. cit., p. 54. ^ Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 72.
=> Op. cit , p. 74.
character than lut. Tlie sitr enters the mother by way of her
temples at the moment of conception. The Icut is sent by Art-
Toyon-Aga, and the siir by Uhi-Toyon. Siir is connected with
the liead, and has no shadow ; lut with the abdomen, and has
three shadows. After death lait is devoured by the ahassjflar ;
though there is also a belief that the lut remains for some days
near the body of the deceased, and then departs to the other
world. ^ Si'ir is common to man and the animals, and is even
possessed by fishes.^ Troshchanski •' says that the word siir is also
used to denote unusual psychic powers, such as are possessed by
shamans; and, indeed, according to the legend,"* shamans receive
their heads (the seat of siir) from heaven. If, as Troshchanski
thinks, the siir is primarily connected with the shaman as his
distinctive familiar spirit, and does not perish after death like the
///«, nor go to the other world like the 'kut.^ then it would seem
clear that the amdfj/jat, which according to some is a shamanistic
spirit passing from one shaman to another, usually by heredity,
is not in fact a spirit at all, but simply an impersonal power
invariably associated with shamans.^
(2) The Altaians.
According to the belief of the Altaians' the good spirits {aru
neme) are all subjects of the good god Yulgen, and the bad spirits
[kara neme) of the evil god Erlik. Yulgen is so kind and generous
that he never does harm to men. Sacrifices are offered to him
by all, but no one fears him. Every bridegroom must sacrifice to
him a horse ((//,) of a light colour after his marriage. The lik is
surrounded with every mark of respect, red ribbon is tied to its
mane, and no woman must mount upon its back. This sacrifice
is offered in spring, in a birch thicket ; no woman must be
present at the ceremony, and even the shaman must of necessity
be a man. The sacrificial meat may be partaken of by women,
but only unmarried girls may share the feast at the spot where
the sacrifice was offered ; married women must not approach
nearer than sixty feet from this spot.
' According to Mikbailowski, the Samoyed believe that the souls of
ordinary men perish some time after the death of their possessors
[Shamanism, p. 7), only the souls of shamans surviving.
« Op. cit., pp. 75-6. 3 Op. cit., p. 79.
* Op. cit., p. 78. ^ Op. cit., p. 77.
^ A similar hypothesis concerning cnmigijai is put forward in the
chapter on ' The Shaman — his Vocation '.
^ Wierbicki, Tlie Nafires of the Altai, p. 43.
f
Sacrifice is made to Eriik — usually of some animal — when an
evil spirit attacks some one. The ceremony is performed either
in the yurdt. in the courtyard, or wherever the attack was made.
Propitiatory sacrifices are otTered, not only to Yulgen and Erlik,
but also to secondary good sjjirits, such as aru none and ah nemc,
and to secondary evil spirits {kara ncme), which are known to the
Tartars of Chern as sJiaitan, ahn//s, IJiawa, Jciircmcs. The sun, the
moon, as well as the mountains, rivers, and forest, are also pro-
pitiated, or rather the propitiation is offered to their 'owner'
{eezi). Besides these superior beings, every clan (seoh) has its
own deity, and every family its own family god of the ijurta,
called hashtut-lhan (or among the Tartars of Chern, crhe).
Images of gods are called by the Yenisei Turks tijns, and by
the Altaians, lurnies. These are made of various materials, often
skin or wood.
There exists, apparently, some understanding between Yulgen
and Erlik. As the Altaians say, ' Yulgen and Erlik have one
door.'i Sometimes, when Yulgen has been expecting a sacrifice
and fails to receive it, being too kind-hearted to punish the
culprit himself, he informs Erlik, and then sacrifices have to be
made to both. In such cases Erlik commands Kagyr Khan to
punish the culprit until he makes the expected sacrifice. Kagyr
Khan has power over every yurta, and hence minor libations are
made to him at all festivals.
The intermediary between gods and men at all sacrifices, and
the priest at these ceremonies, as well as the prophet, is the Team
or shaman. His power is greater or less according to the degree
oitcs hazi/n-yat- (probably 'ancestor-spirit' or 'power of ancestor-
spirit') possessed bj'^ him.^
The local division of the universe is partly horizontal, partly
vertical ; and the good spirits live in seventeen floors above the
earth, while the bad occupy seven or nine under it. Erlik Khan,
the chief of the bad spirits, lives on the lowest floor, where the
sun and moon are supposed to give only a very feeble light. This
Erlik Khan is held to have been originally a heavenly spirit,
which shows that even in the past the 'white' spirits were
predominant.*
The Altaians believe that the soul of man is composed of
' Il^id.
^ This conception is similar to that oi umagijut among the Yakut.
^ Wierbicki, The Natives of the Altai, p. 43. * Ibid.
several paits, or rather exists in several conditions or stages.
"When a man is ill/ they consider that one of his souls, suzy. is
absent, but that another soul, called (>in, still remains in the
body, so that the sazy can be recalled.
(a) Tim'- signifies vitality, i.e. a soul common to plants, animals,
and man. If the suzy does not return soon to the body, the tyn
perishes. The soul of a dead man is called uzhtp-tyn. The word tyn
comes from tynip, '1 breathe', or tynit, 'breath'. The Altaians
say that one can hear a sound as of the snapping of a string when
the tyn is departing. One must not approach too near to a dying
man, for the belief is that in such a case the tyn of a living
person can pass into the latter.
{I)) Suzy is derived from su, 'water', 'river', and uzak; 'long'.
The word siiuza/c means ' long-lived ', ' healthy ' ; and sxzy signifies
primarily the strength necessary for a man or animal in order
that he may be healthy and live long.
(c) Kut is almost the same as suzy, or is, so to speak, the next
stage of suzy. This word is derived from kudiip, ' I vanish '. Kut
connotes, in fact, the destruction of some vital principle. The
expression cr Iciidup panly means 'the earth has lost its vitality '
or ' has become barren '.
{(T) Tula is probably derived from tulup, ' I tear '. Animals
have no ttda, it belongs only to men. During a .shaman's per-
formance he represents this soul as a small white bullet con-
tinually in motion like quicksilver.
(e) Si'ir, from sump, ' I pursue ', ' I drive away '. This soul
separates from a man at death, and is banished from the dead
man's habitation forty days after his death. Siirmet means
a ' picture ', ' representation '. The Altaians believe that both men
and animals, or their siinnet. continue to exist after bodily death,
and have the same relations to one another as on earth.
(/) Siine, denoting a phase of the soul also peculiar to man,
comes from siinep, ' I advise ", ' discuss '. The word refers to the
intellectual powers of man. It is this soul which assumes after
death the living likeness of its possessor, and wanders in the
dwelling of the dead man, sometimes calling out to his relatives.^
1 Op. cit., p. 77.
"^ Tyndu-agash, fi*esb, growing tree ; iyndu-eleu, fresh grass (ibid.).
^ Op. cit., p. 78.
VII. The MoxtiOLic Tribes.
The Bukyat.
Tlie Buryat religion is a fonu of polytheism. They have classes
of supernal l>eings, each class having at its head one who is above
the rest, l)ut they have no conception of a Sui)reme Being over all.
The highest spirits are called teugcri or (engerini/. They inhabit
the sky.^ There are ninety-nine kngcrl each with a name of its
own, divided into two groups — western, haruni, and eastern, zioti.
Those of the west are kind, they predominate in numbers, being
fifty-five, and are called sagani tengcri — "White Tengeri. The
eastern (forty-four in number) are mischievous, and are known as
kharan tcngcri, or Black Tengeri.-
Banzai'off' speaks of the old Mongols as being heaven-wor-
shippers, and this may be true of former times ; now, however,
we find among them a curious conception of heaven not as an
indivisible whole, but as a collection of distinct bodies.
Following what Mr. Klementz* calls the theory of the atmo-
spheric explanation of myths, Agapitoff and Khangaloff, in their
Materials for the Stuclij of Shamanism in Siberia, explain the ninety-
nine tengeri as being each a personification of some atmospheric
state, dull, bright, cold, stormy, &c.
The chief of the west tengeri is Khan-Tiurmas Tengeri among
the Buryat of Balagansk, and Zayan-Sagan-Tengeri among the
Buryat of Kudinsk.'' Not only the west tengeri, but also certain
secondary spirits called litrkhans or Ihats, and generally all the
western or good zagans, are subordinate to this chief.
The east tengeri.'' in contrast to those of the west, are hostile to
men, among whom they send misfortunes, quarrels, sickness, and
death. In the beginning there was no difference between these
two classes of tengeri ; but in consequence of a quarrel which arose
among these spirits, some separated themselves and went to the
east, where they have since remained as east tengeri, permanently
hostile to the others and to men. There is a tradition among
some of the Buryat, e. g. those of the Kuda Eiver, that the white
^ The sky as seen by daylight is called tengeri; the night sky is oktorgo.
■ Khangaloff, 1895. pp. 1-2. ' Banzaroff, pp. 6, 26.
* ' The Buriat,' E. R. E., p. 2.
^ In Buryat the word zagan means literally 'creator', and sagan,
'white '. Colloquially the former word has the meaning ' god ', ' deity ',
" Khangaloff, op. cit., p. 10.
tengcri are older than the bhick— a tradition which may not be
unconnected with the other just mentioned. The chief of the
east tengeri is Ata-Ulan-Tengeri among the Balagansk Buryat,
and among the Kudinsk Buryat. Khimkhir-Bogdo-Tengeri. Not
only the black toir/cri but also other lesser scvjans are subordinate
to him.
The Buryat believe that the visible sky has a door through
which the western tengcri look from time to time, to see how
human affairs are going. If they behold some misfortune they
send to the aid of men certain of their children, called Ihats. If
a man should happen to look up at the sky when this i\oov [tengc-
r'm-uden) open.s, he will be very lucky, and all that he may then
ask from heaven will be granted him. During the brief moment
when this door is open, a glory falls upon the earth and trans-
figures it to unwonted beauty.^
The most important of the western llials arc Khan-Shargan-
Noyon and Bukha-No)^on-Babai.
The other benevolent spirits are known among the Kudinsk
Buryat as satim-burlJiaf. They are held in great reverence, because,
as their name shows {sa, ' tea '), they are tutelary spirits of tea-
planting, and the offering made to them consists always of tea,
never of tarasim.'^
The Balagansk Bur3'at include among their benevolent spirits
a dagda-delkha-ijin, that is, the 'host or owner of the whole earth',
who is represented as an old man with grey hair. His name is
Daban-Sagan-Noyon. His wife is also old and white-haired, and
her name is Delent-Sagan-Khatun. The Buryat arrange failgans
to this zatjan in the autumn after the harvest.
The Buryat of Olhonsk offer sacrifice to the ' hostess ' of the
sea, Aba-Khatun.
The Buryat of Balagansk have also important deities called
sagani-Txliordut?
Speaking generally, every feature of the whole landscape has
its ' owner ' {jjin). E. g. in the lakes and rivers there are spirits
known as uJcJmn-Jihat ; and in the forest lives oin-ijin, the ' owner '
of the forest, a spirit harmful to men.'*
The attitude of the Buryat towards the many ' owners ' whom
they see in nature is shown in the following prayer : * Ye keepers
of the echo in the high mountains, ye keepers of the winds of the
> Op. cit., p. 18. 2 Op. cit , p. 30.
^ Op. cit., p. 44. * Shashkoff, 1864, p. 49.
wide sea ; my lords who lodge in the high mountains, my gods
who live in the wilderness ! Be our support in our need ! In
tlie evil years be generous, grant us fertility in the lean months!
When we sit within t)ur i/urtas ye are not a danger to us ; when
we are without, there is no hindrance to your power. In the
warm night ye give us light, in the hot midday ye send us shade.
Banish from us evil, bring near to us the good ! Since ye have made
yourselves Creators, save us from all perils ! Ye suffer not our
plate-like faces to sweat, nor our hearts, like buttons, to flutter.
Guardians of our heads, ye who prej^are food for our mouths !
Through the doors of our yutias send us rays of light, through
our smoke-holes let us see the sun ! ' ^
A special class in the spiritual world is formed of ' smiths ',
who are also western, or white, and eastern, or black. The
former protect men and heal them of ills. They ai*e subordinate
to the western icngeri, and they have given to men knowledge of
their art. The first white smith was Bojintoy, a heavenly zaijan.
When, at the behest of the western tengeri, white smiths and
black descended to earth, Bojintoy remained in the sky. He
had one daughter and nine sons, all of whom were smiths. -
The eastern Mats are of the same number as the western.
Their head is Erlen-Khan and his family. Although they do
nothing but mischief to men, they have communication some-
times with the western Ihats, the intermediaries, who have no
other function to perform, being called Ushi or hydel: There are
also nine 'cow' JJiats, who also belong to the eastern zai/ans but
are not sul^ject to their power.-'
In the I'egion of the evil spirits there are two dungeons, one of
which, the larger, is known as Khalga, and to this the greatest
black shamans go after deatli. It is under the rule of Khara-
Eren-Noyon, and a soul can only leave the dungeon if the
governor is well disposed towards it. The other dungeon is
smaller, and is called Erlen-Tama. It is not accessible to
shamans, and is under the direct control of Erlen-Khan.^
Eastern or black 'smiths' are called Jcara-darlJiat' They are
si>ecially protected by the eastern tengeri, who taught the smith's
art to the first 'black' smith on earth, Khojir-Khura-Darkhan.
The latter has seven sons, all of whom are great black ' smiths '.^
' Op. cit., p. 47. - Op. cit., pp. 38-y.
I Op. cit., p. 47. * Op. cit., p. 51.
^ Darkhan, singular — 'a smith '. Darkhat is plural.
« Op. cit., p. 53.
The Buryat of Balagan believe tliat every disease has its zayan.
Thus the disease common in their district, Sibi>sJcai/a yazva
(called in Buryat homo), has as its 'owner' Bolot-Sagan-Noyon.^
In the clan Olzoyev, in the district of Unginsk, there are two
large white stones, Bumal-Sagan-Shulun (literally, 'descending
Avhite stones'), which are believed to have fallen from the sky,
and are worshipped by the natives.^
The souls of the greatest shamans after death become scujans
and protectors of men. Even the souls of black shamans are said
to arranL;e human business with the l>lack zayans. Every ulus
and clan has its own zai/uns — the souls of deceased shamans and
shamanesses. Their bodies are burned or placed in coffins, which
are put on trees in a neighbouring forest or on a mountain,
whence they are called ' the old people of the mountain ', khada-
ulan-obokhocl. In every district there are such ' old people of the
mountain ', for M'hom are made tailgans and kiriks, with other
lesser propitiatory offerings. These ' old people ' are purely local
divinities, and are not worshipped outside of the particular
locality to which they belong.-^'
There are also two classes of onyons or fetishes — 'black 'and
* white '. They represent different spirits and are made of various
kinds of material, usually of skins, and are of different forms, but
generally have human fiices. One kind of onyons serve only for
the amusement of people. These are known as nadanl ongon,
nadani being the name given to an evening's amusement. The
shaman calls upon the spirits represented by these onyons to
amuse the young people during an evening party. When the
spirit invoked arrives, the shaman himself pretends to be its
onyon, and begins to make jests at the expense of the people
present, who must not make any objection, but affect to be
amused, for these onyons must be welcomed with merriment, and
are annoyed otherwise.^
Although the Buryat have many legends about animals, which
figure largely in their mythology, animals never rise to the rank
of deities. Some are even said to have a future life, e. g. the
horse, eagle, hedgehog, swan, fox, and even the worms in the
fields. The snake is often represented in ritual as well as in
mythology. It is a curious fact that the bear, which plays such
an important part in the beliefs and ceremonies of other
^ Op. cit., p. 54. ^ Op. cit., p. 45.
=> Op. cit., pp. 82-4. * Op. cit., p. 76.
shamanists, does not enter into the myths and litunl of the
Buryat.
The sun and the moon are among the principal tutehuy spirits.
In most of the tales they are represented as being of the male sex
and as taking women for wives. "SYhen there is an eclipse of the sun
or moon, said a Balagansk shaman, this is because they have been
swallowed by an aJkJta, a monster without trunk or limbs, having
only a head. The sun, or the moon, then cries 'Save me!' and
all the people shout and make a great noise to frighten the monster.^
The Buryat believe that man is composed of three parts : oifeye,
material body; amin, lower soul, breath; and sunycsun, soul
belonging to man only. Amin is connected with death ; when it
leaves the body, death occurs. Sunyestm has a similar connexion
with sleep, leaving the body when one is sleeping. Batoroff-
relates the history of the soul after death as follows : When the
time comes for a man to die. erlils capture one of his souls, and
bring it before Erlik-Nomon-Khan for judgement. After this
soul has been captured, it sometimes happens that a man may
live on for as long as nine years, but he never enjoys his former
health and strength.
The second part of the soul does not leave the earth, but
changes at the death of the man into a boJcJioldoif. which continues
to live in a dwelling on earth and in a manner exactly similar to
that which the man formerly' followed. There are different
classes of bolJioldoys.
The third part of the soul is born again in the form of a human
being, but Batoroff ^ does not tell us when and how this reincar-
nation takes place/*
Bolhohloi/s are sometimes the souls of deceased shamans, to
whom the Buryat bring sacrifices, says Batoroff; "' these holholdai/s,
then, form the class of zayans to which reference was made above.
Bohholdoys are more or less powerful, according to the quality of
tjie shamans in life. This depends, Batoroff thinks,-' on the
utkhu of the deceased shaman, which means literally, his descent
or genealogy ; but from other references to a shaman's uWia it
' AgapitofF and KhangalofF, p. 17.
- ' Buryat beliefs on the hokholdoys and anukhoija,' E. S. S. I. R. G. S.,
vol. ii, part ii, p. 13.
' Op. cit., p. 14.
* For further information as to peculiar Buryat beliefs about the soul,
see the chapter on ' Death '.
^ Op. cit, p. 10. « Ibid.
seems clear that the word denotes supernatural, shamanistic
power, like the Yakut amiigyat^ The less important hoMoIdoi/s
do not receive any propitiatory offerings other than an occasional
libation, which may be performed by any one, not necessarily by
a shaman.
Ada or anahhai/ are, according to some traditions, souls of
wicked persons or of women who have died childlpss. No sacri-
fices are made to them and they are represented as one-eyed, evil,
malicious spirits, who always remain in the same ulus or house.
They sometimes take the form of a dog or cat, always one-eyed ;
they wander at night, but not every one can see them, though
any one can smell their disagx-eeable odour. They are afraid of
being seen, of angry men, of fire, of metals, of weapons, and of the
smell of heath. Though easily frightened, they are not easily
banished from a house, and as they are especially harmful to
young children under the age of seven, parents frequently arrange
nai/dji" with the shamans for their children's protection.^
The less important kind of hokholdoys are called iilclier-ezy ;
these ai-e the souls of sinful women who have died a violent death.
No sacrifices are made to them, and nobody fears them. They
can be seen by the same people as can see analchay, but other
people can perceive their odour. They come to wander on earth
at the time when these women would have died in the ordinary
course of events but for the violence which in fact ended their
lives.* Klementz mentions also two other kinds of malicious
spirits who originated from human souls, namely, mu-shuhu — in
the form of an evil-di.sposed bird — and ddlxlnds.''
VIII. The Finnic Tribes.
In his account of the natives of north-western Siberia, the
Ugrian Ostyak, Vogul, and Samoyed, Gondatti,'' in speaking of
their religion, pays most attention to the Vogul mythology. He
says that the gods of the Vogul are divided into two classes, viz.
of good and bad gods. The chief of the beneficent deities is
Yanykh-Torum (called also Numi-Torum or Voykan-Torum).
' Sec chapter on ' Rluunan's Vocation '.
^ This term is explained in the chapter on ' Birth '.
' Op. cit, pp. 10-11. ■» Op. cit., p. 13.
"• ' The Buriats,' E.Ii.E., p. 3.
" Gondatti, Traces of rcKjanism amony the Aboriijines of North-Westeitt
Siberia, 1888, pp. 6-7.
The principal evil deit}' is Khul. Yunykh-Toium is, however,
not the highest of the gods ; there is another, higher than he,
Kors-Toruni (The Creator), the progenitor of all the gods. Kors-
Torum has never revealed himself to man, and the Vogul say
that they cannot picture to themselves what he is like, that what-
ever they know of him is only known through the lesser gods.^
He never descends to earth, but sometimes sends thither his
eldest son, Yanykh-Torum. Yanykh-Torum has the form of
a man. but from the splendour of his raiment he shines like gold.
Like his father he never carries any weapon. About once a week
he descends to earth to see how men's affairs are going on. If
they pray to him to send rain or fair weather he gives commands
to his younger brother, Sakhil-Torum, who dwells in the dark
clouds, to do what is required. Sakhil-Torum, like his brother,
has the form of a man, and drives reindeer, which have tusks like
a mammoth, in the clouds. His reindeer are laden with casks of
water. When they are sluggish he whips them up, and as they
plunge under his strokes the water in the casks is spilled and
falls on the earth as rain.
The following tale is told about the sons of Yanykh-Torum :
When they were grown up their father sent them down to earth.
On their arrival, they began to fight with the heroes who lived on
earth in those days. To bring about peace, Yanykh summoned
his sons and said to them, 'He among you who can first tie his
bridle to-morrow to the silver post which stands before my house,
shall be made elder and ruler over his brothers and over men.'
The next day the first to appear was the youngest son, Mir-
Susne-Khum. Since that time he has been the ruler of his
brothers and of men, whom they try to keep in peace. ^
' The Samoyed chief god Nim, or Ileumbarte (literally, 'giver of life'),
although he is ruler both of earth and heaven, never descends to the
unclean earth lest he might soil himself upon it, but communicates with
man only through the tadehtsy (spirits), who for this jjurpose choose
tadibeij (shamans) from among men. (Islavin, The Samoyed, p. 109.)
Lepekhin says that the tadehtsy of the Samoyed are not divided into bad
and good spirits, but that they can harm or help men according to circum-
stances. These tadehtsy are so numerous that there is no place on earth
where they are not found. (Lepekhin, Full Collection of Scientific Travels in
Russia, I. R. A. S., 1818, pp. 260-2.) Jackson says that the Samoyed
regard atmospheric phenomena — storms, rain, snow — as the ' direct ex-
pressions ' of the • great god Num ', and that his attitude towards men is
one of complete indifference. (Notes on the Samoyeds of the Great Tundra,
Journal of the Anfhropoloyical Institute, vol. xxiv, p. 398.)
^ Op. cit., pp. 17-18
Yanykh-Torum has seven sons, but neither he nor Kors-Torum
has any daughters. Besides Yanykh and Kors-Torum and their
sons there are many other gods. These hitter are of secondary I'ank,
and are specially connected with individuals, the family, or the clan.
Each category of gods has its own special sacrificial places.^
Kul-Odyr, or Kul, is the chief of the spirits of darkness, and
the secondary dark spirits are known as menJcva. These resemble
the Koryak Jcelct in having the power of changing their forms.
They are represented as being very tall, with heads of a conical
shape. They sometimes kill and devour human beings. Other
malicious spirits, called ucJicJii, inhabit the forest. They have the
paws and teeth of a dog. In the forest, too, lives Mis-Khum.
He has many daughters, who try to entice men to live with them
as their husbands. If they succeed, this bring? good fortune to
the fathers of the men thus captured. -
In the water lives the good god Vit-Khon, as well as a dark
spirit, Vit-Kul. The first was sent by Numi to have charge of the
fishes.
The mythology of the Finnic tribes is very rich in tales about
heroes, called in Vogul pol'Jiatur or odi/r. These heroes were
continually quarrelling and fighting among themselves, especially
about women, therefore Numi punished them by sending a deluge
upon the earth. ^
Eepresentations of gods and fetishes are made of wood, metal,
or bone. They are usually very rude in form, and now that
these people can obtain children's dolls very cheaply from Russian
traders they are ceasing to make their own fetishes.*
A man, according to the belief of the Finnic tribes, is composed
of three parts : body, shadow (isi), and soul [lili l-JiclmMiolas).
lAli IhelmkJiolas passes, after the death of a man, to an infant of
the same clan, or, if the clan has become extinct, to one of
another clan, but never to an animal. The shadow goes to a cold
underworld, situated in the icy seas beyond the mouth of the Obi,
and ruled over by Kul Odyr. Here it lives for as long as the
term of the dead man's former life on earth, and follows the
same pursuits — reindeer-breeding, fishing, &c. Then the shadow
begins to grow smaller and smaller, until it is no larger than
a blackbeetle, l:er-l;homlalh (according to some, it actually does
turn into a blackbeetle), and finally disappears altogether.'"'
1 Op. cit., p. 7. 2 Op. cit.. p. 35. ^ Qp. cit., p. 36.
* Op. cit., p. 16. s Op. cit , p. 39.
Chapter XIV
SOME CEREMONIES
I. The Chukchee.
Chukchee ceremonials have a.s the only object of their per-
formance the material welfare of the community, and incantations
are the main substance of their rites.
The Reindeer Chukchee's only regular ceremonials are those
connected with the herd ; these they call ' sacrifices ' or * genuine
sacrifices'. "Strictly speaking,' says Bogoras, 'every slaughtering
of reindeer is a sacrifice and is performed according to certain rules.
After the animal is stabbed the Chukchee watch carefully to see on
which side it falls. To fall on the wounded side is a less favourable
omen than to fall on the other ; and to fall backwards is still worse,
and forebodes misfortune.'^
Besides reindeer, dogs are also slaughtered, and sometimes
substitute sacrifices are offered, of reindeer made of Avillow-leaves
or even of snow. Most sacrifices are offered to the good spirits.
Evil spirits are also sacrificed to, but the offerings to these are
made at midnight, in darkness, and are never spoken of.^
The most regular sacrifices are the Autumn Slaughtering,^
Winter Slaughtering,* the Ceremonial of Antlers, ' the Sacrifice
to the New Moon, the Sacrifice to the Fire, the Sacrifice for
Luck in Hunting,^ and a ceremonial connected with the killing
of wild reindeer bucks. "^ Besides these seasonal ceremonials there
is also a Thanksgiving Ceremonial, which each family must
perform once or twice a year, on different occasions.'^
Bogoras gives a summary account of the ceremonials of the
Maritime Chukchee as follows: 'The cycle of the ceremonials
with the Maritime Chukchee opens with two short ceremonials in
the beginning of the autumn, which are often joined together.
One of them is a commemorative sacrifice to the dead. The
^ Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 368. ^ Oj,. cit., pp. 369-70.
3 Op. cit., p. 372. * Op. cit., p. 376. " Op. cit., p. 377.
« Op. cit., p. 378. ' Op. cit., p. 379. « Op. cit., p. 381.
u 2
other i« a sacrifice to the sea, in order to ensure good fortune
in subsequent sealing on the sea-ice in winter.
'Late in the autumn, or rather in the l^eginning of the winter,
the chief ceremonial of the year is performed. It is consecrated
to Keretkun, or is made a thanksgiving ceremonial to the spirits
of sea-mammals killed since the fall. Early in spring there follows
the ceremonial of boats, which are made ready for the approaching
season. In the middle of s'lmmer the ceremonial of heads is per-
formed. This is for thanksgiving to the spirits of sea-animals killed
since early in the spring.
'These four ceremonials are performed with varying similarity
by both the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo. To
these must be added some slight ceremonials effected while
moving from the winter lodging to the summer tent.
'Most of the Maritime Chukchee offer sacrifice also in mid-
winter to the star Pehittin, and perform in the middle of spring
a ceremonial analogous to the ceremonial of antlers of the reindeer-
breeders, which is called by the same name, Kilvei. The sacrifice
to the whale is performed, in addition, each time after a whale has
been killed or has drifted ashore,
'Bloody and bloodless sacrifices are offered during these cere-
monials. The Maritime Chukchee, of course, can slaughter only
dogs for their bloody sacrifices. In comparison with the Koryak,
however, they are merciful to their dogs and kill them in no very
great numbers. In this, as in other respects, they occupy a middle
ground between the American Eskimo, who do not sacrifice dogs,
and the Koryak, who often kill almost all the animals of their
single team. ' ^
The ceremonial dedicated to Keretkun,'- the sea-god, is especially
important among the Maritime Chukchee. When the seal-gut
overcoats for the family (which are said to be similar to those
worn by Keretkun and his family), the ceremonial head-dresses,
and the incantation-paddle, on which there are pictorial repre-
sentations of prayers, are ready, a net is suspended overhead, and
various images of birds and small paddles are hung from it. On
each side of the hearth is placed a reindeer-skin, the two skins
representing the inner rooms of the house. Keretkun, who is
represented bj' a small wooden image, enters the house and is
placed on a lamp, which is put either on one of the skins or
1 Op. cit., pp. 385-6. - Op. cit., pp. 392-401.
in a sleeping-room. Here he remains until the end of the
ceremony. A fire is made before him and kept burning through-
out the three days of the ceremonial. Among those people, like
the Asiatic Eskimo, who have no wood, a second lamp is kept
l)urning before that on which Keretkun is placed. Puddings
made of various roots mixed with oil and liver are sacrificed
to the god. On the first day the household enjoys the festival
alone, singing and dancing and beating the drum.
'The second day belongs to the guests and particularly to
the shamans, who have to show, in turn, their skill in drumming
and singing.'^ It is on this day that, in many villages, the
so-ealled 'exchanging of presents' takes place. Usually, the guests
assemble at the entrance of the sleeping-room, bringing various
household articles, which they thrust under the partition, loudly
demanding what they wish in exchange. The mistress takes
whatever is offered and must give in exchange whatever is
demanded.
In some cases the exchange is made between relatives only,
and especially between those who are partners in the marriages
called by Bogoras ' group-marriage '. A man will send his wife to
one of his marriage-partners to ask for certain articles, and after-
wards the donor sends his wife to ask for an equivalent.
Another variety of ceremonial exchange, which also forms a part
of the second day's ceremonies, is what is called by Bogoras the
' trading-dance '.^ It takes place between the members of a * com-
pound marriage ', beginning with a dance in which a male member
of the group has one of the women for his partner. ' Frequently
the man looks on only, while the woman dances before him. He
must provide a reindeer-skin, howevei', to spread on the ground
under her feet while she is dancing. While the dance is being
performed the other dancers remain quiet, and look on together
with the other spectators. After the dance, the man must give
some i>resent to the woman ; and the following night they sleep
together, leaving their respective mates to arrange matters between
themselves. On the next day the husband of the woman and the
wife of the man perform a similar dance, in which the man gives
an equivalent of the present of the day before, and each newlj'-
mated couple sleeps together for another night. Such dances are
' Ibid.
^ A special meaning of 'trade' in the U.S.A. is the exchange of com-
uiodities in business; trading = bartenng, 'swapping'.
arranged chiefly among cousins or other relatives, who, among the
Chukchee, frequently assume the bond of compound marriage.
Conversely, a new bond of compound marriage may be concluded
through a trading-dance.'
The third day of the Keretkun ceremonial is the women's daj'.
This time it is they who act as drummers and dancers. 'A new^
detail is that of a night-watch, which must be kept for the sake of
Keretkun, who is supposed to stay in the house all the time.
This watch is kept by an old man or woman ', who is often
a shaman, invited specially for this purpose. The shaman sits on
a stool made of a w^hale's vertebra, and ' sings and beats the drum
in a subdued key, in order not to awaken the supernatural guest '.
The keeper of the watch on the last night must be a woman.
On the evening of the last day a reindeer is cooked, and the
meat distributed among the guests, who carry their shares home
with them on departing.
Finally, the image of Keretkun is burned over his lamp. Then
all the refuse of the sacrificed reindeer is gathered up and cast
into the sea, to symbolize the returning to the sea of all game
killed since the last ceremonial. This same S5'mbolic act is per-
formed at almost all of the Maritime ceremonials.
II. The Koryak.
The Korj'ak offer sacrifices to their Supreme Being to secure
prosperity for the future. At these sacrifices, some blood from
the wounds of the victim, dog or reindeer, are sprinkled on the
ground as an offering to the Ixila, with the words : * This blood is
for thee, kala ! ' - Thus Me see that bloody sacrifices among
these people are offered to malevolent as well as to benevolent
beings.
Besides occasional sacrifices, the Koryak have several sacrificial
ceremonies which are regular or seasonal, and all connected with
the cult of the animals on which their livelihood dei:)ends. Thus
the Maritime Koryak worship sea-animals, and the Reindeer
^ Differing, that is, from the custom of the Reindeer Chukchee, whose
procedure at the autumn ceremonial and the ' thanksgiving ' is in most
other respects similar to that described here.
^ Jochelson, The Konjal-, p. 93. ' Otherwise the lala might intercept
the sacrifice and prevent its reaching the Supreme Being' (ibid.).
Koryak tlioir hcixl. This is illustrated by the following list of
festivals :
Maritime Korijalc : ^
1. Whale-festival.
2. The putting away of the skin-boat for the winter.
3. Launching the skin-boat.
4. Wearing of masks.
lieimlccr Kori/al- : -
1. Ceremony on the return of the herd from summer pastures.
2. The fawn-festival.
Ceremonies common to loth : •*
1. Bear-festival.
2. Wolf-festival.
3. Practices in connexion with fox-hunting.
Jochelson's description^ of the wolf-festival is here quoted as
being typical of the ritual practices common to both Eeindeer and
Maritime Koryak :
' After having killed a wolf, the Maritime Koryak take off its
skin, together with the head, just as they proceed with the bear ;
then they place near the hearth a pointed stick, and tie an arrow,
called ilJmn or elgoi, to it, or drive an arrow into the ground at its
butt end. One of the men puts on the wolf-skin and walks
around the hearth, while another member of the family beats the
drum. The wolf- festival is called elhogicnin, i.e. 'wolf-stick
festival '.
'The meaning of this ceremony is obscure. I have been unable
to get any explanation from the Koryak with reference to it.
" Our forefathers did this way ", is all they say. I have found no
direct indications of the existence of totemism among the
Koryak ; but the wearing of the skin of the wolf and of the bear
during these festivals may be compared to certain features of
totemistic festivals, in which some members of the family or clan
represent the totem by putting on its skin.
' The wolf-festival differs from the bear-festival in the absence
of the equipment for the home journey.'' The reason is this, that
^ Jochelson, op. cit., p. 65. ^ Op. cit., pp. 86-7.
3 Op. cit, pp. 88-90. " Op. cit., pp. 89-90.
® 'The essential part of the whale-festival is based on the conception
that the whale killed has come on a visit to the village ; . . . that it
will return to the sea to repeat its visit the following year' ; and that, if
hospitably received, it will bring its relatives with it when it comes
the bear is sent liome with much ceremony, to secure successful
bear-hunting in the future, bear's meat being considered a delicacy,
while the festival seizes at the same time to protect the people
from the wrath of the slain animal and its relatives. The wolf,
on the other hand, does not serve as food, but is only a danger to
the traveller in the desert. He is dangerous, not in his visible,
animal state — for the northern wolves, as a rule, are afraid of men
— but in his invisil^le, anthropomorphic form. According to the
Koryak conception, the wolf is a rich reindeer-owner and the
powerful master of the tundra . . . [ and] avenges [himself]
particularly on those that hunt [wolves].' The Reindeer Kor5^ak,
who have special reason to fear the wolf on account of their herds,
regard this animal as a powerful shaman and an evil spirit.
'After having killed a wolf, the Reindeer Koryak slaughter
a reindeer, cut off its head, and put its body, together with that
of the killed wolf, on a platform raised on jjosts. The reindeer-
head is placed so as to face eastward. It is a sacrifice to The-One-
on-High, who is thus asked not to permit the wolf to attack the
herd. Special food is prepared in the evening, and the wolf is fed.
The night is spent without sleep, in beating the drum, and
dancing to entertain the w^olf, lest his relatives come and take
revenge. Beating the drum and addressing themselves to the
wolf, the people say, " Be well ! " [Nimeleu (jatvanvota !), and
addressing The-One-on-High, they say, " Be good, do not make
the wolf bad ! '" ^
III. The Ainu.
Although the bear-festival is common to all the Palaeo-
Siberians and is celebrated also by some of the Neo-Siberians, it
has reached its highest development among the Ainu. We give
here a short description of the principal features of this festival,
following Kharuzin's account.-
Towards the end of winter the Ainu catch a bear-cub and bring
it into the village, where it is reared and fed by a woman. When
it is sufficiently grown to break out of its wooden cage, which
usually happens some time in September or October, this marks
again. Hence it is symbolically equipped with grass travelling bags
filled with puddings for its return to the sea. (Op. cit., pp. G6, 74, 76.)
A similar procedure is followed at the bear festival. (Op. cit., p. 89.)
1^ Op. cit., p. 89.
- N. Kharuzin, EOuiogmphy, 1905, vol. iv, pp. 371-2. For a more de-
tailed description see B. Pilsudski's Xiedziciedzie Swieto u A'uiou- (in
Sphinx, Warsaw, 1905).
the time for the hoUling uf tlie I'ostival. Before the ceremonies,
apologies are made to tho spirits for the capture and detention of
the bear, assurances are given that the treatment of the bear has
been marked with the greatest tenderness, and it is explained
that, as they cannot feed the animal any longer, they are obliged
to kill it. The person entrusted with the conduct of the festival
invites all relations and friends, usually practically the whole
village. Before the ceremonies are begun, libations are made to
the family hearth-fire by the host and all his guests. Sacrifices
are made to the spirit-* owner ' of the dwelling in a corner of the
house sacred to him. The woman who has reared the bear
weeps to show her sorrow at its approaching fate. The company
approach the cage of the bear, libations are made, and some wine
is given to the animal in a special cup. The women and girls
dance round the cage, clapping their hands and singing. Then
the foster-mother of the bear, and women who have reared other
bears for former festivals, perform a dance of their own before the
cage, with tears in their eyes, stretching out their hands towards
the animal, and uttering endearing words. After some other
ritual observances, the bear is taken out of its cage, a cord is
fastened round its neck, and a stick is thrust down its throat by
the united force of several people, so that the animal is choked
to death. With much solemnity the body is laid out,
and surrounded with various embellishments, which are more
numerous and elaborate if the animal is a female. Food and
drink are offered to the spirit of the victim, and then follow much
feasting and merriment, which is intended to render the bear-
spirit joyous and gay. The body is flayed and disembowelled,
and the head cut off, the blood being collected in a pot and drunk
by the men only among the guests. The liver is also consumed,
and of this each woman and girl present receives a small portion.
The rest of the meal is preserved for the next day's feast, and all
the guests of both sexes partake of this.
IV. The Turkic Tribes.
(1) The Yakut.
There are among the Yakut two kinds of sacrificial ceremonies
— bloody and bloodless. The former is that made to ahassylars,
the latter to aiy and ichdd ; ^ so that if one does not know before-
^ Sieroszewski [12 Lett w Kraju Yakutdw, p. .389) says that to only
one «ry, Bay-Baynay, the god of hunting, are bloody sacrifices offered.
liand whether the sacrifice is being offered to black or to white
spirits, this can be ascertained from the nature of the ceremony.
Although bloody sacrifices are not made to Urun-Aiy-Toyon, yet it
is customary to dedicate certain animals to him. i. e. such
animals are not to be used for work, and mares so dedicated are
not to be milked. Formerly it was the custom to dedicate in this
manner all mares which had foals : they were let loose to wander
on the steppes.
There are some diu, which although they have this name, yet
are of the class of ulassy} Sacrifices of the choicest meat and
drink are made to them through the fire. The offerings to
dbassijlars have the character of a compromise or bargain. The
evil spirit wishes to have the lad (one of the souls) of a man, and
the shaman gives instead the lait of an animal.
There are two tribal festivals of the Yakut : a spring festival,
tt'l/'l/sijal-Ji, and an autumn festival, abassjj-iisijalxh. As the name
shows, the first is celebrated for the good spirits in general, and
for Urun-Aiy-Toyon in particular. ^ After the sacrifice, which is
followed by certain sports or games, a dramatic representation of
the struggle between spring and winter is given. One man,
called the aly-uola, is dressed in white and mounted on a white
horse to represent the spring, while another, ahassy-iiola, repre-
sents winter by being dressed in black or reddish garments and
mounted on a horse of corresponding colour.
The ahassi/-i/s>/al-h is held in autumn, and in the open air like
the first festival, but at night. It is dedicated to the black spirits,
and especially to Ulu-Toyon. While the first festival is conducted
by the clan-father, the second is under the direction of nine
shamans and nine shamanesses.^
(2) The Altaians.
Sacrifice to Bai-Yidgen. The description of this ceremony, as
given by Mikhailowski,'* is compiled from the works of the
1 Troshchanski, The Evolution of the Black Faith, 1902, p. 103.
^ Op. cit., pp. 105-6.
Sieroszewski (op. cit., p. 388) calls the highest good spirit, or god,
Art-Toyon-Aga (Uyun-Artoyen), -which literally means ' Master-Father-
Sovereign '. He lives in the ninth heaven, and is great and powerful,
but indifferent towards human affairs. The spring ysyakJi is primarily
in bis honour, says Sieroszewski, while Urun-Aiy-To^-on, ' White-Master-
Creator ', is next to him in dignity.
' Ibid. * Mikhailowski, SJiamauism, pp. 63-7.
missionary Wieibicki and the woll-known linguist and traveller,
Eadloff. The ceremony lasts for two or three days, or rather,
evenings, the first evening being occupied by the preparatory
ritual. A spot is chosen in a thicket of birch-trees in a meadow,
and there the lam (shaman) erects a decorative i/iiyta. In this is
planted a young birch, crowned with a flag, and having its lower
branches lopped off, and nine notches cut in its trunk to represent
steps [fapti/]. The >/^(>•(a is surrounded by a penfold, and by the
entrance to this is set a birch-stick with a noose of horsehair.
A holder of the head {Bash-ti<il(ui-lisJii) of the sacrificial horse is
chosen from among those present. The lam flourishes a birch-
twig over the horse to indicate that its soul is being driven to
Bai-Yulgen's al)ode, whither the soul of the Bash-tutJian accom-
panies it. He then collects spirits in his tambourine, calling each
one by name, and answering for each as it arrives : * I also am
here, Kam ! ' As he speaks he makes motions with his tambourine
as if taking the spirits into it. When he has secured his assist-
ants, the kam goes out of the yurta, mounts upon a scarecrow
made to resemble a goose, and flapping his arms as if they were
wings, chants loudly and slowly: ^
Beneath the white sky,
Above the white cloud.
Beneath the blue sky,
Above the blue cloud.
Skyward ascend, 0 bird !
The goose replies (through the shaman himself, of course) in
a series of quacks — 'Ungaigak, ungaigak, kaigaigak gak, kaigai
gak.' The lam, still on his feathered steed, pursues the pura
(soul) of the sacrificial horse, neighing in imitation of the un-
willing victim, until, with the help of the spectators, he drives it
into the penfold to the stick with the horsehair noose, the
guardian of the pura. After violent efforts, to the accompani-
ment of neighings and other noises produced by the shaman to
imitate the struggles of the jj^io-rt, the latter frees itself and runs
away. It is at last recaptured, and fumigated with juniper by
the shaman, who has now dismounted from his goose. Then the
real sacrificial horse is brought and blessed by the Jcam, who
thereafter kills it by opening the aorta. The bones and skin
form the actual sacrifice. The flesh is consumed by those present
at the ceremony, the choicest portion falling to the lam.
' Op. cit., p. 63.
'The most important part of the performance takes place on
the second day after sunset ; it is then that the Icam must display
all his power and all his dramatic art. A whole religious drama
is performed, descriptive of the Icartis pilgrimage to Bai-Yulgen in
heaven. A fire burns in the yurta, the shaman feeds the lords of
the tambourine, i. e. the spirits personifying the shamanistic
power of his family, with the meat of the offei-ing and sings : ^
Accept this, 0 Kaira Khan!
Master of the tambourine with six horns,
Draw near with the sound of the bell !
When I cry ' Chokk ' ! make obeisance !
When I cry ' Me ' ! accept this !
The * owner ' of the fire, representing the power of the family of
the master of the yurta, who has organized the festival, is ad-
dressed in a similar invocation. Then the l;am takes a cujd and
makes noises with his lips to imitate the sounds of drinking made
by an assemblage of invisible guests. He distributes morsels of
meat to the company, who devour them as representatives of the
unseen spirits. Nine garments, on a rope decked with ribbons,
the offering of the host to Yulgen, are fumigated with juniper by
the shaman , who sings :
Gifts that no horse can carry —
Alas! Alas! Alas!
Gifts that no man can lift —
Alas! Alas! Alas!
Garments with triple collar-
Turn them thrice before thine eyes,
Let them be a cover for the steeJ,
Alas ! Alas ! Alas !
Prince Yulgen full of gladness!
Alas ! Alas ! Alas !
The laim next invokes many spirits, primary and secondary,
having first donned his shaman's garment, and fumigated his
tambourine, which he strikes to summon the spirits, answering
for each, as it arrives, ' Here am I, lam I ' Merkyut, the Bird of
Heaven, is invoked as follows :
Birds of Heaven, the five Merkyuts !
Ye with mighty talons of brass.
Of copper is the moon's claw,
And of ice its beak ;
' Op. cit., p. 64.
Mightily llap the spi-eading wings,
Liko to a fan is the long tail.
The left wing veils the moon
And the right obscures the sun.
Thou, mother of nine eagles,
Turning not aside, thou fliest over Yaik,
Over Edil thou weariest not !
Draw nigh with song!
Lightly draw nigh to my right eye,
Of my right shoulder make thou thy resting-place !
The answering cry of the bird comes from the lips of the
shaman : ' Kagak, leak, kak ! Kam, here I come ! ' The lam seems
to bend beneath the weight of the huge bird. His tambourine
sounds louder and louder, and he staggers under the burden of the
vast number of spirit-protectors collected in it. Having walked
several times round the birch placed in the /jurta, the shaman
kneels at the door and asks the porter-spirit for a guide. His
request granted, he comes out to the middle of the ijuria, and with
convulsive movements of the upper part of his body and inarticulate
mutterings, beats violently upon the tambourine. Now he purifies
the host, hostess, their children, and relatives by embracing them
in such a way that the tambourine with the spirits collected in it
touches the breast and the drum-stick the back of each. This is
done after he has scraped from the back of the host with the
drum-stick all that is unclean, for the back is the seat of the soul.
Thus all are liberated from the malign influence of the wicked
Erlik. Then the people return to their places and the shaman
'drives all potential misfortunes out of doors V and, beating his
tambourine close to the ear of his host, drives into him the spirit
and power of his ancestors that he may understand the prophecies
of the shaman. In pantomime he invests each member of the
family with breastplates and hats, and then falls into an ecstasy.
He beats his tambourine furiously, rushes about as if possessed,
and, after mounting the first step cut in the birch-trunk, runs
round the fire and the birch, imitating the sound of thunder.
Next he mounts a bench covered with a horse-cloth, which
represents the j^«m, and cries : -
One step have I ascended,
Aikhai ! Aikhai !
One zone I have attained.
Shagarbata !
' Ibid. 2 Op. cit , p. 65.
To the topmost tapfij [the birch steps] I have mounted,
Shagaibata !
I have risen to the full moon.
Shagarbata !
Hurrying on the Bash-tutlcan, the Icam passes from one zone of
heaven to another. The goose once more takes the place of the
wearied intra, affording temporary relief to the Basli-tuthan, who
relates his woes vicariously by means of the shaman. In the third
zone a halt is made, the shaman prophesies impending mis-
fortunes, and declares what sacrifices are to be offered by the
district. If he foretells rainy weather he sings :
Kara Shurlu of the six rods
Prips on the low ground,
No hoofed beast can protect itself,
No creature with claws can uphold itself.
Similar prophecies may be made in other regions of the sky.
When the Bash-tutlcan is rested the journey is continued,
progress being indicated by mounting one step higher on the
birch for every new zone attained. Variety is given to the per-
formance by the introduction of various episodes. 'In the sixth
sphere of heaven takes place the last episodical scene, and this has
a comic tinge. The shaman sends his servant Kuruldak to track
and catch a hare that has hidden itself. For a time the chase is
unsuccessful, new personages are introduced, and one of them,
Kereldei, mocks Kuruldak, who, however, at last succeeds in
catching the hare.'^
Previously, in the fifth heaven, the Icam has interviewed
Yayuchi ('Supreme-Creator'), and learned many secrets of the
future, some of which he communicates aloud. In the sixth
heaven he makes obeisance to the moon, and in the seventh to
the sun, for these heavens are the abodes of these luminaries.
Only a few shamans are powerful enough to mount beyond the
ninth heaven. Having reached the highest zone attainable by
his powers, the ham drops his tambourine, and beating gently
with the drum-stick, makes a humble petition to Yulgen : -
Lord, to whom three stairways lead,
Bai- Yulgen, possessor of three flocks,
The blue vault which has appeared.
The blue sky that shows itself,
1 Op. cit., p. 65. " Op. cit., p. 66.
The blue cloud that whirls along,
The blue sky so hard to i-each,
Land a year's journey distant from water,
Father Yulgen thrice exalted,
Shunned by the edge of the moon's axe,
Thou who usest the hoof of the hoi"se ;
0 Yulgen, thou hast created all men
Who are stirring round about us.
Thou, Yulgen, hast bestowed all cattle upon us,
Let us not fall into sorrow !
Grant that we may withstand the evil one !
Let us not behold Kermes [the evil spirit that attends man],
Deliver us not into his hands !
Thou who a thousand thousand times
The starry sky hast turned.
Condemn me not for sin!
'From Yulgen the shaman learns whether the sacrifice is
accejjted or not, and receives the most authentic information
concerning the wealth and the character of the coming harvest ;
he also finds out what sacrifices are expected by the deity. On
such an occasion the shaman designates the neighbour who is
bound to furnish a sacrifice, and even describes the colour and
appearance of the animal. After his conversation with Yulgen,
the ecstasy of the shaman reaches its highest point, and he falls
down completely exhausted. Then the Bash-tutlcan goes up to
him, and takes the tambourine and drum-stick out of his hands.
After a short time, during which quiet reigns in the ynrta, the
shaman seems to awake, rubs his eyes, stretches himself, wrings
out the perspiration from his shirt, and salutes all those present
as if after a long absence.' ^
This sometimes concludes the festival, but more often, especi-
ally among the wealth}'-, a third day is spent in feasting and
libations to the gods.^
V. The Mongolic Tribes.
Sacrifices among the Mongols are either : (a) regular or public
{tailgan), or {h) occasional or private [li'mlc).
Banzaroff says that Georgi, as long ago as the latter part of the
eighteenth centuiy, observed three regular sacrificial ceremonies
among the Mongols : the spring, summer, and autumn festivals.
Banzaroff'^ traces the origin of these festivals to a period long
1 Ibid. 2 ibij 3 Banzaroff, The Black Faith, p. 38.
antedating the Christian era. The festival which has been best
described in recent times is that called urus-sara (' the month of
sara '), which is intended to celebrate and symbolize the renewing
of all things. When the earth is green again, the flocks increase,
and milk is abundant, the Kalniuk make sacrifice of all these
gifts in the form of humys, herbs, and horses. The sacrificial
horses are tied to a rope, which is stretched between two poles.
A man on horseback, accompanied by another riding a colt, passes
along the row of victims, pours over them Icumys, and fastens to
their manes pieces of pink cloth. Then the sacrifice is offered.^
The autumn festival of the Mongols, like the Krus-sara, is very
ancient. Banzaroff finds mention of it in writers of pre-Christian
times, and in the Middle Ages it is referred to by Marco Polo, ■
who says it was celebrated on August 28th. This ceremony is
known as sagan-sara ('white month'), and the Mongols used to
date their New Year from the time of its celebration. The
majority of these people nowadays celebrate the beginning of the
year in winter, but they, like the few who adhere to the old date,
still call the New Year and the festival wliich is held then sagan-
sara.'-
An English traveller of the middle of the nineteenth century,
who witnessed the celebration of the spring festival in the valley
of Ichurish in the Altai, describes it as follows :
' In the spring the Kalmucks offer up sacrifices to their deity ;
the rich give horses, those who are poor sacrifice sheep or goats.
I was present at one of the ceremonies. A ram was led up by the
owner, who wished for a large increase to his herds and flocks. It
was handed to an assistant of the priest, who killed it in the usual
manner. His superior stood near, looking to the east, and began
chanting a prayer, and beating on his large tambourine to rouse
up his god, and then made his request for multitudes of sheep
and cattle. The ram was being flayed ; and when the operation
was completed, the skin was put on a pole, raised above the
framework, and placed with its head to the east. The tambourine
thundered forth its sound, and the performer continued his wild
chant. The flesh was cooked in a large cauldron, and the tribe
held a great festival. ' ^
Speaking only of the greater Buryat ceremonials, Khangalo£f*
> Op. cit., p. 39. 2 Op. cit., pp. 39-40.
' T. W. Atkinson, Oriental and M'edern Siberia, 1858, pp. 382-3.
• New Materials respecting Shamanism among the Buryat, 1890, p. 97.
mentions about thirty such, and says that these are by no means
all, and that years of further investigation would be necessary to
render it possible to give a complete list.
Among the Balagansk Buryat every male child must offer
certain sacrifices to the western Ihats to ensure their protection
while the children are still in infancy as well as during their
future adult life. These sacrifices, viz. (i) morto-tdan-Murgan,
(ii) crlxhimlklti-uhin-lxhnrgan, (iii) Charga-tclchc, (iv) yaman-Txhojiin-
IJioer, must, without fail, be offered by all boys, but upon girls
they are not obligatory. Besides these sacrifices there are others
which are made on behalf of all young children, irrespective of
their sex, to certain zayans and zayanesses, termed ulhan-Mafa.
These are called uTxhan-hndla, oshh'm-hndla. We shall quote here
Khaugaloff's description of the ceremony uhlian-hudla :
'Some time after having a child born to him, a Buryat, either
at the instance of a shaman or on his own initiative, wall make
preparation for the performance of the ceremony called iilJian-
hudla. A shaman is invited to perform the ceremony. When
the shaman appears, water is brought from a spring, or sometimes
from a lake or river. Before drawing the water, some copper
coins are dropped into the place from which it is taken. A
bundle of coarse grass of the steppes, another of rushes, and nine
silken threads are prepared. When everything is ready, the
shaman makes libation to the zai/ans and zayanesses, pronouncing
the following words :
The boys, like the rushes,
The maids, like mushrooms;
From the grass of the steppe
They have made a scourge ;
With the water of the spring
They have made hmUa (ablution) ;
With tlie nine silken threads
They have made a scourge.
After this the water is poured into a pot and heated. Then
they put into the pot the grass also, and a broom is made of the
rushes. The child is placed in a shallow vessel surrounded by
nine stones, and the shaman sa3's : " The black stone is the door,
the tawny stone is the courtyard." He then takes the broom, dips
it into the water, and striking the child lightly with it, tells him
that he must not cry, but grow quickly. Now nine knots are
made in the nine Uireads, and they are placed around the child's
neck. The water is spilled on the floor of the yurta, and the
broom is placed over the door to prevent the entrance of evil
spirits. Thus ends the uJchanhudla.' ^
As a rule Buryat ceremonies are performed by the shamans ;
but some of the minor ones, such, for instance, as the ' feeding' of
the ongons, are conducted by the master of the house. Women's
ongons are made and fed by women. Frequently animals are
dedicated to ongons, either for some shorter or longer period or
for life. Such an animal must not be used for any heavy work,
and no married woman must touch it. The Mongols call this
custom sctertcg, which denotes both the dedication and the taboo. ^
Another case of the dedication of animals is that which is some-
times practised with regard to a horse whose master has died. The
animal is taboo, and must not be used for heavy work. Under
ordinary circumstances, when a Buryat dies, his horse is either
killed or set loose to wander at large upon the steppes.^
1 Op. cit., p. 91. * ShashkofF, Shamanism in Siberia, p. 58.
^ Gmelin, Beise ihirch Sibirien, 1751-2, iii. 3.3.
Chapter XV
'AECTIC HYSTERIA'
Among diseases especially prevalent in Siberia are syphilis and
the so-called 'arctic hysteria'. Under the latter name several
different nervous maladies are usually included by writei'S who
deal with this subject. More local in their prevalence are leprosy,
in the east and north-east, and the dreaded sihirskai/a >/azva, lit.
' Siberian boil-plague ' (anthrax, carbuncle), a disease caused by
the Bacillus anthracls in cattle and other animals, and also in men
— in the south-west and, generally, in marshy country. It is
often transmitted by the bite of an insect, but the infection may
also be conveyed by the skins of animals which have died from
this disease.
In human beings sihirskaya yazva takes two forms, external and
internal. The latter is almost surely fatal. It shows itself in
a general collapse of the bodily powers through blood-poisoning,
and often ends in death within a single day, sometimes in three
or four.
Anthrax, in its external form, is described by Pallas as follows:
* The first [symptom] is that the soundest and most healthy
persons, of any age or sex, are suddenly troubled with an itching,
followed by a hard tumour in some particular part, which seems
to arise from the sting of a fly, or horse-stinger. This swelling
breaks out in the covered or uncovered parts of the people, but
generally in the face, and, among horses, in the groin and
abdomen. It rapidly increases in size and hardness, and grows so
insensible, that one may prick the swollen part with a needle, till
we reach the sound flesh under it, and the patient not feel it. In
the centre of this hard tumour is commonly discovered, in the
external part, a red or bluish point, similar to the sting of an
insect, and if remedies are not applied, the gangrenous putridity
will extend itself farther. During the first stage of the evil, the
X 2
patient feels no internal indisposition, Lut with the increase of the
boil, he is afflicted with headache, anxiety, and restlessness,
which are, perhaps, but the natural consequences of his fear of
danger'. . . . Some peasants, who accompanied me, and had been
afflicted with this disease, told me that, after the first symptoms
had shown themselves, whenever they rode through a brook or
within sight of water, they felt themselves very faint, feeble, and
ready to swoon.' Pallas says that the disease is usually fatal to
cattle, but not to men if they make use of the remedies with
which they are familiar.^
Falk gives the limits of the range of this disease as from the
Ural to the Chinese frontier, and states that it prevails during the
months from May to September, that is, during the season of the
horse-stinger's activity. ^
Leprosy is especially prevalent in the Amur countiy and in
Sakhalin. Sieroszewski •' has observed it also among the Yakut ;
and Pilsudski saw many cases among the Gilyak and some neigh-
bouring Tungusic tribes. The writer last mentioned says that
the Gilyak think that leprosy is due to the eating of one species
of salmon afflicted with a certain disease which is not easily
detected by the fishermen. Many hygienic precautions are taken
to avoid contracting the disease by contagion from lepers, and
leprosy is so dreaded bj' the Gilyak that they never mention it by
name. The shamans, even, are unwilling to undertake to treat
the sufferers ; but Pilsudski nevertheless rej^orts two cases of
lepers being cured by shamans."^ With regard to this malady
being caused by the eating of diseased fish, it is noted by
Professor Talko-Hryncewicz, who spent sixteen years in Troicko-
sawsk, that the Mongols who live on fish are more liable to leprosy
than those who live on meat.^
Many writers have noticed the extreme liability of primitive
peoples to hysterical diseases. Apart from the hj'steria which
underlies many magico-religious phenomena, travellers have
noticed the prevalence of similar nervous affections, which have
no connexion with religion, among primitives in all parts of tlie
' Pallas, Travels through Siberia and Tartan/, part i (vol. iii of Trusler's
Habitable World Described, 1788, pp. 133-4).
- Falk. FuU Collection of Scientific Travels in I!i(ssia, vol. vi, 1824,
pp. 369-70.
^ 12 Laf w Krajit Yakiitoir, p. 121,
* Pilsudski, Trad irsivd Oilaliuir i Ainoir, in Liid, Lemberg, 1913.
^ Memoirs of the Congress of Scientists and Physicians, Cracow, 1911.
'ARCTIC HYSTERIA' 309
workl : Brazilians and Kaflirs, Hottentots and Javanese, Pernvians
and Abyssinians, Negroes and Iroquois, natives of New Zealand
and of Madagascar.^
The forms of nervous maladies observed in northern Asia have
been called ' arctic hysteria ' perhaps because some of the forms
are so identical in their symptoms throughout the north that they
ai)pear to be typical of the arctic region as a whole. Mention of
this disease is made in the works of older writers such as Steller,-
Krasheninnikoff,^ Gmelin,* and Pallas;^ and fuller accounts are
to be found in the pages of Bogoras, Maak, Sieroszewski,
Priklonski, Schrenck, Pilsudski, Kharuzin, Whitney, and
especially Jochelson.
Cases of hysteria which are connected with the religious life of
the natives and are considered by them as forms of ' inspiration '
are dealt with in the chapters of this book which treat of sha-
manism. Here we shall only take account of those forms which
the natives themselves recognize as symptomatic of disease.
From the accounts of such cases given by various travellers we
shall quote here some of the most characteristic.
'Once', says Maak," 'travelling in the Viluy district of the
Yakut region, I stopped for the night in a forest yurta with some
Tungus. On lying down to sleep I was disturbed by the piercing
shouts and cries of a woman. When this had gone on for about
half an hour, I rose and w^ent to see what was the matter. On
entering the yurta from w^hich the cries proceeded, I found
a Tungus man sitting beside the sleejjing-place of his wife and
holding her wrist. Her hair was all dishevelled so as to cover her
face completely, she was nodding her head violently in all direc-
tions, and crying and howling like a dog. I could not see her face,
but her husband's expression showed that he was quite accustomed
to this sort of thing. He told me that these attacks were of
frequent occurrence, and came on by day or by night. I remained
in the yurta about half an hour, and during that time none of my
interpreters was able to make anything of the sounds the woman
w^as uttering. After I returned to my hut, her cries continued
for some time longer. I was told afterwards that the violence of
^ A. E. Crawley, Sexual Taboo, J.A.I. , vol. xxiv, p. 223.
'- Beschreibung von dem Lunde Kdmtschatka, 1774, p. 279.
^ Description of the Country of Katachatlca, ed. 1819, pp. 147-8.
* Reise dunh Sibirien, vol. iii, pp. 105, 379-81.
^ Op. cit., pp. 17-18.
* The Viluysk District of the Yakutsk Territory, vol. iii, p. 77.
these attacks subsicles gradually, the patient sighs deeply, becomes
quiet, and begins to speak quite normally.'
In a Middle Yiluy village Maak knew many Yakut women
I i suffering from a very common disease which shows itself in the
patient's imitating all the gestures and words of bystanders, what-
ever their meaning, which was sometimes quite obscene.^
During the early days of his travels in the Yakut province,
Jochelson- was disagreeably struck by the fact that, when he was
stopping in certain yurta (' houses '), the women, whom he knew
could not speak Eussian, would repeat in broken language what
he and his companions had been saying. When he showed his
displeasure by severe glances, he was told that he should not
mind, for the women were only omiiraJis.
Unintentional visual suggestion shov>'s itself in cases in which,
when some of the younger people begin to dance, all the villagers,
even the oldest, follow their example. Jochelson reports an
instance of an old woman quite unable to stand alone, who on
such an occasion stood up and began to dance without assistance
until she fell exhausted.
A Yakut told Maak^ how the disease had originated in one of
the women. She had gone into the forest with her eighteen-year
old son, and they had encountered a bear. On seeing them, the
animal rose upon its bind legs, and the woman, too terrified to
attempt escape, fell into the arms of the bear. She was thi'own
to the ground and mauled by the beast, until her son with his
axe cleft its skull in two. Since that time the woman had been
subject to these attacks. Maak met also many Yakut children
who hardly ever spoke in their oidinary voices, but sang when
addressing people.
Sieroszewski,^ describing cases of diseases similar to the above
among the Yakut, says that persons suffering from this mimicry
mania, on being suddenly alarmed, take up knife or axe against
the source of their fright. Jochelson remarks, concerning
instances of this ailment, that it evokes from the patient the
utterance of erotic expressions such as they would never at other
times employ. Sometimes, at an unexpected noise, the patient
shudders and falls backward. He describes several interesting
cases, among them the following : ' One night I slept in the house
of a Yakut with a young man — a Eussian — who had been sent to
' Op. cit., p. 28. - The Yiikaf/hir and Yttkaiihirized Tumjits, p. 34.
^ Op. cit., p. 28. * 12 Lat ic Kraju Yukutow, p. 257.
'ARCTIC HYSTERIA' 311
the Kolyma district as a criminal. The hostess, -who in aj^pear-
ance was a strong, red-choeketl woman, took a fancy to the young
man ; and when he left for the place of residence which the
authorities had assigned to him, the young woman had a
hysterical fit, during which she sang an improvisation tliat
plainly told her feelings.' Her improvisation, freely translated by
Jochelson, was as follows :
' The friend with testicles like wings !
The stranger-friend from the South, from Yakutsk.
The friend with supple joints,
With the handsome face and nice mind !
I met a friend who is very alert !
I will never part with him, with the friend ! '
'This she repeated many times for about two hours, when she fell
into a deep sleep. During this time there were present, besides
the woman's husband, also her young children. . . . The husband
loved his wife, and was jealous of her, but during the fit he
abused only the abassy (evil spirit) who disturbed his wife with
temptation. . . .
*It is difficult to admit,' Jochelson continues, 'that the fit was
only a matter of simulation, or caused l^y auto-suggestion. Such
conduct would not have been at all to the advantage of the j'oung
woman, who had only just begun to be stirred by the feeling of
love. It seemed to me that she did not know herself what she
was doing.' ^
On the Korkodon River, Jochelson heard a young girl singing
during a hysterical seizure ; and though she was a Yukaghir, she
sang in Tungus. After the fit her body was bent like a bow and
her hands were clenched. When Jochelson took her by the
hands, the cramps ceased, but she remained for a long time in an
unconscious state. When her mother asked her, after her
recovery, whether she knew that the Russian gentleman had
cured her, she answered that she did, for the devil which
possessed her had tried to devour him and could not. In this
case the 'devil' must have been of Tungusic origin.
Sometimes people who suffer from arctic hystei-ia are peculiarly
susceptible to hypnotic suggestion, which, however, they receive
while awake. Not only auditory, as in the case of the ordinary
hypnotic trance, but also visual impressions are received by the
* Jochelson, op. cit., p. 32.
patient as suggestions. Such are somotinies given intentionally
to the patient by those near Ijy, as mentioned above, hut quite
often also natural phenomena perceptible to the hearing, as the
wind, cries of animals, &c., act as suggestions to the patient.
In one case a hysterical woman was hypnotized by the words of
a tale which she herself related to Jochelson.^ Tlie tale was of an
indecent character, and was followed by appropriate gestures. In
other cases the patient responds to intentional, often malicious,
suggestions. Thus Jochelson was told that a hysterical woman,
at the command of a young man, seized a horse by the tail, and
was dragged along by the animal until the young man ordered her
to let go.
The Cossacks especially take advantage of j^eople suffering from
arctic hysteria. Jochelson was once present at a fishing, when an
old woman took part in throwing the fish out of the nets. One
of the Cossacks who were with Jochelson suddenly approached the
nets, and seizing a salmon with his teeth, ran away up a hill
which rose from the water-side. The old woman, who at other
times could scarcely drag her legs along, did the same. When he
reached the top of the hill the Cossack turned and ran down
towards the river, stopping short just before reaching it. The
woman, however, ran straight into the water. On being pulled
out, she fell to the ground unconscious, only then letting the fish
fall from between her teeth.
While running after the Cossack, the old woman kept repeating
weakly, ' Enough, enough ! ' but was unable to stop of her own
will.2
Cases occur in which the patient, after having followed a com-
mand, realizes that she is being made fun of, and attacks her
tormentor.
In the Yakut village Eodshevo (about forty-five miles to the
north of Verkhne — Kolymsk) near Jochelson 's yurta some men
and the hostess, a woman of forty-five, were standing. She
suffered much from hysteria. Suddenly a young Yakut ran
towards the open field and pretended to be putting snow under-
neath his dress. The Yakut woman did the same, but when she
felt the cold of the melting snow she ran to the house, took
a knife, and went in search of the young man, who had hidden
himself.''
' Op. cit., p. 34. ^ Op. cit., p. 35. => Op. cit., p. 36.
'ARCTIC HYSTERIA' 313
Piiklonski desciihes some instances of this mimicry mania in
the Yakutsk tenilory. One was the case of a barber in Ver-
khoyansk, and another occurred on an Amur steamer, where all
the people on board were amusing themselves at the expense of
a vicraJc (a mau suftering from amitrakJi). They pretended to be
throwing things overboard into the water, and the mcrak divested
himself of all his property to do the same. A third case was
observed in Olekminsk on the Lena. A hysterical woman, who
at ordinary times was quite modest and even shy, was being
tormented during an attack of dmiiralh by a number of people
who made indecent gestures, all of which she imitated. He
quotes also an episode which was related to him by Dr. Kashin,
who was much interested in tliis disease. Once, during a parade
of the 3rd Battalion of the Trans-Baikal Cossacks, a regiment
composed entirely of natives, the soldiers began to repeat the
words of command. The Colonel grew angry and swore volubly at
the men ; but the more he swore, the livelier was the chorus of
soldiers repeating his curses after him.^
Pallas affirms that many Samoyed, Laplanders. Tungus. the
inhabitants of Kamchatka, and in a less degree the Tartars about
the Yenisei, are occasionally ' panic-struck ' : * An unexpected
touch, a sudden call, whistling, or a fearful and sudden appearance
will throw these people into a state of fury. The Samoyed and
the Yakut, who seem more to be affected in this way, carry the
matter so far that, forgetting what they are about, they will take
the first knife, axe, or other offensive w^eapon that lies in their
way, and would wound or kill the object of their terror if not
prevented by force and the weapon taken from them ; and if
interrupted will beat themselves about the hands and feet, scream
out, roll upon the ground and rave. The Samoyed and the
Ostyak have an infallible remedy to bring such persons to them-
selves ; which is, to set fire to a reindeer-skin, or a sack of
reindeer hair, and let it smoke under the patient's nose ; this
occasions a faintness and a quiet slumber, often for the space of
twenty-four hours.' ^
Pallas mentions several other cases of Samoyed thus 'panic-
struck ', which lie heard of in Siberia from a certain Mr. Suryeff.
In 1722 this traveller met a young Samoyed shaman, who when
he saw the stranger ajiproaching, imagined that he was going to be
1 Priklonski, Three Years in the Yakutslc Tcrnlon/, 1890, pp. 48-50.
' S. Pallas, Truvels through Siberia and Tartury, 1788, p. 18.
killed, 'and on holdijig a finger out to him, he seized it with both
hands, and took that opportunity to run off ; however, after many
persuasions of the interpreter that no harm was designed him, he
recovered himself. They then put on him a black glove and
immediately his eyes rolled, he stared steadfastly at the glove, and
fell into such a fit of madness that he would have committed
some murder with an axe that lay in his way, had it not been
secured. Disappointed of his weapon, he ran about raving,
screaming, and shaking his hand in order to get off the glove,
Avhich he took to be the claw of a bear, and which he was afraid
to touch with the other hand, till the bystanders laid hold of him
forcibly and pulled it off, on which he recovered.' ^
Cases of nervous diseases among the Greenland Eskimo are
described by Whitney as follows:
*It was upon our return to Etah on tlie evening of September
16th, that I observed for the first time a case of prohloJdo among
the natives.' ^ An Eskimo named Tukshu began suddenly to rave
upon leaving the boat. ' He tore off every stitch of clothing he had
on, and would have thrown himself into the water . . . but for the
restraint of the Eskimos. He seemed possessed of sui^ernatural
strength and it was all four men could do to hold him. With the
knowledge that his madness was temporary and that he would
shortly be himself again, with no serious consequences to follow,
I cheerfully watched his astonishing contortions. It would have
been a very serious matter, however, had Tukshu been attacked
while in the boat, and it is very serious indeed when x)roblokto
attacks one, as it sometimes does, when on the trail, or at a time
when there are insufficient men to care for the afflicted one.'^
Another case is described by Whitney as follows :
' We were on the threshold of the long dismal night (Oct. 9th).
Over the world there came a new and fearful stillness that seemed
to speak of impending doom — something intangible, indescribable,
uncanny. The gloom that settled upon all of us was particularly
noticeable amongst the Eskimo women."*
' At half-past one that night I was awakened from a sound sleep
by a woman shouting at the top of her voice — shrill and startling,
like one gone mad — I knew at once what it meant — some one had
gone problokto. I tumbled into my clothes and rushed out. Far
away on the driving ice of the Sound, a lone figure was running
Ibid. 2 Hiintinfj with the Eshimo, 1910, p. 67.
Ibid. " Op. cit." p. 82.
'ARCTIC HYSTERIA' 315
and raving. The boatswain and Billy joined me, and as fast as we
could struggle through three feet of snow, with drifts often to the
waist, we gave pursuit. At length I reached her, and to my
astonishment discovered it was Tungwe.^ She struggled desper-
ately, and it required the combined strength of the three of us
to get her back to the shack, where she was found to be in bad
shape— one hand was frozen slightly, and part of one breast.
After half an hour of quiet she became rational again, but the
attack left her very weak.'-
In the meantime her l)aby was bare, crying, and the dogs were
eating all the food in the hut.
One evening after the hunters returned from an expedition
'Tungwe was again attacked hy problolto. She rushed out of the
igloo (winter-house) tore her clothing oif, and threw herself into
a snow-drift. I ran to Kulutingnah's (her husband's) assistance,
but the woman was strong as a lion, and we had all we could do to
hold her, A strong north wind was blowing, with a temperature
8 degrees below zero, and I thought she would surely be severely
frozen before Ave could get her into the igloo again, but in some
miraculous manner she escaped even the slightest frost-bite. After
getting her into the igloo, she grew as weak as a kitten, and it
was several hours before she became quite herself.'"^ Tungwe had
never suffered from prohlolio before the two attacks just described.
From these and other less detailed accounts it seems very pro-
bable that under the name of 'arctic hysteria' various nervous
diseases are understood. Thus Priklonski, Sieroszewski, and
Jochelson try to classify them, and first of all distinguish
two chief types of nervous diseases, namely meneriJc (miiniirik)
and cimiiralh.
A more exact analysis must be somewhat tentative, but the
materials seem to warrant the following classification of nervous
diseases, or symptoms of nervous disease, among the Siberian
natives : —
i. Amiiralch (Yakut, according to Sieroszewski)'*; in Yukaghir
it is called irhunii, in Tungus olan, in Koryak motlceiti, and in
Ainu imu.
Radloff translates the word amiralc as ' sensitive ', while amgraJih
means ' complaint ' ; and Jochelson says that the Yukaghir word
^ An Eskimo woman whom the author knew very well.
2 Op. cit., pp. 83-4. 3 Op. cit., p. 87.
* According to Jochelson omiirax or meriak.
irlcnnii derives from irlcei, ' to shudder '. As the linguistic evidence
shows, the first symi)tom of tliis disease is the great impression-
ableness of the patient, his feeling of fright and timidity. Besides
this susceptibility to fright, in which the patient shouts the most
obscene words ^ or rushes at the cause of his terror,'- there is another
symptom of this disease, viz. an inclination to repeat all visual and
auditory imi)ressions.''
ii. 3[cncrik (Yakut).^ Miinaria, mcimiriJc means in some Turanic
languages * mad ', ' crazy ', but the Yakut have a special word for
a crazy person, namely h-hif. Irhit means ' spoilt ' if ai>plied to
other tilings. For hysteria of the mencriJc type the Yukaghir have
the wurd carmorkl, whereas mental insanity they call elomen, and
the Tungus name for meneril; is naunyan. ' possessed by evil spirits'.
Fits of meneriJc are usually brought on by a shock ov sudden pain,
though sometimes the malady is periodical and comes on without
any apparent immediate cause. The patient is afflicted with
spasms, or falls into a trance, howls or dances, and sometimes
this ends in an epileptoid seizure. The natives ascribe this
disease to the influence of evil spirits and it is curious to note
that this influence is in most cases of foreign origin. A Yakut
patient will sing in Tungus and a Yukaghir in Yakut, even if
they do not speak these languages.'' The fits are often followed
by a prolonged sleep lasting for several days.
Here it should be mentioned that epileptoid symptoms, of the
European type, have been observed in Siberia also. Bogoras says
that the Chukchee call this disease itcyiin ; the illness progresses
rapidly and in most cases ends in the early death of the sufferer.*^
iii. Singing ivhile asleep. This is a peculiar form of the malady
which has often been observed by travellers. It is called in
Yukaghir yendo iennt ya etei, by the Tungus nayani, and by the
Yakut Jaitiirar. The patient when awakened does not remember
what he was singing or that he has sung at all." ' Nothing is
^ The habit which such i)aticnts have of using bad language is called
by Sir William Osier coprolalia.
'^ There is a well-known Yakut proverb, 'An diiiilrakJi kicks like
a reindeer.'
^ The inclination to repeat everything one hears is called by Gilles de
la Tourette echolalia ; and the inclination to imitate movements is known
as echokinesia, a name invented by Charcot.
■* Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 121.
° Jochelson, The Yukaghir and Yiikayhirized Tungus, p. 31 ; and The
Kon/ak, p. 417.
" Op. cit,, p. 42. ■' Jochelson, The Yukaghir, p. 30.
'ARCTIC HYSTERIA' .317
more melancholy during the night ' — saj's Bogoras — -' in the houses
or tents of some of these natives, than to be awakened by a
monotonous mournful improvisation, which continues for hours
if the singer is not roused.'
iv. Another type of nervous disease is described by Bogoras as
follows : * It comes at night like nightmare. During the attack
the breath appears shortened, the blood rushes to the face, and
sometimes the sufferer chokes on the spot. ... A man suddenly
afflicted with such an illness while travelling may be almost sure
that he will not be allowed to enter any house nor will he be given
either fire or warm food.' ^
V. Although in both mctieriJc and amuralh there are sometimes
symptoms of erotic mania. Pilsudski speaks of a special kind oi
sexual disorder called by the Japanese sJial'u, i. e. cramp of the
vagina, or vaginismus, a sort of hysterical affection rather common
in the Far East and not unknown among the Ainu. The Gilyak
and Ainu myths abound in references to women so afflicted, whose
husbands die early.-
vi. Melancholia and the so-called ' voluntary death ' form a
separate class. A person affected with melancholia is apathetic,
indifferent, eats little, and moves unrhythmically.^
' Voluntary death ' is a regular custom among the Chukchee.
It is accounted for as being the result of disease and helplessness, of
deep sorrow at the death of some near relative, or of a quarrel
at home, or sometimes simply of the feeling of taediiim vitae.^
Bogoras knew of various instances of ' voluntary death ' due to
each of these causes. Young people in such cases commit suicide,
for they can very seldom find any one to act as an 'assistant'
in bringing death to the physical or psychical sufferer. Mature
or old people are killed by some near relative at their own request.
Bogoras thinks ' that the custom of killing old people sometimes
* Bogoras, op. cit., p. 42. I place this among the tyj^es of nervous
disease, following Bogoras, but with considerable reserve. The symptoms
described appear to be those of some organic disease rather than of a
nervous ailment. Comjjaring this description with that of the syiiii)toms
of internal anthrax in the EHcydopnedia Bntannica (article 'Anthrax'),
I would suggest that possibly attacks of the kind here described may in
fact be due to sibirskaya yazva.
^ Pilsudski, Materials for the Study of the Ainu Lavyuaye and Folklore,
p. 91.
^ Jochelson, Tlie Ytikayhir, p. 30.
* Bogoras, op. cit., pp. -561-3.
= Op. cit, p. 560.
.iscril>ed to the Chukchee does not exist as such, but that, as
a matter of fact, old people are often killed because they prefer
death to the hard conditions of life as invalids.^ There are three
methods of ' voluntary death ': by stabbing with a knife or spear,
by strangulation, and by shooting.- Before the ceremony of
killing a formula is pronounced, after which no retreat is possible
because the spirits have heard the promise and will punish its
violation. ' Previous to his last hours, the person is treated with
"fat meat and alien food", and all his wishes ai-e fulfilled.'*'
Death at the hands of a son is thought not to be painful ; it is,
however, believed to be very painful if a stranger inflicts it.
Voluntary death is considered preferable to a natural decease,
which lattei', indeed, is held to be the work of Icclct (evil spirits).
To die by one's own volition is equivalent to freeing oneself from
the malevolence of the Icelet, and is at the same time a sacrifice to
the Ix-eJct, since a breach of the formally expressed determination
to die is punished by them."^ A voluntary death is not only
better than a natural one, Init it is even considered praiseworthy,
since people who die this kind of death have the best abode in the
future life. ' They dwell on the red blaze of the aurora borealis,
and pass their time playing ball with a walrus-skull.''' This kind
of death is sometimes, so to speak, hereditary, and the Chukchee
say in such cases : ' Since his father died this way, he wanted to
imitate him.'"
In discussing these facts it must be borne in mind that no one
who has studied 'arctic hysteria' was a specialist in psychiatry.'
Taking the descriptions of travellers, however, a survey of the
whole field suggests a certain regularity of coincidences in the
distribution of nervous diseases in Siberia.
' Joclielson says that the custom of killing old people existed until
recently among the Koiyak (p. 760). Boas says that among the Central
Eskimo it is considered lawful for a man to kill his aged parents [The
Central Eskimo, p. 61-">). Bogoras says that 'voluntary death' occurs
also among the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo, but not so fre-
quently (op. cit., p. 367).
2 Op. cit., p. 564. ^ Ibid. " Ibid. = Op. cit., p. 563.
^ Op. cit., p. 562. Bogoras describes a case of this kind. ' The father
was stabbed with a knife, but when death did not come immediately, he
requested that he be strangled with a rope, which was done accordingly.
The son also was stabbed, but the stroke was not mortal. So he went
still further in imitating his father, and also requested that he might
die by strangulation, which was immediately executed.'
■^ p]xcept, perhaps, Dr. Kashin, mentioned by Priklonski (op. cit., 1890,
p. 49).
'ARCTIC HYSTERIA' 319
(a) Women are especially prune to these ailments, and the
shamans have a certain susceptibility to them. Both Prikloiiski
and Sieroszewski say that there is scarcely any Yakut woman who
is not more or less liable to this affliction.^
{b) Mencrik (hysterical seizures) -was observed chiefly among
young girls and some young men, especially those being trained
as shamans, whereas iimiiralJi. which is marked by a quiet, passive
condition of the patient, interrupted from time to time by attacks
of fury, is generally met with in people of from thirty-five to fifty
years of age.
(c) These two nervous diseases are met with most often among
the peoples who have more recently come into the Arctic region,
viz. the Yakut, the Tungus, and some of the Russian settlers ;
while among the peoples longer domiciled there the other nervous
ailments such as melancholia, inclination to suicide, &c., are
apparently more frequent.
{d} In all cases the nomadic or reindeer peoples have less
liability to this form of disease ; but this may be due not only to
their mode of life, but also to the fact that the reindeer-breeding
peoples are better situated materially, and, except as the result of
some occasional catastrophe, do not suffer so much hardship.
Thus we know that during a famine sometimes half the inhabitants
of a village become insane, temporarily or permanently. Such
cases were witnessed by Yadrintzetf and Priklonski, and were
related by the natives to Jochelson and Bogoras.
We come, then, to the conclusion that the whole of Northern
and part of Southern Siberia is a region where the people suffer
from nervous diseases more than in any other of the known
regions of the world. Thus only in this region is such an
institution as that of ' voluntary death ' looked upon as praise-
worthy and there only do such hereditarily hysterical individuals^
as the best shamans certainly are enjoy the highest consideration.
But neither to the institution of ' voluntary death ' nor to the
hysterical fits of the shamans are we justified in applying the
name of disease, since these are not so considered by the natives
themselves. This is one side of their nature, pathological from
our point of view, but normal, or supra-normal, from theirs.
' Some travellers, like Jochelson, think that difficult labour may
account for this; but Dr. Bielilowski, in his book, Woman aiiiouf/ the
Aborigines of Siberia, 1897, says that the native women in Siberia &eldom
suffer greatly at childbirth.
Certain nervous affections are, however, even in the eyes of
natives considered as illnesses. What is the native line dividing
disease fi*om inspiration it is difficult to say. A youth who has
suffered from mcneril; has the better chance of becoming a shaman.
In all cases this illness is ascribed to evil spirits, but for the
shaman it is a desirable struggle with evil and an exercise in
which he learns how to appease these spirits, while an ordinary
mortal is only a victim of hclet or ahassy, a 'sick person'. It is
true that with the shaman no nervous disease, even meneriJc, can
be developed so far as to cease to be under his control. If
a shaman cannot control and invoke the spirits at the right time,
he ceases to lie a shaman. Even if we call the hereditary
shamanistic gift a hereditary form of hysteria, or a hereditary
disposition to hysteria,^ which very often develops only during the
trying preparatory period, it is never of such an advanced form
as to be called by the natives a disease.
It would seem that the name ' arctic hysteria ' has been given
by travellers partly to religio-niagical phenomena and partly to
the nervous ailments which are considered by the natives to be
a disease.
A review of the various symptoms brings us, indeed, to the
opinion that nearly all cases described can be regarded as
instances of hysteria. But most of the symptoms enumerated are
met with in Europe, and therefore the majority of these cases
cannot properly be described as ardk hysteria. There is no
question that the economic and geographical conditions of the
arctic region lead to the development of nervous diseases, but
since such ailments are met with in other geographical areas,' it is
clearly incorrect to class them as distinctively ' arctic '.
Yet not all of the symptoms described are familiar to Europeans.
Quite unknown among us is clmiiralh, the imitative mania with its
characteristic symptom of imitating unconsciously all gestures
and sounds. This is always considered by the natives as
a disease, and a shaman who should be attacked by it would have
to give up his profession just as he has to do if he contracts
syphilis or leprosy. This peculiar form of the malady probably
suggested to travellers the name of 'arctic hysteria', and con-
vinced them that all hysteria in the Arctic regions differs from
that prevalent in Europe and is, in fact, peculiarly ' arctic '.
The use of the term * arctic ' seems appropriate enough at first
' See Otto StoU, Suggestion uiid Hijimotismus, pp. 15-42.
'ARCTIC HYSTERIA' 821
sight, as nearly all travellers ascribe these hj'sterical maladies to
arctic conditions, namel)', dark winter days, light summer nights,
severe cold, the silence, the general monotony of the landscape,
scarcity of food. &c. The observed fact that these nervous
diseases are especially frequent in the dark season, or in the time
of transition from one season to another, points to the same
conclusion.
But unfortunately for this hypothesis we find the same
symptoms which are held to be characteristic of Arctic lands
among the peoples of the Equatorial regions. Some travellers to
the Malay peninsula mention a nervous disease similar to dmuniJih
which is known there under the name of Icttah. A full description
of it is found in Sir Hugh Cliflford's work. Studies in Brcnvn
Hximanity.^ For the sake of comparison we shall quote his
description, ' Latah is an affliction, a disease, one hardly knows
what name to give it, vrhich causes certain men and women to
lose their self-control, for longer or shorter periods, as the case
may be, whenever they are startled, or receive any sudden shock.
While in this condition they appear to be unable to realize their own
identity, or to employ any but imitative faculties, though they very
frequently, nay, almost invariably, make use of villainously bad
language, without any one prompting them to do so. Any person
who chances to attract their attention at such times can make
them do any action by simply feigning to do it himself by
a gesture. A complete stranger, by startling a JCitali man or
woman, can induce the condition of which I speak accidentally and
without exercising any effort of will. This should be borne in
mind, for though Udali resembles hypnotic suggestion in many
respects, it differs from it in the important respect that it in no
way depends upon an original voluntary surrender of the will-
power.'-
Clifford had himself in 1887-8 a cook who suffered from this
affection. He — as were some of the Siberian patients — was
heavy-looking, clumsily built, stolid, and apparently not at all
nervous. It was a mischievous little boy who first discovered
Sat's (the cook's) weakness. The boy made a gesture as if he
wanted to put his hand in the fire ; Sat followed his suggestion
and thus burned his fingers. After this, Sat was very often
persecuted in this way by different people, until his hyper-
' 1898, pp. 186-201. 2 Op. cit, p. 189.
suggestibility became a clironic conclition, so that any words
addressed to him even in tlie quietest manner he repeated over
and over again aimlessly, unintelligently.^
* It was about this time', Clifford says, 'that a number of other
people in my household began to develop signs of the affliction.
I must not be imderstood as suggesting that they became infected
with IdfaJi, for on inquiry I found that tiiey had one and all been
subject to occasional seizures, when anything chanced to startle
them badly, long before they joined my people ; but the presence
of so complete a slave to the affliction as poor Sat seemed to cause
them to lose the control which they had hitherto contrived to
exercise over themselves.'''^
One old man begged Clifford to forbid people to take advantage
of his illness. All cases of Idtah that Clifford observed were one
like another, differing only in degree. Startling a person sus-
pected of being affected with the malady was always the test.
Some of the cases cited are : Once the same boy who first dis-
covered Sat's weakness took advantage of the fact that there was
nobody whom he feared in the house, and finding the cook quietly
chewing betel with a friend, who was also hVaJi, the boy un-
expectedly made a noise with a rattan. Each of the Idtah gave
a sharp cry and a jump, 'and since there was nothing to distract
their attention from one another, they fell to imitating each the
other's gestures. For nearly half an hour, so far as I could judge
from what 1 learned later, these two men sat opposite to one
another, gesticulating wildlj^ and aimlessly, using the most filthy
language, and rocking their bodies to and fro. They never took
their eyes off one another for sufficient time for the strange
influence to be broken, and, at length, utterly worn out and
exhausted, first Sat and then the Treugganu man fell over on the
platform in fits, foaming horribly at the mouth with thin white
flakes of foam.' •'
' The Malays have many tales of h'ltaMolk who have terrified
a tiger into panic-stricken flight by imitating his every motion,
and impressing him thereby with their complete absence of fear.'''
It seems that Idtah is a very widespread affection, since even tales
and traditions are concerned with it. The following account of
Clifford's recalls very vividly the pictures of iimuralxh as described
Op. cit., p. 191. 2 Op. cit.,p. 192.
Op. cit., pp. 103-4. ■• Op. cit., p. 194.
'ARCTIC HVSTERIA' 823
by Joclielson. 'I have myself seen', says Clifford, 'a woman,
stiff-jointod, and well stricken in years, make violent and un-
gainly efforts to imitate the motion of a bicycle, just as I once
saw an old hag strip off her last scanty garment because a chance
passer-by, who knew her infirmity, made a gesture as though he
was about to undress himself.' ^
Clifford saw so many latah people that he was able to observe
certain conditions in which this ailment shows itself most vio-
lently. Thus, as is the case among the Yakut, lafah is found
among the well-fed and gently nurtured, as well as among the
poor and indigent. It is seen more often among women than
among men, and is invariably confined to adults. Clifford even
thinks that every adult Malay is to a certain extent Jatali.-
To what an extent the startling of a Idtah sul)ject makes him
unable to control the movements of his body and follow slavishly
every suggestion from outside is seen from the observed fact that
a 'h'lfah person will mimic the swaying motion of wind-shaken
boughs just as readily as the actions of a human being — will follow
their movements in preference to those of a man, indeed, if the
former chance to attract his attention before the latter '? There
is also no question but that the repeating of mechanical sug-
gestions are not voluntary on the part of the VdaJi. Clifford says
that Sat certainly did not voluntarily put his hand into the flame,
and that the old woman, in a country where women are as a rule
very modest and shy, would certainly not of her own volition
take off her garment in the presence of passing strangers."*
Thus we see that this characteristic mania of imitation which is
the chief, if not the only form distinguishing ' arctic hysteria ' from
that known in Europe, and which has given rise to the term
' arctic ', is also found among the Malays. Hence it is probably
not so much the Arctic climate as extremes of climate which may
account for its development, and hence it would seem preferable
to discard the title ' arctic hysteria ' in favour of ' hysteria of
climatic extremes '. But, unfortunately, ethnological literature,
rich as it is, gives no indication that in the equatorial regions of
America.'' Africa, or even Melanesia, anything similar to Malayan
h'dah or Siberian iimilrahh exists. The environmental explanation
being thus not the only possible one, we must next inquire whether
1 Op. cit., p. 195. == Op. cit., pp. 195-6.
' Op. cit., p. 200. ■• Ibid.
' The 'jumpers' of Maine are the only instance recorded in America.
Y 2
these Arctic peoples and the Mala5^s have anything else in
common. Here the racial factor suggests itself.
From the materials on (imiiralJt we see that it occurs chiefly
among Neo-Siberians (Yakut and Tungus), who are more typical
Mongols than the Palaeo-Siberians. The few notes about amuraJch
occurring among some of the Kussian settlers do not contradict
our hyi:)othesis, for these so-called Russian settlers are very often
of the same Mongoloid stock from the other side of the Ural. It
would be necessary to have more definite information as to
whether the people referred to as Russians are European Russians
of Aryan stock, or Asiatic Russians of Mongolic stock, to decide
this point. The thing which it is interesting to note in this con-
nexion is that (imiiral'h was not observed among people whose
conditions of life Avould naturally lead to the development of
nervous diseases, i. e. political exiles in Siberia, who are decidedly
of Aryan stock ; and if further researches show that anviralli-ldtah
is found invariably in connexion with Mongolic race-charactei-s,
and in places where extremes of climate encourage its growth, this
disease will form a curious index of the psycho-physiological
nature of Mongols. -
Before closing this chapter, and while disclaiming any intention
of providing a medical definition of (imioxil'li-lOtah, we must, how-
ever, express our doubts as to whether this disease can rightly be
termed a type of hysteria.^ The psychological condition of a
patient suffering from (imftralJt-JdfaJt stands in a relation to that of
a hysterical patient similar to that in which the psychological
condition of a patient suffering from chorea does. That is, an
cimtiraJih-lufaJi is almost unconscious; and however he may act
afterwards (he is sometimes passive, and sometimes violent
' As a matter of fact, one can read between the lines of Sir Hugh
ClifFord's book that lafaJi seems to be inseparable from the Malay,
i.e. Mongol, race, and the same idea occurred to Mr. W. McDougall when
the writer was discussing the topic with him in Oxford.
- Not being in possession of details concerning the 'jumpers ' of Maine
we cannot consider them here.
^ Priklonski, following Dr. Kashin {Bnssiiin Archives of Legal Mediciue),
calls (imural-h chorea imitatoria. Sir William Osier (On Chorcd and
Choreiform Affections, pp. 2, 72-3, 87) classes Malayan iafah and Siberian
amnral-h, the latter of which he calls 'Russian myriachit', among
choreiform affections. He considers them not to be hysteria as, for
instance, chorea major is. He says, however, that in choreiform affections
' the action may be controlled or at least modified to some extent by an
effort of the will'— a conclusion which can hardly be drawn from con-
sideration of the cases described above.
'ARCTIC HYSTERIA' 825
towards the cause of the attack), he is unable at the time to prevent
a suggestion from acting upon his mind as a command. In this
respect he resembles a subject of hypnotic suggestion, the dif-
ference being that the amiiraJch-hitah acts while awake and that he
passes from a normal to an abnormal state quite rapidly, while in
hypnotic suggestion a more or less lengthy period of time is
necessary to subordinate the medium to the will of the person
suggesting.
Like a choreatic and unlike a hysterical patient, an iimiirakh-
iCitah may injure himself seriously during an attack. Although
we find that an iiiniiraJch in Siberia is often a hysterical person at
the same time, and that an iimUraJch attack is accompanied, pre-
ceded, or followed by a hysterical one. yet we can no more call
iimilralch hysteria than we can call St. Vitus's dance by that name.
The small regard in which people suffering from umiiraJih are held
by the natives is shown in the following incident : 'Never mind,'
said a native to Jochelson, when the latter was indignant because
an old woman repeated after him everything that he said, 'it is
only an amiimJih.'^
In studying and defining the diseases of primitive peoples, it is
necessary to take account of the way in which such peoples regard
the patients. Thus, among the aborigines of Siberia, a person
suffering from mencrik may l^ecome a powerful and influential
shaman, while one afflicted with umiirdkh is considered as of no
account socially, and, like one suffering from syphilis, leprosy, or
sibinlcp/a yazia, may even be segregated from society by special
restrictions and disabilities.
' Jochelson, The Yukuyhir and Yitk(t(jhirized Tiukjhs, p. .34.