The Yakuts (pronunciation with an emphasis on the last syllable is common among the local population) are the indigenous population of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Self-name: "Sakha", in the plural "Sakhalar".
According to the results of the 2010 census, 478 thousand Yakuts lived in Russia, mainly in Yakutia (466.5 thousand), as well as in the Irkutsk, Magadan regions, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk territories. The Yakuts are the most numerous (almost 50% of the population) people in Yakutia and the largest of the indigenous peoples of Siberia within the borders of Russia.
Anthropological appearance
Purebred Yakuts are more similar in appearance to the Kirghiz than to the Mongols.
They have an oval face, not high, but a wide and smooth forehead with rather large black eyes and slightly sloping eyelids, cheekbones are moderately pronounced. A characteristic feature of the Yakut face is the disproportionate development of the middle facial part to the detriment of the forehead and chin. The complexion is swarthy, has a yellow-gray or bronze tint. The nose is straight, often with a hump. The mouth is large, the teeth are large yellowish. The hair is black, straight, coarse, hairy vegetation is completely absent on the face and other parts of the body.
Growth is not high, 160-165 centimeters. Yakuts do not differ in muscle strength. They have long and thin arms, short and crooked legs.
The movements are slow and heavy.
Of the sense organs, the hearing organ is best developed. The Yakuts do not distinguish at all from one another some colors (for example, shades of blue: violet, blue, blue), for which there are not even special designations in their language.
Language
The Yakut language belongs to the Turkic group of the Altai family, which has groups of dialects: central, Vilyui, northwestern, Taimyr. There are many words of Mongolian origin in the Yakut language (about 30% of words), there are also about 10% of words of unknown origin that have no analogues in other languages.
According to its lexical and phonetic features and grammatical construction, the Yakut language can be classified among the ancient Turkic dialects. According to S.E. Malov, the Yakut language is considered pre-written by its construction. Consequently, either the basis of the Yakut language was not originally Türkic, or it separated from the Türkic proper in remote antiquity, when the latter experienced a period of enormous linguistic influence of the Indo-Iranian tribes and further developed separately.
At the same time, the language of the Yakuts unequivocally testifies to its similarity with the languages of the Turkic-Tatar peoples. The Tatars and Bashkirs, exiled to the Yakutsk region, had only a few months to learn the language, while the Russians needed years for this. The main difficulty is the Yakut phonetics, which is completely different from Russian. There are sounds that the European ear begins to distinguish only after a long habituation, and the European larynx is not able to reproduce them quite correctly (for example, the sound "ng").
The study of the Yakut language is difficult due to a large number of synonymous expressions and the uncertainty of grammatical forms: for example, there are no genders for nouns and adjectives do not agree with them.
Origin
The origin of the Yakuts can be reliably traced only from about the middle of the 2nd millennium AD. It is not possible to establish exactly who the ancestors of the Yakuts were, and it is also impossible to establish the time of their settlement in the country where they are now the predominant race, their place of residence before resettlement. The origin of the Yakuts can be traced only on the basis of linguistic analysis and the similarity of the details of everyday life and cult traditions.
The ethnogenesis of the Yakuts should, apparently, begin with the era of the early nomads, when cultures of the Scythian-Siberian type developed in the west of Central Asia and in southern Siberia. Separate prerequisites for this transformation on the territory of Southern Siberia go back to the 2nd millennium BC. The origins of the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts can be traced most clearly in the Pazyryk culture of the Altai Mountains. Its carriers were close to the Saks of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. This pre-Turkic substratum in the culture of the peoples of the Sayano-Altai and the Yakuts is manifested in their household, in things developed during the period of early nomadism, such as iron adzes, wire earrings, copper and silver torcs, leather shoes, wooden choron goblets. These ancient origins can also be traced in the arts and crafts of the Altaians, Tuvans and Yakuts, who retained the influence of the "animal style".
The ancient Altai substrate is also found among the Yakuts in the funeral rite. This is, first of all, the personification of a horse with death, the custom of installing a wooden pillar on the grave - a symbol of the "tree of life", as well as the presence of kibes - special people who were engaged in burials, who, like the Zoroastrian "servants of the dead", were kept outside the settlements. This complex includes the cult of the horse and the dualistic concept - the opposition of the deities aiyy, personifying good creative principles and abaahy, evil demons.
These materials are consistent with the data of immunogenetics. Thus, in the blood of 29% of the Yakuts examined by V.V. Fefelova in different regions of the republic, the HLA-AI antigen, found only in Caucasian populations, was found. It is often found in the Yakuts in combination with another HLA-BI7 antigen, which can be traced in the blood of only two peoples - the Yakuts and the Hindi Indians. All this leads to the idea that some ancient Turkic groups took part in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts, perhaps not directly the Pazyryks, but, of course, associated with the Pazyryks of Altai, whose physical type differed from the surrounding Caucasoid population by a more noticeable Mongoloid admixture.
The Scythian-Hunnic origins in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts further developed in two directions. The first can be conditionally called "Western" or South Siberian, it was based on the origins worked out under the influence of the Indo-Iranian ethnoculture. The second is "Eastern" or "Central Asian". It is represented, albeit not numerous, by the Yakut-Xiongnu parallels in culture. This "Central Asian" tradition can be traced in the anthropology of the Yakuts and in religious ideas associated with the koumiss holiday yyakh and the remnants of the cult of the sky - tanara.
The ancient Turkic era, which began in the 6th century, was in no way inferior to the previous period in terms of territorial scope and grandeur of its cultural and political resonance. This period, which gave rise to a generally unified culture, is associated with the formation of the Turkic foundations of the Yakut language and culture. A comparison of the culture of the Yakuts with the ancient Turkic showed that in the Yakut pantheon and mythology, precisely those aspects of the ancient Turkic religion that developed under the influence of the previous Scythian-Siberian era were more consistently preserved. The Yakuts have preserved a lot in their beliefs and funeral rites, in particular, by analogy with the ancient Turkic stones-balbals, the Yakuts set up wooden posts-poles.
But if among the ancient Turks the number of stones on the grave of the deceased depended on the people killed by him in the war, then among the Yakuts the number of columns installed depended on the number of horses buried with the deceased and eaten on his funeral feast. The yurt, where the person died, was torn down to the ground and a quadrangular earthen fence was obtained, similar to the ancient Turkic fences surrounding the grave. In the place where the deceased lay, the Yakuts put an idol-balbal. In the ancient Turkic era, new cultural standards were developed that transformed the traditions of the early nomads. The same regularities characterize the material culture of the Yakuts, which, therefore, can be considered as a whole Turkic.
The Turkic ancestors of the Yakuts can be referred in a broader sense to the number of "Gaogui Dinlins" - Teles tribes, among which one of the main places belonged to the ancient Uighurs. In the Yakut culture, many parallels have been preserved that point to this: cult rites, the use of a horse for conspiracy in marriages, and some terms associated with beliefs. The Teles tribes of the Baikal region also included the tribes of the Kurykan group, which also included the Merkits, who played a certain role in the development of the pastoralists of the Lena. The origin of the Kurykans was attended by local, in all likelihood, Mongolian-speaking pastoralists associated with the culture of slab graves or the Shiweis and, possibly, the ancient Tungus. But still, in this process, the leading role belonged to the newcomer Turkic-speaking tribes, related to the ancient Uighurs and Kyrgyz. The Kurykan culture developed in close contact with the Krasnoyarsk-Minusinsk region. Under the influence of the local Mongol-speaking substratum, the Turkic nomadic economy took shape in semi-sedentary pastoralism. Subsequently, the Yakuts, through their Baikal ancestors, spread cattle breeding in the Middle Lena, some household items, forms of dwellings, clay vessels, and probably inherited their main physical type.
In the X-XI centuries, Mongolian-speaking tribes appeared in the Baikal region, on the Upper Lena. They began to live together with the descendants of the Kurykans. Later, part of this population (the descendants of the Kurykans and other Turkic-speaking groups who experienced a strong linguistic influence of the Mongols) went down the Lena and became the core in the formation of the Yakuts.
In the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts, the participation of the second Turkic-speaking group with the Kipchak heritage is also traced. This is confirmed by the presence in the Yakut language of several hundred Yakut-Kypchak lexical parallels. The Kipchak heritage seems to be manifested through the ethnonyms Khanalas and Sakha. The first of them had a probable connection with the ancient ethnonym Khanly, whose carriers later became part of many medieval Turkic peoples, their role in the origin of the Kazakhs is especially great. This should explain the presence of a number of common Yakut-Kazakh ethnonyms: odai - adai, argin - argyn, meirem suppu - meiram sopy, eras kuel - orazkeldy, tuer tugul - gortuur. The link connecting the Yakuts with the Kipchaks is the ethnonym Saka, with many phonetic variants found among the Turkic peoples: juices, saklar, sakoo, sekler, sakal, saktar, sakha. Initially, this ethnonym, apparently, was part of the circle of Teles tribes. Among them, along with the Uighurs, Kurykans, Chinese sources also place the Seike tribe.
The kinship of the Yakuts with the Kipchaks is determined by the presence of cultural elements common to them - the burial rite with the skeleton of a horse, the manufacture of a stuffed horse, wooden cult anthropomorphic pillars, jewelry items basically associated with the Pazyryk culture (earrings in the form of a question mark, hryvnia), common ornamental motifs . Thus, the ancient South Siberian direction in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts in the Middle Ages was continued by the Kipchaks.
These conclusions were mainly confirmed on the basis of a comparative study of the traditional culture of the Yakuts and the cultures of the Turkic peoples of the Sayano-Altai. In general, these cultural ties fall into two main layers - the ancient Turkic and medieval Kypchak. In a more conventional context, the Yakuts converge along the first layer through the Oguz-Uigur "language component" with the Sagay, Beltir groups of the Khakas, with the Tuvans and some tribes of the North Altaians. All these peoples, except for the main cattle-breeding, also have a mountain-taiga culture, which is associated with fishing and hunting skills and techniques, the construction of stationary dwellings. According to the "Kipchak layer", the Yakuts are moving closer to the southern Altaians, Tobolsk, Baraba and Chulym Tatars, Kumandins, Teleuts, Kachin and Kyzyl groups of Khakasses. Apparently, elements of Samoyed origin penetrate into the Yakut language along this line, and borrowings from the Finno-Ugric and Samoyed languages into Turkic are quite frequent to designate a number of tree and shrub species. Consequently, these contacts are connected mainly with forest "gathering" culture.
According to available data, the penetration of the first pastoral groups into the basin of the Middle Lena, which became the basis for the formation of the Yakut people, began in the 14th century (possibly at the end of the 13th century). In the general appearance of material culture, some local sources associated with the early Iron Age, with the dominant role of the southern foundations, are traced.
The newcomers, mastering Central Yakutia, made fundamental changes in the economic life of the region - they brought cows and horses with them, organized hay and pasture farming. Materials from archaeological monuments of the 17th-18th centuries recorded a successive connection with the culture of the Kulun-Atakh people. The clothing complex from the Yakut burials and settlements of the 17th-18th centuries finds its closest analogies in Southern Siberia, mainly covering the Altai and Upper Yenisei regions within the 10th-14th centuries. The parallels observed between the Kurykan and Kulun-Atakh cultures seem to be obscured at this time. But the Kypchak-Yakut connections are revealed by the similarity of the features of material culture and the funeral rite.
The influence of the Mongolian-speaking environment in the archaeological monuments of the XIV-XVIII centuries is practically not traced. But it manifests itself in the linguistic material, and in the economy it constitutes an independent powerful layer.
From this point of view, settled pastoralism, combined with fishing and hunting, dwellings and household buildings, clothing, footwear, ornamental art, religious and mythological beliefs of the Yakuts are based on the South Siberian, Turkic platform. And already oral folk art, folk knowledge was finally formed in the Middle Lena basin under the influence of the Mongolian-speaking component.
The historical traditions of the Yakuts, in full agreement with the data of archeology and ethnography, connect the origin of the people with the process of resettlement. According to these data, it was the alien groups, headed by Omogoy, Elley and Uluu-Khoro, that formed the backbone of the Yakut people. In the face of Omogoy, one can see the descendants of the Kurykans, who belonged to the Oguz group in terms of language. But their language, apparently, was influenced by the ancient Baikal and alien medieval Mongol-speaking environment. Elley personified the South Siberian Kipchak group, represented mainly by the Kangalas. Kipchak words in the Yakut language, according to the definition of G.V. Popov, are mainly represented by rarely used words. From this it follows that this group did not have a tangible impact on the phonetic and grammatical structure of the language of the Old Turkic core of the Yakuts. The legends about Uluu-Khoro reflected the arrival of Mongolian groups to the Middle Lena. This is consistent with the assumption of linguists about the residence of the Mongolian-speaking population in the territory of the modern "akaya" regions of Central Yakutia.
According to available data, the formation of the modern physical appearance of the Yakuts was completed no earlier than the middle of the 2nd millennium AD. on the Middle Lena on the basis of a mixture of alien and aboriginal groups. In the anthropological image of the Yakuts, it is possible to distinguish two types - a rather powerful Central Asian, represented by the Baikal core, which was influenced by the Mongolian tribes, and the South Siberian anthropological type with an ancient Caucasoid gene pool. Subsequently, these two types merged into one, forming the southern backbone of modern Yakuts. At the same time, thanks to the participation of the Khori people, the Central Asian type becomes predominant.
Life and economy
The traditional culture is most fully represented by the Amga-Lena and Vilyui Yakuts. The northern Yakuts are close in culture to the Evenks and Yukagirs, the Olekminskys are strongly acculturated by the Russians.
The main traditional occupations are horse breeding (in Russian documents of the 17th century, the Yakuts were called "horse people") and cattle breeding. The men took care of the horses, the women took care of the cattle. Deer were bred in the north. Cattle were kept in the summer on grazing, in the winter in barns (hotons). The Yakut breeds of cattle were distinguished by endurance, but were unproductive. Haymaking was known even before the arrival of the Russians.
Fishing was also developed. They caught fish mainly in summer, in winter they caught fish in the hole, and in autumn they organized a collective seine fishing with a division of prey between all participants. For the poor who did not have livestock, fishing was the main occupation (in the documents of the 17th century, the term "fisherman" - balyksyt - is used in the meaning of "poor"), some tribes also specialized in it - the so-called "foot Yakuts" - osekui, ontuly, kokui , Kirikians, Kyrgydais, Orgoths and others.
Hunting was especially widespread in the north, being the main source of food here (arctic fox, hare, reindeer, elk, bird). In the taiga, by the arrival of the Russians, both meat and fur hunting (bear, elk, squirrel, fox, hare) was known, later, due to a decrease in the number of animals, its importance fell. Specific hunting techniques are characteristic: with a bull (the hunter sneaks up on the prey, hiding behind the bull), horse chasing the beast along the trail, sometimes with dogs.
There was also gathering - the collection of pine and larch sapwood (the inner layer of the bark), harvested for the winter in dried form, roots (saran, coinage, etc.), greens (wild onions, horseradish, sorrel), only raspberries were not used from berries, which was considered impure.
Agriculture (barley, to a lesser extent wheat) was borrowed from the Russians at the end of the 17th century and was very poorly developed until the middle of the 19th century. Its spread (especially in the Olekminsky district) was facilitated by Russian exiled settlers.
The processing of wood (artistic carving, coloring with alder broth), birch bark, fur, and leather was developed; dishes were made from leather, rugs were made from horse and cow skins sewn in a checkerboard pattern, blankets were made from hare fur, etc .; Cords were twisted from horse hair with hands, weaved, embroidered. Spinning, weaving and felting of felt were absent. The production of stucco ceramics, which distinguished the Yakuts from other peoples of Siberia, has been preserved. The smelting and forging of iron, which had a commercial value, the smelting and chasing of silver, copper, and, from the 19th century, carving on mammoth ivory, were developed.
They traveled mainly on horseback, transporting goods in packs. There were known skis lined with horse kamus, sledges (silis syarga, later - sledges like Russian wood firewood), usually harnessed to bulls, in the north - straight-dust reindeer sleds. The boats, like the Uevenks, were birch bark (tyy) or flat-bottomed from boards; later sailing boats-karbass were borrowed from the Russians.
dwelling
Winter settlements (kystyk) were located near mowing fields, consisted of 1-3 yurts, summer ones - near pastures, numbered up to 10 yurts. The winter yurt (booth, diie) had sloping walls made of standing thin logs on a rectangular log frame and a low gable roof. The walls were plastered on the outside with clay and manure, the roof over the log flooring was covered with bark and earth. The house was placed on the cardinal points, the entrance was arranged in the east side, the windows - in the south and west, the roof was oriented from north to south. To the right of the entrance, in the northeast corner, a hearth (ooh) was arranged - a pipe made of poles coated with clay, which went out through the roof. Plank bunks (oron) were arranged along the walls. The most honorable was the southwestern corner. At the western wall there was a master's place. The bunks to the left of the entrance were intended for male youth, workers, to the right, at the hearth, for women. A table (ostuol) and stools were placed in the front corner. On the north side, a barn (hoton) was attached to the yurt, often under the same roof as the dwelling, the door to it from the yurt was behind the hearth. In front of the entrance to the yurt, a canopy or canopy was arranged. The yurt was surrounded by a low mound, often with a fence. A hitching post was placed near the house, often decorated with carvings.
Summer yurts differed little from winter ones. Instead of a hoton, a barn for calves (titik), sheds, etc. were placed at a distance. There was a conical building made of poles covered with birch bark (urasa), in the north - with turf (kalyman, holuman). Since the end of the 18th century, polygonal log yurts with a pyramidal roof have been known. From the 2nd half of the 18th century, Russian huts spread.
Cloth
Traditional men's and women's clothing - short leather pants, a fur underbelly, leather legs, a single-breasted caftan (sleep), in winter - fur, in summer - from horse or cow skin with wool inside, for the rich - from fabric. Later, fabric shirts with a turn-down collar (yrbakhs) appeared. Men girded themselves with a leather belt with a knife and flint, the rich - with silver and copper plaques. Characteristic is the women's wedding fur long caftan (sangyah), embroidered with red and green cloth, and with a gold braid; an elegant women's fur hat made of expensive fur that goes down to the back and shoulders, with a high cloth, velvet or brocade top with a silver plaque (tuosakhta) and other decorations sewn on it. Women's silver and gold jewelry is widespread. Shoes - winter high boots made of deer or horse skins with wool outside (eterbes), summer boots made of soft leather (saary) with a top covered with cloth, for women - with appliqué, long fur stockings.
Food
The main food is dairy, especially in summer: from mare's milk - koumiss, from cow's milk - curdled milk (suorat, sora), cream (kuercheh), butter; oil was drunk melted or with koumiss; suorat was prepared for the winter in a frozen form (tar) with the addition of berries, roots, etc.; stew (butugas) was prepared from it with the addition of water, flour, roots, pine sapwood, etc. Fish food played a major role for the poor, and in the northern regions, where there were no livestock, meat was consumed mainly by the rich. Horse meat was especially valued. In the 19th century, barley flour came into use: it was used to make unleavened cakes, pancakes, salamat soup. Vegetables were known in the Olekminsky district.
Religion
Traditional beliefs were based on shamanism. The world consisted of several tiers, Yuryung ayy toyon was considered the head of the upper one, Ala buurai toyon and others were considered the head of the lower one. The cult of the female deity of fertility Aiyysyt was important. Horses were sacrificed to the spirits living in the upper world, cows were sacrificed in the lower one. The main holiday is the spring-summer koumiss holiday (Ysyakh), accompanied by libations of koumiss from large wooden cups (choroon), games, sports competitions, etc.
Orthodoxy spread in the XVIII-XIX centuries. But the Christian cult was combined with belief in good and evil spirits, the spirits of dead shamans, master spirits. Elements of totemism have also been preserved: the clan had a patron animal, which was forbidden to be killed, called by name.
In accordance with archaeological data, the nationality of the Yakuts appeared as a result of the combination of several local tribes who lived near the middle reaches of the Lena River with those who lived in the south and were Turkic-speaking settlers. Then, the created nationality was divided into several subgroups. For example, reindeer herders from the northwest.
Are the Yakuts numerous?
The Yakuts are considered one of the most numerous Siberian peoples. Their number reaches over 380 thousand people. Some information about their culture is worth knowing, if only because they inhabit very vast territories. The Yakuts settled in the Irkutsk, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, but they mainly live in the Republic of Sakha.
Religion and customs of the Yakuts
The Yakuts have a very important place in their beliefs and to this day occupies the veneration of mother nature. Their traditions and customs are very closely connected with it. The Yakuts believe that the nature around them is alive, therefore all its objects have their own spirits with inner strength. One of the main ones from ancient times was considered the "Master of the Road". Previously, rich sacrificial offerings were made to him - horsehair, a piece of cloth and buttons with copper coins were left at the crossroads. Similar actions were carried out for the owner of reservoirs, mountains, and so on.
Thunder and lightning in the representations of the Yakuts always pursue evil spirits. So if it happens that during a thunderstorm a tree splits, it was believed that it was endowed with healing power. According to the Yakuts, the wind has 4 spirits at once, which also protect peace on earth. Earth has a female deity called Aan. It oversees the growth and fertility of all things, be they plants, animals, or people. In the spring, offerings are made especially for Aan. As for water, that is, it has its own owner. Gifts are brought to him in the fall, as well as in the spring. They give birch bark boats with images of a person carved on them and with pieces of cloth attached. The Yakuts believe that it is a sin to drop sharp objects into the water. According to their tradition, the owner of the fire is a certain gray-haired old man, who, by the way, very effectively drives out evil spirits. This element has always been treated with great respect. For example, the fire was not extinguished and in earlier times they even carried it with them in a pot. It is believed that his element patronizes the family and the hearth.
The Yakuts consider a certain Baai Baiyanai to be the spirit of the forest. He can help in fishing or hunting. In ancient times, this people chose a sacred animal, it could not be killed or eaten. For example, a goose or a swan, an ermine or some others. The eagle was revered as the head of all birds. And the bear has always been the most revered among all the Yakut groups. His claws, like other attributes, are used to this day as amulets.
Festive customs of the Yakuts
Holidays among the Yakuts are very closely connected with their traditions and rituals. The most important is the so-called Ysyakh. It takes place once a year. We can say that this is a reflection of the worldview and picture of the world. It is celebrated at the beginning of summer. According to ancient traditions, a hitching post is set up in a clearing among young birches, which will symbolize the World Tree and be, as it were, the axis of the Universe. At the present time, it has also become the personification of the friendship of all the peoples inhabiting Yakutia. This holiday is a family holiday. Ysyakh always began with the sprinkling of fire, as well as koumiss on 4 cardinal directions. Then there is a request to the Divine about the sending down of grace. National clothes are put on for this celebration, and several traditional dishes are also prepared and koumiss is served.
Hay preparation. Yakutia
The Yakuts are known from time immemorial as pastoralists. Already Witsen (1692) speaks of them as good riders, containing several thousand horses. "Sheep herds, which, no doubt, they had in their primitive places of residence, completely perished in the wooded strip of the north," Middendorf adds to this message. In addition to horses, the Russians also found cattle among the Yakuts, but there were fewer of the latter. Now there is an inverse relationship. In 1891, according to official figures, the Yakuts owned 131,978 horses and 243,153 cattle, which would be approximately one piece of cattle per capita and one horse per two souls of inhabitants. Maak, who found approximately the same ratio in the Vilyui district in the 1960s (0.8 horses and 1.6 cattle per capita), calls it amazing in terms of the number of horses and explains "that for the Yakut a horse is not only labor , but also an important source of food, since the Yakuts are not only great lovers of horse meat, but also consume huge amounts of fermented mare's milk. It should be noted that in general in Eastern Siberia, even in those areas where they do not eat horse meat and do not prepare koumiss, there are relatively many horses, which in the Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces account for 1.04 pieces per capita. losh. and 1.05 pcs. horn. livestock. Only there the percentage of working horses is much higher than that of the Yakuts; they make up almost two-thirds of the total; while mares, foals and walking horses make up the bulk of the Yakut horse herds. In the old days, according to legend, these horse herds were the main wealth of the people. "In the old days, the Yakuts kept few cattle, and more and more - mares" (Kolymsk st., Yengzha, 1884). "In the old days, there were few cattle; even the rich kept it no more than was required for their family" (Namsky st., 1887). All the testimonies that I have recorded agree that the Yakuts used to have much more other cattle than horned ones, and that they lived mainly at the expense of the first. Gmelin wrote down the same tradition a hundred and fifty years ago. “They say that about ten years ago,” he says about the koumiss festival, “the fun lasted longer, because the Yakuts had more horses. In recent years, many horses died from snowy winters, when horses died of hunger from the requirements of the Kamchatka expedition, which consumed a lot of them and where they disappeared in multitudes.
The cult of the horse, traces of which have been preserved in their opinions, religious rites and beliefs, also indicates the enormous role that the horse played in the past of the Yakuts. “The old Yakut, no matter how much he kept cattle, kept complaining, everyone considered himself poor; only when he started one or two herds of horses did he begin to say: “Well, now I’m with cattle, I also have good!” Namsk, st. , 1890) "Mares and horses were once our deity. Did you see the mare's head that lay in the front corner during the wedding? Well, so to this head, and not to the images of saints, in the old days young people had to bow three times, entering the house. We revered them because we lived by them "(Kolym. st., Yengzha, 1884). Victims to the most dangerous and powerful spirits consist of horses. These spirits are called so -" a heavenly kind of spirits with horse cattle ", and unlike "underground - with cattle". Only minor spirits are sacrificed with cattle, ropes and bundles of hair used in sacrifice and for witchcraft should always be horse. I also did not see cow hair thrown as a sacrifice to fire - always horse hair and mainly from the mane. Bundles of horse hair adorn wedding wooden jugs for koumiss, they adorn a leather bag and a huge leather bucket of koumiss on the spring holiday Ysyakh. farm, where mares and foals are often mentioned - nothing, by the way, is said about cows. Poles of hitching posts are considered sacred, happiness at home is associated with them. "If these posts wish someone well, they bless for three crossings, saying: "Let lives three human ages!" If someone wishes the worst, then they curse from nine crossings, saying: "Stay noisy - drying out, hugging a dry tree!" Rich Yakuts, changing their place of residence, more than once dug up and took away these pillars with them (Namsk, st., 1889). Often such pillars, decorated with rich carvings, tufts of hair and ribbons of multi-colored chintz, can be found on the passes, at the crossroads - in general, where Christians are used to putting up crosses. These pillars were placed in the old days on the graves of princes and leaders; on some there are images of horse heads. A Yakut will never leave a horse's skull or vertebrae lying on the ground, but will definitely pick them up and hang them on a stake or bough of a tree, which is called arangkasty. Everything in the horse, according to the Yakuts, is clean, elegant, good. The legs of wooden utensils, tables, boxes, honorary hangers in the yurt, on which weapons used to be hung, the Yakuts willingly give the shape of mare's legs, hooves, heads.
Hood.Krylov. In native alas. Yakutia
I have not seen these objects in the form of heads or hooves of cattle. In the same way, comparing a girl with a mare, and a guy with a stallion, is considered permissible, even beautiful, while comparing her with a cow is considered offensive. “A horse is a pure animal: much cleaner than a man! You Russians disdain horse meat, but eat pork!” the Kolyma Yakuts reproached me. Horse meat, fat, giblets are considered among the Yakuts the most delicious dish, and mare koumiss is the most excellent drink, like the honey of the ancient Slavs. In the old days, when building a yurt, the main pillars that served as its basis were coated with koumiss and horse blood. In Yakut epics (Olongo), in fairy tales, in songs, the horse plays a prominent role - he is an adviser, friend, confidante of the hero, exceeding his mind, insight, nobility and modesty. Often he is even an intercessor for his master before the deity. “Look, do not let go of your horse, otherwise you will lose your heroic fate forever,” the good gods say, giving the horse to the Yakut hero. "First, God created a horse, from him came a half-horse - half a man, and already from the latter a man was born ..." - explains the legend (Bayagant. st., 1886). "The White God Creator Ai-Tangara created the horse on a par with man; the cow came out of the water," says another legend (Kolyma ulus, 1883). I do not know of a sung incident about the transformation of a good deity into a bull or a cow, while in the olongo Ogonner dokh emyakhsin "The Old Woman with the Old Man" it is told how the Creator Aisyt, one of the main Yakut deities, the goddess of fertility, abundance, descended from heaven to earth, patroness of women in childbirth and families; she descended in the form of a mare "with a thirty-foot boat-tail, with a seven-foot-long delicate silver mane, with a three-foot-long protruding withers, erect ears, with nostrils like a pipe, with silver threefold wool, with hooves like a comb, with pockmarked eyes, with tender summer thought-thought, inspired by their sacred mane and tail "The Yakuts passionately love horses; deprived of horses, they yearn for them, which is noticeable in the songs and legends of the distant northerners; their eyes always rest with delight on their favorite forms, and their tongues sing of them with delight. I didn’t see a Yakut beat or scold a horse. “Horses are smart like people: you can’t insult them. Just look how they walk through the meadows, they never trample in vain, like cows, they don’t ruin a pile, they save human labor. .." - the Bayagantai Yakut explained to me the behavior of the herds, carefully bypassing the ready shocks in the meadows, while the cattle constantly trampled them out of prank and scattered them with their horns. "The horse is an animal with gentle thoughts; he is able to appreciate good and evil!" (Bayagan st., 1886). “If you’re already talking, won’t I listen to you?” the hero says to his horse. Like the Arabs, the names and origins of horses that have become famous for something, the population keeps in memory for a long time and decorates them with fantastic inventions. And now the Nam Yakuts will willingly tell legends about the pacer Kökya, who belonged to the ancestor Chorbokh, a contemporary of the Russian advent; about the fugitive Siryagyas, the cause of the bloody feud between two Nam clans; about the Kusagannel Kutungai Boron g, on which no one could sit, as "it was thrown off by the wind of flight." The Vilyui Yakuts will tell you about the famous horse Malyar.
Hood. Karamzin. Old man. Yakut graphics
And so every ulus, every almost well-known locality, every hero and military leader has famous horses. In the description of the wealth of a fabulous hero, horses always come first. Yuryung Uolan named the main stallion Khan-Dzharyly, the mare - Kyun-Kedelyu; khan and kyun - the highest titles; meanwhile, in the same place, the main bull is called only "master" Toyon Toybolu ogus, and the cow - "month": Yy Ydalyk ynak. In relation to cattle, there is no particular worship. Good heroes and deities of the Yakut epics never ride bulls, a story about which is so often found in Buryat and Mongolian legends. On the contrary, oddly enough, bulls are mostly ridden by evil characters of fairy tales, hostile to the Yakuts. There is no doubt that in the past of the Yakuts, the horse occupied the same central and exclusive place as the reindeer among the Tungus and Chukchi. The culture of cattle came later. Traces of this sequence are reflected even in the language. There are special names for horses: hell - horse, atyr - stallion, menge - barren, never foaled mare; there is no such special name for bulls and cows. The bull (ox) is called by them "horse-bull", ad-ogus, pig - "stallion-bull", atyr-ogus; kytarak means in general - an old-timer. If necessary, the Yakuts everywhere apply the terms equestrian cattle with reservations to cattle. At present, the Yakuts are clearly aware of all the benefits of the culture of cattle, they also love and respect this cattle, but this love and respect is too fresh, they have not yet had time to be fixed in folk art and close themselves, or at least equal the impression left there by the horse . Meanwhile, the economic center has shifted. Cattle are the main wealth and the basis of the life of the Yakuts, their number is increasing, even field work and the transportation of heavy loads, the Yakuts now prefer to do on bulls. The horse gradually becomes exclusively a riding animal, and koumiss and mare meat are the privilege of the rich. It would be interesting to trace this revolution more precisely and in detail. Unfortunately, there is no numerical data regarding the distant past. The present data at our disposal cover too short a period of time to correctly reflect such a large and gradual upheaval; besides, they are confused by the confusion that epizootics produce in them, they are collected extremely rudely, by interviewing tribal foremen, or simply put up for the reasons of the government clerk, who learns only from rumors and stories of random visitors and clansmen about the harvest of grasses, cases, profits or loss of livestock, general well-being or trouble in different areas.
The girl on the bull
Nevertheless, we cite these data as the only real basis for an idea of the size and distribution of cattle breeding in the Yakutsk region. In this table, despite the conventionality of her testimony, two major, undoubtedly true economic phenomena are still clearly identified. Firstly, the slow but constant general decline in cattle breeding in the Yakutsk region, then the main thing - our observation about the desire to replace horses with cattle is confirmed. Of course, the latter phenomenon should have expressed itself most sharply in areas with little land, densely populated and more cultured. So it is: in the Olekma district, which combines these three conditions, the number of horses has gradually and fairly correctly decreased over the past ten years from nine thousand to seven, while the number of cattle, on the contrary, has increased from eleven to fourteen thousand. In the reports of the Yakut and Vilyui districts, this process is not so clear. It was obscured in the general result by a mixture of localities of the most diverse culture and abundance of land, as well as the export of beef and cattle to the mine from there, reaching 15,000 heads annually. In the Yakut district, the number of horse and cattle decreased in the same measure by almost five thousand; in the Vilyui district, from where cattle are mainly exported to the mines, the loss of cattle, and these ten years more - it reaches 16 thousand, while only four thousand horses have died. Finally, the Verkhoyansk and Kolyma districts, with their absolute predominance of horse cattle, with an abundance of pastures and desertion, serve as another confirmation of the above opinion - they are, as it were, remnants of the economic past. From such a position, once common throughout the region, the Yakuts have gradually and relatively recently moved to a culture of predominantly cattle. This transition caused such profound changes in the life and social structure of the Yakuts that they far exceed those changes that accompanied the transition of European peoples from a natural economy to a capitalist economy. In this chapter, we will note only the larger, mainly economic, consequences of it. With the transition to cattle, the Yakuts, first of all, became more sedentary. At first, this transition was caused, among other things, by the lack of free pastures and pastures. But, having been accomplished, in turn, it secured the population. The fact is that the horse requires pastures much more extensive. She eats twice as much as a cow. It is known that in the same area where a dozen horses can hardly feed, about 25, even 30 cattle can freely graze. In addition, a horse needs more choice and variety of food to achieve higher levels of obesity. This obesity, as we indicated above, in the local climate and in the Yakut care of herds is a factor of paramount importance. It is especially important for horse-drawn cattle grazing all year round on pasture. Fat horses become extremely fastidious and picky in food. They often change pastures and, in search of tasty herbs for the season, quickly cover sometimes huge spaces. When the Yakuts mostly kept horse herds, they were, of course, forced to follow them. Traces of such fast and distant movements remained both in manners and in legends. "We loved to wander... The ancient Yakuts had houses in many places," the Yakuts often told me. "In the old days, the Yakuts did not work, they did not mow hay, but they all wandered from place to place, looking for food for the herds ..." (Bayagant. st., 1886; Namsk, st., 1888; 3. Kangal. st., 1891). In the legends about Tygyn, the surroundings of Yakutsk are indicated as his place of residence, but it is also said that he went far to the south and north, to the west and east. By the way, they point to Tarakhana, 150 versts north of Yakutsk on the eastern bank of the Lena, and to Yuryung Kol (White Lake), 200 versts northwest of Yakutsk, on the western bank of the Lena (Namsky st., 1889). G.). Mobility, close to vagrancy, was in the customs of the ancient Yakuts; this is evidenced by eternal wanderings, restlessness, causeless absences of epic heroes and such stories as about Khaptagai batyr) or about Tangas Boltongo. Finally, only the habit of wandering explains the speed with which the Yakuts, after the Russian conquest, dispersed from the Amga-Lena plateau throughout the vast territory now occupied by them. There are direct eyewitness accounts of this. In the first years of the conquest, the Cossacks often report in unsubscribes that "yasaku is not enough, because the prince (such and such) with his people and the backbones wandered far away, and where it is not known ...", and everywhere the Yakuts are called "nomadic". Gmelin, who visited the Yakutsk region in 1736 and found, of course, more archaic habits than now, calls them "nomads", although he immediately notes that they "do not wander as much as other pagans" It seemed to me that the Yakuts the pastoralists are still much more mobile than their neighbors, at least the Buryats, not to mention the local Russians, who often keep no less than cattle.
Art Shaposhnikov. To the waterhole. Yakut graphics
The Russians prefer to carry hay 50, even 100 versts, than to drive cattle; meanwhile, such hauls are still practiced everywhere by the Yakuts. They drive even cattle hundreds of miles away from upland meadows to river valleys, where hay is always cheaper and more plentiful, in the hay crop failure. Herds of horses, without any hesitation, they drive from one area to another without any hesitation, especially where theft does not threaten them. And so the Yakuts from Duolgalakh (Verkhoyansk St.) annually in the fall drive their herds 200 miles away to the upper reaches of the Bytantai River, for the sake of the best grasses, and in the Kolyma ulus I often happened to meet Yakuts 100-150 miles away from the estate, looking for their herds. These are all remnants of antiquity. Now the movements of the Yakuts are greatly constrained by the stocks of collected hay, the need for extensive sheds for cattle, in fences, and in a watering hole. Now their wanderings are reduced to two, at most three, moves a year. They spend the winter in estates, in the so-called "winter roads", kysyngy dzhye, summer - in summer camps, saylyk or saingy dzhye. Winter roads are usually arranged among the meadows not far from the germs of hay; summer camps - in mountain pads, over rivers or in "alas", at a distance of several versts, no more, however, 10 or 15 from winter roads. The whole population roams at the same time. Already in mid-April, residents begin to visit their summer houses, shovel snow from roofs and yards, clean and straighten houses and dairy cellars, bring hay needed for pregnant cows and heavier household items using the last sledge. With the disappearance of snow, approximately at the end of April, and in the north at the end of May, a busy movement begins along the country roads leading from the river valleys into the depths of the taiga. There are herds of cattle, followed by people on bulls, on sledges, and where the terrain allows - on creaking carts; they carry: chests, tables, chairs, clothes, empty barrels for milk ospreys, utensils, finally, small children in cradles and suckling calves tied in baskets lined with hay, no worse than any baby. To the side and in front of the caravan, sharp-faced dogs run, people are cheerful, happy, calling to each other, laughing, singing; cattle roar impatiently and constantly scatter around in search of food; water in numerous puddles splashes under the feet of those walking, and in front of them and behind them the same voices of neighbors who also set off on the road are heard; above, below the silvery clouds, flocks of migratory birds rush with a cry and circle, looking for prey, motley kites. The Yakuts choose sunny, warm days for migrations, and, despite the unpleasant yellowness of the newly exposed fields, ice on lakes and snow in forest ravines, the picture turns out to be cheerful. There is something cheerful, carefree, full of hope and joy in it. Herds of horses are usually driven last. The migration period sometimes lasts ten days; the less affluent or those with inconvenient "flyers" are slow to leave the meadows where grazing is always better. The approaching flood of rivers and the need to burn old last year's grasses on hayfields make them leave. The Yakuts live in "letniks" until Semyonov's day, i.e. until the end of haymaking; then, in the same way, all at once, cheerfully and animatedly, they move to the "winter roads". In the Kolyma and Verkhoyansk districts, I observed more frequent migrations, up to four per year, but they are caused not so much by the needs of cattle breeding as by the need for fisheries, which play a prominent, almost dominant role in the national economy there. On the contrary, in the south, where other land orders, where a significant predominance of cattle, and finally, nascent agriculture require greater settled life, nomadism sometimes comes down to moving to another house built in the same courtyard for the summer. This transition has exclusively hygienic significance - drying, airing and extermination of insects in winter housing. For the rich, having several houses is considered a kind of chic, in which, despite the sometimes European decoration of the rooms, a nomadic soul shines through.
Fishing among the Yakuts
Ice fishing. Yakutia
Along with agriculture, as I noted above, fishing should be put among the Yakuts. The centers of gravity of both are diametrically opposed: if the first is rapidly developing in the south, undermining the foundations of ancient life there irrevocably, then the second does the same on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, in the lower reaches of the large Yakut rivers, in the humid, lake-rich northern part of the region, behind the mountainous a wall that divides the Yakutsk region into two halves with different climates. There, two-thirds of the population is exclusively engaged in fishing and hunting. However, the number of such Yakuts, in comparison with the whole people, is very small. For the rest of the population, fishing is only a huge help. Every independent Yakut farm has home-made gear and at least one family member is engaged in fishing at a certain time of the year. The rich have nets, even seines; the poor have mostly "tops". It is quite difficult to take into account the amount of fish caught by the Yakuts in the pastoral districts. The main mass of it is "mundushka", mundu, a small lake fish, a genus of our undersized lines. Catching it took root among the Yakuts, I think, because, firstly, this fish is found in abundance in all the lakes of the southern districts and in many lakes of the Verkhoyansk ulus, precisely where there is cattle breeding, and, secondly, that for catching it does not require any special devices, no absences, and generally takes very little time. They catch it with small cylindrical tops 2/2 arshins long and no more than 1/2 or 3/4 arshins wide in diameter. Tops in certain places are lowered to the bottom and hidden in algae, in which they make hastily clean moves to the opening of the tops with an oar. The tops are set very shallow or not deeper than 4-5 feet: below the water is cold and the mouthpiece does not go there in the summer. They watch them every day or every other day, looking at the fishery. The obtained mouth is immediately used: it is fried, strung on a stick, or it is boiled entirely unpeeled, often alive. I think that each Yakut family consumes on average from 10 to 15 pounds of this small fish per year. This will amount to approximately 400,000 pounds. annually throughout the country. The Yakuts consume almost the same amount of carp and small river fish per year. Big fish are mainly for sale. Fresh and salty, it is taken to the cities, to rich skopsky villages, and finally, hundreds of miles away to the mines.
Catch. Yakutia
In the Verkhoyansk and Kolyma districts, the main amount of fish was caught in the northern uluses and was not sold. At least until now, the fish from there did not appear on the market: it was completely consumed on the spot. The main supply of fish to the city of Yakutsk and to the mines comes from the lower reaches of the Lena: from the Zhigansky ulus and from the Vilyuysky district - in summer by water along the Lena, in winter - by sleigh. All fish to the mines of the Olekminsky - Vitim system is supplied from the above two points. Exports are gradually increasing. Of the million pounds annually mined by the Yakuts, a very small part goes on sale. Judging by Maak's research, it does not exceed 4-5% for the Vilyuisky district. In the southern uluses, this percentage is even lower; the worst varieties are predominantly harvested there, not suitable for either salting or smoking. An exception is the sterlet, but it is generally not caught much. Yakuts catch fish in a variety of ways. Mundushka is caught, as described above, "muzzles". They also catch small crucians and lower grades of river fish: pikes, dace, perches, burbots, small whitefishes, tuguns, ruffs. To do this, in narrow, convenient places, on small rivers, on secondary channels - sala - large rivers, on the "sources" flowing from the lake to the lake, sien, arrange a "gorodba" - in Yakut bys, in Siberian - "through" .
Fisherman. Yakutia
In the windows of the gorodba, woven from larch or willow branches, large muzzles are usually placed with a hole against the current. Sometimes the "through" fence is made in the form of a lattice of thin, even trunks of young larch, so that only small fish pass through it. Deaf "curias" are locked in the same gorodba after the water subsides, in order to catch the fish that wandered there. Where there are no places on the river convenient for "crossing", they arrange "trips" at a certain time of the year, in Yakut syuryuk, which means "quick". This is a small, sazhens 2 - 3 long, sometimes deaf, more often a lattice dam, at the end of which it is strengthened, either against the current, or back, depending on the time of year, a strong top. The principle of this trap is as follows: small fish prefer to walk along the coast, where the current is weaker; encountering an obstacle and going around it, frightened by the noise of the rapids formed at the end of the dam, it hurries to slip the first hole that comes across into the hole in the top. In autumn, burbots are caught in this way, and in spring, perches, dace, tuguns and other river fry. In the north, in the fishing districts, with the help of "through" and "zaezdok", they also catch large fish of the highest dignity. There, instead of tops, hemp chains or canvas bags are often alarming. Large fish, large crucians, chirs, moksuns, nelmas, omuls, whitefishes, sterlets, taimen are caught by Yakuts everywhere mainly with seines and nets. On the Lena, in the vicinity of Yakutsk and in the Olekminsky district, for catching sterlets, the Yakuts use "strings", a beret. The rope is a long rope, 30-50 fathoms thick, a finger thick. It is anchored at one end and set off downstream in the depths of the water. There, with the help of weights and floats, it is supported at a distance known from the bottom. A mass of iron hooks is tied to it on short (1 arshin) strings every 1/2 arshin. For profit, earthworms are used for sterlet, for taimen, nelma, burbot - live fish, pieces of meat, goose and duck feet. They put lines in deep places, where the current is quiet and even.
Suburb of Yakutsk
All this is exactly the same as in Russia. There is only one peculiar way of fishing here, apparently possible only in the Yakutsk region. This is kuur fishing. For it, it is necessary that the fish, pressed by the growing ice, gather in large numbers to spend the winter in their favorite whirlpools. The dimensions of the pool should not be particularly large, the depth should not exceed two sazhens, otherwise the work will be beyond the power of one or two people and will require many people and many "kuurs". A kuyur is a small bag-like mesh-sak attached to a hoop, kuaya. Its opening is no more than 3/4 ars. in Diameter, length not more than 1/2 arshin. The fishing itself begins with the fact that the kuyur is tied to a pole, a mangy, so long that with its help it is possible to reach the bottom of the lake. This pole is pushed into a hole made in the middle of the board, laakhyra. The board is placed across the hole, with its sharp end resting against the edge of ice or snow, and the fisherman steps on the other end with his right foot. Having lowered the couur to the bottom, it is forced to describe small spiral circles with the help of a pole. The fish slumbering at the bottom, blinded by agitated silt, falls into the center of the whirlpool, and when it gathers there, according to the fisherman's calculation, it is enough, then with a deft peculiar movement of the kuyur, it is captured in the net and pulled out. It is clear that only small fish are caught in this way. After cold winters, when the lakes are severely frozen, fish accumulate in the whirlpools in such numbers that they are thrown up along with the water, which at first spouts like a fountain. I witnessed how three kuyurshchik caught more than 40 poods in two “kuyurs” during the day. fish. Having caught all the fish in one hole, they punch a hole a few fathoms further and try again, sometimes with no less success. It is said that the more kuurs muddy the water at once, the better, because the fish have nowhere to go. They are caught by kuyurs almost exclusively on lakes or in river bays, turned by frost into completely separate, densely ice-covered reservoirs. The Yakuts always prefer individual methods of fishing: nets, tops, hooks. With nets "peace" they exclusively catch crucian carp, on ice in autumn and spring. On rivers and in summer, nets are preferred. Yakut hairnets and nets differ from Russian ones in work. The forms are the same. The hair net is sewn together from hair ribbons; the nets are knitted from thin, small, hair-length twines, consisting of 2-5 horse, slightly twisted hairs. They are very similar to Soyote hairnets. When knitting, the strings are gradually tied to the row in such a way that the knots connecting them coincide with the knots of the glasses. Cut off excess ends. You have to knit with your fingers, since the insignificant length of the threads makes it impossible to use a knitting fishing needle. Hair nets are light, strong, dry quickly, fade little and are hardly noticeable in water, but they are more expensive than hemp nets.
Ice fishing. Yakutia
At present, the Yakuts in many areas also use hemp nets. They dye hemp nets for pike brown with a decoction of larch bark. Floats for the nets are made by the Yakuts from birch bark rolled into a tube; sinkers - from flat pebbles tied inside a mug from a flexible tree root. In the swampy alluvial plains of the north, where it often happens that you can’t find a pebble for tens of miles around, horse teeth, pottery cuttings, pieces of mammoth tusks are used for weights. Ropes, cords, nags for fishing gear are made from the worst varieties of horse hair, sometimes with the addition of cow hair, also from tow, even from talnichny bast. Looking closely at the methods of catching, forms, methods of preparation and the names of fishing gear of the Yakuts, I came to the conclusion that Yakut fishing developed under strong foreign influence, mainly under the influence of Russians and Tungus. Even their superstitions are identical with the Russians. So: a Yakut fisherman will never give a fisherman who is not in an artel with him a profit from his own box. He will never allow a stranger to touch them and does not even like it when his gear is examined. It spoils happiness (Nam. St., 1887). Putting a worm on a hook, he will definitely spit on it in order to spit "someone's eyes", just like our boys (Verkhoyan., 1881, Nam. st., 1887). In the north, they give Russian names to many fish. The Boganid Yakuts of all fish, except for grayling, jarga - dzhier-ga, and pellet, and yuka, are called in Russian. The Kolyma and Verkhoyansk Yakuts of the same pellet call branatki from the local Russian - "peldyatka, branatka." I also heard how the Kolyma Yakuts called this fish by the undoubtedly Russian name of the seal (Kolyma ulus, Andylakh, 1883). Omul, moksun Yakuts everywhere call in Russian omul, muksun. Herring is sometimes called kundyubey (Verkhoyansk, Ust-Yansk and Kolyma ulus), and sometimes (Anabara, Boganida) herring, just like the Asin Samoyeds. Dried or dried fish, for which the best fatty varieties are usually taken, is called in Yakut yukala - the name, judging by the pronunciation, is foreign, borrowed, one must assume, from the Samoyeds, in which yu means fat, and kohl means fish. It was brought to the Yakutsk region, in all likelihood, by the Russians, just as they brought it to Kamchatka, the Aleutian Islands, and Anadyr. We see the same thing in the names of parts of seines, nets, nets. They rarely bear special Yakut technical names that have lost their meaning. Most of these are descriptive names or rough translations of Russian and Tungusic names. Bagaji - seine, Mongolian: bagatsu - a device, it is often called munga, which means a bag, and the hole through which it is taken out from under the ice, the Yakuts dubbed the biblical Jordan. Merezha is called Merezha, frequent nets and nets are a part; an anchor-shaped, two-stinged hook is given the Tungus name irivun, etc. I think that 4/5 of the Yakut fishing terminology can be suspected of foreign origin. It is also characteristic that they never sacrifice fish. I did not even see them throwing it into the fire as a gift to this omnivorous predatory Yakut god. Finally, the Yakuts do not have a single name for fishing boats and vessels. They call the raft in Russian puluot or bulot; in general, a boat - in Tunguska ogoncho. Karbas sewn from boards - in Russian karbas. The birch bark is frankly recognized as a Tunguska boat, Tongus or Omuk ogongcho. A round-bottomed Russian shaving, a gas chamber, is called by a strus, and a flat-bottomed branch is called by a wide variety of names, depending on the area; in the vicinity of Olekminsk, in the Yakutsk district, on Aldan, her name is similar to the Buryats - bat, or in Russian Betky; on Boganid - that one, on Vilyui, on Kolyma, on Yana - where is the one, where are you. In the same way, the ti (i) with a lingering "i" at the end is called by the Yenisei Ostyaks a boat of medium size, which is the Yakut you in relation, on the one hand, to the birch bark, on the other, to the karbas. In addition to the above indirect indications, the Yakuts have preserved direct legends indicating their relatively recent familiarity with boats, nets, and fishing in general. "In the old days, the Yakuts considered it a great shame to fish - only children and people were doing this" (Verkhoyansk, st., 1887). “Earlier, when we had a lot of cattle, we considered it a great sin to keep nets. The richest kept them no more than five, and then only for the fun of the guys. Now the last poor man has at least ten of them, and the rich have fifty of them, even for a hundred - that's how they live, "the Yakuts of the Kolyma district complained (1883). "The first boat was shown to us by the Russians, who lived near Tygyn as workers, they secretly lined up the ship and ran away..." (Namsky ulus, 1890). “When the next day,” says another version of this legend, “the Yakuts saw these two people (unfamiliar aliens) sitting on the water and brandishing shovels, they were extremely surprised and thought it was witchcraft, since they still didn’t know boats ..." (Namek. st., 1887). In Khudyakov's legend about Tygyn and the coming of the Russians, the narrator also noted the unfamiliarity of the then Yakuts with boats: "Meanwhile, Tygyn got up in the morning: there are no Russians. And all the Yakuts were sleeping; no one saw where they went. Tygyn-toyon got angry. Suddenly they see a boat floating, and both Russians are in it. And the Yakuts have not yet seen the boats." Finally, one of the legends about the commander Bert Khara says that "he could not help Tygyn, since the Russians attacked the latter in the summer, on the left bank of the Lena, and Bert-Khara was in while the army was on the right". While the Russians and the Yakuts were fighting, he "ran only along the coast with a forest in his hands, looking for a ford" (Nam. St., 1891). All this makes us assume that fishing has developed and improved among the Yakuts already in their present homeland and in relatively recent times.
Hunting
The most insignificant role in the Yakut national economy is currently played by hunting. True, there are areas in the north where the hunting of wild deer, geese and ducks at a certain time of the year is the only source of food, but in general, in the whole region, the Yakuts count on hunting revenue little. It is quite difficult to take into account how much fur, harvested annually in the Yakutsk region, is accounted for by the Yakuts, since a good half of the skins delivered even by the northern Yakuts to local merchants were not obtained by them, but were exchanged with the Tungus, Chukchi, Yukagirs for meat, butter, fish, goods. In the southern agricultural, more cultured uluses, hunting has now almost ceased, and hunting for water and forest birds has descended to a very modest size. So, for example, in the nasleg of the Batarinsky Megensky ulus, according to information from the household census I have for 1892, only 52 families were engaged in hunting for 338 families at their leisure, and it was obtained: 711 turpans, 542 pieces of ducks of a smaller breed, 5 geese , 361 hares and 2 squirrels. In the Taragai nasleg of the same ulus, according to the same census, 34 families were engaged in hunting in the ZOO of families, and only 239 hares and 3 ermine were killed by them. These are far from exceptional settlements, there are such as Tulunginsky (of the same ulus), Kildyamsky (West. Kangalask.), Kusagannelsky (Namsky ulus), Khorinsky (West. Kangalask.) and other densely populated near-Lena areas where they do not hunt at all : no one to hunt. The man has survived the beasts, the bird has nowhere to sit; everywhere people, smoke of fires and dwellings. The beast still remained in the northern uluses and in the mountainous central and outlying belts. There, the Yakuts living on May, Aldan, Vilyui, Nyue, Muya, Peleduy, etc. go hunting. Most of all, the Yakuts are hunted by birds of all kinds. The fishing methods used by them do not differ in any way from the general Siberian ones, the monotony of which was largely promoted by Russian industrial people of the 17th century. Having borrowed witty tricks from some peoples of Siberia, they passed them on to others in exchange for new ones. On many traps of the Yakuts lies the stamp of such an exchange.
Winter in the taiga. Yakutia
Only one way of fishing could be brought by them independently from the steppe homeland. This is the pursuit of an animal on horseback. I observed this hunting only in the north, where huge lakes, interspersed with sparse forests, form a faint resemblance to the steppe. They race in the fall, when the waters freeze and snow falls so deep that it does not allow the horse to slip, and at the same time so shallow that it does not interfere with the rider. Chasing not fast, but relentlessly, on a fresh trail. Some let dogs out of the pack. The beast is either forced to hide in a hole, from where they dig it out, overtake it in the field and kill it with a stick. They say that in the old days they hunted sable. Favorite Yakut traps: all kinds of hair loops, tirgen, then crossbows, aya, and pasti, sokhso. For crossbows, they once made "notches", tonga. Flax geese and ducks are herded into a "pen", a genus of Diptera, converging at an acute angle of the fence. At the top of the corner there is a hole leading into a small slatted barn. Hunters swimming in a row on the branches, surrounding the bird, drive it from the lake to land, and people standing on the shore direct it to the corral. Flax swans are shot, stabbed, beaten with sticks or their necks are deftly twisted, gathering them in a heap in the middle of the lake. Deer and elk are driven on skis in the spring: in the fall they lie in wait at the feeders and crossings, in the winter they put crossbows on them. Bears are beaten mainly in the den or hunted with traps like the "barn mouth", called the Russian corrupted word "ustrub". Small animals, ermines, evrazhek, squirrels, all kinds of mice are caught with cherkans. It is possible that once hunting was much more developed among the Yakuts and fell into decline with the decline of the beast. She still enjoys great respect among them, and the title of bulchchut, hunter, compares favorably with balykchit, fisherman. Let me remind you that in the legend about Onohoe in Evil, the latter propitiated the angry father-in-law, by the way, with rich hunting prey, which he brought and presented to the old man. There are also many legends that in the old days, the daring Yakut industrialists climbed far from their camps into the wilderness, where they lived exclusively by hunting. So, according to legend, lived Khaptagay Batyr and his son Khokhoyo-Batyr, Tangas Boltongo, Sappy-Khosun and others. Even Middendorf found the Yakuts, single industrialists, far beyond the borders of the Yakutsk region, on the other side of the then Chinese border, in the Amur basin. Now such hunting wanderings have been significantly reduced, in some places they have almost disappeared. I think, however, that even then, long before the arrival of the Russians, as now, most of the precious furs and animal skins that the Yakuts have in circulation were obtained not by them, not by hunting, but by trade. It remains to mention that insignificant share of deer and dogs that are in the hands of the Yakuts and form part of their wealth. There are no Yakut reindeer herders, like the Chukchi or Samoyeds.
Khud.Munkhalov Sun. Yakut graphics
They all keep small herds of deer mainly for riding, along with other animals - dogs and horses. The Dolgans, who have no other domestic animals except deer, also keep them, mainly like the Tungus, as beasts of burden. The Yakuts of the Kolyma District breed them almost exclusively for the sake of postal chase. Only in Zhigansky ulus, and in Ustyansky, and in the northern part of Elgetsky there are Yakuts who have herds so large that they can be considered reindeer herders. But there are few of them. I only know one of them; this is a certain Martyn, a rich man of the Eginsky nasleg of the Verkhoyansk ulus, who, they say, had up to 2,000 heads. In others, the number of deer rarely exceeds one or two dozen. Yakuts do not milk deer; they beat for meat also only in rare cases, they don’t have deer meat for sale. All Yakuts living near the border of the forest have sled dogs. Among the poorer, they constitute the only domestic animal there. As we move south into the depths of the taiga, deer, horses, and cattle are added to the dogs, in an ever-increasing proportion. In the upper reaches of the Indigirka, dogs are no longer used, while the lower reaches, meanwhile, are exclusively used. The same is true on the Yana, where there are no sled dogs south of the 70° parallel. In the lower reaches of the Lena in the Zhigansky ulus, sled dogs are again found, although, apparently, deer are preferred there. On Olenek, Anabar, Khatakga we see the same thing: in the lower reaches dogs predominate, in the upper reaches deer. This is understandable if we take into account the way of life of the population. There is moss here and there, but the deer is inconvenient for the fisherman. If the Yakuts are extremely reluctant to breed deer, which they frankly call "foreign cattle" (omuksyuosyu), then they breed dogs that are considered "nasty" only when necessary. A dog and a cat do not have a soul, a kut, which, on a par with a person, domestic cattle and horse cattle have. "Black dog", "Dog muzzle", "Four-eyed black blood, black dog" - these are the selected Yakut curses. As pastoralists, the Yakuts in their hearts treat both fishing and the faithful fisherman's companion - a dog with the same disdain.
Introduction
Chapter 1. Traditional culture of the peoples of Yakutia.
1.1. culture of the peoples of Yakutia in the XVII-XVIII centuries. and the spread of Christianity………………………………………………………………2
1.2. Yakuts………………………………………………………………………4
Chapter 2 Beliefs, culture, life .
2.1. Beliefs………………………………………………………………… 12
2.2. Holidays……………………………………………………………………17
2.3. Ornaments………………………………………………………………...18
2.4. Conclusion………………………………………………………………..19
2.5. Used literature……………………………………………...20
Traditional culture of the peoples of Yakutia in XVII - XVIII centuries
In the traditional culture of the peoples of Yakutia until the end of the XVIII century. there were no significant changes. Taking this into account, this section gives a general description of the culture of the indigenous peoples of the region in the 17th - 18th centuries.
The peoples of the entire Lena region are beginning to change their way of life and activities, there is a change in the language and traditional culture. The main event in this change was the collection of yasak. Most of the indigenous population are moving away from their main occupations and moving on to hunting for furs. The Yukagirs, Evens and Evenks are switching to fur trade, abandoning reindeer breeding. By the middle of the 17th century, the Yakuts began to pay Yasak, by the 80s. In the same century, the Evens, Evenks and Yukagirs began to pay yasak, the Chukchi began to pay taxes by the middle of the 18th century.
There is a change in everyday life, Russian-type houses (izba) appear, a livestock building becomes a separate building, buildings of economic importance appear (barns, pantries, a bathhouse), Yakut clothes change, which are made from Russian or foreign cloth.
The spread of Christianity.
Before the adoption of Christianity, the Yakuts were pagans, they believed in spirits and the existence of different worlds.
With the advent of the Russians, the Yakuts began to gradually convert to Christianity. The first to begin to convert to the Orthodox faith were women who married Russians. Men who adopted a new religion, they received a gift of a rich caftan and were freed from yasak for several years.
In Yakutia, with the adoption of Christianity, the customs and mores of the Yakuts change, such concepts as blood feud disappear, family relations weaken. Yakuts receive names and surnames, literacy is spreading. Churches and monasteries become centers of education and printing.
Only in the XIX century. church books in the Yakut language and the first Yakut priests appear. The persecution of shamans and the persecution of supporters of shamanism begins. Shamans who did not accept Christianity were exiled away.
Yakuts.
The main occupation of the Yakuts was the breeding of horses and cattle, in the northern regions they were engaged in reindeer breeding. Cattle breeders made seasonal migrations, and for the winter they stored hay for livestock. Fishing and hunting were of great importance. In general, a very peculiar specific economy was created - settled cattle breeding. Horse breeding occupied a large place in it. The developed cult of the horse, the Turkic terminology of horse breeding speaks for the fact that the horses were brought by the southern ancestors of the Sakha. In addition, studies conducted by I.P. Guryev, showed a high genetic similarity of Yakut horses with steppe horses - with the Mongolian and Akhal-Teke breeds, with the Kazakh horse of the Jabe type, partly with the Kyrgyz and, which is especially interesting, with Japanese horses from the island of Cherchzhu.
During the development of the Middle Lena basin by the South Siberian ancestors of the Yakuts, horses were of particular economic importance, which have the ability to “tebenev”, rake the snow with their hooves, break the ice crust with them, and feed themselves. Cattle are not suitable for long-distance migrations and usually appear during the period when a semi-sedentary (shepherd's) economy is established. As you know, the Yakuts did not roam, but moved from the winter road to the summer one. This was also consistent with the Yakut dwelling, tururbakh diie, a wooden stationary yurt.
According to written sources of the XVII-XVIII centuries. It is known that the Yakuts lived in yurts “sewn with earth” in winter, and in birch bark yurts in summer.
An interesting description was compiled by the Japanese, who visited Yakutia at the end of the 18th century: "A large hole was made in the middle of the ceiling, on which a thick ice board was placed, thanks to which it is very light inside the Yakut house."
Yakut settlements usually consisted of several dwellings located at a considerable distance from one another. Wooden yurts existed almost unchanged until the middle of the 20th century. “For me, the inside of the Yakut yurt,” V.L. Seroshevsky wrote in his book “Yakuts,” “especially at night, illuminated by a red flame of fire, made a slightly fantastic impression ... Its sides, made of round standing logs, seem striped from shaded grooves, and all of it with a ceiling ... with pillars in the corners, with a mass of forest gently falling from the roof to the ground, it seems to be some kind of oriental tent. Only the light oriental fabric, due to circumstances, has been replaced here by a golden deciduous tree ... ".
The doors of the Yakut yurts were located on the eastern side, towards the rising sun. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. fireplaces (camuluek ohoh) were not beaten with clay, but smeared with it, and greased all the time. Khotons were separated only by a low pole partition. Dwellings were built from small trees, because it was considered a sin to cut down a thick tree. The yurt had an odd number of windows. Orons-beds, running along the southern and western walls of the dwelling, were wide and lay down to sleep across. They had different heights. The lowest oron was placed on the right side, next to the entrance (уηа oron), and the higher one was the master's, "so that the happiness of the host would not be lower than the happiness of the guest." The orons on the western side were separated from each other by solid partitions, and in front they climbed upright upright, leaving only an opening for a small door, and were locked from the inside at night. The partitions between the orons of the southern side were not continuous. During the day they sat on them and called oron olokh "sitting". In this regard, the first eastern nara on the southern side of the yurt was called in the old days keηul oloh "free seat", the second - ortho oloh, "middle seat", the third nara near the same southern wall - tuspetiyer oloh or uluutuyar oloh, "powerful seat"; the first oron on the western side of the yurt was called kegul oloh, "sacred seat", the second oron - darkhan oloh, "honorary seat", the third one on the north side near the western wall - kencheeri oloh "children's seat". And the bunks on the northern side of the yurt were called kuerel olokh, couches for servants or "pupils".
For winter housing, a lower, inconspicuous place was chosen, somewhere at the bottom of the alas (elani) or near the edge of the forest, where it was better protected from cold winds. Northern and western winds were considered as such, therefore they set up a yurt in the northern or western part of the clearing.
In general, it should be noted that when choosing a place for a dwelling, they tried to find a secluded happy corner. They did not settle among the old mighty trees, for the latter had already taken happiness, the strength of the earth. As in Chinese geomancy, the choice of a place to live was given exceptional importance. Therefore, cattle breeders in these cases often turned to the help of a shaman. They also turned to divination, for example, divination with a koumiss spoon.
In the XVII-XVIII centuries. large patriarchal families (kergen as a Roman "surname") were housed in several houses: urun die, "white house" was occupied by the owners, in the next - married sons lived and in hara die "black, thin house" housed servants and slaves.
In the summer, such a large rich family lived in a stationary (not collapsible) cone-shaped birch bark uras. It was very expensive and had a significant size. Back in the 18th century most of the summer dwellings of wealthy families consisted of such birch bark yurts. They were called "Us kurduulaah mogul urasa" (with three belts a large Mongolian urasa).
Uraces with smaller diameters were also common. So, a medium-sized urasa was called dalla urasa, low and wide in shape; khanas urasa, high urasa, but small in diameter. Among them, the largest was 10 m high and 8 m in diameter.
In the 17th century The Yakuts were a post-tribal people, i.e. a nationality determined in the conditions of an early class society on the basis of existing remnants of a tribal organization and without a formed state. In socio-economic terms, it developed on the basis of patriarchal-feudal relations. The Yakut society consisted, on the one hand, of a small nobility and economically independent ordinary community members, and on the other hand, of patriarchal slaves and bonded dependent (enslaved) people.
In the XVII - XVIII centuries. there were two forms of family - a small monogamous, consisting of parents and mostly minor children, and a large patriarchal family, an association of consanguineous families, headed by the patriarch-father. At the same time, the first variety of the family prevailed. S.A. Tokarev found the presence of a large family exclusively in the Toyon farms. It was made up, in addition to the toyon himself, of his brothers, sons, nephews, sucklings, serfs (slaves) with their wives and children. Such a family was called aga-kergen, moreover, the word aga in literal translation is "senior in age". In this regard, aga-uusa, a patriarchal clan, could originally denote a large patriarchal family.
Patriarchal relations predetermined marriage with the payment of kalym (sulu) as the main condition for marriage. But marriage with the exchange of brides was rarely practiced. There was a custom of levirate, according to which, after the death of an older brother, his wife and children passed into the family of his younger brother.
In the period under study, the Sakha Dyono had a neighborly form of community, which usually arises in the era of the decomposition of the primitive system. It was a union of families on the principle of territorial-neighborly ties, partly with joint ownership of the means of production (pastures, hayfields, and commercial lands). S.V. Bakhrushin and S.A. Tokarev noted that hay mowing among the Yakuts in the 17th century. leased, inherited, sold. It was an object of private property and part of the fishing grounds. Several rural communities made up the so-called. "volost", which had a relatively constant number of households. In 1640, judging by Russian documents, 35 Yakut volosts were established. S.A. Tokarev defined these volosts as tribal groups, and A. A. Borisov proposed to consider the early Yakut ulus as a territorial association consisting of clans or as an ethno-geographical province. The largest of them were Bologurskaya, Meginskaya, Namskaya, Borogonskaya, Betyunskaya, which numbered from 500 to 900 adult men. The total population in each of them ranged from 2 to 5 thousand people. But among them there were also those where the total population did not exceed 100 people.
The underdevelopment, incompleteness of the Yakut community was dictated by the specifics of the farm type of farms settled over a vast territory. The absence of communal governing bodies was compensated by the presence of late-natal institutions. These were the patriarchal clan -aga-uusa "paternal clan". Within its framework, the unification of families took place along the line of the father-patriarch, the founder of the clan. Within the 17th century there was a small form of aga-uus, consisting of fraternal families up to the 9th generation. In subsequent times, a large segmented form of the patriarchal clan prevailed.
Aga-uusa consisted not only of individual monogamous (small) families, but also of families based on polygamy (polygamy). A wealthy cattle breeder maintained his large farm on two or four separate alas-elans. Thus, the farm was scattered over several alas, where cattle were kept by individual wives with servants. And because of this, the descendants from one father, but from different wives (sub-farms), further branched out, constituting a category of kindred families called iie-uusa "mother's clan". Prior to the segmentation of a single paternal household, this is a polygamous family with a filiation (daughter) structure. Subsequently, the sons acquired their own families and formed separate lines of maternal filiation from one father-ancestor. Therefore, many aha-uusa in the XVIII centuries. consisted of combining individual iie-uusa. Thus, iie-uusa was not a relic of matriarchy, but was a product of a developed patriarchal society with elements of feudalism.
Structurally, the Yakut rural community consisted of deprived poor and wealthy Bai, Toyon aristocratic families.
Prosperous stratum of the Yakut society in Russian documents of the 17th century. was designated by the term "best people". The bulk of the direct producers constituted the category of “ulus muzhiks.” The most exploited stratum of community members were people living “near”, “near” Toyon and Bai farms.
The slaves were mainly supplied by the Yakut environment itself. But a small part of them were Tungus, Lamuts. The ranks of slaves were replenished by military seizure, the enslavement of dependent community members, self-enslavement due to poverty, and the return of slaves in the form of golovshchina to a place of blood feud. They were part of the direct producers on the farms of wealthy families and toyons. For example, according to V.N. Ivanov, who specially dealt with this problem, in 1697, the Nam prince Bukei Niken mentions 28 serfs for whom he paid yasak. Toion of the Boturus volost Molton Ocheev left behind 21 serfs, which were divided among his heirs.
In the 17th century the process of class formation accelerated due to the introduction of the yasak regime, but did not end by the end of the time under study. One of the reasons for the certain stagnation of the social organization of the Yakut society was its economic basis - unproductive subsistence agriculture, which could not ensure rapid population growth. And the development of socio-economic relations largely depended on the level of population density.
In the 17th century each ulus (“parish”) had its recognized leaders. These were among the Borogons - Lθgθy Toyon (in Russian documents - Logui Amykaev), among the Malzhegarians - Sokhkhor Duurai (Durei Ichikaev), among the Boturusians - Kurekai, among the Megins - Borukhai (Toyon Burukhai), etc.
In general, in the XVII century. (especially in the first half) the Yakut population consisted of an association of neighboring communities. In their social essence, they apparently represented a transitional form of a rural community from primitive to class, but with an amorphous administrative structure. With all this, in social relations there were elements, on the one hand, of the era of military democracy (kyrgys uiete - the age of wars or Tygyn uiete - the era of Tygyn), on the other - feudalism. The administrative term "ulus", apparently, was introduced into the Yakut reality by the Russian authorities. It is first found in the yasak book of I. Galkin dated 1631/32, then after the 1630s. the term fell out of use, replaced by the word "volost". It resurfaced in the 1720s. Thus, in the XVII century. large uluses apparently consisted of conditionally united rural communities, which included patriarchal clans (patronymy - clans).
The question of the Yakut system of kinship and properties was not clearly and independently subjected to a detailed study in comparison with the terminology of kinship. In general, it is generally accepted that kinship terminology belongs to the most archaic layers of the vocabulary of any language. Therefore, among many peoples, there is a discrepancy between the system of kinship relations that has been preserved since ancient times, the terminology of kinship and the existing form of the family. This phenomenon is also characteristic of the Turkic peoples, especially the Yakuts. This can be seen from the following terms of the Yakut kinship by blood and marriage.
Beliefs .
In accordance with the ideas of the Sakha of that time, the Universe consists of three worlds: Upper, Middle, Lower. The upper world is divided into several (up to nine) tiers. The sky is round, convex, its edges along the circumference touch and rub with the edges of the earth, which are bent upwards, like Tunguska skis; when rubbed, they make noise and rattle.
The upper world is inhabited by good spirits - aiyy, who protect people on earth. Their patriarchal way of life reflects the earthly way of life. Aiyy live in heaven on different tiers. The top one is occupied by Yuryung Aiyy Toyon (White Creator), the creator of the universe. This supreme deity, apparently, was the personification of the sun. Other spirits live on the next tiers of the sky: Dyylga khaan - the identity of fate, who was sometimes called Chyngys khaan - the name of the half-forgotten deity of time, fate, winter cold; Shunke khan Shuge is the deity of thunder. According to the Yakuts, he cleanses the sky from evil spirits. Aiyyhyt, the goddess of childbirth and the patroness of women in childbirth, Ieyehsit, the patroness of people and animals, and other deities live here.
Cattle breeding, the main type of economic activity of the Sakha, also influenced the images of the good Aiyy, who patronize horse breeding and cattle breeding. Givers and patrons of horses Kieng Kieli-Baaly toyon and Diehegei live in the fourth heaven. Diehegey appears in the form of a loudly neighing light stallion. The giver and patroness of cattle, Ynakhsyt-Khotun, lives under the eastern sky on earth.
Inter-tribal wars are reflected in the images of the militant demigods-half-demons Uluu Toion and the gods of war, murder and bloodshed - Ilbis kyyha and Ohol uola. Uluu Toyon is depicted in the epic as the supreme judge and creator of fire, the souls of people and shamans.
The middle world of Yakut mythology is a land that appears to be flat and round, but crossed by high mountains and indented by deep rivers. The poetic embodiment of the unfading vegetation on earth is the huge sacred tree Aal Luuk Mas. In one olonkho, such a tree is located on the land of each hero-progenitor. The middle world is inhabited by people: Sakha, Tungus and other peoples.
Below the Middle World is the Lower World. This is a dark country with a flawed sun and moon, a gloomy sky, a swampy surface, thorny trees and grass. The lower world is inhabited by one-eyed and one-armed evil creatures abaasy. When abaasy sneak into the Middle World, they bring a lot of harm to people, the fight against them is the main plot of Olonkho.
Many mythological animals enjoyed great reverence; in some Olonkho one can hear about a fantastic two- or three-headed bird eksökyus with iron feathers and fiery breath; heroes often turn into such birds and overcome great distances in this form. Of the real animals, the eagle and the bear were especially revered. Once upon a time, people worshiped a god named Kees
Tangara (Sable god), which, unfortunately, is now forgotten. One researcher notes the totemistic ideas of the Sakha at the beginning of the 18th century: “Each clan has and keeps as a sacred a special creature, like a swan, a goose, a crow, etc., and the animal that the clan considers sacred, he does not eat, while others can eat it."
The content of the olonkho, as well as the content of the ritual songs that accompanied every significant event in the economic, social and family life of the Yakuts, is associated with mythological ideas, which reflected both the peculiar features of the life and social system of the Yakuts, and some features common with the mythology of the Turkic and the Mongolian peoples, who stood at a similar stage of social development. Some legends and stories reflect real historical events, indicating the place and time of the actions of real people. There were legends and legends about the first ancestors of Elley and Omogoi, who arrived from the south to the middle Lena; stories about the tribes of the North, about the relationship between the Yakuts and the Tungus before and after
Russian moves.
In other cases, contemporaries and participants in the events spoke about inter-clan wars, about the militant Kangalas ancestor Tygyn and the brave Borogon strongman Bert Khara, about the Baturus ancestor Omoloon, the Bogonian Legey, the Tatta Keerekeen, about the Bayagantai, Megintsy, etc. People of that time should have been interested in legends and stories about the distant outskirts, about the abundance of animals and game there, about the wide expanses suitable for horse breeding and cattle breeding in those parts. The descendants of the first inhabitants of the outskirts put together legends about their ancestors who migrated from central Yakutia.
Around the same time, there was a legend about the arrival of Russian Cossacks and the founding of the city of Yakutsk. They say that once two fair-haired and blue-eyed people arrived in the land of Tygyn. Tygyn made them workers. After a few years they disappeared. People saw how they sailed on a boat up the Lena. Three years later, on large rafts, many people sailed, similar to those who fled from Tygyn. The arrivals asked Tygyn for land the size of one oxhide. Having received permission, they cut the skin into thin threads and circled a large area, pulling the thread over pegs. A whole fortress was soon built on this site. Tygyn realized that he had made a mistake, he wanted to destroy the fortress together with his son Challaai, but he could not do it. So Yakutsk was founded. The Yakuts tried to advance on the fortress, but to no avail. After that, they submitted to the Russian Tsar.
The olonkho verse is alliterative. The size of the verse is free, the number of syllables per line ranges from 6-7 to 18. The style and figurative system are close to the epic of the Altaians, Khakasses, Tuvans, and Buryat Uligers. Olonkho is widely used among the Yakut people, the names and images of their favorite heroes have become common nouns.
Academician A.F. Middendorf discovered the Yakut olonkho for science during his trip to Siberia in 1844. Awakened in the middle of the night by loud singing from a nearby Yakut hut, he immediately noted that this singing was very different from what he had heard before, for example, from shamanistic rituals. At the same time, the first recording of the Yakut olonkho (“Eriedel Bergen”) was made. It was Middendorf who transmitted the results of his observations to the Sanskritologist O.N. Bertling, who needed a little-studied non-Indo-European language to test his linguistic concept. Thus, another record of the Yakut olonkho (Er Sogotokh) appeared, recorded from Bertling's informant V.Ya. Uvarovsky.
In the second half of the 19th century, professional folklore scholars, political exiles I.A. Khudyakov and E.K. Pekarsky, the latter began to connect the Yakut intelligentsia to work.
This is how the monumental “Samples of Yakut Folk Literature” appeared in three volumes (1907-1918), where, among other things, 10 olonkho were published in full. After the revolution, olonkho was recorded almost exclusively by Yakut scientists, first by members of the Sakha Keskile (Yakut Revival) society, and since 1935 by employees of the Institute of Language and Culture under the Council of People's Commissars of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The peak of interest in Olonkho falls on the beginning of the 1940s, when the idea appeared that it was possible to create a consolidated text
Yakut epic.
As a result, more than 200 plots independent of each other were recorded. In the same era, the Yakut Lenrot appeared - Platon Alekseevich Oyunsky (1893-1939), who created a consolidated version of the olonkho about Nyurgun Bootur - "Swift Nyurgun Bootur".
A very important place in the daily life of the Sakha was occupied by the cult of fire - Wat ichchite (spirit of sacred fire). In the minds of the people, he had a heavenly origin, was considered the son of Yuryung Aiyy toyon, the deity of the sun. The hearth where fire once descended from heaven is a sanctuary. Prayers and sacrifices of people to deities were carried out through the fire.
The universe "with eight fiery rays of light" was associated with the image of a beautiful mighty stallion, "aigyr silik". The cultivated image of the horse is clearly manifested in its connection not only with the sky (sky-horse), but also with the sun: the first horse was lowered to the ground by Yuryung Aiyy toyon himself.
In the religious views of the Yakuts, one of the main places was occupied by ideas about the soul. It consisted of three elements - salgyn kut (air-soul), iye-kut (mother-soul), buor kut (earth-soul). Sur, the spirit of man, his mental structure in these representations, occupied a significant place. At the birth of a child, these souls and surs were connected by the goddess Aiysyt. According to the same ideas, iye-kut lives near the heart (has a white color), buor kut is in the ears of a person (has a brown color). And salgyn kut is colorless.
Holidays .
The main holiday is the spring-summer koumiss festival (Ysyakh), accompanied by libations of koumiss from large wooden cups (choroon), games, sports competitions, etc. Shamanism was developed. Shaman tambourines (dyunpor) are close to those of the Evenks. Traditional musical instruments are vargan (khomus), violin (kyryympa), percussion. Of the dances, round dance is common - osuokhay, game dances, etc.
Folklore. In folklore, the heroic epic (olonkho) was developed, performed in recitative by special storytellers (olonkhosut) with a large gathering of people; historical legends, fairy tales, especially fairy tales about animals, proverbs, songs. Olonkho consists of many tales that are close in plot and stylistic relations; their volume is different - 10-15, and sometimes more than a thousand lines of poetry, interspersed with rhythmic prose and prose inserts.
The olonkho legends that arose in ancient times reflect the features of the patriarchal-clan system, inter-clan and inter-tribal relations of the Yakuts. Each legend is usually called by the name of the main hero-hero: “Nyurgun Bootur”, “Kulun Kullustuur”, etc.
The plots are based on the struggle of the bogatyrs from the Aiyy Aimaga tribe with the evil one-armed or one-legged monsters Abaasy or Adyaray, the defense of justice and peaceful life. Olonkho is characterized by fantasy and hyperbole in the depiction of heroes, combined with realistic descriptions of everyday life, and numerous myths of ancient origin.
Ornaments.
Yakut folk art is a significant phenomenon in the culture of the peoples of Siberia. Its originality in various forms of existence is generally recognized. The ornament is the basis of the arts and crafts of any nation, so the Yakut folk art appears to us mainly as ornamental. The Yakut ornament, associated with the life and traditional way of life of the people, is an integral part of its material and spiritual culture. It plays a significant role both in everyday life and in ceremonial and ritual settings. The study of the process of formation and development of the Yakut ornament, the problems of its classification is facilitated by the analysis of the works of the Yakut folk masters of the 19th century.
The problem of ornament classification is as ambiguous and debatable as the question of defining the boundaries and specifics of ornamental art. Historians and ethnographers did a lot of this, highlighting the main groups in the ornamental art of the peoples of our country.
Conclusion
Many peoples live in Yakutia and everyone has a similar culture, lifestyle, beliefs and way of life, which has changed over time, begins to change with the entry of Yakutia into the Russian state. The Russians are introducing legal norms, universal rules, paying yasak, a new religion. The spread of Christianity leads to a change in the customs and lifestyle of the natives of Yakutia, the disappearance of the concepts of kinship, blood feud.
The main occupation of the Chukchi is reindeer herding and sea fishing. Culture and life do not receive cardinal changes, but additional occupations appear, which gradually become predominant - fur trade.
The Evens continue to be the main activity of reindeer herding, fishing and hunting, which is becoming the second most important value. The Evens change their clothes into which the Russian style is introduced.
Yukagirs. The main occupation is reindeer herding and dog breeding. Semi-nomadic lifestyle. The Yukagirs have two types of dwellings:
1. winter (dugout)
2. hut - summer housing.
There were no cardinal changes in customs and culture.
Gradually, among the peoples of the Lena Territory, not only fur, but also money trade is established.
References:
1. Alekseev A.N. The first Russian settlements of the XVII-XVIII centuries. in the North-East of Yakutia. - Novosibirsk, 1996.
2. Argunov I.A. Social development of the Yakut people. - Novosibirsk, 1985
3. Bakhrushin S.V. Historical fate of the peoples of Yakutia: Collection of articles "Yakutia". - L., 1927.
4. Basharin G.P. History of agriculture in Yakutia (XVII century - 1917). T.1. - Yakutsk, 1989; T.2. 1990.
Customs and religion of the Yakuts
The primary unit of the Yakut social system has long been a separate family (kergep or yal), consisting of a husband, wife and children, but often with the inclusion of other relatives living together. Married sons were usually allocated to a special household. The family was monogamous, but not so long ago, at the beginning of the 19th century, polygamy existed among the wealthy part of the population, although the number of wives usually did not exceed two or three. Wives in such cases often lived apart, each running their own household; The Yakuts explained this custom by the convenience of caring for livestock distributed among several wives.
Marriage was preceded, sometimes for a long time, by matchmaking. The remnants of exogamy (known from the documents of the 17th century) have been preserved: until modern times, they tried to take a wife in a foreign clan, and the rich, not limited to this, looked for brides, if possible, in someone else's place and even ulus. Having looked out for the bride, the groom, or his parents, sent their relatives as matchmakers. The latter, with special ceremonies and conditional language, persuaded the bride's parents about their consent and about the size of the kalym (halyym, or suluu). The consent of the bride herself in the old days was not asked at all. Kalym consisted of cattle, but its size varied greatly: from 1-2 to many tens of heads; the composition of kalym always included the meat of slaughtered cattle. At the end of the XIX century. the desire to transfer kalym to money intensified. Part of the kalym (kurum) was intended for treats during the wedding feast (in the documents of the 17th century, the word “kurum” sometimes means kalym in general). The payment of the bride price was considered obligatory, and the girl considered it dishonorable to marry without it. Relatives, sometimes even distant relatives, helped the groom in obtaining bride price: this was an old view of the wedding as a tribal affair. The relatives of the bride also participated in the distribution of the received bride price. For his part, the groom received a dowry (enne) for the bride - partly also in cattle and meat, but more in clothing and utensils; the value of the dowry was on average half the value of the kalym.
In the wedding ceremonies themselves, the clan also played an important role. In ancient weddings, many guests participated, relatives of the bride and groom, neighbors, etc. The celebrations lasted for several days and consisted of plentiful treats, various rituals, entertainment - games and dances of youth, etc. Neither the groom nor the bride not only did not occupy a central place in all these festivities, but almost did not participate in them.
Like wedding rites, the terminology of kinship also retains traces of earlier forms of marriage. The name of the son - wol - actually means "boy", "young man"; daughters - kyys - "girl", "girl"; father - ada (literally "senior"); the wife is oyoh, but in some places the wife is simply called dakhtar (“woman”), emehsin (“old woman”), etc.; husband - er; older brother - ubai (bai), younger - ini / older sister - ediy (agas), younger - balys. The last 4 terms also serve to designate some uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces and other relatives. In general, the Yakut kinship system is close to the kinship designation systems of a number of Turkic peoples.
The position of women both in the family and in public life was humiliated. The husband - the head of the family - enjoyed despotic power, and the wife could not even complain about ill-treatment, which was a fairly common occurrence, if not from the side of the husband, then from the side of his relatives. A powerless and defenseless alien woman, who got into a new family, was burdened with hard work.
The position of the elderly, decrepit and unable to work, was also difficult. They were little cared for, poorly fed and clothed, sometimes even reduced to begging.
The situation of children, despite the love of the Yakuts for children noted by many observers, was also unenviable. The birth rate among the Yakuts was very high; in most families, from 5 to 10 children were born, often up to 20 or even more. However, due to the difficult living conditions, poor nutrition and care, infant mortality was also very high. In addition to their own children, many families, especially those with few children, often had adopted children, who were often simply bought from the poor.
Newborns were washed by the fire of a small fire and rubbed with cream; the last operation was performed and later quite often. The mother nursed the child for a long time, sometimes up to 4-5 years, but along with this, the child also received a horn with cow's milk. The Yakut cradle is an oblong box made of thin bent boards, where the wrapped child was placed, tied with straps, and left like that for a long time without taking it out; the cradle is equipped with a chute for urine drainage.
Growing children usually crawled on the dirt floor along with the animals, half-naked or completely naked, left to their own devices, and care for them was often limited to tying a long belt to a post so that the child would not fall into the fire. From an early age, the children of the poor were gradually accustomed to work, doing the work that was feasible for them: collecting brushwood in the forest, caring for small livestock, etc.: girls were taught to needlework and household chores. Toyon children received the best care, they were pampered and unlived.
The children had few toys. These were usually home-made, made by parents, and sometimes by the children themselves, wooden animal figurines, small bows and arrows, small houses and various utensils, for girls - dolls and their small suits, blankets, pillows, etc. The games of Yakut children are simple and rather monotonous . The absence of noisy mass games is characteristic; in general, the children of the Yakut poor usually grew up quiet, inactive.
Religion
Even in the second half of the XVIII century. most ofYakuts was baptized, and in the X] X century. all Yakuts were already considered Orthodox. Although the transition to Orthodoxy was caused for the most part by material motives (various benefits and handouts for those being baptized), the new religion gradually entered everyday life. In the yurt, in the red corner, icons hung, the Yakuts wore crosses (large silver pectoral crosses for women are curious), went to church, many of them, especially the toyons, were zealous Christians. This is understandable, since Christianity, much better than shamanism, was adapted to satisfy the class interests of the rich. For all that, however, the old, pre-Christian religion did not disappear at all: the old beliefs, although somewhat modified by the influence of Christian ideas, continued to stubbornly hold on, the shamans - the servants of the old cult - still enjoyed authority, although they were forced to more or less hide their activities from the royal administration and the clergy. Shamanism and the animistic beliefs associated with it turned out to be perhaps the most stable part of the old Yakut religion.
Shamanism of the Yakuts was closest to the Tungus type. The Yakut shaman tambourine (wide-rimmed, oval) did not differ in any way from the Tungus, the costume was also of the Tungus type, with the exception that the Yakut shamans performed kamla with their heads uncovered. The similarity concerns not only this external side, but also more significant features of shamanic beliefs and rituals.
The Yakut shaman (oyuun) was considered a professional servant of the spirits. According to the Yakut ideas, anyone whom the spirits choose to serve themselves could become a shaman; but usually shamans came from the same surnames: “in a family where a shaman once showed up, he is no longer translated,” the Yakuts said. In addition to male shamans, there were also female shamans (udadan), who were considered even more powerful. A sign of readiness for the shamanic profession was usually a nervous illness, which was considered evidence of the "choice" of a person by the spirits; this was followed by a period of study under the guidance of an old shaman, and finally a rite of public initiation.
It was believed that the spirit that chose the shaman became his patron spirit (emeget). They believed that this was the soul of one of the deceased great shamans. His image in the form of a copper flat human figure was sewn along with other pendants on the chest of the shaman's costume; this image was also called emeget. The patron spirit gave the shaman power and knowledge: "The shaman sees and hears only through his emeget." In addition to this last, each shaman had his own animal counterpart (ye-kyyl - “mother-beast”) in the form of an invisible eagle, stallion, bull, bear, etc. Finally, in addition to these personal spirits, each shaman during the ritual entered into communication with a number of other spirits in animal or human form. Different categories of these spirits, one way or another connected with the activities of the shaman, had certain names.
The most important and numerous group of spirits were the abaans (or abaas), devouring spirits, whose action was attributed to various diseases. Treatment by a shaman of a patient in the view of the believing Yakuts consisted in finding out exactly which abaas caused the disease, to fight with them, or to make a sacrifice to them, to expel them from the patient. Abaas live, according to shamanistic ideas, with their own tribes and clans, with their own economy, partly in the “upper”, partly in the “lower” world, as well as in the “middle” world, on earth.
Horses were sacrificed to those living in the "upper" world, and cattle were sacrificed in the "lower" world. Uvr were also close to abaasy - evil spirits, for the most part small, representing the souls of people who died a premature and violent death, as well as the souls of dead shamans and shamans, sorcerers, etc. The ability to cause illness to people was also attributed to these yuyor; but they live in the "middle" world (on and around the earth). Ideas about the yuyor are very close to the old Russian beliefs about the "unclean" or "mortgaged" dead. The assistants of the shaman during the ritual, helping him to do various tricks, were considered small spirits of the kalena.
Of the great deities of the shamanic pantheon, the mighty and formidable Uluu-Toyon, the head of the spirits of the upper world, the patron of shamans, stood in the first place. “He created a shaman and taught him to deal with all these troubles; he gave people fire." Living in the upper world (on the western side of the third sky), Uluu-Toyon can also descend to earth, incarnating in large animals: a bear, an elk, a bull, a black stallion. Below Uluu-Toyon there are other more or less powerful deities of the shamanic pantheon, each of which had its own name and epithet, its place of residence and its specialty: abaasy, the creator of everything harmful and unpleasant, Aan Arbatyy Toyon (or Arkhah-Toyon) - causing consumption, etc.
The presence of images of great deities in the shamanic pantheon of the Yakuts distinguishes Yakut shamanism from Tunguska (the Tungus did not have a developed belief in great gods) and puts it close to the shamanism of the Altai-Sayan peoples: in general, this is a feature of a later stage in the development of shamanism.
The main functions of shamans were to "treat" sick people and animals, as well as to "prevent" all sorts of misfortunes. The methods of their activity were reduced to ritual (with singing, dancing, beating a tambourine, etc.), usually at night, during which the shaman drove himself into a frenzy and, according to the Yakuts, his soul flew to the spirits or these latter entered the body of the shaman; by way of the ritual, the shaman defeated and drove out hostile spirits, learned from the spirits about the necessary sacrifices and made them, etc. Along the way, during the ritual, the shaman acted as a fortuneteller, answering various questions from those present, and also performed various tricks that were supposed to increase authority shaman and fear of him.
For his services, the shaman received, especially in the event of a successful ritual, a certain fee: its value ranged from 1 p. up to 25 r. and more; moreover, the shaman always received treats and ate sacrificial meat, and sometimes took some of it home. Although the shamans usually had their own household, sometimes a considerable one, the payment for the ritual was a significant income item for them. Particularly difficult for the population was the requirement of shamans to make bloody sacrifices.
With almost the same superstitious fear as shamans, they sometimes treated blacksmiths, especially hereditary ones, to whom various mysterious abilities were attributed. The blacksmith was considered partly related to the shaman: "the blacksmith and the shaman from the same nest." Blacksmiths could heal, give advice, and even predict. The blacksmith forged iron pendants for the shaman's costume, and this alone inspired fear of him. The blacksmith had a special power over the spirits, because, according to the Yakuts, the spirits are afraid of the sound of iron and the noise of bellows.
In addition to shamanism, the Yakuts had another cult: fishing. The main deity of this cult is Bai-Bayanai, a forest spirit and patron of hunting and fishing. According to some ideas, there were 11 Bayanaev brothers. They gave good luck in fishing, and therefore the hunter before fishing turned to them with an invocation, and after a successful fishing, he sacrificed part of the prey to them, throwing pieces of fat into the fire or smearing blood on wooden battens - images of Bayanay.
Apparently, the idea of ichchi, the “owners” of various objects, was connected with the fishing economy. The Yakuts believed that all animals, trees, various natural phenomena have ichchi, as well as some household items, such as a knife, an ax. These ichchi are neither good nor evil in and of themselves. In order to appease the "masters" of mountains, cliffs, rivers, forests, etc., the Yakuts in dangerous places, on passes, crossings, etc., brought them small sacrifices in the form of pieces of meat, butter and other food, as well as rags of cloth, etc. The veneration of certain animals adjoined the same cult. A special superstitious reverence was enjoyed by the bear, which was avoided to be called by name, they were afraid to kill and considered a werewolf sorcerer. They also revered the eagle, whose name was toyon kyyl (“lord beast”), crow, falcon and some other birds and animals.
All these beliefs date back to the ancient fishing economy of the Yakuts. The pastoral economy also gave rise to its own range of ideas and rituals. This is the cult of the deities of fertility, which is weaker than other beliefs, preserved until modern times and therefore less known. It was to this circle of ideas that, obviously, belonged the belief in aiyy - beneficent beings, deities - givers of various blessings. The residence of the aiyy was supposed to be in the east.
The first place among these bright spirits belonged to Urun-Aiyy-Toyon (“the white creator of the lord”), he lived in the eighth heaven, was kind and did not interfere in the affairs of people, therefore, his cult, it seems, did not exist. The image of Aiyy-Toyon, however, strongly mixed with the features of the Christian god. According to some beliefs, Aar-Toyon, an inhabitant of the ninth heaven, stood even higher than Aiyy-Toyon. Below them followed a large number of other bright deities, more or less active and bringing various benefits. The most important figure among them was the female deity Aiyykyt (Aiyysyt), the giver of fertility, the patroness of women in childbirth, who gave children to mothers. In honor of Aiyysyt, a sacrifice was made during childbirth, and since it was believed that after childbirth the goddess stays in the house for 3 days, then after three days a special female ceremony was held (men were not allowed to attend it) of seeing off Aiyysyt.
The main honoring of the bright deities - the patrons of fertility was in the old days the koumiss holiday - ykyakh. Such holidays were held in the spring and in the middle of summer, when there was a lot of milk; they settled in the open air, in the meadow, with a large gathering of people; The main moment of Ysyakh was the solemn libation of koumiss in honor of the bright deities, prayers to these deities, the solemn drinking of koumiss from special large wooden goblets (choroon). After that, a feast was arranged, then various games, wrestling, etc. In the past, the main role at these holidays was played by the servants of bright deities, the so-called aiyy-oyuuna (in Russian, “white shamans”), who, however, have long since disappeared among the Yakuts due to the decline of this entire cult. At the end of the XIX century. only legends have survived about white shamans.
In these cults of both beneficent and formidable deities, the once military aristocracy, the toyons, played a role; the latter were usually organizers and Ysyakhs. In their legendary genealogies, the Toyons often derived their surnames from one or another of the great and powerful deities.
The ancient Ysyakhs also contained elements of a tribal cult: according to legend, in the old days they were arranged according to childbirth. The Yakuts also preserved other remnants of the tribal cult, but also only in the form of weak traces. So, they retained elements of totemism, noted even in the literature of the 18th century. (Stralenberg). Each clan once had its patron in the form of an animal; such totems of the clans were a raven, a swan, a falcon, an eagle, a squirrel, an ermine, a white-lipped stallion, etc. Members of this clan not only did not kill or eat their patron, but did not even call them by name.
The veneration of fire, preserved among the Yakuts, is also connected with the remnants of the tribal cult. Fire, according to the beliefs of the Yakuts, is the purest element, and it was forbidden to desecrate and insult it. Before starting any meal, in the old days they threw pieces of food into the fire, splashed milk, koumiss, etc. into it. All this was considered a sacrifice to the owner of the fire (Wat-ichchite). The latter was sometimes presented not in the singular, but in the form of 7 brothers. They didn't take pictures. The cult of ancestors among the Yakuts was poorly represented. Of the dead, shamans and various prominent people were especially revered, whose spirits (yuyor) were feared for some reason.
