The Tree-Clan-Individual Concept in Traditional Khakas Culture (Late 19th to Mid-20th Century)
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.2.126-135
Abstract
On the basis of ethnographic, folk, and linguistic materials, most of them newly-introduced, the “tree-clan- individual” concept in the Khakas culture is reconstructed and analyzed. The status and image of the tree in their traditional mythological and ritualistic system is assessed. Notions of man and his environment were related to anthropomorphic reasoning, by which natural objects, such as trees, were endowed with human attributes. In their religious-mythological views the tree was identified with a person, with the crown of the tree being the head, the trunk being the body, branches as being arms, sap as being blood, etc. Trees were believed to be either male or female. In the traditional consciousness, human life scenarios were closely paralleled to those of trees. The vegetative code was used to refer to various psychophysical, mental, and other human phenomena. Social norms included special rules in dealing with trees, used in logging. In essence, a tree had to be dealt with like a humanlike being. In mythological thinking, felling a tree was to some degree tantamount to murder. Souls of specific individuals or groups were likewise associated with trees, so each Khakas seok (clan) had a sacred tree. It was an integral part of the burial rite. The tree, then, was a key element in the ideological structure, having a broad semiotic field.
Supporting agencies: This study was carried out under Project No. FWZG-2022- 0001 “Ethnic and Cultural Diversity and Social Processes in Siberia and the Far East in the 17th–21st Centuries. Exploring the Changing Role of Traditional Cultures, Social Institutions, and Ecological Paradigms”.
About the Author
V. A. Burnakov
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Senior Researcher
pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
References
1. Abdina E.A. 1994 Irkem kinҷim palaҷam. Abakan: Khak. kn. izd. Ai Khanat. 2018 In Obraztsy narodnoy literatury tyurkskikh plemen, zhivushchikh v Yuzhnoy Sibiri i Dzungarskoy stepi, V.V. Radlov (comp.). Pt. 2: Podnarechiya abakanskiye (sagayskoye, koybalskoye, kachinskoye), kyzylskoye i chulymskoye (kyuerik). Abakan: Zhurnalist, pp. 404–439.
2. Altyn-Aryg. 1988 Khakasskiy geroicheskiy epos. Moscow: Nauka. Aran-chula akh oy attyg alyp Aidolaidan’ar. 1946 In Khakasskiy folklor. Abakan: Khak. obl. nats. izd., pp. 3–72.
3. Borgoyakov M.I. 1969 Khakasskiye etnonimy tyurkskogo i netyurkskogo proiskhozhdeniya. In Proiskhozhdeniye aborigenov Sibiri. Tomsk: Izd. Tom. Gos. Univ., pp. 8–11.
4. Burnakov V.A. 2006 Dukhi Srednego mira v traditsionnom mirovozzrenii khakasov. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN.
5. Burnakov V.A. 2009 Smert i pokhorony v kulture khakasov. Problemy istorii, filologii, kultury, No. 1 (23): 521–538.
6. Butanaev V.Y. 1996 Traditsionnaya kultura i byt khakasov. Abakan: Khak. kn. izd.
7. Butanaev V.Y. 1999 Khakassko-russkiy istoriko-etnograficheskiy slovar. Abakan: Khakasiya.
8. Butanaev V.Y. 2003 Burkhanizm tyurkov Sayano-Altaya. Abakan: Izd. Khak. Gos. Univ.
9. Butanaev V.Y. 2011 Russko-khakasskiy slovar. Petropavlovsk: Poligrafiya.
10. Butanaev V.Y. 2014 Budni i prazdniki tyurkov Khongoraya. Abakan: Zhurnalist.
11. Butanaev V.Y., Butanaeva I.I. 2008 Mir khongorskogo (khakasskogo) folklora. Abakan: Izd. Khak. Gos. Univ.
12. Butanaev V.Y., Butanaeva I.I. 2010 My rodom iz Khongoraya. Abakan: Zhurnalist.
13. Domozhakov V.I. 1951 Khakasskiye zagadki. In Zapiski KhakNIIYALI, iss. 2. Abakan: Khak. obl. gos. izd., pp. 60–84.
14. Karatanov I.D. 1884 Cherty vneshnego byta kachinskikh tatar. Izvestiya Imperatorskogo Russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva, vol. 20 (6): 618–645.
15. Katanov N.F. 1907 Narechiya uryankhaitsev (soyotov), abakanskikh tatar i karagasov: (Obraztsy narodnoy literatury tyurkskikh plemen, izdanniye V.V. Radlovym), vol. 9. St. Petersburg: Imp. AN.
16. Khakasskiye narodniye takhpakhi. 1980 Abakan: Krasnoyar. kn. izd. Khak. otd.
17. Khakassko-russkiy slovar. 2006 Novosibirsk: Nauka.
18. Khan Kiҷigei. 1958 In Altyn Aryg. Alyptyg nymakh (Bogatyrskiye skazaniya). Abakan: Khak. kn. izd., pp. 126–222.
19. Khan Mirgen. 2018 In Obraztsy narodnoy literatury tyurkskikh plemen, zhivushchikh v Yuzhnoy Sibiri i Dzungarskoy stepi: (Na yazykakh podlinnikov), V.V. Radlov (comp.). Pt. 2: Podnarechiya abakanskiye (sagayskoe, koybalskoye, kachinskoye), kyzylskoye i chulymskoye (kyuerik). Abakan: Zhurnalist, pp. 37–54.
20. Khan Orba: Bogatyrskoye skazaniye, zapisannoye ot S.I. Shulbaeva. 1989 Abakan: Krasnoyar. kn. izd. Khakas. otd.
21. Kilchichakov M.E. 1946 Pili ala khara chabagalyg Pil Taraannan’ar (O bogatyre Pil Taraane, yezdyashchem na zherebenke s temno-pestroy spinoy). In Khakasskiy folklor. Abakan: Khakoblnatsizdat, pp. 73–102.
22. Kurbizhekova A.V. 2011 Siben Aryg (geroicheskoye skazaniye). Abakan: Khak. kn. izd.
23. Mudroye slovo: (Sbornik khakasskikh narodnykh poslovits i pogovorok i zagadok). 1976 Abakan: Krasnoyar. kn. izd. Khakas. otd.
24. Pallas P.S. 1788 Puteshestviye po raznym mestam Rossiyskogo gosudarstva, pt. 3. St. Petersburg.
25. Patachakov K.M. 2006 Nekotoriye svedeniya ob okhote khakasov. Abakan: (s.n.).
26. Sugҷul Mirgen. 2018 In Obraztsy narodnoy literatury tyurkskikh plemen, zhivushchikh v Yuzhnoy Sibiri i Dzungarskoy stepi: (Na yazykakh podlinnikov), V.V. Radlov (comp.). Pt. 2: Podnarechiya abakanskiye (sagayskoye, koybalskoye, kachinskoye), kyzylskoye i chulymskoye (kyuerik). Abakan: Zhurnalist, pp. 211–257.
27. Tak v Sibiri govoryat. Poslovitsy i pogovorki narodnostey Sibiri. 1964 Krasnoyarsk: Kn. izd.
28. Takhpakhtar. 1970 Abakan: Krasnoyar. kn. izd. Khakas. otd.
29. Traditsionnoye mirovozzreniye tyurkov Yuzhnoy Sibiri. Prostranstvo i vremya. Veshchniy mir. 1988 Novosibirsk: Nauka.
30. Ungvitskaya M.A., Mainogasheva V.E. 1972 Khakasskoye narodnoye poeticheskoye tvorchestvo. Abakan: Krasnoyar. kn. izd. Khakas. otd.
31. Usmanova M.S. 1980 Derevo v traditsionnykh predstavleniyakh khakasov. In Voprosy etnokulturnoy istorii Sibiri. Tomsk: Izd. Tom. Gos. Univ., pp. 100–105.
Review
For citations:
Burnakov V.A. The Tree-Clan-Individual Concept in Traditional Khakas Culture (Late 19th to Mid-20th Century). Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2024;52(2):126-135. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.2.126-135
Views:
211
Email this article 