Amazing legends of the northern peoples. The role of folklore in the formation of Evenki literature Toto and nako, people are birds

V.A. Dutkina tells Evenki fairy tales “Three Suns”, “Hazel Grouse”
Shooting P.V. Sofronova

Evenki literature “grew” from folklore. The formation of “youngly written” literatures (the literature of the peoples of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, Tatar, Yakut, literature of the peoples of the Ural-Volga region) was based on the early written tradition. Monuments and writings of these peoples became a source of literature. Works of epic poetry (primarily heroic epics) were an artistic form of self-identification of ethnic groups, comprehension of themselves in their history through the actions of cultural heroes.

In the heroic epics of the Kyrgyz "Manas", Karakalpaks "Kyrk-Kyz", Turkmens "Ger-Ogly", Yakuts "Olonkho", Buryats "Geser", Azerbaijanis "Ker-Ogly", Armenians "David of Sasun", in Karelian runes and Caucasian "Narts" were powerful images that destroyed the closed communal-tribal psychology of ancient humanity. The epic shaped the mentality of peoples. Other “young written” literatures have a folklore source of their development. These include the literature of the small peoples of the North, including Evenki literature. Among the “newly written” peoples, oral literature in its own way replaced literature. Over the centuries, folklore has shaped the artistic thinking of the people and developed its ideological and aesthetic foundation.

At the first stage of the formation of “young-written” literatures, folk ideological and aesthetic principles prevailed. Folklore motifs and images determined the content of the first literary images of the experiments of the founders of Evenki literature. The most common genre - song - preserves the folk tradition of the entire region, where the work of each of the authors was formed. It was the song that was the “transitional” genre from oral poetry to written literature. Perhaps this explains the large number of poetic debuts of young authors among the founders of Evenki literature, retelling, processing of folklore motifs, the influence of ideas, themes and figurative system oral folk art is generally characteristic of the literatures of the peoples of the North.

The first works of the northerners were directly dependent on the archaic poetry of folklore, and the language of the first written works was still poorly developed, and therefore was saturated with oral poetic figures and images. The founders of Evenki literature turned to folklore as a source of themes, plots, images later. as an arsenal of artistic and visual means. The heroes of the first poems, stories and stories are outlined; the main thing in their character is emphasized, which is usually characteristic of the folklore tradition,

For works of the 20-40s of the 20th century, the connection with folklore was expressed in a kind of “ideological and aesthetic adaptation” of the artistic text. Firstly, this was manifested in the fact that poets and prose writers gave their works a form that was as accessible as possible to the perception of a fellow reader. The first Evenk prose writers and poets created their works using traditional genres and images borrowed from folklore - it was easier to influence the reader.

The first poems of the northerners are in many ways similar to ancient folk songs, the content of which fit into the framework of “what I see, I sing.” Second characteristic feature folklore influence is genre continuity. This is either a consequence of the prevailing folk tradition, or an artistic technique consciously used by the author.

But the abandonment of old traditional techniques and forms did not occur immediately. Some poets and prose writers, alongside declarative verses, appeared with works with pronounced folk poetics. Thus, A. Salatain, one of the founders of Evenki literature, wrote the poem “Gegdalluken and Ulgerikken,” which in terms of issues and structure is close to folklore works. This poem is a literary and artistic treatment of the Angarsk Evenki legend about inter-clan and tribal clashes. Deep knowledge folklore and everyday life of the Evenks allowed A. Salatkin to convey the love of Gegdalluken and Ulgerikken in a vivid figurative form. Salatkin A. Introduced figurative words and tropes into poetic vocabulary. The poem ends with verses revealing the power of affection, friendship and gratitude of a fearless hunter to his beloved Ulgerikken.

The founders of Evenki literature, turning to their contemporary reality, sought to understand the essence of life changes and social contradictions. The basis of the structure of most of the first stories and tales is one of the most widespread conflicts of that time - the class struggle. The polarization of images, characteristic of folklore, is noticeable in most of the first stories and tales of Evenki prose writers.

Evenki literature moved from folk universalism to individualization, freeing itself from the polarization of images. Subsequently, the perception of the traditions of oral poetic creativity takes on other forms. Folklore heritage becomes the object of conscious study and use by writers (G. Captuke, A. Nemtushkin and others).

At the present stage, folklore influences the composition and style of works. In the stories and stories of our contemporaries (G. Keptuke, A. Nemtushkin, A. Latkin) one can trace a connection with the motives, plots and images of Evenk heroic tales, songs and legends. The figurative and stylistic impact of the oral poetic system on modern literature continues to be one of the ways of folklorization of national literatures, including. including the Evenk one.

System of religious beliefs of the Evenki-Orochens

Speaking about the system of religious beliefs of the Evenki-Orochens, researchers note a combination of shamanic and pre-shamanic mythology. Archaic beliefs and ideas about the world were transformed by shamanism. Religious ideas and beliefs were under the control of shamanism. This is observed among the Nenets, Selkups, Nganasans, Kets, Nivkhs, Eskimos, Dolgans, Evenks.

Among the stars and planets, the Evenks, born hunters and reindeer herders, especially highlighted the Polar Star, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The attention of the Evenks was attracted by a very bright star - Chalbon (Venus). The entire territory of the Chalbon star is divided into ancestral areas where only dry larches (mugdyken) grow. Many of the trees have broken tops. All of them are hung with bird's nests. where the souls of Omi are located. The souls of Omi of ordinary people look like titmouse chicks (chipie-chiche). The souls of shamans are found in the hollows of larches. Shamanic souls have the appearance of chicks of migratory birds (eagles, swans, loons, waders...). All these unborn souls of people feed on the unborn souls of animals and birds, which Enekan-Buga (the mistress of the Universe and the human race) sends to them.

The Evenki-Orochens represent the moon (bega) in the image of the mirror Enekan-Bug. In clear weather, dark spots are visible on the moon. The Evenks believe that they look like the image of a standing old woman with a bag (chempul). Therefore, the shaman is guided by his appearance during rituals and looks for Enekan-Bug when he “flies” to her with his requests.

Upper world

In the second tier of the upper world, according to the Evenks, life is the same as on earth. It has camps and villages. There are swamps, rivers and taiga here. Only it is not real birds, animals, or vegetation that live here, but the living souls of deceased or perished ancestors. On the third tier of the Upper World (or the first from the earth) lives Enekan-Buga, the mistress of the Universe. The initial idea of ​​Enekan-Buga was associated with elk or deer (nowadays elk or deer during the rut are called Buga - divine), but with the development of shamanism Enekan-Buga acquired an anthropomorphic appearance. The most revered assistant of Enekan-Bug is Enekan-Togo (grandmother-fire). According to the beliefs of 3 Evenks, fire had supernatural power to drive out evil spirits. With the help of fire, they cleansed the yurts from evil spirits. Evenks often. they turned to the fire with small requests: to send the beast, well-being and health to the family. At the same time, they made sacrifices to the fire - they threw a tasty piece of food. Enekan-Togo's permanent habitat was a hearth. In this regard, the Evenks have developed a friendly attitude towards fire, as well as all sorts of prohibitions:

Don’t spit on the fire, if you spit, you will smear your grandmother, she will punish you: ulcers will appear on your lips and tongue.

Don’t throw a fresh talnik into the fire, it will sting your grandmother’s eyes and she will be offended.

In the representations and rituals associated with the cult of fire, he acted as the owner and head of the clan, on the other hand, as the guardian of the souls of the members of this family or clan.

lower world

According to the Even-Orochens, the lower world has three tiers. On the first tier (farthest from the ground) is the land of deceased ancestors (buni). Life there is the same as on earth. The Evenks believe that the souls of their ancestors are always dancing. The second tier of the lower world is the Tuneto River (lit., “debris”). Only a shaman can cross the Tuneto River. The third tier of the lower world (closest to the earth) is the possession of Khargi, Khargi is the most evil spirit. He constantly brings grief to people. If it weren’t for the good spirits - Enekan Buga and her assistants - he would have killed all the people and useful animals. The third tier of the Lower World is inhabited not only by evil spirits, there are also benevolent spirits there - guardians of peace on earth and assistants to shamans when going to the Lower World: a frog (Bakha), a mammoth (seli) and a snake (kulin). Malicious creatures led by the master of the lower world Khargi and his assistants constantly pursued man.

They were the source of misfortune, disease and death. To counter them, the Evenks arose all kinds of prohibitions, amulets, beliefs, and, over time, magical actions. These ideas developed in ancient times, when it seemed to hunters and reindeer herders that the world filled with the confrontation between good and evil principles that literally permeate all life and economic activity person.

Middle world - earth

There are two ideas about the origin of the land among the Evenki-Orochens. Some believe that they owe the appearance of the earth to the frog (baja), others prefer the loon (ukay). Here's how the legend says: 1 “Once upon a time there was water and sky, A snake and a frog lived in the water. The sun, the moon, the Chalbon star shone in the sky, Enekan-Buga lived there with her assistants. The snake was already old, often tired and froze in the water.

One day she asked her assistant, the frog, to get some earth and fix it on the water so that the snake could rest and bask in the sun. 1 The frog dived and took out the earth. When she began to strengthen it, the earth began to sink. At this time a snake swam up. The frog was afraid that the snake would scold her for her helplessness, she turned over and began to hold the ground with her paws. It has remained so to this day,” the Evenki-Orochens imagined the earth to be flat. In the east of the earth, where the sun rises, there is a world where it sets - the lower one.

Materials on Evenki folklore

Evenki folklore retains its “vitality” to this day. According to the famous folklorist, philologist and Evenki prose writer Galina Varlamova - Keptuke, Evenki folklore has not only an aesthetic function, but “retains its main feature - vital functionality. This “forces” and makes it live.”

The entire epic arsenal of Evenki folklore, according to researchers, is historically differentiated and divided into two large groups epic texts: 1) nimngakans; 2) Ulgurs.

The Ulgurs include stories “telling about real events, happened both in the past and in the present." Basically, the Ulgurs: represent tribal legends. They were told in ordinary colloquial language - just like ordinary stories about life. The heroes of the legends are foot or deer hunters. The predominant theme in the Ulgurs is inter-tribal clashes ". A distinctive feature of the Ulgurs is their focus on the authenticity and reality of the events that took place. One of the most common stable plots is the meeting of an Evenk man with headless people. The Ulgurs are contrasted with the Nimngakans. According to the concepts of folklorists, the Nimngakans include:

1) myths; 2) heroic tales; 3) all types of fairy tales.

Evenki myths are grouped around three cycles:

1) totemic, which reflects ethnonymic themes (the origin of certain genera);

2) cosmogonic myths (the creation of the universe, its model, flora and fauna);

3) animistic myths (the theme of the relationship between the spirit masters of nature, the elements and humans).

In the early 20s, the famous researcher of Tungusic cultures G.M. Vasilevich, while studying Evenk myths, identified two periods in them; pre-shamanic and shamanic. To the first, she included myths about the origin of the earth, about its position in space, myths about the deities of the Upper and Lower worlds, myths about the heavenly bodies - the Sun, the moon, the North Star, about the constellation Ursa Major and the Milky Way, myth. about what is happening and the origin of the earth's topography, humans and animals.

The cultural heroes of these myths are static and have no socio-psychological characteristics. Communication between man and nature is based on magical rites and mysteries aimed at ensuring good luck in the hunt. Next period of development Evenki myth associated with shamanic mythology. According to G.M. Vasilevich, a cosmogonic myth is developing. In the shamanic myth, the structural arrangement of the worlds looks different; the worlds are located horizontally (and not vertically), and the Upper and Lower worlds are connected to each other by a shamanic river. At the same time, mythological heroes no longer move throughout all the worlds, but are limited to staying only in Middle Earth.

According to Galina Captuke, the awareness of oneself as an inseparable particle of the world, the Universe, sets the scale of time and space for Evenki folklore. And we find all this in the Evenki heroic tales - Ningakans. They contain the whole world and man himself in it. The dominant theme in the Evenki epic system is that of heroic matchmaking and the clash with an enemy hero. In the epic monuments of the Tungus-speaking peoples (Evenks, in particular), the origins go back to mythology, the narrative is full of mythological fiction, motives of miraculous transformations.

The storytellers themselves distinguish between singing (“true”) nimigakans and non-singing (“spoken”) ones. In Evenki folklore, nimngakans are divided into:

1) nimngakans of the first creation;

2) nimngakans of the time of formation of the human race.

In the nimngakans of first creation, the characters are mostly animals. Nimngakans of first creation were accompanied by mystery rites. The person is not. the main character of the Nimngakans of the first creation. In nimngakans about animals, the properties of myths are preserved, where animals are anthropomorphic creatures. In Evenki folklore, animals are initially anthropomorphic and humans are similar to them. And talking animals are like the Creator. Over time, nimngakans about a fox, a bear, a hare, in connection with the generalization and typification of heroes (the hare is a braggart, the fox is a cunning and deceiver...) turned into fairy tales about animals.

In the nimngakans of the time of human formation, the starting point is the person himself. This time also “belongs to the initial times, but it is already marked by folklore formulas, where the starting point is a person, or by formulas indicating the further flourishing and development of the earth, “In ancient times, when the earth was spread out like the skin from the head of a one-year-old deer, when the upper sky was like a rainbow in six rows..."

Nimngakanah of the time of the formation of the human race acts “a lonely hero who does not know his origin, who has never seen a person other than himself, who has never heard human speech,” who does not know his origin, who has neither a dog nor a deer. This is typical for the ancient mythological idea of ​​​​man: “...If I had come out of the bowels of the middle earth. Dulin Dunne, - it would have grown from my right rib, if I had come out of a tree, the bark would have stuck to the middle of my spine, if I fell from a barely visible rainbow sky - there would be frost on the top of my head..."

Here are reflected the mythological ideas of the Evenki about the earth, the sky, associated with the images of spirit-deities, who in the Evenk’s imagination are similar to the image and likeness of a person, as well as the whole world, the universe: the head is connected with the Upper World (sky), the body is the Middle Earth , the spine is a tree.

A lonely hero, asking the question: “Where was I born, if I have neither mother nor father?” According to the texts of Evenki legends, try to connect your origin either with the earth or with the sky (the Upper world).

Mythological representations ancient man reflected in the legend with Kodakchone, where his dwelling uten is thought of as like the earth, and the earth as common Home for people: “his house-uten was unprecedentedly large * from one end of it the other edge was not visible...” Uten - the dwelling is thought of as the earth-homeland: the house is the earth, and the earth is the hero’s homeland. And this is a clear connection between the place of residence, the house - the dwelling, and the perception of the earth itself as the parent of man.

The lonely hero grows up in a chum-uten, which is defined by the following formula - “an ancient soul-kut uten.” That is, a lonely hero does not grow up in a simple home with its own guardian spirit. The home has a spirit, which is why the lonely hero does not die, he is guarded and protected by the home itself. The spirit of the home of utene is thought of in legends of this type as a patron and, as it were, the parent of the hero. When a lonely hero sets off on his journey, he necessarily says goodbye to the ute, turning to him as something living, as a person. “Old Utev, live well. If I’m alive, I’ll come back. Keep an eye on my crossbow; by the crossbow you will know my return, or my death.” (From the legend "Middle Land Delonykan").

In the nimngakans of first creation and in the nimngakans of the period of formation of the human race, the ideas about man are fixed: Man, by his creation by the creator, is twofold by nature. He is a spirit with a bodily shell. At the same time, the spiritual nature of man, as half of him, does not need ordinary food. After the meal the lonely hero is left with halves of the food he has eaten. The strangeness of the lonely hero can be understood as the incompleteness and inferiority of the lonely hero. Lonely and according to the logic of nimngakana, not yet a real, inferior person, eating half food - must become complete, find his other half.

The typification of the hero goes in the direction of separating man from his natural environment. The complete formula of loneliness emphasizes such important moments in human development as communication and human speech. The motive that allows the development of the plot in nimngakans with a lonely hero to begin is based on a lack of communication. Many legends talk about this literally as follows: “... This man lives there alone. There is no friend to talk to, there is no one to ask or talk to, either. This man, living there alone, is very bored. He is very tired of living alone... "

The main motive that forces a lonely hero to set out on a journey is the desire to find his own kind, that is, a person begins to seek communication with others of his own kind, and a motive for searching for a mate also appears. The motive of loneliness, inherent in the nimngakans of the first creation, forces the hero to go on a journey, and from this The development of the plot usually begins.

The Evenki epic is the story of a hero’s wanderings. There is more wandering than struggle. It is more similar to the Iliad than to the epic of the Turks (Kyrgyz Manas, Yakut Olonkho, Buryat Geser).

The heroic tales of the Evenks are structured as follows:

1) The impetus for the development of the plot is a “shortage” - the hero lives alone, grew up alone, has never seen a person - he decides to see the world, travel, i.e. eliminate this lack;

2) The impetus can be “sabotage” - a brother and sister, a husband and wife live, and suddenly he takes away and steals his sister, his wife. The beginning of the action can be a violation of a ritual or taboo;

3) All the journeys and adventures of the epic hero are justified and provided by “replenishment” of this deficiency. "deterrence" of sabotage;

4) The epic hero travels through three worlds: Middle, Upper, Lower. The epic hero is located in the Middle Land at the beginning of the action. To eliminate the “shortage” and eliminate “sabotage,” they are forced to begin their journey to the Upper World. Often an epic hero, in pursuit of an enemy, travels to the Lower World. The epic hero then returns to Middle Earth.

The heroic legend - nimngakan was performed according to old established principles (in song form and accompanied by rituals). Over time, some nimngakans absorbed a borrowed fairy tale about animals, where the types of characters - animals - were typified. These nimngakans are simply told - a “spoken” nimngakan.

Khazakovich Yu.G., Evenki literature

Evenki folklore in modern life

IN social life The Evenki folklore process was influenced by many factors, covering both material and spiritual culture. The socio-economic development of the last 70 years in the North and Siberia (collectivization, the transfer of nomadic populations to settled life, consolidation of settlements, intensive development of industry) led to the disruption of the traditional settlement system, the centuries-old way of life, and the loss of language and culture to a large extent .

In 1988-1989 Interest in the problems of the North increased noticeably thanks to the activities of the national intelligentsia, scientists, and journalists. Dozens of articles appeared in the mass press, and work began on the creation of public organizations of the peoples of the North.

The process of loss of national culture and languages ​​is characteristic not only of the Evenks. According to a survey by the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation, in 1991. Most assessments of the development of their culture by the peoples of the North are negative, because there are more losses than gains. In the Evenki Autonomous Okrug, 68.5% of respondents share this opinion. However, over the past 10 years, a system of various organizations has been created that deal with the problems of survival and development of the peoples of the North, including non-traditional ones, headed by representatives of the peoples of the North. This plays a big role in strengthening everyone's sense of self, as well as their entirety as a community.

The efforts of the peoples of the North in the struggle for their survival in modern conditions analyzed in the article “The peoples of the Russian North in the conditions of economic reform and democratic transformations.” The true state (of the existence and liveliness of folklore) can be indicated by factors associated with modern development Evenki as an ethnic group. In order for the Evenks to continue to exist as an ethnic group, the relative stability of the social organism is necessary. But what is the state of this ethnosocial organism?

The Evenks are characterized by a historically sparse territory of residence. This fact accompanied the Evenks on their long journey historical development and did not interfere with being Evenks, and with their spiritual culture living and developing. But in the modern situation, the situation has been aggravated by the fact that the former social institutions of communication between different groups of Evenks, traditionally worked out in the process of life, have been lost:

1. With the disappearance of nomadic life, contacts between different groups were lost, exogamous marriages, which ensured the connection of different clans, were destroyed, etc.

2. As a result of the consolidation of collective and state farms, dialects and dialects were mixed. From the moment of collectivization and the transition to settled life, the factor of territorial dispersion in the development of the spiritual culture of the Evenks already plays a negative role - disunity and destabilization.

All this allowed us to talk about the gradual loss of our spiritual culture and folklore in particular. The life situation of our days is a turning point and critical for the Evenks and their folklore: the last bearers and creators of ancient folklore are leaving, due to urbanization, folklore is becoming, as it were, an appendage of modern life, it seems to no longer play its former active role in shaping the worldview of the younger generation. However, we dare to say that this is only a superficial and cursory look at the life of Evenki folklore.

The ethnopolitical and cultural situation in the Siberian region is reflected most often in random and not always objective publications in the media mass media, which superficially interprets the ongoing processes in the lives of northerners. Only recently has a fundamental program been developed scientific research on the topic “The peoples of the North and Siberia in the conditions of economic reform and democratic transformations.”

This program is distinguished by new theoretical approaches to the study of the questions posed, which is very gratifying. In our opinion, the opinion of I.V. is completely justified. Ssorina-Chaikov that “it is possible to understand the Evenki society of this century more adequately from the point of view of another theoretical approach, for which ethnicity does not survive, but is formed in modern times...” and “a careful reading of the social history of the Evenks creates the impression that ethnicity as a principle social organization does not so much survive as it is formed in the context of a very specific relationship with the state.”

Despite the complexity of the existence of the Evenki language, it continues to live and be a means of communication. The activation of self-awareness is accompanied by an increased interest among young people in folklore, in which they want to see not entertaining fairy tales, but their own ethnic history. For example, communities as traditional types of management today unite members primarily based on kinship. So, in the village. In Iengra, tribal communities were organized with a focus on traditional types of farming (reindeer husbandry, fur-bearing animal hunting - the communities “Keptuke”, “Buta”, etc.). For this reason, the younger generation is showing interest in ancestral roots. If 10 years ago young people were of little interest in belonging to a clan, now each of them can say which clan he is a descendant of, since this knowledge has not yet been lost. Oral stories about recent ancestors are now of great interest to the younger generation.

Other literature and knowledge of other peoples, Russian in particular, even if they have become an integral part of the Evenki consciousness, are still part of their external life, but not deeply internal. Firstly, only the Evenki generation is literate and educated, whose age group can be defined as 40-50 years old, and a small number of 50-60 year olds. But this part of the Evenks was brought up in the spirit of a traditional worldview, on which Evenki folklore was based and exists to this day.

Secondly, only the generation of young people under 30 years of age is cut off from the traditional worldview due to their upbringing in boarding schools. These Evenks were brought up in European traditions of perception of the world and life. However, in addition to understanding and perceiving the world at the modern urbanized level, the genetically embedded folklore memory still lives on. This memory is expressed in the desire to create modern Evenki songs using folk traditions- folklore choruses of circular dances, ancient melodies, etc.

Third, commitment to the traditional type of farming and life remains. This is typical for all northerners. As noted by Z.P. Sokolov" "83.2% of all respondents (of which only 3% are engaged in hunting and fishing) believe that traditional industries should be their main occupation (in Evenkia, Taimyr, Yakutia there are 90-93%), only 8% are negative about this."

As long as traditional life is preserved, the role and functions of folklore should not be diminished. It is not enough for a scientist to note the visible extinction of folklore traditions among the Evenks and other peoples of the North, for this process is not yet completed and Evenki folklore continues to exist. What modern life processes feed it and prevent it from disappearing completely? In this regard, the observations of N.V. are interesting. Quarrel-Chaikova regarding exchange and mutual assistance among the Evenks in 1988-1989.

The collectivization policy, during which traditional gift exchange (nimat "gift") was prohibited as a custom, made traditional sharing semi-legal. The exchange became characterized by such an organization that did not allow the product to fall out of the circle of “friends.” The stranger, once a welcome guest, can now “give away.” “Users” and “outsiders” have become clearly demarcated groups. As the author of the article writes, a group of Evenks, among whom he worked in the late 1980s. “represented one of these circles, fenced off from “outsiders” with suspicion and including “our own” according to a much less flexible principle of biologized origin than before.”

We also note a similar behavior of the Evenks in relation to folklore - it is used only in their own circle and deliberately hides from “strangers”. It is subject to a form of existence that corresponds to the formula - “only for internal (own) use.” The same thing happens with hunting and household rituals carried out in the taiga. For this reason, it is difficult to collect and record Evenk folklore; not even every Evenk succeeds. It is now possible to collect material on folklore and rituals only if you are recognized as “one of our own” and enjoy trust.

One of the reasons for the deliberate isolation and “hiding” of their folklore was the perception by others in the recent past of the Evenki culture as primitive and primitive. From this side, the position of the carriers is as follows: for “strangers” it is primitive, but for “our own” it is not, therefore let it live only in “our” environment. Even before the revolution P.P. Malykh very correctly noticed this feature among the Evenks: “...therefore, the most intimate thing - the soul of one’s people - folklore - should be hidden as far as possible, kept as secret as possible in order to know in one’s own circle, for oneself, what is also with him.” there is something that makes him equal to these powerful neighbors, something of his own, thanks to which the Orochens “although not real, but still people,” as one old Orochen told me.”

Folklore still functions, since at least half of the total number of Evenks continue to live a traditional life: they retain a traditional worldview due to the specifics of life in the taiga, their own psychology, moral and value orientations.

Modern actively existing genres of folklore include ritual genres and song creativity, as well as the creativity of shamans in the sense that although there are few shamans (for example, in the village of Iengra there are two practicing), the Evenks have used and use their services quite actively, only secretly . All this still lives on, as in previous years, in an isolated atmosphere impenetrable to others, is seriously done for the Evenks and only in the taiga, i.e. in the society of those who still lead a traditional way of life; hunts, roams, has deer, etc. Thus, even many Evenks are excluded from the circle of users of this part of spiritual culture.

It should be noted that there is a clear division of folklore genres according to their existence at the present stage. The Evenki epic still lives in a passive form; there are few real storytellers left. It is performed entirely only at the request of those interested in the epic.

The everyday life of an Evenk was thoroughly permeated with ritual, reflecting his worldview and worldview. And at present, the Evenks, especially those living in the taiga, strictly adhere to this. Neither prohibitions, nor the urbanization of the younger generation, nor the educational work of the Soviet period, nor the growing educational level of the Evenks could destroy everyday rituals.

IN last years rituals began to be collective in nature. Constantly carried out spring holiday Ikechik in Iengra, Khatystyr and even in Yakutsk. True, its main goal is active communication between Evenks, establishing contacts between representatives of different regions (delegations from all regions are invited), activation and revival of the Evenki language, and introducing children to traditional culture. All this has a very good effect on the self-awareness of the Evenki, and, perhaps, will not allow the Evenki hearth to go out. Rituals of purification through chichshshan, the introduction of children to the birthplace, feeding of the fire, the river, accompanied by poetic formulas of ritual poetry, are carried out.

A renewed meaning is put into the newly revived rituals, for example, the urban Evenki community of Yakutsk has been holding the Bakaldyn “Meeting” holiday for several years. The Singkelavun ritual is traditional, but it is no longer hunting luck that is obtained, but luck in life, as they themselves say. It is quite clear that centuries-old traditions could not disappear so quickly, and the rehabilitation of ritual in the life of the Evenks these days has received an unexpected surge for many.

In the modern life of the Evenks, the folklore process is influenced by many factors, which characterizes the development of folklore according to general criteria, covering both material culture and the sphere of social organization of society. The clearest example of this is Evenki literature. We can already talk about cultural dualism - the parallel existence of folklore and non-folklore forms, even if we remember that all this is still only at the initial stage.

Evenk folklore is no longer the only sphere that generates verbal texts that constitute the cultural tradition of the ethnos. In Yakutia, there has been a radio program “Gevan” for more than 30 years, broadcasting in the Evenki language. A TV show appeared under the same name. Thus, the penetration of folk art forms and folklore texts into the Evenki environment, i.e., is still increasing. there is a change in the communication mechanism. Direct and live contacts, of course, continue to exist. It is interesting that the folklore heritage, like other forms of traditional Evenki culture, is beginning to be considered by the Evenki themselves as one of the most valuable assets of their culture.

If we can agree with a certain trend of disappearance of Evenki folklore, then the following amendment should be made: not all genres are dying, and they are not dying equally, for example, ritual genres will not disappear any time soon.

Researcher of Evenki song culture A.M. Aizenstadt, realizing the complexity of the situation of Evenki folklore, wrote: “Time, however, rushes researchers: every year many unique tunes are lost, and over the decades, entire layers of songs.” However, in the field of Evenki song creativity, he noted: “There is also an intensive process of creation new samples." In the process of work, having visited the Evenki of all regions, he saw how the Evenki respect real connoisseurs of their folklore, but are wary of amateurs, protecting their oral heritage, which indicates a special attitude towards folklore even now.

We can say with complete confidence that:

1. Evenki folklore fulfills its purpose even in the conditions of modernization of the aboriginal way of life social function, at the same time being a memory of the past (remember the example of the gift-exchange of pimat) is the subject of relationships and even shapes them in the present: it influences social relations Evenki both in their own environment and with the outside world.

2.The adaptive properties of national culture and folklore, in particular, turned out to be stronger than one might have expected.

3. Folklore is assessed by the Evenks as one of the most important assets of their culture.

4.Influences the song creativity of the Evenks, which indicates the transformation of folklore genres.

Thus, despite the fact that we cannot deny the fading of folklore traditions, the gradual oblivion of individual folklore genres (epic, for example), Evenki folklore continues to live, adapting to new conditions. But in the future, its active viability depends primarily on whether the Evenks retain their language and whether it will be a means of communication. Truly Evenki folklore can only exist in the Evenki language. This problematic issue is largely connected with socio-historical conditions beyond the control of the Evenks - primarily with progressive assimilation.

Let's try to make some forecast regarding the future life of Evenki folklore using the example of Yakushi. In terms of their quantitative composition, most of the Evenks live here - about 15,000, with a total composition approaching 25,000. The areas of their settlement: Oleneksky, Zhigansky (northern Yakutia), Ust-Maisky, Olekminsky, Aldansky, Neryungrinsky (southern Yakutia).

The degree of proficiency in their native language is as follows: in the northern regions of Yakutia, Evenks speak only the Yakut language, while maintaining traditional types of occupations - reindeer herding, hunting and fishing. Only household vocabulary remains, reflecting the Evenki way of life associated with reindeer herding - the names of clothes, harness, and hunting vocabulary. But this vocabulary is included in the spoken Yakut language. Almost no one can speak or understand Evenki anymore. And the folklore that was truly Evenki is transmitted and told in the Yakut language, preserving all the plots, names of heroes, etc. Evenk folklore changed its language, and this happened relatively long ago; let us remember the Khosun epic of the northern Yakuts.

In the southern regions of Yakutia, the situation is more favorable - here knowledge of the Evenki language has not yet been lost, along with the excellent command of the Yakut language by the Aldan and Olekmin Evenks. Most of the Ust-May Evenks do not speak their language. And only in the Neryungri region the Yakut language has not yet penetrated; the Evenks do not speak it and do not know it. This is facilitated by close contacts with the Evenks living in the regions of the Chita and Amur regions bordering Yakutia.

In modern living conditions, when marriages between Yakuts and Evenks, especially in the northern regions, are common, it all depends on what language the children speak. Our practical observations are not in favor of the Evenki language and folklore. On the territory of Yakutia, the majority of representatives of the younger generation switch to the Yakut language in communication due to social conditions.

Recently, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), office work is conducted in the Yakut language along with Russian, and in the uluses, where there is a small Russian-speaking and other population, in Yakut. Television and radio broadcasting, as well as the media, now use the Yakut language much more than 8 years ago.

In mixed marriages with Russians and others, the younger generation communicates in Russian, passively maintaining knowledge of their native language.

As a result, another problem is also very relevant - can folklore in the north of Yakutia be called Evenki, if in essence and content it is Evenki, and in linguistic terms it is already Yakut? The prognosis for the Evenks is disappointing, since if they now know that the folklore text they transmitted (in the Yakut language) was created in Evenki, then this knowledge will soon be lost. Gradually, samples of folklore that were truly Evenki will enrich Yakut.

Already in the 1960s. the famous Evenki rhapsodist N.G. Trofimov performed the Evenki epic in two languages; he could sing the same heroic nimigakan in both Evenki and Yakut. And if a situation suddenly arose when his records in the Evenki language were not preserved, it would be difficult to prove even to the Evenks that this was truly their Evenki epic.

Cloth Personalities Religion Folklore Language Evenks- indigenous people of the North-East Russian Federation

A. N. Varlamov,

Yakutsk.

The most developed, complete and complete cycle of myths about the creation of the Evenki creator deity Seveki developed in the eastern region. Here are all the myths about the first creation of the earth,

humans and animals are united under the name of the creator Seveki into a single complete cycle. His name as the creator of the middle land of Dulin Bug and all life on it in this region is the same for the Evenks of the Amur region, southern Yakutia, Khabarovsk Territory and Sakhalin. Due to the diversity of Evenki dialects, the Seveki of the “shacking” Evenks corresponds to “Sheveki”, for the “hacking” Evenks - Kheveki, for the “okaying” - Sovoki, Shovoki, Hovoki.

SEVEKI, Kheveki, Sheveki, Sevki, in Evenki myths,

of the Evens and Negidals, the creator of the earth, animals and humans, the spirit is the master of the upper world, the patron of people and deer; his other names: Amaka (“grandfather”), Ekseri (Eksheri), Buga. According to myths, in the beginning there were only water, Seveki and his older brother Khargi. Seveki took out some earth from the bottom (according to options, this was done on his instructions by a loon and a goldeneye or a frog), placed it on the surface of the water and fell asleep. Khargi, wanting to destroy the earth, began to pull it out from under his brother, but only stretched it so much that it took on modern dimensions. In the myth of equestrian groups from the Nerch-Chita region, the helper of the creator of the earth was a frog. She carried the earth in her paws to the surface of the water, but the evil brother of the creator (according to later versions - a heavenly shaman) shot at her. She turned over, and since then began to support our land among the water with her paws. Shamans hung her later image from their costume as a symbol of the earth. To this myth was added the motif of a fire, borrowed from the southern neighbors and spread throughout the taiga by reindeer herders. According to the myths of the Ilympian, Ayan and Transbaikal Evenks, the earth grew, it burned for a long time, and rivers and lakes appeared in the burnt areas. In the fight against water, drained areas of land appeared. Having created a stone and a tree, Seveki ordered them to grow, but they, having argued about who would be taller, threatened to support the sky, then Seveki brushed off the excess with his hand, and since then the rocks have been crumbling, and the overgrown trees are drying from the top. Then the brothers made animal figurines (Seveki

– useful to people, edible, and the older brother - harmful); Seveki sculpted figures of people from clay and stone and, leaving them under the supervision of a guard (raven, dog or bear),

retired to the upper world, from where he continued to monitor the behavior of people through his assistants. Ideas about the appearance of Seveki are very contradictory - an old man, an old woman, an elk or a moose cow. It was believed that during the spring annual ritual (sevekan, ikenipke) Seveki gave sacred power (musun) and souls (omi) of wild animals and domestic deer, ensuring the revitalization of nature, successful hunting, and the health of people and reindeer herds. In case of illness and failure, Seveki dedicated a deer of light color (sevek).

KHARGI, in Evenki myths, the spirit is the master of the lower world, the elder brother of Seveki, who competed with him in acts of creation. Khargi created animals and blood-sucking insects that were harmful to humans, spoiled the human figurines sculpted by his brother: having seduced the guard of the figurines with food (or warm clothes) and gaining access to the figurines, he spat (blowed, broke) on the statues, which is why people began to get sick and die . Having left after a quarrel with Seveki in the lower world, Khargi continues to send his assistants to earth - evil spirits who prevent people from hunting, bring diseases, etc. Some Evenki groups also called Khargi the spirit helpers of shamans, who had a zoo-anthropomorphic appearance and accompanied him while traveling to the lower world.

Texts about the creations of Seveki, collected in the Far Eastern region, are not only united by the name of Seveki, but they represent a more complete

picture of the creation of the earthly world:

1. The cycle of Seveki’s actions in the east ends with the fact that before leaving for the upper world, Ugu Buga Seveki leaves the Evenks commandments called the term Ity, which translated means

“traditions”, “law”, “accepted order of human moral behavior”.

2. In this regard, in the stories about the actions of Seveki, texts appear where Seveki from time to time visits

land. He visits the people he created, who multiplied by

middle earth in order to find out whether they follow the rules - the covenants of Ita. Sometimes he does not personally “inspect” the land and people, but sends his envoys for this.

3. The spread of Christianity among the Evenki people introduced amazing interpretations into this cycle of myths. Some eastern Evenks later replaced the names Seveki and Khargi in truly Evenki stories with Christ and Satan. It should be mentioned that the voluntary adoption of Christianity by the Evenks also has an exact historical date - 1684, when the Evenki prince Katana voluntarily accepted Russian citizenship, arriving from Manchuria (the territory of China), then accepted Christianity and was baptized with all his household. The idea of ​​the resurrection of Christ among the Eastern Evenks was interpreted in their own way. According to the Evenki worldview, the human soul was immortal. A man died, his soul remained alive, went to other worlds, but after a few days it could not fit into the same body again in order to revive it. Having passed her certain circle, she could be reborn again, but in a different body, that is, a different person. The soul could not enter the dead body of a person again so that the person would come to life. According to Christianity, it turned out that Christ came to life after a short time; this resurrection of Christ did not fit into the framework of the traditional worldview of the Evenks. But Christ came to life, so the preachers said, and the Evenks did not deny this, but came up with their own myth confirming that Christ is alive, because. he was saved by a fly. The text was recorded in 1989 from A.S. Gavrilova in the village of Udskoye, Khabarovsk Territory: “Christos was caught to kill. Tied to the cross. Then, to nail them, they went after them. Then a fly flew in, Kiristosa saw it, and called other flies. And then one fly landed on the forehead, two on the palm, two on the legs (feet). The killers are here. The flies are sitting - they look like nails from afar. Those: “Eh, but we’ve already nailed it down!” - so to speak, they left. Not nailed down. It was the fly that saved Kirista.” The plot of the salvation of Christ by a fly is constructed in accordance with the logic of the cycle about Seveki: Seveki is alive, no one killed him - and Christ was not truly crucified at all, he did not die at all.

Evenki myths also require a certain

“interpretation” of texts, i.e. hermeneutical approach to the analysis of their creation, plot and the original text itself.

In the myths about the creation of the world by the creator Seveki, play and the process of play occupy an important place. In one of the options

The myth says this: “Seveki evikerve olcha: beekerve, orokorvo,

beingalwe." “Seveki started making toys: little men, deer, little animals.” In the text recorded in Evenkia in 1986 by G.I. Varlamova (p. Ekonda) from Khristina Filippovna Khirogir, the following is said: “Seveki hemekerve, eviker-ke bingkil nonon, olcha: beekerve, beingelve, orokorvo. “Seveki hemekers (ritual toys), there were toys like this before, I started making them: little men, animals, deer.”

In our opinion, these are the oldest texts of myths about the creations of Seveki, because The process of creating a myth is thought of as a game, and the future inhabitants of the earth are thought of as toys. A game

here is meant as a magical action, as a result

which all future inhabitants of the middle land of Dulin will appear

The creator of Seveki is opposed by his antipodean brother Khargi, who, repeating the actions of Seveki, creates things of nature that are, as it were, “not real,” harmful to humans. Kharga's game of creating inhabitants and vegetation on the middle earth is of a negative nature - everything he creates has some kind of flaw. Seveki creates the world and its inhabitants, brother Kharga also creates, it’s as if he “plays” the same game with Seveki. The plot of the game: Seveki creates - Khargi spoils. And the actual general process of creating the world is outlined in the process of competition between two brothers and there is an element of play in it.

The opposition between Seveki and Kharga is similar to the opposition between God and Satan. But a clear contrast between Seveki and Kharga occurs during the final formation of the cycle about the creation of the world and the middle earth of Dulin Bug. This is a later layering and characteristic of this cycle.

According to the Evenki worldview, life is always based on

– lies – the binary is inherent. And the cycle about the creation of the world is initially binary, it is created by two people.

In the early stages of this cycle,

obviously Hargi is not a Satan-like figure. And according to the Evenki worldview, two principles coexist in the world; the world cannot be created without the principle of “unity of opposites.” This is how the world works, this is how man and everything connected with him work - and this is reflected in many ideological aspects of the Evenks. According to many versions of the well-known plots of this series, Khargi does not want to do evil at all, he does not even have this in his thoughts. On the contrary, he wants to help his brother quickly complete the work of creating the world. He says: “Ke, bi yum targachina okta.” “Well, I’ll do the same thing too.” But, repeating all the actions of Seveki, he makes mistakes, and as a result, a completely new creation is obtained. And not everything he creates is completely bad. The alder and pine created by him are beautiful and useful trees.

The main postulate in the Evenki worldview, based on the philosophical principle of “unity of opposites,” is the unity of the world, and this is reflected in the texts about the creations of the world by two brothers, Seveki and Khargi. Most of the mythical texts are neutral in their assessment of the actions of Seveki and Khargi, and even more should be said - they do not contain any evaluative characteristics in the sense that Seveki creates something useful, and Khargi creates something harmful. The evaluative description of the actions of Seveki and Khargi is a later layering, when with the introduction and spread of Christianity in the Evenki environment the following analogy arises: Seveki = Christ, Khargi = Satan. That’s when a sharp contrast between Seveki and Kharga arises in the texts of Evenki myths. But in the worldview of the Evenks this is still not the case - Khargi (the owner of the lower world) is as necessary as Seveki, because the world is incomplete and incomplete, cannot be whole and united without the lower world, its owner and inhabitants. Many of the shaman’s assistant spirits are “hargi”; they help him in traveling to the Lower World when they treat a person from an illness.

If we turn to the etymology of the word “hargi” itself, then it is fundamentally ambiguous; it does not initially contain an evil principle. “Khargi” can mean: 1. Forest, taiga, 2. Earth - among the Kurmi and Nerchinsk Evenks, 3. Wild deer.

Unlike the Evenks, the Evens, the creator of Sevka, have many brothers and sisters. At the beginning of his creation of the world, he makes them natural phenomena and luminaries. The Evenks do not have this very initial act of creation by Seveki. Perhaps they once had it too. The Even version is as follows: Sevki lives upstairs. He has brothers and sisters. The eldest of the sisters is called Neltek, the other is Beganar, the third is Gevak. The brothers' names are Dolbini and Kureni. Sevki decides to create and first of all asks everyone about their name and finds out why they are called that. The names of his siblings reflect their characteristics and qualities. Having such names, they are all similar to their brother in appearance, but what kind of appearance Sevka has is not clear from the text.

“Why did they call you that? – Sevki asks

Because I am darkness, I have no light.

Then you will come to work with me,” saying, he blows on Dolbini, and he becomes night. This is how night appears on earth - dolbini.

Gevak also asks his sister about her name, she

replies that she was given this name because she has light.

Sevki asks:

“And you, Gevak, will you come with me to work on the land?”

She agrees, Sevki blows on her, and she becomes day on earth. Then he asks another sister, named Beganar:

“Why do you have such a name? What are you thinking of doing? –

I am the moon, my light is weak.

I'll give you a job. It’s too dark at night, will you work with the moon?”

Then he blows on it and speaks to it, it turns into the moon, the heavenly night body. Since then it has been shining for people at night.

“Neltek, you should help me too,” Sevki says to the other sister. “There is no sun on earth, you will be the sun.”

And Tuksani’s younger brother was a crybaby, always crying when Sevki and everyone else went to work. Sevki adapted him to work, saying:

You'll work the rain when you cry. The earth needs rain for everything to grow.

Thus, clouds appeared from which rain poured.

One of Sevka's brothers was called Kurani. He was a big spoiler and loved to put out fires. The wind came out of him, and he began to work with the wind.”

(Recorded in 1990 by G.I. Varlamova in the village of Topolinoye,

Yakutia, from D. Golikova, a native of the Khabarovsk Territory).

The Even myth complements the picture of the creation of the world by the Evenki creator Seveki. Sevki changes his brothers and sisters - remakes, recreates them, and they become natural phenomena and luminaries that help man live in the created world. Among the Evenks, a similar myth has not been preserved, but apparently something similar existed, since ideas about the sun and moon were preserved, testifying to this: a story about the sun as the mistress of the sky; about the moon as a younger brother; the sun as the creator of the seasons of the year; They explained the reason for the appearance of the moon at night by the fact that the moon - the wife forgot the hook for hanging the boiler on the migration, so she returned for it. IN

1985 recorded in Ekonda village Krasnoyarsk Territory story about Seveki and Thunder. Seveki needed water to let it flow into the empty river beds made by the Heli mammoth. Seveki goes to

search fresh water, meets Thunder and asks why

that's his name. He replies that he is called that because he has a lot of water. Seveki asks him for water and lets it into the empty river beds. And he makes Thunder himself a real natural phenomenon - thunder and thunderstorm. This Evenki story is similar to the above-mentioned Evenk stories about Sevki.

The cycle about the deeds of Seveki is for the Evenks the sacred history of the origin of the Evenki man and his middle land

Dulin Buga. The sacred story, set out in a single cycle of myths about the deeds of Seveki, has much that is universal to humanity and has much in common with aspects of Christianity. For both the Evenks and Christians, man is a “creation of God,” an “earthly creature.”

Literature

1. Vasilevich G.M. Evenks. – L., 1969.

2. Varlamova G.I. Epic and ritual genres of Evenki folklore. – Novosibirsk, 2002.

3. Keptuke G.I. Two-legged and cross-eyed,

the black-headed Evenk man and his land Dulin Buga: Myths - in the Evenki and Russian languages ​​(Dur khalgalkan, evunyki elelkan, kongnorin dylilkan evenki-bee taduk daldydyak bugalkanin Dulin Dunnengin). – Yakutsk, 1991.

4. Materials on Evenki (Tungus)

folklore – L., 1936.

5. Myreeva A.N. Rays of Sigunder (Sigunder harpalin).

– Yakutsk, 1992.

7. Folklore of the Evenks of Yakutia. – L., 1971.

Evenkia (Evenki district) belongs to the districts Far North. It is located in the northeast, occupies 32% of its total area, but the share of Evenkia’s population is only 0.53%. This is one of the most sparsely populated territories not only in Russia, but in the whole world.

The relief of the region is predominantly mountainous; in the north there is a huge massif - the Putorana plateau with an area of ​​250 thousand km 2. It is included in the Putorana Nature Reserve, listed World Heritage UNESCO. The rarest Putorana lives here bighorn sheep, meeting him is a great rarity, where you can meet a brown bear more often.

It is here, among the bare peaks, that, according to Evenki beliefs, Khargi lives - the spirit - the master of the Lower World, the rival of Seveki - the creator of the earth, animals and humans, the spirit - the master of the Upper World, the patron of people and deer. Presumably, the Kharga cult formed about 5 thousand years ago, when volcanic eruptions occurred in the area. Having left for the Lower World after a quarrel with Seveki, Khargi continues to send his assistants to earth - evil spirits who prevent people from hunting, bring diseases, and send blood-sucking insects. Therefore, he needs to be appeased with gifts, including berries.

Local forests contain a large amount of berries: red and black currants, cranberries, lingonberries, blueberries and cloudberries. The forests are predominantly coniferous: spruce, larch, pine, Siberian cedar. There are birch, alder, bird cherry and rowan. A tenth of the territory is occupied by tundra. And permafrost is widespread everywhere.

In this kingdom sharply continental climate The duration of winter is eight months. December-February is the peak season low temperatures, sometimes below -60°C. Spring and autumn are so short that they are almost invisible. Summer lasts only a short time: from late June to mid-August. The weather in summer is capricious: from sudden frosts to heat of +40°C. Polar day in summer gradually gives way to polar night in winter.

The geographical center of Russia is located in Evenkia: next to Lake Vivi in ​​the southwestern part of the Putorana plateau. The center is fixed 16 km south of the Arctic Circle, and the lake is so large (88 km long) that it itself intersects the circle. It takes a long time to get here (2 hours by helicopter from the neighboring Turukhansk region), there are no permanent settlements here, no one lives except bears, foxes and deer. Even the exact depth of the lake is unknown: the Evenks say about 200 m. The lake is large - more than 30 rivers flow into it, and there is an abundance of fish in it: taimen, char, grayling, sigvalek (endemic to the Putorana plateau), pike, perch, lenok. Like all large lakes of Evenkia, Vivi is of tectonic origin. The exact number of Lake Evenkia is unknown, but we can talk about thousands.

Evenkia is located far from the main Siberian cities; there are no year-round roads on its territory; travel along the Lower and Podkamennaya Tunguska is possible for several weeks a year, and only during floods: all the villages are located on rivers. The bulk of cargo is delivered via winter roads and by air.

Today, indigenous peoples make up less than a third of the region's total population. In Evenkia people are mainly engaged in reindeer herding and hunting. The population lives in a clan community or is united in peasant farms.

From the Putorana Plateau through the Central Siberian Plateau, the territory of the Evenki region decreases from north to south, while most of the territory is uninhabited mountainous terrain.

Story

If it had fallen a thousand years earlier, a theory about the extraterrestrial origin of local reindeer herders would inevitably have been born.

Only in 1931, one of the most common self-names of the people - Evenki - was recognized as official; before that they were called Tungus.

The earliest information about nomadic reindeer hunters, who today are called Evenks, is found in Chinese historical chronicles of the 5th-7th centuries. But in general, until the 20th century. Evenks were not united people, but by separate tribes living at a great distance from each other. At the same time, they were connected by a common language, customs and beliefs, which already indicates the common roots of all Evenks. The origin of the people has not yet been precisely established. Perhaps their homeland is Altai, Mongolia or Manchuria. Ethnographers offer dozens of theories.

Evenkia appeared as an administrative entity in 1930, when the Soviet government created the Evenki Autonomous Okrug as part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Residents of the region still celebrate their main holiday - Evenkia Day - on December 10 - the day of formation of the Evenki Autonomous Okrug.

From 1991 to 2006, the district was an independent subject of the Russian Federation, remaining administratively and territorially part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. According to the results of the referendum, since 2007, the Evenki Autonomous Okrug has become the Evenki municipal district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The village of Vanavara is no less famous: 60 km to the north and 20 km to the west of it - the epicenter of the explosion of the supposed Tunguska meteorite in 1908 with a power of up to 50 Mt. Recorded evidence of Evenks who personally observed an incomprehensible phenomenon has been preserved. The event gave rise to many hypotheses, none of which have yet been proven. The idea of ​​preserving the site of the disaster for future generations was first expressed in the late 1920s. the first researcher of the “meteorite” Leonid Kulik. His dream came true 70 years later.

Today, the central estate of the Tunguska Nature Reserve is located in the village of Vanavara. It specifically highlights an area of ​​about 2150 km2, which in 1908 was directly exposed to the factors of the Tunguska explosion: shock wave, radiation, forest fire associated with the explosion. The environmental consequences of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite are studied here. The documents of the reserve note that the site of the Tunguska meteorite fall is of exceptional interest as the only one in Globe an area that makes it possible to directly study the environmental consequences of space disasters.

In the Central Siberian Nature Reserve there is a natural monument called the Sulomai Pillars: a canyon with slopes up to 150 m high, on which vertical stone hexagonal prisms with a diameter of about 10 m and a height of 80 m are located. The pillars are the result of weathering of rocks.

Once a year, the village of Surinda becomes the site of a traditional national holiday - Reindeer Herder's Day. Representatives of reindeer herding teams, including women and children, compete in races both on reindeer sleds and on uchug, a deer designed for riding.

Another big celebration- Evenki New Year- Muchun, celebrated in June. Since ancient times, the Evenks gathered on this day, talked about the past winter and made plans for new winter. During Muchun, pagan rituals of cleansing and fumigation of the kurekan - a fence for deer - are performed.

general information

Location : Central Siberia.
Administrative affiliation : Siberian Federal District.

Administrative status : municipal district and an administrative-territorial unit with a special status in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Administrative division : 23 municipalities (towns and villages).
Administrative center : village kjr Tura - 5526 people.
Settlements : With. Baykit - 3312 people, village. Vanavara - 2913 people, village. Essenes - 630 people. (2016).
Educated: 2005
Languages: Russian, Evenki, Selkup.
Ethnic composition : Russians, Ukrainians, Evenks, Yakuts, Selkups, Nganasans.
Religions: Orthodoxy, shamanism.
Currency unit : Russian ruble.
Large rivers: Podkamennaya Tunguska, Lower Tunguska.
Large lakes: Essei, Vivi.
Neighboring regions and subjects of the Federation : in the north - Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets district, in the east - the Republic of Sakha and the Irkutsk region, in the south - Kezhemsky, Boguchansky, Motyginsky and North Yenisei districts, in the west - Turukhansky district.

Numbers

Square: 763,200 km 2 .
Length: 1500 km from north to south 850 km from west to east.
Population: 15414 people (2016).
Population density : 0.02 people/km 2 .
Highest point : 1678 m, Mount Kamen (Putorana plateau).
Remoteness (Tura) : 5738 km east of Moscow, about 1000 km north of Krasnoyarsk.

Climate and weather

Sharply continental.
Average January temperature : -36°C.
Average temperature in July : +14°C.
Average annual precipitation : 400 mm.
Average annual relative humidity : 70%.

Economy

Minerals : oil and natural gas.
Agriculture : crop production (potatoes, vegetables, grain crops), livestock husbandry (reindeer husbandry), fur-bearing animal hunting, river and lake fishing.
Traditional crafts : dressing of reindeer skins, making clothing and decorative items.
Services sector: tourism, transport, trade.

Attractions

Natural

Central Siberian Nature Reserve (Sulomaiskie Pillars canyon, 1985)

Putorana State nature reserve(Weeping Rocks and Shaitan Mountain, 1988)

Tunguska Nature Reserve (meteorite fall zone, Churgim waterfall, Kulika zaimka and Farrington, 1995)

Lakes Vivi, Nyaksingda, Agata and Severnoe

Tura village

Evenki Museum of Local Lore

Curious facts

The flow of the local rivers is stormy, there are many rapids and riffles in the rivers. When the water rises in the spring, characteristic stable whirlpools form in the rapids of the riverbed; local residents call them korchagi.

Evenki legends claim that Lake Essei has a second bottom. Most likely, if it exists, it is not the roof of the “water watchman’s” dwelling, as legend says. It was probably formed in the same way as in well-known lakes with a double bottom - by the trunks of drowned trees, held together by silt and forming a kind of crust. Cryptozoologists claim that under such a crust there may be an underwater world from the era of dinosaurs.

When the Evenki District was the Evenki Autonomous Okrug, as of 2006 it was in last place among the subjects of the Federation in terms of population.

In the Vivi River basin there is a large impact crater - Logancha. It was formed as a result of a meteorite fall 40 million years ago. The estimated diameter of the crater is about 22 km. It has been significantly deformed by late geological processes.

Indicators of tectonic processes on the territory of Evenkia are the angular outlines of the lake shores (they arise at the site of new faults perpendicular to the previous direction) and larches hidden by water (these stand, for example, in Lake Agata, which indicates a modern lowering of the bottom).

The village of Nidym, founded in 1940 and located on the right bank of the Lower Tunguska River, became very famous in the USSR in the 1970s. It was here that the film “Friend of Tymanchi” (USSR, 1970) was filmed, and its action took place here. The film about the friendship of the Evenk boy Tymancha and a wolf cub named Ayavrik (translated from Evenki means “pet”), featured local residents. The film, which contains unique ethnographic material, is the pride of the Evenks and part of their cultural heritage.

The official symbols of the Evenki region contain the main elements of a pagan cult. In the center of the flag is the national Evenki rug-kumalan, personifying the sun. The coat of arms is in the form of a ritual shamanic tambourine, a symbol of the Universe among the Evenkis, a gathering place for helping spirits who protect the Evenki people. The loon on the coat of arms, flying into the sunset from sunrise, is the creator of the Earth, the patron of the people.

Mythology of the Tungus (northern branch) - Evenks, Evens (Lamuts), Negidals and Manchus (southern branch) - Nanais, Ulchi, Orochs, Ude, Oroks, Manchus. In T.-m. m. two layers are distinguished: pre-shamanic and shamanic. The pre-shamanic layer covers ideas about the origin of the universe and the creation of the earth and all life on it. An ancient version of the Evenki myth about the creation of the world says that in the beginning there were only water and two brothers (or birds in a more ancient version). The younger brother took out some earth from the bottom (in the version, a bird brought it to him in its beak) and put it on the surface of the water. Then he sat down and fell asleep. The elder brother began to pull the earth out from under him and stretched it so much that it turned into a large modern earth. Then the brothers began to work - making images of people and animals useful to humans from clay and stone - the younger brother, harmful to humans animals - older brother. The younger one had a dog as an assistant (in the variant - a raven or a bear), which was supposed to guard the sculptures he made in the absence of the creator and not show them to the older brother. One day, the guard, tempted by his older brother's offer to give him fur, showed him the creations of his younger brother. The elder introduced various diseases into the sculptures or broke them. The younger brother returned, punished the assistant and continued his work. Having graduated, the younger one went to heaven, leaving a raven (bear) as a mediator between people and himself, and the older brother went underground. The shamans who appeared later called the younger brother seveki, and the older brother khargi.

The whole world (buga) was represented as three worlds: the upper one, above the sky, the entrance to which was through the nyannya sangarin (hole of the sky) - the North Star; middle world- the earth and the lower world, the entrance to which is through whirlpools. In the upper and lower worlds, life happens in the same way as in the middle world, only the people living there did not understand the Evenks and sent them away, since they brought diseases. Above the upper world are the luminaries. The most ancient myths represent the sun and the month as women, later ones as a pair of spouses. The myth about the hunter Haglun, who chases moose on skis, arose during the period when the Tungus entered the taiga and began hunting moose. The hunter and the moose are the constellation Ursa Major, and the hunter's ski trail is the Milky Way.

Much later, shamanic cosmogonic myths appeared. The upper world is located above the sources and top of the mountain (or above the seven clouds), the lower world is below the mouth of the Engdekit River, which begins in the upper world and ends in the lower one. Anyone who ends up in the lower world, even a shaman, does not return back. Shamanic cosmogony reflected the process of settlement of the ancient Tungus along the rivers, therefore the orientation of the upper and lower worlds (east, south, southeast, etc.) depends on the direction of the flow of the main river along which settlement in the taiga took place. On Engdekit, below all the worlds of the dead, there are the souls of the first shamans (on the cliffs), as well as all those who entered the formation of the ancient Tungus (Changits, Ngamondri, Dyandri, Nyandri, etc.). Bone and stone objects that have gone out of use, called Mugda shamans, are also placed there. On the tributaries of the engdekit - the shaman's personal rivers (their sources are in whirlpools) spirits - assistants to the shamans are placed, at a time when the shaman does not force them to work, that is, does not send them to search for the missing soul of the patient whom he is treating. In the upper world, shamans placed the creator of the earth and man - seveki. The shamans themselves acted as intermediaries between seveki and people. According to shamanic beliefs, unborn souls are placed in the so-called. ngektare (or ngevi) - at the foot of the mountains of the upper world; those born - in man, and after the death of the latter - in the world of the dead. One of the functions of shamans was to “send” the souls (omi) of the dead to the world of the dead. The shamans had a whole host of helping spirits - seven, burkan, and others from the animal world. They sent them out on various errands when it was necessary to find the “stolen” soul of a patient or find out what the questioner wanted, and sometimes to transport the soul of the deceased to the world of the dead. The shamans constantly communicated with them, arranging sevenchepeke (seven, from the Evenki lit. “to perform”, sevenchepeke, “kamlanie” - a ritual of unity with the spirits). The sevens were placed on the shaman's personal river when they did not have assignments. Controlling these spirits was the second function of shamans. Their images were taken in large quantities, especially Nanai shamans. By organizing rituals in which helping spirits took an active part, shamans made bloody sacrifices to seveki or the spirits of the shamans’ ancestors.

Since shamans created the idea of ​​master spirits, they were the first to initiate rites of initiation or tabooing of the sevek deer. In addition, shamans became the main and active participants in the hunting mysteries, adding to them some of their own rituals (“purification” of hunters and their weapons and equipment, fortune telling about hunting and the life of hunters, updating parts of their costume and tambourine, etc.). For rituals based on the mysteries, there were no blood sacrifices. Having created a cosmogony, the shamans settled their ancestors - shamans and shamans - on engdekit between the worlds of the dead and the mouths of personal shamanic rivers and created mythological stories about them, for example about Gurivul (Murivul), Torganei. They also settled there the ancient ancestors of various groups of foreign-speaking populations, parts of which merged with the Tungus (for example, Churi, Chulugdy, Ngamodri, Nyandri, Goldi), also creating mythological stories about them.

Lit.: Collection of materials on Evenki (Tungus) folklore, comp. G. M. Vasilevich, Leningrad, 1936; Historical folklore of the Evenks, comp. G. M. Vasilevich, M.-L., 1966; Vasilevich G.M., Early ideas about the world among the Evenks, in: Research and materials on issues of primitive religious beliefs. Proceedings of the Institute of Ethnography, vol. 51, M., 1959; her, Some data on hunting rituals and ideas among the Tungus, “Ethnography”, 1930, No. 3; her, Ancient hunting and reindeer herding rituals of the Evenks, in the book: Collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, vol. 17, M.-L., 1957; Kozminsky I.I., Report on the study of the material culture and beliefs of the Gari Golds, in the book: Garino-Amgun expedition of 1926, L., 1929; his, The emergence of a new cult among the Golds, in the book: Collection of ethnographic materials, No. 2, L., 1927; Lopatin I., Amur, Ussuri and Sungari golds, Vladivostok, 1922, p. 212-40; Shimkevich P.P., Materials for the study of shamanism among the Golds, Khabarovsk, 1896; Sternberg L. Ya., Gilyaks, Orochs, Golds, Negidals, Ainu, Khabarovsk, 1933; Shirokogoroff S., Psychomental complex of the Tungus, L., 1935.

Rolling and hitting the stones, a mountain river with clear icy water bubbles, fluffy clouds float across the bottomless clear sky. The whole world is filled with the aroma of blooming larch needles and the heady scent of wild rosemary flowers. In this world, beautiful with its pristine charm, there is no sense of time: these mountains, these trees, this river and even the bumblebee buzzing over the golden dandelions seem to be dissolved in eternity...

Among this endless eternity, there is a quiet, cozy world, where the reality of people and the Universe merge, and in this amazing world the legends of bygone times live on. In every breath of wind one can hear the voice of a disappeared tribe, in every rustle of trees there are hidden words of great peoples who have flown into the distance... But they are here, Mother Earth keeps the memory of everyone...

Among the Evenki of Southern Yakutia, an amazing legend has been preserved about the springs of mineral life-giving waters for which these regions are famous.

“Long ago, in time immemorial, a rich Evenki family lived in these places Nyurmagan. The leader of the clan had seven daughters and no sons. And one day, at sunset, the gods gave him a son. But the child was born sickly and covered with scabs. How many healers and shamans tried to cure the baby, the ulcers seemed to heal, but after some time they reappeared. Nyurmagans roamed throughout Southern Yakutia and one day during the move the baby fell out of the cradle. At first they didn’t notice that the child had fallen out, then they heard the baby’s cheerful laughter and the splash of water, and turned around. It had been a long time since the parents had heard the ringing laughter of their son; the itchy wounds bothered him so much that the baby cried and was capricious all the time.

And here a boy sits in the middle of a shallow spring with warm, caressing water, hitting the water, splashing and laughing fervently. Tears of happiness appeared in the eyes of the touched mother. After this bath, the baby slept peacefully all night, and in the morning the sores crusted over and began to heal. The Nyurmagan family spent the whole summer at the life-giving spring. Every day we bathed the baby in a healing spring. By winter the boy had fully recovered. Since then, these springs began to be revered as sacred places. The boy grew up and became the leader of his clan, brave, courageous and strong. The name of the brave leader was Nahot. And popular rumor from mouth to mouth from century to century began to convey the secret of life-giving mountain springs.”

Even before this incident, told in a widespread legend about the recovery of the son of the leader of the Nyurmagan clan, there were amazing stories from hunters who observed wounded deer and elk. The bloodied animals, having gathered their last strength, reached the mysterious hot springs, plunged into streams and lakes, where healing water, and the wounds healed very quickly. Their natural instinct knew that special water flowed in these streams hidden in the mountains.

Since then, the great shamans of the ancient Evenki clans Nyurmagan, Puegir and Byulyu began to honor and protect these protected places, performed rituals and protected these gifts of the gods from strangers.

There was another wonderful legend about these mysterious sources of living water. This legend is widespread among the Amur Evenks.

“In one family, unknown in which, behind the mists of centuries, when the Evenks were powerful, when they had great princes and in those distant times the best sons of this proud and noble people ruled the provinces of the Celestial Empire, there lived a girl of indescribable beauty. During the day she shone like the rays of the sun, and on a moonlit night she eclipsed the light of the Moon with the beauty of her beautiful face. And the beauty's name was Aeurite. The emperor of one large province of China fell in love with this young, enchanting beauty. He sent matchmakers to the girl’s parents, and everything was done honorably. Aevrit's elderly parents could not refuse His Majesty, the viceroy of the gods on Earth. The agreement was concluded, the bride price was paid, and the wedding date was set for the fall.

On a hot, wonderful summer day, young Aevrit sat by a cool mountain stream, sang a song about the beauty of her native nature in a silvery, soulful voice and processed a deer skin. Her wonderful voice was heard by a young brave hunter passing by. Mende. He was so fascinated by the voice of the singing girl. He watched the beautiful songbird from behind the bushes. A girl with a chiseled, flexible figure sat with her back to him, a thick, long, raven-colored braid flowed down her back, and the end of the luxurious braid, decorated with a braid, lay on the coastal stones. Feeling someone else's gaze on her, the beauty turned around. The young man Mende was taken aback by the unearthly beauty of the girl, as if virgin snow on the high peaks of the mountains was white-faced, bottomless dark eyes like a pool were brighter than winter stars, fresh lips the color of a scarlet morning dawn were parted in surprise, the blush on the girl’s cheeks was softer than a rosy dawn. Mende fell in love at first sight with a girl of amazing rare beauty.

The young man came out of his hiding place to the girl. The young beauty lowered her gaze. Mende approached the girl and asked:

- What is your name, beautiful maiden?

Aevrit,” the girl answered, smiling.

What do they call you, brave young man?

My parents named me Mende.

A young man and a girl walked for a long time along the river. In their young hearts, something amazing, beautiful and tender arose, like the first snowdrop that absorbed the spring heavenly blue, grown through ice and snow, feeling.

The young man promised to return in the fall for the beautiful maiden and take her far, far away, to his homeland. Young Aevrit did not have time to tell the noble and brave hunter that she was already engaged. The young hunter so quickly and deftly sat on the ucha-deer and galloped off.

Aevrit hid from her parents a meeting with a young hunter who touched her young girl’s heart.

Autumn has come. The emperor of the northern province of the Celestial Empire sent a wedding caravan for his beautiful bride. A ceremony was held to see off the bride, the beautiful Aevrit said goodbye to her old parents and burst into burning tears. But the spoken word and the spoken promise cannot be broken; young Aevrit was destined to become the emperor’s wife. The rich procession set off on a long journey.

Being only a day late, he arrived at the camp where the beautiful Aevrit, a brave and courageous young hunter Mende, lived. The young man, having learned that his beloved was already engaged, at first despaired. But the love for the beautiful Aevrit was so strong that the brave young man was able to overcome all his fears and doubts. Desperate and fearless Mende decided to catch up with his beloved and kidnap her, take her to distant places, hide in the inaccessible mountains of the Stanovoy Range and start a new happy life.

On the third day of the journey, Mende caught up with the caravan. He left his reindeer in another place and at night secretly made his way to the cart where young Aevrit was sleeping. Hearing her lover’s voice, the beauty perked up and was delighted. Under the cover of darkness, the lovers ran away. The next morning they discovered that the emperor’s bride had disappeared. No one knew anything, no one saw anyone, not a single stranger approached the caravan. Horror gripped the warriors accompanying the ruler's bride. They scattered throughout the taiga in search of the runaway beauty. One of the warriors, experienced and inquisitive, saw traces of deer that had gone towards the mountains along the river. A detachment of warriors rushed in pursuit of the fugitives. Soon they caught up with the young man and girl. The sharp shooter took aim at the young hunter's back and fired a sharp, piercing arrow that hit him right in the heart. The brave young man fell dead to the ground, hot blood gushing from his wound. The beautiful maiden bent over her dying lover and burst into burning tears that flowed from her beautiful eyes in streams. The beloved were petrified with grief. The Chinese soldiers who caught up froze in bewilderment. They say that somewhere in the mountains there are seven rocks with outlines resembling warriors, and stones that look like lovers who have embraced each other for eternity, which even death could not separate. Mende's blood and Aevrit's tears turned into a hot spring. Water, born from blood from the wounds of the heart, filled with unearthly love and the purest tears mourning a failed great feeling, began to have healing powers and gave the energy of life.

This is the sad and beautiful legend about the living water that flows like a hot spring in our area,” say the old Evenks, who keep the stories and traditions of past centuries.

The legends of our ancestors are not like fairy tales that are read from bright and glossy books. They are special, permeated with the smell of taiga, the murmur of mountain rivers, the smoke of a fire and something else elusively beautiful and dear, from which an unusually warm wave is born on the chest, tremblingly and slowly spreads throughout the body, enveloping the consciousness with the expectation of a miracle and immeasurable happiness.

Varvara KORYAKINA,

Member of the Writers' Union of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).