Topic: Aboriginal Siberia : a study in social anthropology _ Shamanism - 1914

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ABORIGIXAL SIBERIA

A STUDY IN SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY



OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YOBK
TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY

HUMPHREY MILFORD M.A.

PUBLISHER TO THE UKIVERSm'



AIJOHKJINAL SIBERIA

A STUDY IN

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

BY

M. A. CZAPLICKA

SOMERVILLE COLLEGE, OXFORD
WITH A PREFACE BY

R. R. MARETT

READER IX SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
PRESIDENT OF THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY




OXFORD

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

1914



PREFACE

BY K. R. MARETT

When, somewhat light-heartedly, I suggested to Miss CV.ap-
licka, after she had taken the Oxford Diploma in Anthropology,
that she might most fruitfully undertake a monograph on the
aboriginal tribes of Siberia, I confess that I had no clear idea of
the magnitude of the task proposed. The number of Russian
authorities concerned — not to speak of the students of other
nationahties — is simply immense, as Miss Czaplicka's biblio-
graphy clearly shows. Moreover, as must necessarily happen
in such a case, the scientific value of their work differs con-
siderably in degree ; so that a great deal of patient criti-
cism and selection is required on the part of one who is
trying to reduce the evidence to order. Now I am sure that
Miss Czaplicka has proved herself competent to do this sifting
properly. As a result, those students belonging to western
Europe who could make nothing of the Russian originals — and
alas, they compose tlie vast majority — will henceforth be in
a position to fi-ame a just notion of the social anthropology of
these interesting peoples of the Far North. Hitherto, they
have had to depend largely on the recent discoveries made by
the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, or else to go back as far as
the classical researches of such writers as Castren or Pallas.
Of course there remains much to be accomphshed still. In
particular, so far as I can judge, the data in regard to social
organization are altogether incomplete, and should be made



vi PREFACE

:v first consideration \>y those trained anthropologists who in
the future may be concerned with this region. Needless to say,
antin-upc)k>gical science is quite insatiate ; wherefore, despite the
excellence of most of the material already collected, it is
necessary to insist that a far more intensive study of these
tribes is needed, and that tlie time fur making acquaintance
with their culture in its aboriginal state is fast slipping away.
Indeed, apart from its intrinsic interest, the present survey is of
the utmost value simply as a guide to the future explorer.

Miss Czaplicka's work may be said, I think, to cover the
social anthropology of the aboriginal tribes of Siberia. The
pliysical anthropology, archaeolog}', and technology she does not
profess to touch in the present work. On the other hand, the
main aspects of the social life are dealt with adequately ; and
she has had the happy thought to prefix, in accordance with
modern metiiod, an account of the geographical conditions
to which the native institutions so closely and characteristically
respond.

Now it might seem at first sight that such a work as this,
consisting as it primarily does in the systematic presentation of
tlie results of a large number of first-hand authorities, can leave
little scope for originality, except in so far as a critical handling
of sources must always depend in the last resort on the personal
judgement. It seems to me, however, that Miss Czaplicka has
in several inq)ortant respects contributed new ideas of great
interest and importance. In the first place, her classification of
ethnic groups is, so far as I know, her own ; and the fimda-
mental contrast upon which it is based between Palaeo-Siberians,
namely, the ancient inhabitants of the country', and Neo-Siberiaus,
namely, all those peoples who have come northwards at any
time during, let us say, the last milieu ium, but liave already
been resident there long enough to have become differentiated



PREFACE vii

from ilulr kinsmen in the south, offers a working distinction
of first-rate value. There may he, nay, there undoubtedly is,
a plurality of racial types within each of the groups so dis-
tinguished ; but, from the standpoint of social anthropology, it
seems of primaiy importance to lay stress on the affinities
produced by culture-contact.

In the next place, Miss Czaplicka has dealt with the problem
of the nature of Shamanism in a very novel and, I think,
satisfactory way. Tlie difficulty is that, on the one hand, some
anthropologists have been wont to use the term Shamanism as
a general expression applicable to the magico-religious life of
all primitive peoples, at any rate in so far as the notion of
' possession ' constitutes a dominant note ; while, on the other
hand. Shamanism is sometimes treated as if it stood for a specific
type of religious experience confined to Northern Asia, and ^\^th-
out analogy in any other part of the world. Miss Czaplicka, how-
ever, deftly steers a middle course, doing justice to the peculiarities
of the local type, or (shall we say ?) types, and yet indicating
clearly that a number of elements common to the life and mind
of primitive mankind in general have there met together and
taken on a specific shape. Moreover, Miss Czaplicka has ven-
tured to place her own interpretation on the very curious
phenomena relating to what might be termed the sexual am-
biguity of the Shaman. I am inclined to believe that her theory
of the Shaman's relegation to a third or neutral sex will be
found to throw much light on this veiy curious chapter of
social anthropology. Lastly, Miss Czaplicka, with the help of
what would seem to be somewhat scattered indications derived
from the first-hand authorities, has put together what I take to
be the first systematic account of those remarkable facts of
mental pathology summed up in the convenient term 'Arctic
Hysteria '. This side of her work is all the more important



viii PREFACE

because, apai-t from tlicse facts, it is difficult or impossible to
api)reciate justly the religious life of these Siberian tribes ; and
to say the religious life of a primitive i)eople is almost to say
their social life as a "svhole.

It remauis only to add that British anthropologists will be
sincerely grateful to Miss Czaplicka for having introduced them
to the splendid work of their colleagues of eastern Europe.
What a love of science must have burned in their hearts to
enable them to prosecute these untiring researches in the teeth
of tlie icy blasts that sweep across tundra and steppe! The
more, too, ishall we have reason to congratulate them, if, as
a result of the scientific study of the aborigines of Siberia,
practical measures are taken to shield them from the demora-
lization which in their case can be but a prelude to extinction.
Unlovely in their ways of life as to us they may appear to be,
these modern representatives of the Age of the Eeindeer typify
mankind's secular struggle to overcome the physical environ-
ment, be it ever so inhospitable and pregnant with death. We
owe it not only to the memory of our remote forefathers, but to
ourselves as moral beings, to do our best to preserve these
toilers of the outer marge whose humble life-history is an
epitome of hmnauity's ceaseless effort to live, and, by making
that effort socially and in common, hkewise to live Avell.



AUTHOR'S NOTE

Are there any true aborigines in Siberia, as there are in
Australia anil Africa? This is a question not infrequently
asked in England, and Siberia is sometimes regarded as a
country originally peopled by political exiles and criminals.
Only lately has it been realized that, apart from the interest
and sympathy aroused by the former and the curiosity felt
concerning the latter, Siberia and its people present an in-
teresting variety of subjects for study, and especially for anthro-
pological and archaeological research. In the vast mass of
literature written on the people of this country, there is nothing
which can serve as a comprehensive and concise handbook for
the study of anthropology. The works of early travellers
which deal with the area as a whole give us nothing beyond
general impressions and items of curious information ; while
the profound and systematic study made lately by the Jesup
Expedition is too extensive and detailed for the ordinary student,
and further it deals only with the north-eastern district. The
Memoir of the Jesup Expedition is practically the first work
of the kind published in English — that is if we except transla-
tions of the writings of some of the earlier travellers mentioned
above, such as Ki-asheninnikoff and Pallas.

Many Russian men of science, who have recently published
special works on different districts, take occasion to deplore,
in their prefaces, the lack of such a handbook. It is the object
of the author, before personally investigating conditions in the
country itself, to make an attempt to supply this need ; for
comparative work of this kind is a task for the study rather than
the field.

In the compilation of a work of this kind one realizes only
too well the lack of arrangement and the unequal value of the
available materials. On the one hand, one finds numerous
detailed descriptions of one single characteristic of a people
or of a ceremony ; on the other, a bare allusion to some custom
or a mere cursory account of a whole tribe. Thus the Buryat



X AUTHORS NOTE

scholar, Dordji lianzaroft'/ complains: 'The Orientalists have
long occii[»iecl tiiemselvcs with the inhahitants of the interior
of Asia, hut their attention was primarily directed to the w^ars
of the Mongols, wliile the customs, habits, and beliefs of this
j)eople were neglected as unimportant in historical research.
The faith of the Mongols ])revious to their acceptance of
Buddhism lias received no study at all, the reason being a
serious one, the inadecpiacy of the materials for such research.'

Banzarotf, who has described the Black Faith of the Mongols,
was himself seriously hampered by the vagueness of the Russian
as Avell as the Mongol literature on the subject ^ ; and this in
spite of the fact that the religious side of native life has always
received more attention from writers on Siberia than the social
side.

One of the most earnest pleas for the immediate and syste-
matic study of the Sil)erian aborigines comes from Yadrintzeff,^
who was iunong their ti-uest friends. Lastly, Patkanoff',"* to
whom we owe many statistical and geographical works on
Siberia, and who is the editor of the Central Statistical Com-
mittee, refers to the immense amount of material collected,
varying in period, quality, place and aspect to an extent which
greatly impairs its usefulness ; and he considers this to be the
reason why the ethnological literature of Europe is either silent
on the subject of Siberia, or merely touches on it lightly. The
same writer enumerates three errors frecpiently met with in
descriptions of the country : (1) Confusion of the tribes. Thus
explorers have failed to distinguish until lately the Gilyak from
the Tungusic tribes ; the Ostyak-Samoyed have been confounded
with the Ugrian Ostyak : the Turkic tribe of Altaians proper,
because they were ruled for some time by the Kalmuk, are often
called 'the Mountain (or White) Kalmuk', and are by some
writers actually confused wath the Kahnuk, who ai-e Mongols ;
and so on. (2) Incorrectness in delimiting frontiers. (3) In-
accuracy in reckoning the numbers of natives.

' The Black Faith, or SJiamanishi among the Moiujoh, 1891, p. 1.

- Op. cit., p. 3.

' The Sibcriati Aboricfinea, thiir Moile of Life and Present Condition,
Petersburg, 1891, Treface.

* Statistical Data for the Racial Composition of the Population of Siberia,
its Language and Tribes, Petersburg, 1912, p. 1.



AUTHOR'S NOTE xi

The second i>t these errors is due to the fact that many tribes
are either nomads or mere wanderers. As to the numerical
reckoning of the peoples, the payment of i/asi/k (taxes) being
made proportionate to the numbers of the tribe, the natives are
not anxious to assist in revealing the true state of affaii-s.

Of the numerous important problems which confront us in
the study of Siberia, one of the most interesting is that attacked
by the Jesup Expedition, namely, the connexion between the
Asiatic aborigines of the North-East and the North-Western
Amerinds. Also there is the question of the relation between
the Neo-Siberians and the Palaeo-Siberians, and the question of
the relation of the different tribes within these groups to each
other. The question of the migrations of the last ten centuries
is closely connected with the foregoing subjects of research, and
no less imi>ortant is the study of whatever information can be
gathered concerning tribes Avhich have become extinct almost
within the present generation, such as the Arine, Kotte, Assan,
and Tuba,^ of which the last named were related to the Ostyak
of the Yenisei.- Some Turkic tribes of the Altai still call
themselves Tuba, a fact which suggests the possibility of an
admixture with the old Tuba of Yenisei.^ The Ostyak of
Yenisei are themselves dying out ; so also are the Yukaghir
of the north-east. The latter are the last survivors of a large

' All these tribes are referred to in Chinese chronicles of the seventh
century as the nation of Tupo, inhabiting the region of the Upper Yenisei
and the northern Altai.

- Yadrintzeff, op. cit., preface, p. 8.

^ No longer ago tluin the year 1753 Gmelin saw some of the Arine
(Deniker, Races of Man, 1900, p. 366), but already in 1765-6 Fischer
states that the Arine no longer exist [Sihirische Geschtchte, 1768, pp. 138-
387). Castren (1854-7) came across some five Kotte who made it possible
for him to learn their language (EfJinol. Varies, uher die alfaisch. Volk.,
1855, p. 87). The Omok, living in large numbers between the rivers
Yana and Kolyma, are mentioned in Wx-angefs work, Jounuii to the North
Coast of Siberia and the Polar Sea, 1841, p. 81. Argentotf speaks of the
Chellag in his The Northern Land, I. R. G. S., 1861, vol. ii, p. 18. Mention
is made of the Anaul in Muller's Sammlung ion linssische Geschichte, 1758,
vol. iii, p. 11. From these sources we learn of great tribal meetings
between the Chellag and the Omok, and of wars between the Cossacks
under Dejnefl' and the Anaul in 1649. Deniker supposes (Tfie Races of
Man, 1908, p. 370j that the disappearance of the tribes is more apparent
than real, that the Anaul and the Omok (whose name is a general term,
signifying • tribe 'j were in fact branches of the Yukaghir, and that the
Chellag were a Chukchee tribe. But this is mere conjecture (see Schrenck,
TJie Natives of the Amur Coiintri/, 1883, p. 2).



xii AUTHOR'S NOTE

family of tribes which included the now extinct Omok, Chellag,
and Annul. Indeed, until Jochelson liad investigated the Yuka-
ghir, it Avas generally tliought that they, too, were extinct, or
had become absorbed by the Lanuit-Tungus.

If the Kanichadal had not been described by Steller and
Krasheuinnikoff, we sliould now have as little knowledge of
them as we have of the extinct tribes, since the Kamchadal
are now quite intermixed with Eussians.

Perhaps the most neglected of the surviving peoples are the
Tungus and the Ostyak of the Yenisei ; for the north-east is
' under the microscope ' of American workers (including some
Russian scientists), and the Samoyedic and Fimiic tribes are
being investigated l»y the scientists of Finland. As to the Mon-
gols and Turks, they have always been to some extent under
the eye of the Orientalists both of Russia and of western
Europe, though the anthropology of the Orient has been over
much neglected in i'a\our of its linguistics and literature.



The author has found it impossible to include in the present
work an account of the physical anthropology and technology
of the aborigines of Siberia. Xor has it been possible to
describe here the prehistoric life of this region, of which the
Yenisei valley alone can supply so wide a field for research.
These will form the subject of a future work.

Before closing these observations the author would like to say
a few words with regard to the orthography of the non-English
words which occur in the text and notes.

All native as well as Russian terms have l^een spelt as simply
as possible, allowance being made for the fact that all foreign
vowel sounds are pronounced by English people in very nmch
the same way as those of modern Italian. The names of Polish
authors, as they are written in Latin letters, have been left un-
changed. The Russian names ending similarly to the Polish
{sJci or cJii) are variously spelt elsewhere in Latin characters.

In regard to this point, the author has borrowed a hint from
the only modern original article on this region written in
English by a Russian, namely The Bunjats, by D. Klementz,
in Hastings's Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Klementz



AUTHORS NOTE xiii

has adopted the same spelling for the ending of Russian names
when written in Latin characters as for similar Polish names
(i.e. not ski/ or sJcii but sJci).

The native words taken from the publications of the Jesiip N. P.
Expedition are written minus the numerous phonetic signs.
Any one desiring more intimate linguistic acquaintance with
them can always refer to the original.

There is one sound, veiy often met with in the native words
used in this work, which it is impossible to transliter.ato into
western European tongues, namely a hard /. written f in Polish,
and in Russian ordinary I witli a hard vowel following. Thus
the words Allakh, Boldokhoy ought to be pronounced some-
thing like Aouakh, Booudokhoy.

The following abbreviations have been used :

I. R. A. S. — Bulletin of the Imperial Russian Academy of Science.

I. R. G. S. — Bulletin of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.

E. S.S. I. R.G.S.— Bulletin of the East Siberian Section of the Im-
perial Russian Geographical Society (the Ethnographical Section).

W. S.S. I. R.G.S. -Bulletin of the West Siberian Section of the Im-
perial Russian Geographical Society (the Ethnographical Section).

A.S.I. R. G. S. — Bulletin of the Amur Section of the Imperial Russian
Geographical Society.

S. S. A. C— Bulletin of the Society for the Study of the Amur Country.

I. S. F. S. A. E.— Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Friends of Natural
Science, Anthropology and Ethnography.

J. N. P. E. — Memoir of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition.

R.A.J. — Russian Anthropological Journal.

E. R. — EtJinological Review.

L. A. T. — Living Ancient Times.

E.R. E. — Hastings's Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics.

[Prometheus]

I am indebted to so many persons for help in connexion with
this book, that it is impossible for me to mention all their names
in this necessarily brief acknowledgement. In particular I wish
to record my warm gratitude to my tutor, Dr. Marett, who first
suggested to me the idea of writing the book, and who, during
its preparation, has helped me with many invaluable hints and
suggestions. A grateful acknowledgement of much valuable aid
is also due to Mr. Henrj- Balfour of the Pitt-Rivers Museum,
and to many other members both of English and Continental
Universities.



xiv AUTHOR'S NOTE

For ;t rich supply of materials ami l)ibliographical suggestions
I owe thanks to various Russian scholars, especially to Dr.
Sternberg, Mr. Maksimoff, Mr. Jochelson, and Mme. Kliaruyina.
Mr. Jochelson has shown endless patience in aiding me in my
search for data, and in resolving my doubts on various points.

To two of my own countrymen, Mr. Pitsudski and Mr.
Sieroszewski, Poles who have spent many years in close personal
contact with Siberian natives, I gladly take this opportunity of
offering my cordial thanks for their help.

A grant from Somerville College enabled me to start the
work in the autumn of 1912. Grants for its continuation have
also been twice made to me by the Keid Trust of Bedford
College, London (in 1912 and 1913). The ti-ustees of this re-
search fund have thus shown a very active and generous interest
in the work of one who is twice a stranger, being both of another
college and of foreign nationality. I wish to express my special
thanks to them.

The task of improving my imperfect English was very kindly
undertaken by my friends Miss Hilda Walton and Miss Katherine
Menke of Somerville College, and Miss Agnes Dawson and
Mr. H. U. Hall, of the London School of Economics and
Political Science. Mr. F. H. Nixon kindly attended to the
final stage of proof-correcting after my departure from England.
I am indebted for the photographs to Mr. Pilsudski,Mr. Stroyecki,
Dr. Sternberg of the Imperial Russian Academy of Science,
and Prof. Franz Boas of Columbia University.



CONTENTS

PART I. ETHNO-GEOGEAPHY.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Geography ........ 1

II. Ethnology . . . . . . . .13

PART II. SOCIOLOGY.

III. Social Organization ...... 23

IV. Marriage 70

V. Customs and Beliefs connected with Birth . 129

VI. Death, Burial, Future Life, and Ancestor

Worship ........ 145

PART III. RELIGION.

VIL Shamanism 166

VIII. The Shaman, his Vocation and his Preparation . 169

IX. Types of Shamans ....... 191

X. The Accessories of the Shaman .... 203

XL The Shaman in Action ...... 228

XII. Shamanism and Sex ...... 243

XIII. Gods, Spirits, Soul ...... 256

XIV. Some Ceremonies ....... 291

PART IV. PATHOLOGY
XV. ' Arctic Hysteria ' . . .



Biographical Sketches
Bibliography
Glossary .
Index

Plates



307

326
331
352
366

at end.



MAPS.

Ethnological Map of Siberia .
Physical Map of Siberia .



PART I. ETHNO-GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER I

GEOGEAPHY

Siberia occupies the whole of northern Asia, from Turania and
the eastern Asiatic plateau to the Arctic Ocean, and from the Ural
Mountains to the Pacific. It forms one-fourth of the whole >y
continent of Asia, and has fewer inhabitants than London.^
The total area is 5,493,629 square miles, or more than the area of
the United States, Alaska, and Europe taken together (5,184,109
square miles).- Its frontier in the south coincides roughly with
the parallel of 60° N. lat., whence it stretches northwards over
about 30° of latitude. Its western meridian is 60° E., and from
this it extends eastwards through about 130° of longitude.

There are several different opinions as to how the name Siberia
originated. Golovacheff •^' thinks that it was taken from the name
of an ancient tribe called ' Syvyr ' or * Sybir ', who came originally
from Mongolia and settled on the banks of the middle Irtysh, in
the present Government of Tobolsk. For a long time before the
Eussian colonization of Siberia this tribe was subject to the
Tartaric Khans, and all that remained of it was its name, which
was also the name of the chief town of Khan Kuchum — ' Sibyr '
or * Isker '. However, when we consider that the name Sibyr
was the name by which the Eussians called the ancient town
Isker, it seems that tlie opinion of Chyliczkowski * is perhaps
nearer to the truth. The eastern Slavs, he says, used to call all
the northern regions by the name of ' Sievier '. Hence the
country of northern Asia, as well as its chief town, ' Isker ', was
named ' Sievier ', ' Sivir ', ' Sybir '.

The frontiers of Siberia are very difficult of access. In the
south, mountains and deserts separate it from China. In the
east, mountains shut it off from the sea, and the sea itself,
especially the Sea of Okhotsk, is extremely difficult to navigate on

^ Nalkowski, Geografja Rozumoua, pp. 378-9.

'^ Kennan, Siberia, pp. 57-8. ^ Siberia, p. 3. * Syberya^ p. 1.

1679 Tt



2 ETHNO-GEOGRAPHY

account of fogs and ice. Northwards Siberia is open to the
Arctic Ocean, but. as the mere mention of this name suggests,
there is no access for navigators to those shores. The search for
a North-Ecost Passage, which occupied four centuries, met its chief
obstacle in the rounding of Cape Chelyuskin. Finally, some fifty
years ago, Nordenskiuld succeeded in making his way Ijy sea
along the Arctic shores, by choosing as the time for his voyage,
not the short Arctic summer, when the highest temperature of
the region scarcely affords enough heat for the melting of the
sea-ice, but the beginning of autumn, when the waters of the
Siberian rivers, warmed by the continental heat of southern
Siberia, on reaching the Arctic coast form a current of relatively
warm icefree fresh water, setting eastward along the Siberian
shores. This memorable voyage of the Vega, however, did not
establish the possibility of making the route a permanent trade-
route to Siberia, for the amount of ice in the Kara Sea in different
years is very variable. Hence the proposal to construct a railway
between the Petchora and the Ob. Also, the necessity for a long
and difficult coasting voyage round the Samoyedic peninsula gave
rise to another proposal — to cut a canal through the neck of this
peninsula to the mouth of the Ob.^ Only in the west, owing to
the lower altitude of the Middle Ural and the nearness to each
other of the Asiatic and European rivers of this region, is Siberia
easily accessible. This is the route which war and trade have
followed from time immemorial ; by this path the chief Asiatic
migrations have reached Europe ; and now, in the contrary
direction, the stream of colonization is passing from Europe into
Asia.-

* Nalkowski, op. cit., pix 379-82.

^ Nearly all Russian writers in describing geographical conditions
refer move to the administrative than to the physical division of the
country. Therefore, before proceeding with our real subject, we shall
give an idea of the administrative division. There are three great
'General Governments '—Western Siberia, Eastern Siberia, and the
Trans-Amur Country.

A. Western Siberia is composed of:

I. The Tobolsk Government, which is divided into the following
districts: 1. Tobolsk; 2. Berezovsk ; 3. Surgutsk ; 4. Ishimsk; 5. Kur-
gansk; 6. Tinkalinsk ; 7. Tarsk ; 8. Turinsk ; 9. Tiumensk ; 10. Yalu-
iorovsk.

II. The Tomsk Government, divided into the following districts:
1. Tomsk; 2. Barnaulsk ; 3. Biisk ; 4. Kainsk ; 5. Kuznieck ; 6. Mari-
insk ; 7. Zmeinogorsk.

III. Akmolinsk Territory.

IV. Semipolatinsk Territory.



GEOGRAPHY 3

In its configuration, Siberia may be regarded as comprising two
parts : (a) Western Siberia, from the Ural Mountains to the River
Yenisei, of tertiary formation, flat, bounded by mountains in the
south ; {b) Eastern Siberia, east of the Yenisei, of older geological
formation, rising here and there into hilly regions difficult of
access, and culminating in iiigh mountains in the extreme east,
the region of Bering Soa.^

The Amur region forms still a third geographical district. It
slopes eastward from the watershed to tiie Pacific, and its chief
river is the Amur, a stream which, with its great tributaries,
affords splendid facilities for navigation.

The island of Sakhalin lies opposite the Amur region, and
marks the eastward extremity of Siberia.

Being shut in by mountains keeping off the warm winds from
the south, and being o^jen to the northern winds, Siberia, owing
to its great land-mass, has a cold and continental climate, under
the influence of which the windows break with the cold, the milk
is sold in pieces, people become blind from the glittering snows,
and one's breath becomes frozen. The ground, except on the
surface, remains always frozen, except in the south-western parts
of Siberia. As, at a certain distance from the surface, the ground
keeps the average temperature of the year, and as, taking Siberia
as a whole, the average temperature is below 0°, the ground
remains frozen for the whole j'ear, notwithstanding certain
seasonal differences in climate. When a well was dug at Yakutsk
to a depth of 380 feet, the temperature of the ground at this point
was found to be 0^^ In this eternal ice the bodies of diluvial



B. Eastern Siberia.

I. The Yeniseisk Government, divided into the following districts:
1. Krasnoyarsk; 2. Yeniseisk; 3. Kansk; 4. Achinsk; 5. Minusinsk;
6. Turukhansk.

II. The Irkutsk Government, divided into the following districts :
1. Irkutsk; 2. Balagansk ; 3. Niznieudinsk ; 4. Verkholensk ; 5. Kirensk.

III. Yakutsk Territory, divided into the following districts ; 1. Ya-
kutsk; 2. Olekminsk ; 8. Viluysk; 4. Verkhoyansk; 5. Kolymsk.

C. TJie Trans-Amur Country.

I. Trans-Baikal Territoiy, divided into the following districts :
1. Chitinsk ; 2. Nerchinsk ; 3. Verkhneudinsk ; 4. Selenginsk ; 5. Bar-
guzinsk.

II. The Amur Territory.

III. The Sea-Coast Territory.

IV. The island of Sakhalin. (Northern part of Sakhalin.)
' Nalkowski, ibid.

"" Op. cit., p. 383.



4 ETIINO-GEOGRAPHY

animals, mammoth, &c., long ago extinct, have been found
jireservecl, with bones, flesh, and hair.

Only northern and north-eastern Siberia have a truly Arctic
climate ; the south and south-west may be called sub-Arctic. It
is difficult to draw a definite line between the two zones, but it
may be said that Arctic climatic conditions are found further
south in the east than in the west.

While the climate of the Northern Zone (i. e. the northern
regions of the Tobolsk Government, the northern and central
parts of the Yeniseisk Government, the Yakutsk Territory, and
the north-east part of the Sea-Coast Territorj') is more or less
uniform thi-oughout, tlie Southern Zone has four distinct climatic
types. These are —

(«) The south of the Tobolsk and Yeniseisk Governments, and
nearly all the Government of Tomsk.

{b) Kirgiz Steppe region, including the Akmolinsk and Semi-
polatinsk territories.

(e) South-eastern Siberia, including the Irkutsk and Trans-
Baikalian Governments.

{(1) The Amur and Sea-Coast regions.'

A. First as to the Arctic region. ' Its low level and exposed
northern aspect, combined with its high latitude and enormous
extension southwards, are the chief reasons which cause the
climate of this region to be the most " continental ", as it is
technically termed, that is, subject to the greatest extremes of
heat and cold, of any region on the globe.'-

The ' continental ' climate has another characteristic, viz. its
extreme dryness, the summer being wetter than the winter,
especially in eastern Siberia. Towards the north the total
rainfall and snowfall decreases. The coldest places are not on
the Arctic coast, but further south in the neighbourhood of the
middle Yana River. The reason of this is that in the winter the
winds blowing in the northern tundra from the Arctic Sea are
laden with moisture, and not only cold but also warm currents of
air easily reach the flat northern tundra. In the southern
mountainous region these warm air-currents, being lighter, rise
towards the top of the mountains, and the cold currents of air,
being heavier, sink into the valleys, where they cause most bitter
cold. Generally during the winter in this part of Siberia it is

* See GolovachefF, op. cit., p. 30.

2 Stanford's Compendium of Geograpluj, dr., Af^ia, vol. i, p. 4.



January.


July.


-23-7° C.


+ 16-3° C


-23-2


+ 15-3


-43-3


+ 190


-50-8


+ 15-1



GEOGRAPHY 6

warmer at the summit of a mountain than it is at the foot. On
the coast of the Gulf of Ob, and generally near the Kara Sea, it is
cooler than in places of the same latitude east or west. This is
on account of the great accumulation of ice in the Kara Sea.
With the exception of this small region, eastern Siberia is colder
than western, as is shown in the following table of the average
annual temperature :

Berezov — 4-6°C.

Turukhaiisk ...... —8-2

Yakutsk -110

Verkhoyansk -16-9

Verkhoyansk (67" 84' N. latitude) is the Asiatic pole of greatest
cold. To give an idea of the difference between the winter cold
and summer heat, we shall take the average temperature of
January and July, the coolest and the hottest months :

Berezov
Turukliansk
Yakutsk
Verkhoyansk

To show what the extremes of cold and heat are, \ve shall give a
table of the highest and lowest temperatures :

Cold. Heat.

Turukhansk . . -56-6=C. +32-7°C.

Yakutsk . . . -60-6 +38-7

Verkhoyansk . . -67-1 +30-8

In western Siberia the winter temperature varies, but in the
east the winter temperature is unchangeable. On the other side
of the Arctic Circle the days are very dark ; they are marked
only by a dull light on the horizon.^

Tretyakoff^ says that in Turukhansk, on the River Yenisei,
just without the Arctic Circle, the temperature in winter some-
times falls to — 40° C. He says that at such times the atmosphere
is so dense that it is difficult to breathe. The earth, the ice, the
branches of the trees, crack with a dull noise. One can hear the
ringing stroke of the axe on the trees at a great distance. Iron
becomes so brittle that any ordinary blow may break it, and trees
become as hard as iron. Even the fire seems to burn feebly. In
the first half of December, daylight lasts only three hours. The
sun rises almost due south, and remains above the horizon only

^ Golovachetf, op. cit., pp. 30-2.

* Tretyakoff, The Country of Turukhansk, pp. 74-5.



6 ETHNO-GEOGRAPHY

two liours. At the end of January the climate becomes milder,
and the prevailing winds are north, veering to south. ^

Schimper- characterizes the Arctic climate as follows: 'Tem-
perature and illumination constitute the chief characteristics
of the polar climate, the former in the long, cold winter, and the
short, cool summer, the latter in the long winter night and
the long summer day. During the greatest part of the three
summer months (June, July, August) the sun is above the horizon
continuously for 65 days in lat. 70° and for 134 days in lat. 80°.
The summer temperatures are very unequal in the different parts
of the polar district, but aie dependent, not so much on the
latitude, as on the distribution of land and water, and on the
presence or absence of warm currents.' Schimj^er summarizes
the main features of the Arctic climate as follows :

1. Shortness of the warm season.

2. Low temperature of the air during summer.

3. Continuous light during summer.

4. Dry winds in winter.^

Tlie Arctic snowstorm, Avhicli is so characteristic of the M'inter
season, may be visualized from the following description ^ • The
first part of November is rich in falls of snow, and in the second
part of this month the cold becomes quite severe, and snowstorms
ov 2»(>'[/(is [hliyMen in Ostyak) are very frequent, when earth and
air are hidden by fmiously whirling snow-dust, which penetrates
the pores of the most closely-woven cloth. When the jyurga
thunders through the wilderness, the native stops in his way, ties
up the leather thongs with which he guides his reindeer-team, and
lies down at full length upon his sledge, with his head to
windward, and the reindeer, too, stretch themselves upon the
ground in a similar posture. Sometimes they lie like this for
three, or even four days, the man without food, and never moving
save to give some fodder to his animals. In the northern region,
pnrgas are most frequent between December 15 and January 15.
A purga never lasts for less than twenty-four hours, and some-
times continues, with short intervals, for twelve days.'' When,
however, the snowstorm i)asses, there often follows a spectacle
which richly rewards the eyes of the traveller.

On the northern horizon a small pale cloud appears." As it

1 Tretyakoft; The Countn/ of Tio-ukJuoisk, pp. 74-5.

2 PUmt-Gcoqraphy, pp. 663-4. ' Ibid.

* Tretyakoff, op. cit., p. 72. '^ Ibid. « Op. cit., p. 73.



GEOGRAPHY 7

rises higher it glows with a stronger light, and at last assumes
the form of an arch, with raj-s streaming from its curve. Beforo
two hours have passed, these rays increase greatly in size, and
appear now rather as belts of lights extending upwards to the
zenith. Now they glow with a delicate rosy light, now they
disappear, to return again, no longer rose-coloured, l)ut of every
hue of the rainbow, as if momentarily illumined from behind
by some mysterious light. In the unceasing play of the rays
they sometimes combine into a single fiery ball, then spread out
again into a colonnade of light. It should be remarked that the
streamers, when they cross the zenith, lose their brilliant colours,
and appear like a delicate, rarefied mist. The more vivid the
aurora borealis, the darker seems the sky. In calm, bright
weather, or when there is a light wind from the north, this
spectacle continues throughout the night. Sometimes, though
not very often, the aurora borealis disappears suddenly, as if
sucked in by the sky. This strange natural phenomenon begins
to appear in the sky in November, and ceases in Mai'ch.^

B. Southern and south-western Siberia is much milder, although
the characteristics of a continental climate are there also quite
marked. We shall consider the climate of southern Siberia accord-
ing to our division of it into four climatic types.^

(a) The southern part of the Tobolsk and Yeniseisk Govern-
ments, and nearly all the Government of Tomsk, have generally
a very severe climate, liable to great and sudden changes :

Average Aiimial Temj^erature. June. Januan/.

Tobolsk. ; . -0-2 C. -I- 16-6^^ C. -19-7°C.

Ishim . . . -11 -fl9-3 -19-6

Tomsk . . . -0-7 -fl90 -19-6

Barnaul. . . +0-3 +200 -17-9

Yeniseisk . . -2-2 -f201 -25G

Minusinsk . . +0-6 +19-7 -18-6

There are great extremes of both cold and heat :

Cold. Heat.

Kurgan . . . -350°C. +33'^C.

Ishim . . . -42-0 -f290

[Prometheus]

The climate of the Altai Mountains is also severe, and it is
liable to sudden changes, especially on the coasts of the big lakes.
From sunset till the following midday the temperature sometimes
falls as far as —8° and — 9° C, and as early as August the frosts
begin. In the southern valleys, separated from the north by the
mountains, the climate is milder.

^ Tretyakoff, op. cit., p. 74. ^ GolovachefF, op. cit., pp. 33-7.



8 ETHNO-GEOGRAPHY

(b) The climate of the Kirgiz Steppe and the Akmolinsk and
Semipolatinsk territories is warmer than the climate of the
Tobolsk and Tomsk Governments.

Average Annual Temperature. Average January.

Akmolinsk ) ,, ,o'^t^ .oron iq rop,

o • 1 ,• 1 i*- i^rom +2 to +2-5 0. — lo-o \j.

Semipolatinsk )

The average range of temperature between winter and summer
temperature is 36", and between January and July the average
range is 40°,

In the winter there are rain-storms called Burany, and in the
summer there are great winds. There is little rain and snow.
Rain in the summer is particularly rare.

(c) South-eastern Siberia, including the Irkutsk and Trans-
Baikalian Governments, has long periods of cold, sharp transition
from cold to warm seasons, great scarcity of snow in the quiet,
windless winter. There are frequent summer rains, except during
the years when drought occurs. In the town of Irkutsk the
average annual temperature is —0-5° ; average for January, —21°;
average for July, -t- 18-1°.

Frosts often extend into the middle of May, and they begin
again about the beginning of September. A similar average
temperature is found on the other side of Baikal, but the average
annual temperature in Chita is — 2-7°.

The enormous Lake of Baikal has a considerable influence upon
the climat,© of its coasts : it moderates the summer heat and the
winter cold, except, of course, when it is frozen. Like north-
eastern Siberia, the climate of the Trans-Baikalian valleys is very
rigorous, through the cold and the descent of the heavy air from
the mountains : 40° of frost is not uncommon there. The summer
is abundant in rainfalls and in storms,^

{d) The Amur and Sea-Coast region has two sub-types of
climate : southern Amur-Sea-Coast type, and northern Okhotsk-
Kamchatka type.

The Aonur-Sea-Coast climate is exemplified by the following

table :

Average Annual Tenqjeratun
Nerchinsk. . -5-8°C.
Blagoveshchensk —0-7
Khabarovsk . + 0-5
Nikolaevsk . -2-4

* Golovacheff, op. cit., p. 34.



July.


January.


-f 18-2^ C.


-33-5°C,


4-21-4


-25-5


-f20-8


-25-2


-f 15-3


-24-2



July.


Jatiuari/.


+ 16-3°C.


-10-8°C,


+ U-2


- 15-3


+ 16-1


- 8-0



GEOGRAPHY 9

Throughout winter the temperature frequently falls as low
as —20°, whilst the summer temperature rises to +37-5° in
shadow. The summer rainfall is more abundant here than in
Trans-Baikalia.

The Okhotsk-Kamchatka climate is shown from tlie following
table :

Average Annual Temperature.
Udiusk . . -3-5°C.
Okhotsk . . -50
Petropavlovsk . +2-2

The humidity of Kamchatka is high owing to the influence of
the seas surrounding this peninsula, the moist nature of the ground,
and the slow melting of the snows on the Kamchatka Mountains.
There is a substratum of lime, which prevents the soil from
absorbing the water and thus encourages the growth of tayga.
The whole western part of the peninsula is covered by the tayga.^

The mountains of southern Siberia give birth to the three great
river systems of the Ob, Yenisei, and Lena.

The Oh, the largest river in western Siberia, has its source
among the lakes and glaciers of the Altai Mountains. On
leaving the mountains and entering the lowlands of the north it
divides into a main stream and its great left tributary, the Irtysh,
with the Ishym and Tobol. Its tributaries on the right bring it
near to the streams of the Yenisei Basin, with which it is
connected by canals. The length of the Ob-Irtysh is 3,400 miles.

The Yenisei is regarded in its main stream as the largest of
Siberian rivers (Yenisei-Angara, 3,809 miles). It originates in
the confluence of two rivers in Chinese territory, Khakema and
Bikema by name, after which confluence it is known as the
Ulukema. It serves as the basin of many tributaries, including
the mountain torrent Kemchik. Cutting through the Sagan
Mountains and reaching Eussian territory, it is renamed Yenisei
(loannesi, i. e. ' great water ', in Tungusic). It flows along the
western foot of the eastern Siberian plateau. Here it has been
deprived of western tributaries by the Ob system, the only
important left tributary being the Abakan ; but it has very
important right tributaries, of which the Upper Tunguska
(Angara) flows out of Lake Baikal, forming, as it were, a con-
tinuation of the Selenga, which flows into that lake. Other
tributaries are the ^liddle and Lower Tunguska.

^ Golovacheff, op. cit., p. 34.



10 ETHNO-GEOGRAPHY

Baikal is the largest mountain lake in the world. It is like
a cleft between precipices, and is very deep (1,400 metres), its
bottom being lower than some portions of the Pacific bed. The
winds blowing from the neighbouring mountains make the lake
dangerous for navigation ; and the natives on its shores offer
sacrifices to it to calm its waters : they call it the ' Holy Sea '.

The Lena (Lena-Vitim, 3,2S0 miles in length) takes its rise in
the mountains surrounding Lake Baikal. Its most important
right tributaries are the Aldan, Olekma, and Vitim, of which the
Aldan brings the Lena system near to that of the Amur.

The Amur originates from a double confluence of streams. The
smoothly-jflowing Ingoda, merging in the rough waters of the
Onon, forms the Shilka, a swift, shallow stream, full of rocks and
boulders. This river is joined farther on by the Argunia, from
which confluence the great Amur is born. (Amur in Tungusic
means ' good ', ' kind *.) ^

Besides these largest rivers there are others of some importance,
the Yana, the Indigirka, the Kolyma, and the Anadyr of the
Clnikchee Peninsula.

The mountains of Siberia do not form a continuous chain, but
rather a series of detached ranges, in the following order from
west to east : the Altai Mountains proper, or Gold Mountains,
between the Irtysh and Yenisei rivers ; the Sayan Mountains,
between the Yenisei and the Selenga ; and the Yablonoi Moun-
tains, between the Selenga and the Shilka — the latter being a
tributary of the Amur system. The Yablonoi mountain-chain
is called in the extreme north-east the Stanovoi Mountains, and
these in turn throw off" several spurs, including the Verkhoyansk
range. The peninsula of Kamchatka has its own volcanic system,
of which some peaks attain a height of 5,000 metres.^

These mountains are all well forested and rich in minerals.
The valleys of the south are very fertile and well adapted to
agriculture. This especially applies to the southern districts of
the Tobolsk Government and the Akmolinsk Territory. In the
west the broad steppes afford excellent ground fur cattle-breeding,
and are the natural road into Turania. Their flat, low-lying
surface is frequently swept by furious wind-storms {buran). The
Ishym Steppe (between the Ishym and Irtysh rivers) and the
Barabine Steppe (between the Irtysh and the Ob) are the largest
steppes in which pastoral life is possible, although the abundance

^ Golovacheff, op. cit., pp. 46-8. ^ Nalkowski, op. cit., p. iM6.



GEOGRAPHY 11

of swamps, with myriads of annoying insects in summer (which
force tlie natives to wear masks), and a local disease called
sibirshtj/a iazva, make open-air life not always comfortable.
The Barabine Plain is not strictly speaking a steppe, for it
contains many marshes and birch forests. It forms a magazine
of salt for Siberia.^

We may distinguish two physical divisions corresponding very
roughly to the two climatic zones of northern Asia, viz., a
northern division, with a typically Arctic climate, which com-
prises the tundra and the tayga ; and a southern division, with
a sub-Arctic climate, which includes the steppe country, as well as
mountains and fertile valleys.

A. In the north the predominant feature is the frozen swamp-
desert, known as the tundra. ' Only in the less cold and therefore
chiefly southern tracts of the Arctic zone, in the more favourable
localities ' are found * willow-bushes and small meadows on river-
banks and in fjords," or even clumps of dwarf shrubs, which
consist of a denser growth of the same ever-green, small-leaved,
shrubby species as appear singly in the tundra among mosses and
lichens .... Where the climate is most rigorous the vegetation
forms only widely separated patches on the bare, usually stony
soil, and we have rock-tundra.'^ The peculiar bluish hue of the
tundra, and the vast expanse of its flat surface, present to the
traveller a curious illusion of having before him a great waste of
waters rather than a plain. This resemblance to the sea is
heightened when moonlight floods the tundra, or when the wind
has heaped up a light snowfall into dunes and undulating
furrows.*

The swampy surface of these vast frozen deserts renders them
impassable except in w'inter, when they are frozen over.

The animals of the tundra consist chiefly of white or polar bear,
arctic fox, lemming, polar hare, and reindeer. The reindeer is
found also in more southern provinces, where polar animals do
not exist. Reptiles do not live in the tundra at all, but insects
abound even in the most northerly parts during summer. At
this time of the year the mouths of the rivers are covered with
masses of migratory birds. The chief of them are : gerfalcon,
white owl, plover, white partridge, and many geese and ducks.

* Nalkowski, op. cit., p. 384. "^ Probably estuaries.

2 Schimper, op. cit., pp. 685-6. * Tretyakoft', op. cit., p. 7.



12 ETIINO-GEOGRAPHY

Most Arctic animals and birds ivre white in colour for the greater
part of the year.'

B. South of the tundra extends the tayga. The region between
tayga and tundra is called ' Marginal Forest ', and is covered with
bushes, dwarf birch, and willow trees. The tayga is composed- of
primeval forests, which grow on the swampy ground. In the
north the tayga has no grass or insects, but nearer the south grass
begins to grow and insects to appear, the latter gradually
increasing in numbers the farther one goes in a southerly
direction.

At a first glance there appears very little difference between
western Siberia and the eastern part of European Russia, but the
dry and rigorous winter of Siberia is not conducive to the growth
of oak, elm, ash, maple, and apple trees, which flourish in eastern
Russia. On the other hand, the Siberian fir-tree will very seldom
grow in eastern Russia. Towards the south, where firs become
gradually more scarce, bkch and aspen trees take their place.
The northern slopes of the Altai Mountains are covered with sub-
polar vegetation, while the verdure of the southern slopes is more
of the Steppe order, very rich, and plentifully besprinkled with
wild flowers. In the forests are to be found brown and black
bears, sables, squirrels, and, nearer to the Steppes, wolves, which
are seldom met in the dense forests. Farther south are reptiles,
and all southern Siberia is pestered throughout the summer,
especially in June, by gnats, midges, gadflies, and horseflies,
which disappear with the advent of the snow.

In the Steppe of Kirgiz there are numbers of domestic animals,
as well as wild horses, gazelles, and marmots. The Amur
country has a combination of the vegetation of northern and
central Asia. Farther south appear birds and beasts of prey,
such as vultures and tigers. In the soil of the tayga there is
often found some gold-dust, or small nuggets of gold, washed
down from the rocks of the neighbouring mountains, and called
by the gold-diggers rozsypi (Russian).-

' Goloviicheff, op. cit., p. 71.

"^ Op. cit., pp. 63-5, and Nalkowski, op. cit., pp. 345-6.



CHAPTER II

ETHNOLOGY

In dealing with the ethnology of northern Asia we are confronted
with a task of peculiar difficulty. No other part of the world
IH'esents a racial problem of such complexity, and in regard to no ^^
other part of the world's inhabitants have ethnologists of the last
hundred years put forward such widely differing hypotheses of
their origin.

In fact, any even probable solution of this racial problem, or
any scientific classification based either on resemblances and
differences of physical types, on linguistic coincidences, or on
common features of material and social culture, would be premature.
We shall, therefore, mention the most important attempts at
classification that have hitherto appeared in the scientific literature
dealing with this subject, and shall propose, so to speak, a tempo-
raiy classification, based on geographical and historical data. This
will afi'ord a convenient basis for the systematic treatment accord-
ing to their geograj^hical grouping of the tribes dealt with in this
work, and will serve as a clue to their chief migrations. It will
also permit us to keep within the limits of the Siberian region,
a procedure which, while it may be undesirable from a wide racial
l>oint of view, is ethnically allowable, since modern Siberia is the
home of a well-marked groujJe ethnique, walled-in, as it were, by
her no less well-marked physical frontiers. The western frontier,
as being the most accessible, is practically non-existent from an
ethnical standpoint ; since we find the same Steppe tribes in
eastern European Russia as in south-western Siberia, and the same
Arctic peoples in Arctic Russia as in Arctic Siberia. Yet although
these people, on both sides of the border, have many physical and
cultural characters in common, they are more easily and profitably
studied in Siberia, for the reason that in Europe their culture and
physical type and those of the Russians mingle and interact to
such an extent that it is often difficult to distinguish the respective
elements.

Until about 1883, i.e. up to the time of Schrenck,^ all the inhabi-

* Tlie Natives of the Amur Country, pp. 254-62.



14 ETHNO-GEOGRAPHY

tants of northern Asia were genex'ally known as Ural-Altaians.
Tliis name was first used some seventy years ago by the Finnish
investigator, M. A. Castren/ and was based on similarities in the
phonetics and morphology of the languages of the Finns, Lapps,
Turks, Tungus, Mongols, and Samoyed. Max Miiller accepts this
name, calling the Ural- Altaian group the northern division of the
Turanian family, and basing his reasons for doing so on the lin-
guistic researches of Castren and Schott.- These two investigators
succeeded in discovering similarities among the agglutinative
languages of the tribes mentioned, just as Hodgson, Caldwell,
Logan, and M. Miiller pointed out resemblances in the Tamulic,
Gangetic, Lohitic, Taic, and Melaic languages of the southern
Turanian group.^ ' They must refer chiefly to the radical materials
of language, or to those parts of speech which it is most difficult
to reproduce, I mean pronouns, numerals, and prepositions.
These languages will hardly ever agree in what is anomalous or
inorganic, because their organism repels continually what begins to
be formal and unintelligible.'*

All other tribes of Siberia Miiller classes as * People of Siberia ',
and places them in the north Turkic division of the Turkic-Altaic
class.

Midler's ' People of Siberia ' comprise the Kamchadal, Yukaghir,
Chukchee, Koryak, and all others who do not belong to the lin-
guistic group which Castren called Ural-Altaian. These tribes,
together with the Aleuts and Eskimo, were called by F. R, Miiller
(1873) the ' Arctic or Hyperborean races '.^ Li Peschel's book of
about the same date these people form two Mongoloid groups,
which he considers as extending through Asia, Polynesia, and
America. One of these groups, composed of the Ostyak of Yenisei,
Yukaghir, Ainu, and Gilyak, he names ' Nordasiaten von unbe-
stimmter systematischer Stellung'. The other group, consisting
of all other natives of the north-east, of Amerinds such as the
Tlingit, and of the tribes of Vancouver, he calls 'the Bering Tribes'.
Now, as Schrenck points out, we can hardly call peoj^le like the
Ainu, living partly in Nippon, an island washed by the warm
current of Kurusivo, an * Arctic or Hyperborean ' tribe ; and if the
Ostyak, Yukaghir, &c., are ' Northern Asiats of undetermined

' Beiseherichte unci Briefe aiis den Jahren 1845-9 (1853).

2 Altai/ische Studien, 1860.

^ Max Miiller, Lectures on the Science of Lani/iiar/e, 1861, p. 322.

* Ibid. ^ AUgemeine Geographie, Vienna, 1873, p. 188.



ETHNOLOGY 15

position,' so, no less, are the Kamchadal, Koryak, and Chukchee.'
Schrenck himself forms one class of all the tribes not belonging to
the ' Ural-Altaian * group, calls tliem the ' Northern and North-
Eastern Palaeasiats '. and supposes that they once occupied much J
more extensive territories in northern Asia, and have been driven
to their present inhospitable habitats by more recent comers. He
thinks that they are only the remains of a formerly more numerous
stock ; and that contact with the intruders has influenced especially
their physical type. Of these Mongolic types only those escaped
contamination who, like the Ainu, fled to the neighbouring islands.
The Basques of Europe, he thinks, present an analogous case,
being an old people who have been driven out by Celts.- Schrenck
proposes this classification as a temporary device, until such time
as the linguists have determined to what people the Palaeasiats
are akin, and terms his classification a historico-geographical
one.^

Now, if we are to provide a name for these unclassified tribes
^ of the extreme north and east of Asia, who difter in various respects
from one another, but have many characteristics in common, and
differ still more from the other peoples of Siberia, viz. the Ural-
Altaians of Castren, we would projiose the name ' Palaeo-Siberians'
as conforming better to the historical and geograj^hical data. It
is not ambiguous, as ' Palaeasiats ' is, for it could not, like the
latter, be taken to include other indigenous Asiatic peoples now
becoming extinct ; and it implies a comparison and a contrast
with the other tribes — Finnic, Mongolic, Turkic, Samoyedic, and
Tungusic— who are comparatively recent comers to Siberia, and
whom we shall call * Neo-Siberians', not including under this term
any Mongols. Turks, or Finns living outside Siberia. These two
names explain themselves, and are especially suitable for our
comparative study of the natives of this region.

A. The name Palaeo-Siberians, then, is applied to these people
as representing the most ancient stock of dwellers in Siberia ; and ^
even if the work of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, headed by
Professor Franz Boas, should ultimately be held to prove that
they migrated thither from America, this would not depose them
from their position as the earliest comers among the existing
population of Siberia, while it would certainly make the term
Palaeasiats meaningless. The investigations conducted by the

^ Schrenck, op. cit., p. 255.

2 Op. cit., p. 258. => Op. cit., p. 257.

[Prometheus]

16 ETIINO-GEOGRAPHY

members of the expedition have ah'eady proved the cultural and
physical similarity, if not the identity, of the i)eoi")les on the
opposite shores of the Nortli Pacific.^ Tlie term Palaeo-Siberians
must be understood also to include the Ostyak of Yenisei, the
remains of a formerly much larger stock, who are as isolated as
eacli tribe among tlie other Palaeo-Siberians, and are not connected
with the North-Western Amerinds.

Some of the recent linguistic researches carried out by a dis-
tinguished member of the Jesup Expedition, Mr. Jochelson of
Petersburg, throw most important light on the Bering Sea
ethnological problem ; especially when compared with the lin-
guistic work done by the members of the Jesup Expedition on the
American shores. Thus Mr. Jochelson has found that the Aleut
and the Eskimo languages are closely connected ; they have many
roots in common, and the similarity extends both to the morpho-
logy and physiology of their plionetics and to many grammatical
forms. He thinks the Aleut language is one of the oldest Eskimo
dialects.^ About the Yukaghir language he says that it differs
morphologically in many respects from the languages of the Neo-
Siberians, but has much in common with the Palaeo- Siberian
languages of the neighbourhood. He has made acquaintance with
two independent Yukaghir dialects, while the travellers before
him thought the Yukaghir languages quite extinct.^ The Chuk-
chee and Koryak languages are very similar, although the Koryak
is more vital and has many dialects, and the Chukchee has
practically none.

B. As to the tei*m Neo-Siberians, the various tribes of Central
Asian origin whom we group under it have already been so long
in Siberia, and have become so intermixed with one another as
the result of wars and contact by other means, that they are now
sufficiently differentiated from the kindred peoples of the region
of their origin to be deserving of a generic name of their own.

The term Ural- Altaians is objectionable linguistically, besides
the fact that ethnologically it does not serve to specify the Ural-
Altaians of Siberia. Modern linguists, especially those of Finland,
Germany, and Hungary, are still at work upon the problem, but
have not yet said their last word as to whether or not they approve

' See Jochelson, Ethnological Problems along the North Pacific Coasts,
1908.

?^ Notes on the Phonetic and Structural Basis of the Aleut Language, 1912.
' Materials for the Study of the Yukaghir Language, S^c, 1900.



ETHNOLOGY 17

of the classitication of Castren ; ^ and exception has justly been
taken to the grouping together of Finnic and Tungusic tribes,^
while it seems no less o1»jectionable from an anthropological point
of view to put together in one class such different physical types
as those represented by the Mongols and the Turks. Moreover,
the term Altaians applies most naturally to the tribes inhabiting
the Altai Mountains, and in the first place to the Turkic tribe of
Altaians proper (sometimes called the Kalmuk of Altai).

Except as regards substituting * Neo-Siberians ' for 'Altaians'
and ' Palaeo-Siberians ' for * Palaeasiats ', we shall follow the
classification of Patkanoff.

The last census of 1897, of which the results were published in
1904-5, shows the population of Siberia as amounting to about six
millions. Now, as the Europeans (Russians and Poles, mostly)
themselves number about five millions, the number of aborigines
is less than one million.'^ The most complete work on the census

^ See the work of Prof. H. Paasonen of Helsingfors, ' Beitriige zur
finnisch-ugrisch-samojedischen Lautgescbichte ' {Becue Onentale, Buda-
pesth, 1912-13).

^ Prof. Paasonen, op. cit. For the opposite opinion see the work of
Prof. H. Winkler, Der uralaltaische Spyaclistumm, das Finnische und das
Japanische, Beiiin, 1909, and his other works.

^ Accoi'ding to the last census, the European Siberians numbered
4,705,082 (Patkanoff, Statistical Data for the Racial Composition of the
Population of Siberia, its Lanrniage and Tribes, Petersburg, 1912). They
comprise five widely different classes: («) Voluntary exiles, who, even
before the Russians annexed Siberia, in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, being dissatisfied with Muscovite rule, migrated to Siberia and
mixed with the natives, forming a class of Creoles. They are a very
hardy stock, athletic and prolific, splendidly adapted for survival in the
struggle for existence. Other immigrants joined them in the early years
of the Russian conquest. The Russian name for them is starozyly, from
staryi, 'old', zyl (jil), 'lived' — i.e. peoplu who have lived long there.
(b) In strong contrast to these are the Russian peasants who have much
more recently migrated to Siberia, and who have not jet found their
places in the new environment — virtual nomads, wandering from place
to place in the effort to find a spot in which they can settle down and
feel themselves at home. These are known as nowosioly, ' new settlers '
(Chyliczkowski, Syberya, pp. 6 and 227). (c) Criminals, banished into
penal servitude, or deported without being condemned to hard labour.
Some of these who have escaped from prison, or (in the case of those who
have not been sentenced to confinement) who cannot find employment,
become vagabonds or bandits (brodiayi, 'Waders'), and wander through
the country ; in summer they live on what they can beg or steal, and in
winter, sometimes, as a last resource, they give themselves up to the
Russian authorities to be incarcerated, this being practically the only
alternative to starvation, {d) A fourth class, including Russian ofiicials,
merchants, and persons of various professions and occupations, living
chiefly in towns and settlements, (e) Finally, political prisoners, mostly



18 ETIINO-GEOGRAPHY

of 1897 is that of Patkanoif, published in 1912, which differs
slightly from the statistics of Stanford's Cotnjjendiuni of 1906,
although the latter is also based on the census of 1897.
The figures, as given by Patkanoff, are as follows :

Total Native Poimlation . . 870,536 (Males, 442,459 ; Females, 428,077).

Mongols M. 145,087 ; F. 143,014.

Tungus M. 38,303; F. 37,201.

Turkic tribes M. 221,573 ; F. 214,166.

Samoyed M. 6,501; F. 6,001.

Finnic tribes M. 12,732 ; F. 11,965.

Chukchee 11,771 (5,811 M.).

Koryak 7,335 (3,733 M.).

Kamchadal 2,805 (1,415 M.).

Ainu 1,457 ( 769 M.).

Gilyak 4,649 (2,556 M.).

Eskimo 1,307 ( 631 M.).

Aleut 574 ( 289 M.).

Yukaghir 754 ( 388 M.).

Chuvanzy 453 ( 236 M.).

Ostyak of Yenisei .... 988 ( 535 M.).

The Palaeo-Siberians.

1. Tlie ChidccJiee. In north-eastern Siberia, between the Anadyr
River and the Arctic Ocean (except in the extreme north-east).
Many of the Chukchee, according to Patkanoff, are still inde-
pendent of Russian control, hence the total number of the tribe is

of the educated class, either confined in prisons or kept at hard labour,
or banished to live in Siberia under certain restrictions which do not
permit of their engaging in occupations suitable for people of their
training. By a kind of irony of history, it is just these i^olitical prisoners
who have turned with interest and sj^mpathy to the study of the native
tribes, and it is not too much to say that but for the information collected
by them in modern times a book like this could not have been written.
Thus we read in the report of Mr. V. Ptitsin, a member of the revisory
committee on the work of the East-Siberian section of the Imperial
Russian Geographical Society : ' It is well known that the best work done,
up to this time, in the East-Siberian section of the Imperial Geographical
Society, is the work of exiles. Almost all of the work done and the
observations made at the section's meteorological stations must also be
credited to exiles.' It is hardly necessary to remark tbat the word
' exiles ' in the above quotation is not a euphemism for ' criminals '.
The works published in more recent years show tbat the same can be said
of the present state of affaii-s. Many of the investigators now in the field
started their work as political exiles.

The majority of European Siberians are Russians (Great Russians and
Little Russians) of the professional class, including a large number of
exiles. The Polish element is second in point of numbers. Members of
other nations, Germans, Greeks, French, and English, formed an insig-
nificant minority at the time of the last census.



ETHNOLOGY 19

difficult to ascertain. They number probablj^ about 11,771 (5,811 -^
Males).

2. Tlte Kon/al: South of the Chukchee, between the Anadyr
and the central part of the peninsula of Kamchatka (except the
coast-lands between the Gulf of Anadyr and Cape Olintovsk).
Their number is 7,335 (3,733 M.).

3. TJic Kamchadal. The (comparatively) pure Kamchadal are
found chiefly in the southern part of the peninsula of Kamchatka.
They number 2.805 (1,415 M.), possibly including some of the
Koryak Kamchadal. and not including several wandering tribes.

4. Ute Ainu. In the island of Yezo and the southern part of
Sakhalin. Their number is 1,457 (769 M.).

5. TJie Gilyalx. Near the mouth of the Amur and in the
northern part of Sakhalin. Their number is 4,649 (2,556 M.).

6. The Eskimo. Asiatic shore of Bering Strait, as well as the
whole Arctic region from Alaska to Greenland ; i. e. Asiatic
Eskimo as well as American. Number, 25,000. In Asia alone,
1,307 (631 M.).

7. The Aleut. Aleutian Islands of Alaska. 574 in number
(289 M.).

8. Tlie Ynl-aghir. Between the lower Yana and lower Kolyma
Eivers. 754 in number (388 M.).

9. TJte Chiivanzij. South of Chuan Bay, on the upper and
middle Anadyr. 453 (236 M.).

10. The Ostyah of Yenisei. On the lower Yenisei, between the
lower Tunguska and the Stony Tunguska as far as Turukhansk.
988 (535 M.).

The Neo-Siberians.

1. Finnic Tribes, {a) The Ugrian Ostyak, from the northern
part of the Tobolsk district to the mouth of the Ob, and eastward
as far as the Tomsk district and the Yenisei Kiver ; they number
17,221 (9,012 M.). (b) The Vogul (called also Maniza or Suomi),
between the middle Ob, from Berezov to Tobolsk, and the Ural
Mountains. They number 7,476 (3,720 M.).

2. The Samoyedic Tribes. In the Arctic region from the mouth
of the Khatanga River to the Ural Mountains, and thence, in
Europe, to Cheskaya Bay. Together with the Yourak, Ostyak-
Samoyed, and other small tribes, they number 12,502 (6,501 M.).

3. The Turkic Tribes. Only the eastern group of the Turkic race

c 2



20 ETHNO-GEOGRAPHY

belongs to Siberia. ' The central group (Kirgis-Kasak, Kara-Kirgis,
Uzbeg, Sartes, Tartars of the Volga) and the western group
(Turkoman, some of the Iranians of the Caucasus and Persia,
Osmanli Turks) inhabit eastern Europe and Central Asia. This
eastern, or Siberian, branch comprises: (a) tlie Yakut in the
Yakutsk district along the Lena, as far as the Amur and the
island of Sakhalin ; with the Tolgan they number 226,739
(113,330 M.); (b) the other Turco-Tartars of the Tobolsk and
Tomsk Governments, 176,124 (89,165 M.). All the Siberian
Turks number 476,494.

4. 2'Jie Mongollc Tribes, (a) Western Mongols, or Kalmuk, who
call themselves Eleut. Only a very small number (in 1897, only
15) of these are found in Siljeria ; the majority are in Central
Asia, {h) Eastern Mongols or Mongols j^roper. Of these only
a small number (in 1897, 402) of the Kalkha, the northern branch,
are in Siberia ; the rest are in Mongolia, (c) The Buryat, in-
habiting the districts round Lake Baikal. Their number is
288,599 (175,717 M.).

5. Tlie Tungusic Tribes, [a] Tungus proper 62,068 (31,375 M.),
found throughout eastern Siberia from 60° E. long, to the
Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic to the Chinese frontier ;
{b) other Tungusic tribes, viz. (i) the Chapogir, between the
lower and Stony Tunguska ; (ii) the Goldi -5,016 (2,640 M.) — on
the lower Amur. Thej' are called Twanmoa-tze, 'people who
shave the head ', by the Chinese from their habit of shaving off
their hair : (iii) Lamut, along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk ;
(iv) Manchu (Manjour) — 3,340 (2,105 M.)— only a small part
living in Siberia, most of them in Manchuria ; (v) Manyarg
(Manegre, Menegre, Monagir) — middle Amur, about 126° E. long.
— 160 (75 M.) ; (vi) Oroch (called also Chih-mao-tze, 'red-haired
people ', by the Chinese) between the lower Amur and the Pacific

^ That is, if wo follow Deniker's division of these people into Eastern,
Central, and Western groups. (See his liaces of Man, 1900, pp. 375-8).
Katlloff divides the Turks into four linguistic groups : (i) Eastern, com-
posed of Altaian tribes comprising eight linguistic sub-groups : (a) South
Altaic (i.e. Altaic proper and Teleut) ; (b) Barabinsk ; (r) North Altaic
(Kumanila, Tartar of Chern, or Tuba) ; (r/) Abakansk-Tartar ; (e) Chu-
limsk-Tartar ; (/) Sayan and Uriankhai language ; (g) Karagas ; [h)
Ouigur (now extinct), (ii) AVestcrn (Kirgis, Kara-Kirgis, Irtysh Tartar,
Bashkir, Tartar of Volga), (iii) The Mid-Asiatic (eastern and western
Turkestan). (iv) Southern (Turkoman, Turks of the Caucasus, the
Crimea, and the Balkan Peninsula). According to Radloff, the Yakut
and Chuvash represent a ' strange stream falling into the Turkic ocean'.



ETHNOLOGY 21

coast-2,407 (1,329 M.); (vii) Orochon, on the Olekma River.
Their name means * reindeer-keeper ', and tliey are commonly
called Reindeer-Tungus ; (viii) Oroke (Orokho, Orotzko)— 749
(395 M.)— in the interior and on the eastern coast of Sakhalin;
(ix) Solon (lit. ' shootei-s ')— 15 (7 M.) — south of the middle Amur,
about 120° E. long. All the Tungusic tribes together number
76,507.1

To the question, Are the aborigines of Siberia dying out? we
tind an answer in a work of Patkanotf devoted especially to the
subject of the increase of the natives of Siberia.- He says :
'If we consider the question of the increase of Siberian natives
from the geographical or territorial point of view, we can draw
the following conclusion. The natives who live in regions
almost wholly barren, and those in the northern part of the
southern provinces, where agriculture is possible indeed, but is at
best an uncertain means of livelihood, are not increasing.'^ The
natives, however, who live along the rivers and, in general, in
places where agriculture is possible in middle and southern
Siberia, are increasing in numbers, and this in spite of famines
and epidemics.*

The whole of Siberia was annexed by the Russians towards the
end of the eighteenth century, but the beginning of the Russian
conquest dates from 1582, when the chief town of Khan Kuchum,
Isker, was occupied by the Cossack Yermak. In 1684 another ^
chief of the Cossacks, Dejneff, reached the mouth of the Anadyr.
At the end of the eighteenth century Atlasoff occupied Kamchatka.

It is only since the Mongolic war that we hear of the migra-
tions of the different triJjes of Siberia, though in reality they
must have begun much earlier : the first Manchu invasion of
China dates back to the tenth century, and is known by the name
of Kidaney or Lao. The second historical invasion was in the
twelfth century, and is known by the name of Uy-Dgey or Giney.
This caused certain movements of the people of south Siberia.
Soon after this, in the beginning of the thirteenth centurj^, the
Mongols, under the chieftainship of Djingis Khan and with the
aid of the original Tartaric tribes, after having broken the power

^ All the above figures are taken from S. Patkanoff, op. cit. The
account of the distribution of tribes is taken, with some necessary
changes, from the Gazetteer of Ethnology of Akira Matsumura of Tokyo,
1908.

* Concerning the Increase of the Aboriginal Fopulation of Siberia, 1911.

» Op. cit., p. 164. * Op. cit., p. 165.



22 ETHNO-GEOGRAPHY

of the Giney dynasty in China, subjected to their rule the whole
of western Siberia and eastern Europe,^ Since then the name
'Tartars' was gradually transferred to the western people now
called 'Turks'. The pure Tartars no longer exist, and the name is
now used collectively for the Turkish tribes intermixed with Mon-
golian, who possess perhaps a strain of old Tartar blood in them.^
In the beginning of the thirteenth century the Mongol-Buryat
began to arrive in the country of the upper Amur, and from there
they moved to the west, to Lake Baikal. They met here the
Turkish tribe of Yakut.' The Yakut, who had to give up their
territory to the newcomers, made for the Lena, and moved along
this river to the north. But this area being already occupied by
the Tungusic tribes, they met with great resistance. In the end,
however, the Tungus had to go. They went to the west, towards
Yenisei, and to the extreme north. Some, too, migrated to the
east, to the Stanovoy Mountains, to the Okhotsk, and to the Amur
country. But the Yakut did not stay on the banks of the Lena ;
thoy went further, to the extreme north, where they caused more
disturbance amongst the Palaeo-Siberians. AM this migration of
Neo-Siberians forced the Palaeo-Siberians to leave their own lands
or else to mix with the newcomers, hence obviously their numbers
must have considerably decreased.* Secondary migrations among
the Palaeo- as well as the Keo-Siberians were caused by the
invasions of the Russians in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Not only were they forced to relinquish their land,
but they sought to escape registration and the payment of YasaK;
or taxes.

^ Schrenck, op. cit., vol. i, p. 95.
^ Akii-a Matsumura, op. cit., p. 341.

* Schrenck (op. cit., p. 95) calls the Yakut a Tartaric tribe.

* Schrenck, op. cit., p. 257.



PART II. SOCIOLOGY

CHAPTER III

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

PALAEO-SIBERIANS

I. The Chukchee.

Tlie Beindeer Chulcliec. — The most natural division of tlie
Chukchee is into Eeindeer and Maritime, the Eeindeer people
living in camps, and the Maritime in villages.

Among the Reindeer Chukchee, people are often in friendly
relations with those in neighbouring camps, or related to them by
blood. Since those composing a camp are not always relatives,
not the camp but the family must be considered as the permanent
unit. The camp, however, is the economic though unstable unit ;
according to the Chukchee maxim, ' One camp, one herd '.
Normally it consists of a few families — from ten to fifteen persons
usually. Rich people prefer to divide their herds, thus forming
new camps. If they need help in the care of the herd they employ
a stranger, the so-called ' assistant '.

Eveiy camp has its ' master ', or man living in the ' front tent ',
aunralbi or attooral'm, lit. ' the one in the chief house ' ; while
those living in the other tents are nim-tungit, 'camp-companions'.^
The ' master ' is also called ' the strongest one '.

[Prometheus]

Permission to join the camp must be obtained from those who
have already set up thek tents there. There exists a class of
vagrants who spend most of their lives in wandering about the
tundra, sometimes owning a few reindeer, and sometimes none
at all.

The Maritime Clmlxliee. — The Maritime Chukchee live in
villages, the organization of which is founded on territorial con-
tiguity, not on family relationship. Here the family which has
inhabited the village for the longest time uninterruptedly occupies

1 Bogoras, The Chukchee, pp. 612-28.



24 SOCIOLOGY

the attooran, 'front house', or armacl-ran, 'the house of the
strongest'. The master of this house is called aftooralln, ' the one
of the front house ', or armacl-raUn, ' the one of the house of the
strongest '. Sometimes this man lays claim to a certain privileged
relationship with the local spirit, and occasionally he even receives
tribute ; this custom, however, is by no means general, for many
villages have no ' front house ' at all.

A special social unit among these people is the outgrowth of their
occupation as fishermen ; it is called the ' boatful ', utticat-yirin.
It consists of eight oarsmen and one helmsman, the latter being
known as 'boat-master', attw-ermedn. He is also the owner, and was
formerly the constructor of the boat. The skin-boat of former times
is now, however, usually replaced by the American whaling-boat.
A boat's ci-ew is formed of the nearest relations of the owner,^ and
the products of the hunt are divided among them as follows : Small
seals are the property of those who kill them, but the master of
the boat receives a seal or two, even if he has killed none himself.
' The meat and the blubber of thong-seals and walrus are divided
in equal portions among all the members of the crew. The heads
are taken by the master, and the tusks of the walrus go with
the head. In due time these heads figure at the ceremonial of
heads. Then the walrus tusks are divided among [the] families

of the crew In dividing the hides of the walrus, the master

takes that of the first one caught ; the man at the prow takes the
second : and the following hides are taken by the paddlers, one
after another. If the number of walrus killed is too small, the
distribution may be continued in order the next year.'^

Cases of murder are differently regarded by the Chukchee,
according to whether they are committed within or without the
family group. In the latter case murder is subject to blood-
revenge on the part of the family group of the victim. Murder
within the family group is usually considered a matter to be dealt
with by that group alone. ^ Bogoras quotes several incidents in
support of the Chukchee statement that it is usually a 'bad man'
who is murdered by members of his own family group. They
think that it is better to dispose of a troublesome individual in
this way than to be forced to undertake a blood-feud by leaving

^ The master of the boat among the Eskimo is called umialil- (from
nmiah, 'boat'), and the boat's crew as a social organization exists everj'-
wbere among the Asiatic and American Eskimo. See Murdoch, Point
Barroic Eskimo, and Rink. 77/f Eskimo Tribes.

^ Bogoras, Hie Gntkchee, p. 631. ^ Bogoras, op. cit., p. 663.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 25

such a person to be killed by a member of iiuotiier family. An
incident cited by Bogoras to illustrate this point of view concerns
the killing of a certain Leivitihin, who was accustomed to ill-use
the members of his own family, and worse still, \vas cruel to his
driving-reindeer, which are first among things ' dear to the heart '
of the Reindeer Chukchee. One day, with a misdirected blow, he
killed one of his team. For this it was decided that he must die.
'Otherwise', they said, 'he will be killed by somebody else, and
we shall have a feud on our hands.' His own brother came to his
camp, and, watching his opportunity, stabbed him in the back
with a knife. This act was approved by the common consent of
all the neighbours, because he was * a bad one, a source of
torment to the others'.'

Other examples cited, however, show that the victims were some-
times not ? bad men ', but that the murderers were simply acting
for their own material interests, or in anger. In one such case
a rich reindeer-breeder, having killed his wife, had to pay a heavy
fine to the brother of his victim. But, on the whole, it appears
that such murders are regarded as not being the concern of any
one outside the family group.

The duty of blood-revenge lies upon the relatives of the person
slain — first the relatives in the paternal line; failing paternal
relatives, those on the mother's side are next held responsible.
Certain friends, esjjecially ' gi'oup-marriage ' companions, are also
held to the duty of taking revenge for blood.

Each camp has its ' strong man ', and sometimes also its ' violent
man '. The ' strong man ' {ermccin) is sometimes the master of the
camp. He has a stronger influence among the Maritime Chukchee
than among the Reindeer people where each camp ' lives its own
independent life '.-

This is shown in the following incident related by Bogoras :
In the Chukchee village Valkalen, where Bogoras stopped for two
days to rest his teams, an cnnecin, named Canla, offered to sell him
a large bag of seal blubber as seasoning for the food of the dogs.
Such food was usually paid for with compressed tea and leaf-
tobacco ; but Canla did not want these. He wished to buy a fine
white Russian bitch, leader of one of Bogoras's teams, and offered,

* The common consent of the neighbours to the killing of a ' bad man '
is of great importance also among the Eskimo (Boas, Central Eskimo,
p. 582, quoted by Bogoras) ; Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 6G3.

* Bogoras, op. cit., pp. 641-2.



26 SOCIOLOGY

besides the lilubber, a Ijeavcr-skin aiul two fox-skins as payment.
The owner of the clog, a Cossack in Bogoras's party, would not
sell, because Canla did not have the peltries with him. The
ermecin took back the blubber and departed, deeply offended
because his promise to pay was not trusted. When Bogoras tried
to buy food elsewhere in the village no one would sell ; * Canla is
the ermecin,'' the villagers exj^lained, * and he says " no traffic ".
Finally, they were forced to hand over the bitch to Canla, who in
due time delivered the promised peltries.^

The ' strong man ' in modern times is simply a man of great
physical strength, daring temper, and adventurous disposition ;
but when the Chukchee were frequently at war with the Koryak,
Eskimo, and Cossacks, the 'strong man' was the hero, as we see
in the extant primitive Chukchee war epic.^

* The Chukchee are described as less perfidious, and as dealing
more frankly with their enemies than the other tribes ';^ hence we
find in their tales fewer descriptions of night attacks and murders of
the sleeping than of battles consisting of a series of single combats.

There is at present no class of slaves, but such formerly existed,
as we see from the tales ; and Bogoi'as even met men who described
themselves as the descendants of slaves. As to the origin of this
slave class Bogoras says : * ' The term for a male slave was x^urel,
and for a female slave nauchin. The latter is simply a variation
of the word neiisqdt, "woman". Other synonyms of the word
purel are dmulin, viyolin, gupilin. Properly speaking, a j^'urel was
a captive of another tribe, or perhaps a man of the same tribe who
was enslaved in lieu of blood-revenge. . . . Amiilin signifies also
" weak one ", " weakling ", and is used as an invective, especially
with the superlative prefix ciq {ciq-cimidin, "a very weak one").
Viyolin signifies ''assistant", and is used even for some of the
benevolent spirits. Gupilin signifies ''a working-man", and is
applied to all workers, male and female, even those belonging
to one's own family. Nevertheless, all these terms are used in
a contemptuous sense, and may be used as invectives. They are
applied also to the real slaves almost without discrimination.'^
' I was told that in cases of murder blood-revenge may be replaced
by the taking of a man from the family of the murderer. This
man must wholly replace the [victim]. He must perform his

' II. id. 2 Op. cit., pp. 644-5.

=> Op. cit., p. 646. * Op. cit., p. 659.

^ Ibid.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 27

work and all his duties. Thus iii the case of the Chukchee killed
at the Anui fair in the year 1895, of whom I have spoken before,
the kinsmen of the one killed came to the fixir the next year, and
asked for retribution. They were offered tea, sugar, and tobacco.
They took all this, but then asked for the Cossack who killed the
man, or at least any other of the Cossacks. He was to be taken to
the tundra, and to live there in the family of the killed man, to be
a husband to his widow, a father to his small children. Then
only might the feud be considered as wholly settled. They re-
peated the request the following year, and were again paid in tea
and other valuables."

A case is also cited by Bogoras in which a boy was actually
taken from the family of the slayer to replace a murdered man.
This writer knows of no other cases in Avhich a dead kinsman was
replaced by a living enemy ; but he was told that in former times
there were frequently such cases, that the substitutes were treated
like slaves, and had to obey their masters blindly, on pain of
being themselves put to death. -

In the tales there is mention of the capture of numbers of
herdsmen along with the herds taken in war. These herdsmen
were enslaved, being particularly valuable in that they ' knew their
own herds better than the victors '. ' Captive women were hard-
worked, and were made the wives of their masters. Sometimes
they were sold from one camp to another ; but, on the whole, their
position was little different from that of the Chukchee women.'*

A group of kindred families is called varat, i. e. ' collection of
those who are together'. A member of such a group is called
enan-varatJcen, ' one of the same varat '. Another name for the
group is cin-yirhi, ' collection of those who take part in blood-
revenge '. Since the custom of blood-revenge still exists in full
vigour, the last name is of great importance. 'The Chukchee
varat may perhaps be called the embryo of a clan ; it is unstable,
however, and the number of families " that are together" changes
almost every year. Moreover, when one varat picks a quarrel
with another (usually one living in the neighbourhood) there
will always be a few families that are connected equally with
both interested parties.'^

In former times, according to Bogoras,* there existed a clan
organization more strict than the present-day varat. It consisted

^ Bogoras, op. cit., p. C61. ^ Ibid. ' Op. cit., p. 660.

* Op. cit., p. 541. "• Op. cit., p. 543.



28 SOCIOLOGY

of from ten to fifteen related families, living always together,
dividing among themselves various occupations, such as hunting,
fishing, and reindeer-breeding, and keeping themselves continually
in readiness for war. If this is so, we cannot, with Mr. Bogoras,
regard the varat as a clan in embryo, but rather as a decadent
relic of a former more regular clan organization. The 'clans'
established by the Kussian administration among the Chukchee
are purely arbitrary, and have no relation to their old clan system —
whatever its real nature may have been. ' The whole territory of
the Chukchee was divided into five parts, and each of these parts,
with the people living in it, was called a "clan". Some rich
reindeer-breeder among those friendly disposed to the Russians
was called "Chief ".' ' He is also known by the names ' Chukchee
King ', ' Black King of the Tundra ', ' Chukchee Tsar '.^ All this
has not made the enforcement of tribute easier : many Chukchee
are still practically outside the sphere of Russian control.'

The individual Chukchee family is composed of a husband with
his one, or several, wives, and his children. His parents, with
their unmarried children, usually live near by. Old people enjoy
considerable respect ; this is especially the case among the Rein-
deer Chukchee, and Bogoras^ assigns as the reason for this the
fact that the father retains the herd as long as he lives. But he
states that even among the Maritime Chukchee ' those that cannot
walk are carried on the shoulders of their young relatives \^

Although, as stated above, the family is the only stable social unit,
even this institution is not so firm as among other Siberian
tribes. It often happens that an adult male or female member
of the family will depart in order to seek a new home for himself
or herself, individual migrations of this sort being frequent from
Maritime to Reindeer Chukchee ai;d vice versa.^

System of Relationship. ' In the Chukchee system of relation-
ship ', says Bogoras, ' the paternal line preponderates to a marked
degree over the maternal. The first is designated as " that coming
from the old male (buck) " {kirnaipu-ival'm\ also Jiirne-tomgin, ''old male
(buck) mate", or as ''that coming from the i^enis" {i/aelJiepti-ivalin).

* Bogoras, op. cit., p. 543.

* An eighteenth-century traveller in the Chukchee country, SarytchefF
by name, says, 'The Chukchee have no chiefs or authorities. Each
community has a man who is richer than the others, or who has a larger
family ; but he .also is little obeyed and has no right to punish anybody'
{Sanjtchefs licet . . . 1785-93, vol. ii, p. 107).

* Bogoras, op. cit., p. 543. •* Op. cit., p. 544. ' Op. cit., p. 545.
•= Op. cit., p. 537.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION



29



[Kirne-tomgin or hrna-iakalhin means also generally '"older
relative"; lirnei/iccmit-tom<ji)i, "older brother". For takaJhin
see p. 540.] The second is designated as "that coming from the
matrix " {kujolhcpu-n-alin). The paternal relatives are also called
''those of the same blood" {cnncnmuUlit), meaning the blood
with which the usual sacrificial anointment is administered.'^ At
the 'ceremonials the people paint their faces with blood, and
pei-sons of the same paternal line of descent use the same marks,
which descend from generation to generation '.^ ' Patei'nal rela-
tionship is considered to be much stronger than maternal relation-
ship. There is a Chukchee saying that has it that even a distant
relative on the father's side is much nearer to the heart than a
maternal cousin,' ^

There is no word for ' family ' in Chukchee : rayirin means
' houseful ' or ' those in the house ', and yaratomgit signifies
' house-mates '. A member of the family who leaves the house
ceases to have these names used in reference to him.

The following tables^ show the recognized degrees of blood-
relationship and the terminology used for them.

System of Consanguinity.
Ancestors

Linked-Grandparents



Grandparents-



Father's
Cousins



Second Cousins



Father



Mother



Uncles Aunts



Linked-
Cousins



Cousin



Self



Elder Brothers Child



Younger
Brothers



Sisters



Grandchildren

I

I

Linked-Grandchildren



^ Op. cit,, p, 537.
' Op. cit., p. 538.



Descendants,



* Op. cit., pp. 537-

* Op. cit,, p, 540.



30



SOCIOLOGY



Terms op Consanguinity.



Forefather (ancestor).

Great-grandfather.^

Grandfather and great-uncle.

Grandfather (children's term — aug-
mentative form from epi, 'father'.

Grandmother and great-aunt.

Grandmother (children's term).

Uncle, paternal and maternal.

Aunt, paternal and maternal.

Father.

Mother.5

Parents.

Brother.

A brother or sister older than my-
self.

A brother younger than myself.

The eldest brother.

The youngest brother.

The middle brother.

Sister (male language).

Elder sister (male language).

Middle sister (male language).

Younger sister (male language).

Sister (female language).

Elder sister (female language).
Middle sister (female language).
Younger sister (female language).

Male cousin, paternal and maternal.

Female cousin, paternal and ma-
ternal (male language).

Female cousin, paternal and ma-
ternal (female language).

* The fourth degree of relationship is expressed by means of the prefix
i/ilhi, 'link', 'junction', e.g. yilh-eUie, ' great-gi-andsou ', y'dhUoo-tomg'ni,
'male cousin twice removed' (ibid.).

'^ Sometimes one particularizes, eliir-»iirgin, 'paternal-grandfather',
and ehi-viiniii), 'maternal grandfather' (ibid.).

^ This term may be made more definite by the addition of eli- and ela- :
eliliinditv, 'paternal uncle ' ; elandeiv, 'maternal uncle' (ibid.).

* Amme probably means the mother's breast. Ate and amme are used
chiefly by young children (ibid.).

® Inpiiia-chin and inpina mean lit. 'old man' and 'old woman' (ibid.).

^ The stem tomgi means 'companion', 'mate', also 'kinsman'. It is
used in forming compounds denoting various degrees of relationship,
sometimes only between males, sometimes only between females (ibid.).

' Lie-clin and eleni are used by both males and females. The former
term is pronounced by women iitineJiii, according to the rules for female
pronunciation, in which all contractions are avoided (ibid.).

** Op. cit., p. 539.



Att uuloii {' forc-goci-')
Yilhi-mh-ffin (' linked-grandfather ')
Minjin- ......

Apainin ......

New-mirgin {ne, new, 'woman')
Epiqai ......

Endiio^ ......

Eccai ......

El ill ill (address: ate, 'papa') .
Ela (address : amme, ' mamma ') ' .
A7////7 ('fathers') . . . .

Yicemit-tomgin "^ (' fellow-brother ') .
Ine-elin ......

Ele-ni''

Enan-inaalin .....

Enaii-elane . . . . .

Wuthitcen .....

Cakiliet ......

Inpici-cahihet .....

Wuthitca-calcihet, or wuthitcen.

Xenca-caJcihet .....

Caket-tomgin (' sister-mate ') .

Inpici-cal-et-tomgin (' elder sister
mate ')

Wuthitca-calcet-tomgin ('middle sis-
ter mate ' ^)

Nenca-caket-tomgin ('younger sister
mate')

Yelhi-tomgin (' cousin-mate '), more
rarely yelo .....

Naic-yelhi-tomgin (in respect to male
cousins) .....

Nawgel



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 31

FAik Son.

yeekih Daughter.

EJue (T^\\i., clutcgot). . . . (Tiandson and nephew.

Eloo-tomgin Parents' cousin's son (male lan-
guage).

Eluwgo-iowfjitt .... Parents' cousin s son (female lan-

guage).

Xauloo-tomgiu Parents' cousin's daughter (male

language).

Kauluwgo-tomgin ' . . . . Parents' cousin's daughter (female

language).

' Of all these terms, a collective may be formed by means
of the word -rat, -ret, which signifies ''collection", "set", .and is used
only in combination with others. Thus, ykcmrct, " company of
brothers '* ; cal-ettiraf, " company of sisters " (in regard to male
relatives); yelhirat, "company of male cousins " ; kret, "company
of boys" (k, shortened for kmin in, "boy", "child").'"

To indicate relationships beyond these classified degrees there
are used two other terms : cimceMn, ' the near one ', and cicctMn,
or cicclcn, ' kinsman '. The latter term is wider in denotation
than the former."

System or Affinity."*

Affinity of Male.

[Prometheus]

Relatives-in-law
(Father-in-law and Mother-in-law).

Relatives-in-law Self Wife Wife's Child-in-law's

(Brother-in-law and ^ r ' sister's parents.

Sister-in-law). | husband. |

Son. Daughter-in-law.

Daughter. Son-in-law.

' For the female the system is practically the same, except that
in the table of affinity the talalhin ("wife's sister's husband")
relation is not found.' ^

The collective term for relatives by affinity is matdlirarrikhi
(' affinity peoj)le ').

Terms of Affinity."

Matalin .... Father-in-law.

Naw-matalin'' . . . Mother-in-law.

Intuulper .... Son-in-law.

Inte Daughter-in-law.

' Women among themselves use simply the term naiogel (ibid.).
2 Op. cit., p. 539. 3 Ibid. 4 Op. cit., p. 541. ^ Ibid.

« Op. cit., p. 539.
' From verb maiarkin, ' thou takest ', ' thou takest to wife ' (ibid.).



32 SOCIOLOGY

Aacew-matalin^ . . . Brother-in-law.

Nanchnn-waiaUn . . Sister-in-law.

Takalhin .... Husband of wife's sister.

Uitiirit .... Son-in-law's or daughter-in-law's father.

Neiimirit (' woma,n-umirit ') Son-in law's or daughter-in-law's mother.

The relation between men married to two sisters is considered
extremely close ; and in ancient times, according to Bogoras,^ it
constituted a tie even stronger than brotlierhood. Such men call
each other takalhin, which means literally, ' brace-companion '.
The closeness of the bond is expressed in the following proverbs :
' Man of the wife's sister (is) of the old male-brother beyond '
{TaJcalhin Idrna-yecamet-tomgcpu 2>((>'oc); 'Man of the wife's sister
is on the same lake-shore a fall-companion' {TaJcalhin ennan-
hifhilinli rilid-tomr/in) — that is to say, that they must fight and
fall together.''

Step-relationship in all its degrees is denoted by the suffix -Iqdl,
'intended for'. E.g. uivaqiicilqiil, 'intended for husband',
' bridegroom ' ; neivcinliqal, ' intended for wife ', i. e. ' bride '.*

Elihilqdl . . Step-father.

Elalqal . . Step-mother (also, in polygynous families, 'another

wife of my father').

Ekkelqiil . . Step-son.

Neel-kelqitl . . Step-daughter.

Yicemit-tumgcdqCd Step-brother.

CakettilqCil . . Step-sister (in respect of the brother).

The term neic-mirgiJqdl, 'step-grandmother', is often used in
polygynous families.

II. The Koryak.

The family is the only well-defined and stable social unit
among the Koryak, though there are indications of a tendency for
families related by marriage to diaw together in larger gi'oups,
united by certain moral and material obligations — a tendency that
might have led to the establishment of a real clan organization,
but for the destructive influence of the Russians.*

^ Aacek means 'young man', neusqat means 'woman'. These terms
are used by both wedded parties. Sometimes they say also Eiuhic-matalin
('wife's uncle') and eccainaw-maialin ("wife's aunt') (ibid.).

2 Op. cit.. p. 540.

' Bogoras says that 'jjerhaps this relation may be considered as a sur-
vival of group-marriage, although at present grouj)-marriage between
takalhit exists but rarely ' (ibid.).

* Op. cit., p. 539.

^ Jochelson, The Konjak, p. 761.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 33

The tendency to\Yaril.s a wider social grouping is seen also in
the custom of fraterniziuj^ with members of unrelated families.
Jothelson says that tlioro is no formal rite accompanying the
establishment of these friendships, that there is merely an ex-
change of gifts between the friends. In former times members
of such alliances were bound to help each other in war ; nowadays,
as wars are no longer waged, there are only certain obligations of
mutual material assistance. Women also form such friendships.^

In the old warlike days there was a class of slaves, about whom
Jochelson speaks as follows :

'The Koryak say that in ancient times the rich and the strong-
men held slaves. These remained at home and were employed
for different kinds of housework, and under the supervision of the
women. It is difficult to ascertain how far they Avere the property
of the conquerors, and whether they could be bought and sold.' ^

As in the case of the Chukchee, the Koryak have, in modern
times, been grouped by the Eussian administration into what the
latter call ' clans '. These have no relation whatever to any
aboriginal system of grouping according to family relationship.
The modern clan system is territorial in origin, and is simply due
to the mistake on the part of the Russians of confusing the social
system of these people with the more developed form seen among
the Tungus and Yakut. Even as a territorial group system the
present nomenclature is misleading, for, since their original
registration, many families have migrated to other districts. The
men chosen by the Russians as chiefs of these ' clans ' are not the
natural heads of the community.^

Jochelson gives the following account of the Koryak custom of
blood-revenge : ' The duty of avenging the murder of a relative
fell upon the male members of a consanguineous group. Ac-
cording to the account of the Koryak, the immediate avengers
were the brothers ; then followed cousins, nephews, and the more
remote relatives on the father's or mother's side. In case there
were no brothers, the father or uncle, unless impeded by age,
would take their place. On the whole, however, vengeance by
blood was considered by the Koryak to be the duty of all blood-
relatives, and not of single individuals. A consanguineous group
consisting of one or several families was also jointly responsible
for a murder committed by one of its members, and in so far

> Op. cit., pp. 763 4. ' Op. cit.,p. 766. ^ Op. cit., pp. 767-8.

1679 J)



34 SOCIOLOGY

must be regarded as one juridical personality.* We know thut
the old men often attempted to check the spread of blood-revenge.
For tliis purpose ransom was resorted to. Keindeer people would
give reindeer to the family of the victim ; while the ransom of the
Maritime people would consist of skins, embroidered clothes,
arms, and other articles.'^

The family formed a group, bound by certain tahuos. Thus the
hearth, the family drum, and the fire-drill were tahoo to all
outsiders. The principle of seniority was preserved not only in
the family but in the settlement. In the latter, as long as no
stronger man appeared, the founder was considered the elder.
Thus, by seniority we are to understand superiority not only in
age but also in physical strength. The elder's dwelling was
distinguished by having erected near it a post, known as the
guardian of the settlement. The elder usually had many wives
and children, and the respect in which he was held was extended
to his fjimily even after his death. He often possessed shaman-
istic powers, or else kept a shaman helper. Shamans were also
held in great esteem in social life.'^

The Korj'ak family is organized vn the i>rinciple of seniority,
the father being the head of the family. After his death, his
brother or eldest son, or, failing these, his adopted son-in-law,
married to the eldest daughter, takes his place as family head.'*
This principle of the authority of the senior obtains also among
women. The mother is the head of the family, so far as house-
hold affairs are concerned ; or, failing her, the wife of an adopted
son-in-law, or the wife of the eldest son.^

With regard to the position of women, the following data are
given by Jochelson : ' The men get the best pieces of food, the
women receive Avhat is left over. Thus among the Eeindeer
Koryak, only the men sit around the food which is served in the



* The last two rules woukl seem to show that the social organization
of the Koryak, whether it was into larger family group or clan, was
already fairly advanced, since responsibility for crime and punishment
were no longer in the hands of individuals.

- Here we see a still more advanced stage of development of primitive
law: peaceful settlement of blood-feuds by compensation. (Op. cit., p. 771.)
« Op. cit., p. 762.

* The bridegroom, however, very seldom goes to live in his father-in law's
bouse. Of 181 marriages registered by Jochelson, only 11 (6%) were cases
in which the son-in-law was adopted into his father-in-law's family.
(Op. cit., p. 744.)

* Op. cit., p. 744.



SOCIAL OKGANIZATION



35



inner tent ; and, besides the children, only the mother or the
eldest wife is present, who distributes the food, or treats the guests.
The other women and yiils receive the leavings, which they eat
in the outer tent. Among the Maritime Koryak, too, the women
and girls eat separately, by the hearth, after the men have
eaten.' ^

Yet, the husband will often consult his wife about affairs, and
a daughter's preference is frei^uently consulted with regard to her
marriage. Generally, the attitude towards a wife is one of kindly
protectiveness ; and Jochelson observed that Koryak families
were for the most part united and happy.-



Terms of Consanguinity.^



Yihiy-acice. ijilmj-apa (' linked grand-
father')*

Acice (Paren), apa fKanienskoye),
apapel (Reindeer Koryak)

Yibii-ana (' linked-grandmother ' j *.

Ama, ana .....

Eiiniiv (Chukchee, oidiiv)

Itcei

Apa (Paren), tata (Kanienskoye)
enpic (Reindeer Koryak)

Ella {vava, ainma, terms of endear-
ment used by Reindeer Koryak) ^

Enpiciket (dual of eiqji'c, ' the
fathers')

Qaitakalnin . . . . .

Eninelan ......

Etcani ......

Cakit

Enpici-cakit .....

Nenca-cakif .....

Yilalni-tHmrjiH (female cousin, nau-
yilalni-tuntgin)

Kminin, oxakik (Qaikminin, 'boy')

Yilni-kminin (' linked-son ')* .

Xarakik ......

Yilni-navakik* . . . . .

Illaica (niece, nau-illawa)



Great-grandfather,

Grandfather and great-uncle (pater-
nal and maternal).

Great-grandmother.

Gi-andmother and great-aunt (pater-
nal and maternal).

Uncle (paternal and maternal).

Aunt (paternal and maternal).

Father.

Mother.

Parents.

Brother.

Eldest brother.*

Younger brother.

Sister.

p]ldest sister.*

Younger sister.

Cousin (paternal and maternal).

Son.

Grandson.

Daughter.

Granddaughter.

Brother's or sister's child.



1 Op. cit., p. 74.5. 2 Op. cit., p. 743. ^ Op. cit., p. 759.

* ' It is also of interest', says Jochelson, 'that the Koryak terms for
grandson, granddaughter, great-grandfather, great-grandmother, are
formed by a combination of the word " linked " with primary terms for
son, daughter, &c.' (Op. cit., p. 760.)

5 Op. cit., p. 760.

* That the eldest brother and sister are named by distinct terms shows
the importance of their position in the family (ibid.).

li 2



36 SOCIOLOGY

Terms of Affinity.'

Maialan . . .... Father-in-law and brother-in-law.

Xaii-Dialahni ..... Mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

hit'nculpi . . . . Son-in-law.

Iiite . ...... Daughter-in-law.

Tdkalnln ..... Husband of wife's sister.

2s'nii-iah((lnin ..... Wife's sister.

Naiil (' female friend '; . . Term of address used by one wife

to another wife.

III. The YuKAGiiiR.

At the time of the Kussian conquest the Yukaghir had u fairly
well organized clan-system, M'hich is, however, now in decadence.
But there is no tribal unity among them'-; and, as Jochelson
points out, there are no traditions concerning a tribal ancestor in
their myths, as there are in those of the Koryak.^

The Russians nominally accepted the clan organization of the
Yukaghir as the basis of their administrative divisions of the
tribe ; but this was only in appearance, for they often joined into
one fragments of different clans ; and a Yukagliir clan of to-day, as
arranged by the Russians, is composed of people who have nothing
in common, says Jochelson, save ' the mutual obligation to pay
tribute ', the ' old man ' of former days being replaced by an elder
elected under Russian sui^ervision.'*

From an analysis of the clan-names of the Yukaghir, Jochelson
comes to the conclusion that their original clans ' comprised not
merely groups of consanguineous families, but also families con-
nected only by the fact that they inhabited common territoiy '.^
The testimony of the Yukaghir confirms the conclusion."

Thus he says that the central consanguineous group in a clan
traced their descent from a common ancestor often as far back as
to the sixth or seventh generation, while outsiders constitute the
territorial element in the clan. It is interesting to note in this
connexion that the Yukaghir say that for purposes of marriage the

1 Op. cit., p. 760.

^ "Whatever feeling of tribal unity m;iy exist is shown only in the fact
that the clans never fight among themselves, except as a result of
disputes about women, or in cases of blood-revenge: organized war is
levied only against other tribes. {The Yukaghir, dc, p. 126.)

^ Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 17.

* Jochelson, TJie Yukaghir and Yttkaghirized Tungus,-^. 115.

'' The Hare clan on the Yassachna River, for instance, is known as
'Hare clan', 'Hare descent', or 'Hare custom ', while the same people
are also called ' the people from the Yassachna River' (ibid.).

« Op. cit., p. 116.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 37

fourth generation are no longer relatives, and yet the clansmen can
trace their genealogies often for many generations.'

Concerning the origin of Yukaghir clan-names, Jochelson
observes : ' The animal names of some Yukaghir clans might lead
us to suppose that they had some connexion with totemic cults, if
it were not for a total absence of totemic conceptions among the
modern Yukaghir. The name of the ancestor of the Yassachna
Yukaghir, "Tabuckan" (Hare), might point towards his identity
with an animal, the hare ; but even that much cannot be said in
regard to the names of the other two clans. The Yukaghir say
that the Korkodon people were called the Fish clan, because they
fed exclusively on fish, while the Goose clan owes its name to the
incident that one of its shamans once turned into a stork (not as
might be supposed, into a goose) and flew about with the birds.
Thus these names do not seem to contain any indication of
a former existence of totems among the Yukaghir.' -

Clansmen still preserve the memory of the common clan ancestor,
although his cult is at the present day in decadence. The terri-
torial element, which may even not be Yukaghir at all, but
Tungus, Koryak, or Chuvantzy, has been assimilated and allowed
to join in the cult of the ancestor of the consanguineous group.
The process of assimilation has to some extent been assisted by
intermarriage, though this has not affected the matter so much as
it might have done if marriage among the Yukaghir were not
endogamic (i.e. within the clan, not within the village).^

There were, however, other factors which advanced the assimi-
lation of the inner and outer groups in the clan. These were the
' old man ', the shaman, the ' strong man ' with his warriors, and
the first hunter with his group of inferior hunters. Of these, the
' old man ' and the shaman belonged of necessity to the consan-
guineous group in the clan. The ' old man ' regulated war, fishing
and hunting expeditions, selecting the resting-places during the
wanderings of the clan, and assigning the district for hunting, &c.,
to each group, if the clan separated for the purposes mentioned.
' He brought sacrifices to the spirit of the clan ancestor, presided
at festivals, and enforced obedience to the established customs.'
As a rule the oldest man of the clan was the ' old man ", but in
some cases the ablest elder was chosen. * In all important matters,
the " old man" of the clan consulted the oldest representatives of the

' Op. cit., ].. 117. - Ibid.

^ Op. cit., pp. 117-18. " Op. cit., p. 119.



38 SOCIOLOGY

separate families, the pohdpe (i.e. "the old men "), who constituted
a council, and by whose advice the " old man " was not infrequently-
guided.'' His wife held a similar position among the women,
although the powers of government were in the hands of the 'old
man ', whom both men and women must obey. She superintended
the division of the spoils of the chase.

The shaman's position was of almost as great importance as
that of the ' old man'. Before any undertaking he had to perform
various ceremonies, and he was the intermediary between the
living and the dead. After his death he did not cease to be the
protector of his clan. His corpse 'was dissected, the flesh being
separated from the bones, which were divided among his blood-
relatives. The "old man" received the skull, which was then
attached to a wooden trunk. Tlie idol, clad in precious garments,
received the name " Xoil " and was worshipped as the guardian
deity of the clan.'-

The duty of the * strong man ', with his warriors, was to defend
the clan ; neither he nor the hunter was necessarily of the same
blood with the consanguineous part of the group. Sometimes the
hunter and the ' strong man ' were the same individual ; but not
always, for their duties were different: the hunter had to provide
the animal food, and the skins for clothing for his clan. While
at the px'esent day the offices of ' old man ', shaman, and ' strong
man ' are becoming little more than a tradition, that of the hunter,
especially in the clans on the Korkodon and Yassachna Eivers, is
still very important. The hunters have no special share, or larger
share than anyone else, in the game they procure ; their sole in-
centive to energetic pursuit of their calling is their communal
instinct, which Jochelson found so strong in them that a sleepless
night after the fatigues and anxieties of the day's hunting did not
]n'event them from being eager with the first light to set about
the trying tasks of a new day. The hunter is working, he says,
' for the people of his own blood ', though in fact, as we have seen,
he need not be of the inner circle in the clan.' They believe also
that the spirits will not help a hunter who hunts for his own gain
and not for that of the clan.''

There was formerly among the Yukaghir a class of slaves called
2^0 (lit. ' worker').'' For a hired labourer they have another word,

1 Op. cit., p. 119. - Op. cit., p. 120.

s Op. cit., pp. 121-5. * Ibid.

* The position of slaves among the Yukaghir is ver}- simihiv to that of



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION



39



uicil. Tlie slaves were captives of war. and the position of women
among tliem was better than that of the men, who could belong
neither to the class of warriors nor of hunters. Their position is
well described by Jochelson : ' The slave stayed in the house with
the women, the old people, and the children, and did house-work
on equal terms with the women. In addition, however, lie was
allowed to do such work as the fitting up of sledges and nets, and
to participate in fishing parties.' ^

Blood-vengeance was strictly exacted by the Yukaghir. They
called it Icpud-nicil ('blood-anger') ot cuhojc-yono ('heart-anger').
'The avengers are the victim's relatives in the male line on the
father's side. If the relatives of the victim on the mother's side
found the culprit first, they had to disclose his hiding-place to the
relatives on the father's side, and, in exceptional cases, assist them
in carrying out the act of vengeance.*^

[Prometheus]

The Yukaghir language, according to Jochelson,^ has three terms
to describe their system of relationship, viz. (i) coro-mimchon])e,
' men of the clan ' ; (ii) coro-monulpe, ' relatives ' ; (iii) lepiil, ' blood '
— i.e. kinsfolk. The last term, which might be thought to apply
to blood-relatives only, in fact includes also relatives bj' affinity.

System of Consanguinity.



Grandmothers



Grandfathers



Younger

paternal

aunt



Elder father,

Younger

paternal

uncle



Father



k



Elder mother



-Mother -j lounger
j maternal
^ aunt



Younger

maternal

uncle



Elder brothers and
sisters



Self



Younger brothers and
sisters



: a general
of brothel's,



Child

Terms of Consanguinity.*
I. Classificatory. Emjepid {emje, 'younger')
classificatory term comprising the whole group

the Kamchadal koekchuch of the time of Ki-asheninnikoff, and suggests
a possible explanation of the real nature of these latter. This matter
will be more fully discussed in the chapter on ' Shaman and Sex ', and
will be developed in a later woi-k,

» Op. cit., p. 133. 2 Op. cit., p. 132.

=» Op. cit., p. 68. ?* Ibid.



40 SOCIOLOGY

sisters, and cousins, male and female, of the father and mother.
These are further distinguished according to age.*

1. Tata (Kolyma dialect) ; Icoklle (tundra dialect) : elder brother,
elder male first-cousin.

2. Paha, ahuja, or ahu\ : elder sister, elder female cousin of
different degrees.'*

3. Emje: younger brother, younger sister, younger cousin.
Koyojed-emjc, younger brother ; paijnjcd-emje, younger sister.

4. Ecic : father, lit. 'guardian' or 'fosterer' — derived from the
verb encle, * to feed, to nourish '.'

5. Emc'i: mother; probably from amc, 'who does, produces,
creates \*

G. Como-cie : father's elder brother, elder first or second cousin,
&c. — a contraction for comojed-ecic, 'big-father'. 'Big', here =
' provider ', with reference to this person's position in the family.

7. Idiefel; or edietek: father's younger brother, younger first-
cousin, &c. Lit. 'a little father' (diminutive).^

8. Cemmei (contracted from cotnoje-d-cmei, ' big mother ') : mother's
elder sister, elder female cousins, first, second, &c. The elder sister
takes care of her younger sister's children like a mother.

9. JSlmdiefeli (Kolyma dialect), yadie (tundra dialect) : mother's
younger sister, younger female cousins, first, second, &c. Probably
' little mother '.

10. Xoja, xojadlc (Kolyma), xoujeidie (tundra) : mother's younger
brother, younger male cousins of different degrees. Xojadic lit. =
' little grandfather '.

11. Emjnodic (Kolyma), aijno (tundra): father's j'ounger sister,
female first-cousin, «S:c. Emjnodie=^\\.ii\e dear one'."

* Brothers and sisters may be distinguished from cousins by the use of
the term unkenme, ' birth-fellow ', for the former, or by speaking of an
*clder-brother-by-birth', &c. (Op. cit., p. 69.j

2 Op. cit., p. 69. 3 Op. cit., p. 70.

* Uncles and aunts included under the general term enijepul in
reference to the older generation of grandfather.'; and grandmothers,
are not addressed by their nephews and nieces by any general name.
(Op. cit., p. 70.)

^ Op. cit., p. 71.

* *As we have seen from the terms Nos. G-11, the group of blood
relatives of true and collateral uncles and aunts — who, like every other
generation, form together in respect to the older generation, a younger
generation of evijepiil— is divided into separate sub-groups, according
to age on the one hand, and according to kinship of the father and
mother on the other hand. There are but one class of uncles and but
one class of aunts, who do not form, b}- their names, a .'ei^arate sub-group
in their own generation : these belong, by their terms, to the group



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 41

12. Xa.ra (Kolyma), xaicie (tundra) : mother's elder brothers
and elder male cousins of various degrees, as well as grandfathers
(paternal and maternal) and all brothers and male cousins of
different degrees of the latter.

13. Epie (Kolyma), ubucic (tundra) : father's elder sister and
elder female cousins of different degrees, as well as the grand-
mothei"s (paternal and maternal), and the latter's sisters and female
cousins of different degrees.^

'Among the female members of a family the father's elder
sister occupies the first position, after the father's mother, in
respect to the household ; and the mother's elder brother, after
the mother's father, is the head of the family.' -

Blood-relatives of the descending grades are denoted by terms
which are merely descriptive and not classificatory :

II. Descriptive. — 14. Aduo, ' son ' {adil, * boy ', and uo, ' cliild ').

15. Mapxkhto or marxlno, ' daughter ' [marxU, ' girl ', and no,
' child ').

'The descriptive terms for nephews and nieces, according to
which group of brothers and sisters or cousins of the class emjepul
their parents belong to, are as follows ' : ^

16. Nephews : (i) mettata-d-aduo, ' son of my elder brother (or
elder male cousin) ' ; (ii) metpabad-aduo, ' son of my elder sister
(or elder female cousin) ' ; (iii) mefemjed-adiw, 'son of my younger
brother or younger male cousin, or of my younger sister or
younger female cousin '.

17. Nieces: (i) mettata-marxil ; {ii) metpaba-marxd ; {Hi) metemje-
marxd.

Similar descriptive terms are applied to grandsons, and grand-
daughters :

18. Grandsons : mdaduod-adiio, ' son of my son ' ; metmarxluod-
aduo, ' son of my daughter '.

19. Granddaughters : mctuduod-niarxd, ' daughter of my son ' ;

metmarxliwd-marxd, ' daughter of my daughter '.

ot the elder generation, to the group of the grandfathers and grand-
mothers. Thus we have the following terms :' (12 and 18j. (Op. cit, p. 71.)

' The terms xfixa and epie are also used to denote old men and old
women in general (op. cit., p. 73 '.

^ ' This inclusion of the mother's elder bi-other or father's elder sister
in one term with the grandfathers or grandmothers proves unmistakably
that the terms do not denote various degrees of blood-relationship, but
show the position of these jjersons in the family, or clan.' (Op. cit.,
p. 72.J

^ Op. cit., p. <3.



42 SOCIOLOGY

20. Grand-nephews and grand-nieces are similarly designated ;
e. g. mettatad-aduod-aduo, * son of the son of my elder brother,
or of my elder male cousin ' ; mcipaJ)ad-marxluod-aduo, ' son of my
elder sister's, or of my elder female cousin's, daughter ' ; &c.^

System of Affinity.^

The elder'' generation call the wife of a member of the younger
generation"* ........ nial.

The elder generation call the husband of a member of the
younger generation ....... jjo7?7.

The younger generation call the wife of a memljer of the elder
generation .... ..... t/edie.

The younger generation call the husband of a member of the
elder generation ........ pulei.

A person calls the male relatives of the elder generation of his
or her spouse ........ jwgil.

A person calls the female relatives of the elder generation of
his or her spouse ........ pogil/'

A person calls the male relatives of the younger generation of
his or her spouse ........ pidei.

A person calls the female I'elatives of the younger generation of
his or her spouse ....... yedie.

Terms of Affinity-.'''

The system of affinity is, like that of consanguinity, elassificatoiy.
The following four classes of terms for relatives by affinity are
used by the Kolyma Yukaghir; each class including persons of
different degrees of affinity : pogd, nial, pulei, and ycdic. Among the
Tundra Yukaghir the first two classes, pogiipe and nialpe (plural of
pogil and nial), have become merged into one class, nialpe.'

I. Fogil : ^ (a) wife's father (father-in-law) ; (&) wife's mother
(mother-in-law); (c) husband's father (father-in law) ; ((?) husband's

' Op. cit., p. 73.

^ 'According to the above table it might seem that the coufusion of
nial and 2^01/il, which is complete among the Tiuidia Yukaghir, has coui-
menced among the othor branch also. A few terms, like that for uncle's
wife, have not been ascertained.' (Op. cit., p. 75.)

^ Including the parental generation and elder brothers and sisters,
and cousins.

* Including the generation of children and nephews and younger
brothers and sisters.

' Here we should expect the term iiinl.

•^ Op. cit., p. 73. ' Ibid. ** Op. cit.. p. 74.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 43

mother (mother-in-law) ; (c) daughter's husband (son-in-h\\v) ;
(/) younger sister's husband (brotlior-in-hiw) ; {fj) wife's elder
brother (brother-in-law); [h) husband of younger brother's, or
male cousin's, daughter ; (?) husband of sister's, or female cousin's
(of various degrees), daughter ; and ij) husband's elder brother.'

II. Xial : {a) son's or nephew's wife (daughter-in-law) ; (h)
younger brother's or younger cousin's wife (sister-in-law) ; (c) wife
of younger brother's, or younger male cousin's, son ; and [d) wife
of younger sister's, or younger female cousin's, son.

III. Pulci : (a) elder sister's or elder female cousin's husband ;
{h) wife's younger brother or male cousin ; and (r) husband's
younger brother or younger male cousin. -

IV. Yedic: (a) elder brother's or elder male cousin's wife;
(b) husband's or wife's younger sister.

Among the Tundra Yukaghir, Jcelil, and among the Kolyma
Yukaghir, sahoyax. form still another class of relatives by affinity:
{a) husband of wife's sister or female cousin ; (&) wife of wife's
brother or male cousin ; (c) husband of husband's sister or female
cousin ; and {d) wife of husband's brother or male cousin.

IV. The Gilyak.

The Gilyak elan is called Tihal, literally ' foot-sack ' (used in
travelling). The real significance of this term is best seen in the
answer that a Gilyak will give to the question, ' Why do you call
such-and-such people your relations?' 'Because we have a
common ahmaJk, ymc/i, common fire, common mountain-men.
sea-men, sky-men, earth-men ; common bear, common devil,
common tlnisind. common sin. ' "'

I. Common ahmalJc. The father-in-law of one clansman is the
father-in-law of the whole clan ; and the son-in-law of a clansman
is the son-in-law of the whole clan. The men form the permanent
element in the clan ; the women either leave the clan or come to
it from another. So the clan forms a society or union, cemented
by common rights and marital duties of men related through

' .Tocholson thinks that the word j)0[/il is made up of ^)o (a term
formerly applied to captive slaves, who are now known as ' hired
labourers'; ; (ji, a possessive suffix, and /, a suffix used to form nouns from
verbs. The tei-m would thus mean ' his labourer '. The verb lyngilonii, he
says, means ' to serve for a girl at her parents' house '. Thus the term
pogil comes to denote persons who serve, or are served, for a bride.
(Op. cit., p. 74.)

^ Brother, sister, cousin, being all eiujepiil.

- L. Sternberg, The Gihjcih, 1905, pp. 78-9.



44 SOCIOLOGY

their fathers, taking their wives from another similar group, and
giving their women in marriage to a third clan, all clans being
thus exogamic and patriarchal in organization. In spite of the
dominant patriarchal principle, Gilyak are related also through
their mothers, for they have a common * father-in-law ' clan ; and
all women coming into a clan are to each other in the relationship
of sister, aunt, or niece.' Sternberg says that the j)rinciple that
a man must take his wife from his mother's clan, that the wife
must be a blood-relative of her husband, is a religious principle,
connected with the cult of ancestors, especially with mother-cult.-

No clansman need fear that at his death he will leave his family
without support, for even while he lives his wife and children are
nominally, often even actually, the wife and children of his
brother ; and at his death one of his brothers, chosen by the
clansmen, is bound to undertake the rights and duties of father
and husband towards his widow.-*

The clan, of course, does not exist in its primitive purity at the
present day. Natural causes, like epidemics, the dwindling of
families, &c., have made it necessary, in order to prevent its
extinction, for a clan to adopt individuals, and sometimes whole
groups, from other clans or even from other tribes. Another
means by which new blood was imported into the clan was : If
two men married sisters, they were regarded as fellow clansmen,
and often their children were considered as brothers and sisters."*

II. Common fire. The common fire is also a symbol of the
unity of the clan. 'The chief owner of the fire,' whom they
imagine as an old woman, is thus not only a good spirit who
bestows the use of fire on living clansmen, but also an interme-
diary between the living and the dej^arted ancestors who are the
heroes of the clan. By being burned the dead are given to the
' owner of the fire ', who has the power of choosing some of them
to become also ' owners ' of the clan-fire. "^

Only a clansman has the right to kindle fire on the hearth of
a fellow clansman, or to take fire out of his yurta. If a man from
another clan lights his pipe in the yurta, he must finish smoking
it before he goes out. Any infringement of these customary rules

' Op. cit., pp. 79-80. 2 Op. cit., p. 80.

I Op. cit., p. 81. ?• Op. cit., pp. 82-3.

^ People who have been struck dead by lightning, or have died from
burning, are reckoned as worthy to be received into the society oi' the
' owners of the fire '. (Op. cit., pp. 84, 85.)



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 45

will hring niisfurtimo on the clun, juul the :ilien clansiuaii who
has brought it about may have to pay a fine in consequence.
Each clan has its own firebrand, kept by the eldest of the chin,
and only from this firebrand can the fire be made at which the
l)ear meat is cooked at the bear festival. When a clan divides,
the eldest of the clan breaks the firebrand in two, giving a half to
the eldest of that portion of the clan which is removing. Then
only is the clan regarded as formally divided.^

III. JLcn of the Mountain, Sea, Sl\if, Farth.'^ Those clansmen
who die by drowning, are killed by wild animals, or those who
are beloved by the 'owners' of the mountain, sky, sea, or earth,
join the society of these 'owners' after death. All clansmen
worship their ancestors, the 'owners' referred to, in sacrifices and
festivals which are regularly held in their honour, and the
' owners ' in return provide the clansmen with food : all that
nature gives them is the free gift of the gods ; hence it is a sin to
be inhospitable, for it is not man but the gods who give food to
a guest.^ At the sea-hunting the master of the boat receives no
greater share of the spoils of the chase than any one else ; indeed,
the products of the hunt are sometimes divided among the
families of men who have not taken part in it.^ As regards such
objects as swords, shields, &c., of the more costly kind, though
they are more than other things regarded as individual property,
yet if a clansman needs them for Mh/m, for burial, &c., they give
them freely. In the case of inherited property, the maxim si suos
haeredes non Jiabef, gentiles familiam hahento is strictly observed.
If there is no family (including labourers attached to the house-
hold) an inheritance passes to the next of kin on the father's side,
even if there are much nearer relatives on the side of the mother.
The latter can receive, but only by special bequest, certain ol)jects
known as shagtoid, which are private property. Iron sliagund may
be so given to the clan ymgi, since they will be returned to the
surviving fellow clansmen of the deceased in the form of Jcalijm ;
or fur shagund may be given to the clan aJimalJc, in which case
they will come back as dowry.^

IV. Common hear. It is the common duty of clansmen to feed
the bear, and to take part in the bear-festival, when the bear,
either tame or \vild, is killed.'' This festival has both a religious



Op. cit., pp. 85-6. 2 Op. cit., p. 86. ^ Qj,. cit., pp. 87-8.

Op. cit., p. 89. => Op. cit., p. 90. « Ibid.



46 SOCIOLOGY

and a sucial sigiiificauce. In the former case, it is a religious
duty to venerate the slain bear, for he may belong to the fra-
ternity of the ' owners of the mountain ', or be the incarnation of
some remote fellow clansman's spirit, which has been received
into that fraternity. Again, the bear is regarded as the inter-
mediary between mortals and the ' owner of the mountain ', so
that sacrifices may be sent by the bear to that spirit ; an important
matter, for this 'owner' has power over all animals. This is the
reason why the bear-festival plays such an important part in the
life of the clan, and why, although clansmen from other groups
may be present at the festival, the organization and management
of the feast are in the hands of the clansmen, only sons-in-law
besides being allowed to assist in this way. The expenses of the
festival are shared by the clansmen.

Socially the bear-festival is also very important. It affords an
opportunity for widely separated members of the clan to meet and
share various social pleasures, the more so as the ceremonies are
usually followed by games and sports of different kinds. Besides,
it gives scope for the formation of friendships with other clans.^

V. Common devil: i.e., a common enemy in the person of
a deceased clansman or a slain enemy. An individual who has
quarrelled with his fellow clansmen, one whose death has not
been avenged, or one who has been buried without due funeral
rites, may become a hostile spirit and bring trouble upon his clan.
The same may be expected from an offended individual belonging
to another clan. In such cases ^ the shaman will be requested to
appease the hostile spirit.

VI. Common tJiusind. This means compensation exacted in
lieu of blood-revenge and compensation also for many other
offences, such as the abduction of a woman, the dishonouring of
a woman, theft, &c. The responsibility for payment of thusind
rests with the clan as a whole, as does also the duty of exacting
thusind from the offender on behalf of an injured clansman.^
Compensation in money, however, is only a secondary, and
a modern, consideration, and cannot always, even nowadays,
replace the ancient duty of exacting blood-revenge for man-
slaughter. This latter offence often goes formally unpunished
within the clan. The killing by way of blood-revenge of a fellow
clansman would involve another act of vengeance on the part of

» Op. cit., pp. 90-2. ? Op. cit., p. 92. ^ n,id.

[Prometheus]

SOCIAL OKGANIZATION 47

the family of that chinsiiuin, and this would lead to an internecine
struggle. As a matter of fact, however, the killing of a fellow
clansman does receive punishment. The murderer is shunned l)y
the clan, and has to leave it. This involves the further penalty of
being buried without due rites, for these can only be performed
l)y members of his own clan. But crimes within the clan are
rare, because, as Sternberg says, ' numerous prohibitions of speech
lessen the opportunities for quarrelling, and liberal marital rights
among the clansmen make the passion of jealousy milder and
practically make any acts of violence against women unnecessary — ?
such acts being the most frequent causes of blood-revenge among
these people.' ^

In clans which have intermarried with the Ainu, a people
among whom strong traces of a matriarchate still exist, in cases
of manslaughter the brother of the mother of the victim and the
victim's father or brother receive compensation, which is divided
between them equally.-

When a crime is committed against a member of the clan by
an outsider, the offended clan will stand out very firmly for their
rights. This holds good not only Avhen a man is the oftender —
and it is indifferent whether his crime is intentional or not — but
also even when an animal is. If a man is killed by a bear, he
must be avenged by the death of the animal in question, or of
another bear in its place ; and the • man (owner) of the mountain '
must give fhusind to the clan of the deceased by sending them
many animals. There is a regular procedure for taking vengeance
on the bear, and only when the animal is slain and its flesh eaten
at a feast is the deceased accepted into the society of the ' men of
the mountain '. His clansmen then offer sacrifice to him.'' The
soul of an unavenged victim cannot go to the land of the dead, but
must remain near the living, incarnated as a bird-avenger, called
fakhch, and finally crumbles into dust. On the grave of a
murdered man is placed the stump of a tree with the roots
upwards, whereas the stump placed on an ordinary grave usually
has the roots turned down. The roots they fashion into the form
of a bird, or else place upon them the image of one. As the soul
of a murdered man, like that of any other Gilyak, continues to
exist only for three generations, so the obligation to take ven-
geance for his blood binds his fellow clansmen only till the third

1 Op. cit., p. 03. - Ibid. 3 Op. cit., pp. 04 5.



48 SOCIOLOGY

generation it" the act of vengeance is not performed by a contem-
porary. Vengeance is never executed upon a woman, or upon the
private property of the guilty person.^

Both clans are under a kind of martial law, between the time
of the murder and that of the carrying out of the blood-vengeance.
If the clans live near each other the matter is settled quickly, but
if they ai*e separated by a considerable distance a military expedi-
tion on a small scale is arranged.'^

Thusind originated as an alternative to blood-vengeance, and
has finally replaced it. Sternberg says^ that as every clan was
intimately connected with at least two others, ahmallc and ymgi,
and often with others besides, it was always difficult, because of
the protective attitude of the Gilyak towards their women, to put
the custom of blood-revenge into practice, as the clans would be
reluctant to involve women with whom they were so closely
related in the horrors of war. Although a woman could neither
take active part in inflicting vengeance for blood, nor herself suffer
this punishment, she could play a role in the affair which, though
passive, was still important. She might hide the object of the clans-
men's vengeance ; or, by abstaining from assisting them with sup-
plies of food and water, or with fire for cooking, hinder them from
carrying out their aim ; for the law was strictly against the members
of one clan making use of the food, water, or fire of another clan.

Thusind is accompanied by a complicated ritual, which includes
an imitation of blood-vengeance. The most important participator
in this ceremonial is the ]clila)j-nkulcli ('speaking-man', 'orator'),
a personage somewhat resembling a barrister in his functions.
He must be a rich and important member of a neutral clan.
When the offended clan ajiproaches the habitat of the murderer's
fellow clansmen to demand thusind, a halt is made, and the IMaij-
nivukh goes forward alone to name the sum demanded. The
clansmen of whom the demand is made do not at first agree, and
the proceeding has to be repeated two or three times. This is
followed by an imitation of the taking of blood-revenge. Two
champions, one from each clan, accompanied each by his khlaji-
nivKJih, advance between the two parties to the dispute, bearing
shields. They engage in a combat, which is usually merely
a feigned one, though it sometimes develops into a real fight,
during which the two JMajj-niinilxhs do their utmost to calm the
anger of the combatants. This over, two dogs, provided by the
' Op. cit., pp. 95-7. - Op. cit., pp. 97-100. ^ Op. cit., p. 101.



^



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 49

two clans, are killed, and offered as a sacrifice to the l)ird-avenger.
Then a feast is held, at which the thusind is paid and friendship
re-established between the clans. ^

VII. Common sin. Though all the Gilyak have certain common
religious and social laws which must not be broken, there are,
besides, oeitain prohibitions, the forms of which are peculiar to
a given clan. The breach of these latter rules constitutes a * sin '
for that clan only. Some of these prohibitions, or taboos, are
sexual, for besides marriage relations with an alimalk or ipncfi,
sexual relations are permitted with certain persons and prohibited
with others. This will be dealt with in the chapter on 'Mar-
riage'. There are also speech taboos with the whole class of (nvii
(ruvn), acJiJc (mother and aunts of the wife). Other taboos are
connected with the clan cult, and the breaking of them involves
payment of thuslnd to the god. The breaking of such taboos by
members of another clan requires payment of tlmsind to the
offended clan. Not only is the breaking of a taboo a sin, but also
failure to perform religious duties. The sin of an individual acts
in such a case to the detriment of the whole clan ; just as, on the
other hand, the observance of socio-religious duties is essential to
the preservation of the clan as a whole. ^

Clansmen prefer to live together, but this is not always possible,
and therefore the territorial group does not always correspond to
the clan. In eveiy such group each clan has its own special
rights.^ Clan-names are generally the names of localities where
the clans formerly lived. Here and there we find names of
animals as the origin of clan-names, but this occurs chiefly where
there is a Tungus admixture."*

Both Chinese and Russians tried to impose upon the Gilyak
clan rulers, and the ruler chosen was a sort of elder — not, how-
ever, a clan elder, but a village elder ; an arrangement quite
opposed to Gilyak ideas of government.

In the natural Gilyak social organization there is no trace of
a despotic authority. The * old men ' [Icheymars) of tlie clan decide
questions of cult and clanship, for they are the repositories of the
clan customs, traditions, and genealogies ; and they have much
authority in this respect. But apart from this they have no great
influence or real authority or importance.

' Op. cit., pp. 102 6. ^ Op. cit , pp. 106 8.

3 Op. cit., p. 110. * Op. cit., p. 111.



50 SOCIOLOGY

All the clans have some men known as yz ('host'), or nrdla-
nmikhi (lit. ' good and rich '), who either through wealth, physical
prowess, or some accomplishment such as oratory, have an im-
portant though unofficial standing in the clan. In time of need
such men may be called upon to assume the responsibility of
upholding the customary law ; but the Ixhal (clan) as a whole has
supreme authority over theni.^

As has been said, clans connected by marital ties, calling each
oihev 2mndf, customarily formed friendly alliances. Not only was
a clan thus friendly with its own alinuiTIc and ynKji, but the whole
group formed by these three clans, together with others connected
with alimalh and nmg'i by marriage, formed a friendly alliance.
These alliances did not amount to a confederation such as we see
among the Mongols, but that they did exist is clear not only from
the traditions but also from certain present-day practices. One
of the duties of an allied clan towards others in the alliance was
that of hospitality or ' feeding '. An inter-clan maxim says : ' One
must feed jinuji^ ('sons-in-law'). This implies actual support of
a son-in-law only in a few cases, but there remain even at the
present day, says Sternberg, traces of a time when it was the
custom for sons-in-law to go to live in the houses of their fathers-
in-law.'- A custom connected with the making of friendship with
an )img\ is that of ' treading upon the threshold ' with an exchange
of gifts.''

The solidarity of the group formed by a clan with its alimalh
and jimgi is shown in bear-hunting, the trai:>ping of sables, and the
hunting of sea-animals.

The principle of mutual help is also seen in the hereditary
rites, according to which the ymgi receives iron shagund, and the
alimalh, fur shagund, the iron shagund being afterwards returned
as halym. This exchange shows that the payment of hahjm among
the Gilyak is merely formal, and was not originally in the nature
of payment for a wife."* Sternberg thinks that the origin of the
halgm in the marriage of the Gilj'ak was as follows. When the
clan of the mother could not provide W'ives enough for the clan of
the father, a man would have to go to some other clan for his
wife. This was an illegal proceeding ; consequently a sort of
thusind had to be paid to the clan, and the latter propitiated their
clan-gods with it as compensation for the breach of socio-religious

' Op, cit., pp. 119-22. ' Op, cit., p. 128.

3 Op. cit., p. 124. ?? Op. cit., pp. 125-6.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 51

law. In moilern times the custom of giving ladiim has been
extended to all marriages, and the origin of the custom forgotten.'
The bear-festival, one of the most important means of cementing
inter-clan friendships, is held eveiy winter in one or another of
the villages. It plays among the Gilyak, says Sternberg, a role
similar to that of the Olympic games among the Greeks.-

V. The TunctUsic Tribes.

Family and clan organization is relatively strong among the
Tungus proper. ' Tungus families often separate from the clan in
search of new hunting-grounds, but a single person never leaves
his family ; and even an isolated family will retain the memory
of its connexion with the clan for a long time. The Lamut of
the Chaun country, who consist of stragglers from all the clans
living farther to the south, still consider themselves as belonging
to particular clans ; though this connexion has at present no real
office, because of the distance of their habitat from that of their
clans.' 2 It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the
Tungus clans of the present day are composed only of people
related by blood. In many cases the clan is an artificial creation ;
and, as Middendorff * observes, if there is a group consisting of less
than a hundred souls, they call themselves a clan ; if above this
number, they call themselves an orda.

The clan is called (according to Georgi) tagaiin ; and, being origin-
ally based on a system of blood-relationships, the members of a
clan may not mari-y each other. A clan was governed by an elder,
called daruga, whose office was hereditary. But in the middle of
the eighteenth century the Russians introduced native adminis-
trators, elected for terms of three years, who were, in fact,
Russian governmental agents for the collection of taxes.' The
popular tradition is that the clan-names originated from the
founders of the clan, or heroes, and such is certainly the case

1 Op. cit., p. 127. 2 j^jj 3 Bogoras, Tlte Chuk-chee, p. 537.

* Micidendorff", Sibirische Reise, vol. iv, p. 1398.

' Patkanoff, Essay on the Geography and Statistics of the Tungusic
Tribes of Siberia, 1906, vol. i, part ii, p. 91. Among some Tungusic
tribes of the Trans- Baikal, there were, besides the clan elder (called
sometimes taijsha, toyon), family or sub-clan elders, known as zaysan or
oterikan. According to Georgi, the words daruga, zaysan, tayshan are of
Mongolic origin. Oterikan would appear to be of Tungusic derivation,
since in Tungus otrykan (atrikan) means * old ', and atyrkon is ' man ',
'husband'. (Patkanoff, op. cit., p. 91.)

E 2



52 SOCIOLOGY

witli clans like the Kurkugiisk, Chemdalsk, Chapogirsk, all in
the Yenisei district. A few clans derive their names from some
river or hill of the district where they were formerly settled ;
some of these place-names being of Tungus origin, others Russian.
Russian proper names like Davydkin, Nironoff, are occasionally
found as names of clans ; but, as Patkanoif observes, such names
are not found in eighteenth-century writers, and are notliing but
arbitrary appellations attached by the Russians to groups ai-tificially
formed by them from fragments of disintegrated clans.^

The Tungus clan is not an indivisible whole, but is composed
of several sub-clans, and thus resembles a Yakut naslcg, for
instance. Thus, e. g., the Lamunkhinsk clan of Tungus living in
the Yakut district is made up of four sub-clans, Khorinsk. Donda-
konsk, Lamunkhinsk, and Tugiasirsk. The first two sub-clans
originally consisted of Mongol-Buryat, who since the seventeenth
century have been living among Tungus, and thus have become
tungusized. This shows, says Patkanoff, that even under a
regular Tungus organization an alien element may sometimes be
hidden."

The clan organization has been preserved most pure among
those Tungus who have remained in isolated districts, mixing
with alien elements only on their borders ; that is, it has re-
mained in its purest state among the ' nomadic ' and ' wandering '
tribes, especially the latter. Christianity and a sedentaiy mode
of life have been unfavourable to the preservation of their social
structure no less than to that of their religious cults.^

In speaking of their mode of life, investigators so long ago as
the eighteenth century had already divided them into three classes :
Horse-Tungus, Reindeer-Tungiis, and Dog-Tungus. Georgi in 1775
speaks of the Steppe (Horse) Tungus and the Forest (Reindeer and
Fishermen) Tungus.^ The present administrative classification of
these people by the Russians is into Sedentaiy, Nomadic, and
Wandering.'' The Sedentary Tungus are less than one per cent,
of the whole, and do not now differ greatly from the Russian
immigrant peasantry, having intermarried with the latter for so
long. They live for the most j^art in the Trans-Baikal district,
and have forgotten their original language.*

The Nomadic Tungus are cattle-breeders, and change their



' Op. cit., pp. 92-3. "^ Op. cit., pp. 93-4. ' Op. cit., p. 9-5.

* Op. cit., p. 233. =* Op. cit., p. 198. « Op. cit., pp. 200, 216.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 53

habitat according to the season of the year. Each clan has its
own region assigned to it, land over which they can wander at
will, and where no strangers are allowed to settle. They form
about 50 i>er cent, of all the Tungus. and inhabit the Trans-Baikal
and Yakutsk districts.'

The Wandering tribes are found all over Siberia except in the
Trans-Baikal. They wandor throughout the year, regardless of
seasons, and have no special clan-districts assigned among them,
but keep to long irregular tracts of country, without any definite
frontiers, along the rivers. They form about 45 per cent, of all
the Tungus proper, and pay even less in taxes than the Nomadic
people. They have preserved their language and nationality
better than any other section of this tribe.^

Since the clan as a whole has certain duties imposed upon it,
such as that of keeping the roads in order, &c., and since the clan
customarily separates in its wanderings, they find it difficult to
carry out these obligations ; hence some of these people have
formed themselves into territorial groups, from which no such
duties are required.^

A small number, about 4 per cent, of the Tungus, like some of
the Buryat, have joined the regiment of Cossacks, and in conse-
quence are exempt from the payment of taxes. ^

VI. The Turkic Tribes.

The nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes of Siberia have as their
social unit the clan. The clans are joined in larger groups, which
combine to form tribes. These again are grouped as nations, each
of which claims descent from a common ancestor.

Formerly, says Kharuzin,* tribal elders in the Turkic tribes
were elective, and their authority was limited by the tribal
assembly and by the council of elders of the clan. The clan
organization is still preserved with great strictness, especially
among the Turkic tribes of the Altai.

TJie Altaians. The tribes of the Russian Altai have no common
name, but are divided into three main groups : Altaians proper,
Telengit, and Toyoles. These groups do not differ very greatly
from one another in language, and form one nation. Their clans

' Op. cit., pp. 198, 215. 2 Op. cit., pp. 197, 215.

3 Op. cit., p. 96. * Op. cit., p. 202.

* N. Kharuzin, Ethno(/iaj)hi/, 1901, vol. i, part ii, p. 231.



54 SOCIOLOGY

are known as seolcs (in Eussian, Jcocniu, ' bones ') or ' generations '.
The Altaians themselves reckon as many as twenty-four of these,
but Potanin thinks that this number has some mystical significance
and does not represent the actual number of these groups.

The members of one clan live among those of another, and they
do not form separate encampments, as the Kirgis do, of each clan
by itself. 1

The people of a seoJc consider themselves related to each other.
When a member of the scoJc Totosh meets another Totosh clans-
man older even by one day than himself, he addresses him as ' uncle '
— ahagay, if on the father's, tatj, if on the mother's side. A fellow
clansman younger than himself he will call 'nephew'- — uchim,
for a paternal, dcgnym for a maternal ' nephew '. A woman older
than himself he calls 'aunt', tcnge ; or ahioncsh, 'grandmother'
(literally, ' old woman '), if she is much older.- Siijni/m (literally,
' girl ') is the name for a younger sister, and edem for an older.'

[Prometheus]

There is an interesting custom among these people, which is
possibly a survival from an older family system. This is the
presentation of harli/, i. e. a gift from the maternal uncle. Until
a boy is seven years old his hair is braided into two tresses worn
in front of the ears. When he reaches his seventh birthday, his
maternal uncle sends to him saying : ' Come ; I will restore to
you harltj.' He goes, and his uncle cuts off the tresses, in return
for which he is supposed to present the boy with a horse. If, as
sometimes happens, he fails to do so, the family of the boy has
the right to demand fulfilment of the duty through the proper
tribal authority.''

lite Kirgis. Among the Kirgis, where Mohammedanism has
destroyed the religious side of the culture except the cult of the
hearth, the social side has been much less affected, and the clan
organization remains fairly strong. All the Kirgis of the Great,
]Middling, and Little Ordas (excluding recent admixtures, such as
the Kara-Kalpak) count as their tribal ancestor the mythical
Alash-Khan : all three ordas have the watchword Alash. Besides,
each clan has as its special watchword the name of one of the
remote clan ancestors, its special insignia, and its own genealogy/

' Potanin, Sketches of Norlh-Wesfeni Afonr/oJia, 1883, vol. iv, pp. 1-2.
- Unfoitunately Mr. Potanin does not give a full list of relationship
terms, -whieh are so imjiortant for a full understanding of social structure.
3 Op. cit., p. 9.
?* Potanin, op. cit., p. 38. ^ Kharuzin, op. cit., p. 232.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 55

Potanin speaks of Kotan as the t'oiimler of the Kirgis nation,
and of his three sons as the originators of the three ordas.^

In cases of blood-vengeance (khuna), the clan as a whole has the
responsibility for exacting the penalty from the aggressor, while
the latter's clan in similar manner assumes his guilt.

The authority of seniors and of their council is strictly pre-
served in their clans and onlas.-

'Hic Vrianlihai. The tribes of the Uriankhai inhabit chiefly the
valley between the Sayan Mountains and the Tangnu-Oloy, from
the Upper Kobdo to the Upper Bulguna River. One part of
these people, living in the north of the Tangnu-Oloy, have
become mongolized, speak a Mongol dialect, and like to be known
as the Mongol Oliot (Oliut). Potanin speaks of them as the
Kobdinsk Uriankhai.

The Uriankhai proper are a Turkic people, speaking a Turco-
Tartar dialect. They call themselves Tuba or Tuva ; Uriankhai
is the Mongol name for them. Potanin heard some of them call
themselves Tangnu Uriankhai, or Tangnu Tuvas.'

The Tangnu Uriankhai form five Moshuns. The head of each
is called ogurta {ogurda, (jiirta). One such ogurta, older than the
rest, is known as amhan, and the others are subordinate to him.
He, like the others, has one Jchoshun to govern. Each Idioslmn is
divided into four sumyns, except that of Kemchik, which is
divided into ten. The sumijn from which the oguiia comes, gives
its name to the whole Ichosliun, and the chief uses the same name,
with the addition of the word ogurta. For instance, the Tchoshun
governed by the amhan is composed of four siimgns, of which one
is called Uin. Hence the whole khosJtun is known as Uin, and
the amhan is called Uin-Ogurta. From this it appeai-s that a
sianyn is a clan, though Potanin tliinks that the sumi/n is further
subdivided.*

The Yakut. The Yakut of to-day are grouped in clans [aga-usa),
naslegs, and ulascs.

A clan is composed sometimes of only a few individuals, some-
times of several hundreds. A nasleg comprises from one to more
than thirty clans. The idus often includes several naslegs. In
former times the social group corresponding to the nasleg was
called aimak, while an idns corresponds to an older group known

' Potanin, op. cit., p. 17. - Kharuzin, op. cit., p. 23-3.

^ Potanin, op. cit., 1881, vol. ii, pp. 7, 8.
* Potanin, op. cit., vol. iv, pp. lU-12.



56 SOCIOLOGY

as djon. At present the largest ulus {djo>i) is the Djon Djakar of
Ului, which comprises 11,000 souls.^

There appears to be some confusion in the use of the terms idus
and naslcg. Both are sometimes called djon, and a clan, almdk.
But, however used, ahnah always denotes a subdivision of a djon.

Thus the northern Yakut uluses of Verkhoyansk, Ustiansk,
Elgetsk, Jigansk, and Kolymsk have only two strata in their
social structure ; with them nasleg and clan are one ; and this is
subordinate to the djon (uIhs)."- ^

The Clan. Sieroszewski thinks that the clan composed of blood-
relatives is the basis of Yakut social structure. The word aga-usa,
he says, means literally ' father-clan ' ; but he could not obtain
a completely satisfactory explanation of the term usa from the
Yakut. One of the most satisfactory was that given him in the idus
of Namsk, in 1^91 : ' Take all the branches, knots, leaves, and buds
which spring from one root, and you have an usa.'* Instead of
iisa, the Yakut often use the word idrdii, i.e. 'origin', 'root'.
They use the expression Jcun-cit nruta ('blood and flesh relation-
ship ') to refer to members of the same clan. That this was
not an empty phrase Sieroszewski had ample opportunity of
convincing himself. Especially in the north, from a mixed throng
of people he was often able to pick out members of one clan by
their strong resemblance to each other.^ According to one account
given to Sieroszewski, the Yakut reckon as members of a clan
descendants only as far as the ninth generation, after which they
speak of sijgan. One is allowed to marry a sygan ; and the saying
is, 'A sygan is an uru ("degree of relationship") which it is not
sinful not to save from drowning.' ^

Of course, at the present time, blood-relationship within the

^ Sieroszewski, ' 12 Lat w Kraju Yakuioic', p. 270.

^ The term iiaaley has not been in use long, and is Russian or Tungus
in origin ; even its pronunciation is strange to the Yakut tongue. The
word nlus is known all over Siberia, and indeed throughout Asia : the
Kirgis, Mongols, Buryat, Tartars, and even the Afghans use it. but with
variations of meaning. Among the Mongols it means ' nation ' ; among
the Tartars, ' society ' ; the Buryat and Tartars use it to denote a small
territorial group, a subdivision of the clan ; only the Afghans use it in
the same sense as the modern Yakut, to signify a large confederation
of clans. From a certain dislike to the term which Sieroszewski
observed among the Yakut, and from the fact that it has only com-
paratively recently appeared in official documents, he thinks that the
word was imported by the Cossacks from some other nation. (Op. cit.,
pp. 472, 473.)

=> Op. cit., p. 480. •• Op. cit., p. 246. ' Op. cit., p. 247.

^ Recorded by Sieroszewski in the idus of Namsk, 1892.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 57

clan is hardly more tluvn a tradition.' When the Russians first
came into contact with the Yakut, their clan system was quite
highly developed, and the head of the clan (bis-iisu-foi/onoy had his
power limited to that of judge and leader in war.

All economic and legal questions were decided by a council of
elders {ogonyor) — fathers, uncles, elder brothers. Even now, ac-
cording to Sieroszewski, a Yakut will not buy or sell without
consulting his father, uncle, or elder brother.'

This form of social organization was intimately connected with
the ownership by the Yakut of large herds of horses, the common
property of the clan ; but when they began to herd cattle, this
involved a division of the tribe into smaller social groups, so that
the memory of the old large herds of horses and large groups of
people was only preserved in the ancient poems known as olongho.*
Thus, in the new economic conditions, as Sieroszewski thinks, the
family came to be the most important social unit, more stable than
the old clans of the horse-breeders. Antagonism between family
and clan shows itself nowadays in disputes which arise over
questions of inheritance. ° Failing a male heir, claim to property
lapses to the clan, and even a married sister of the deceased
receives nothing."

The whole clan to which a murderer belonged was held respon-
sible for the crime, and must make compensation either in blood
or by payment of damages. Sometimes a blood-feud between
clans became hereditary. An injury done by one member of
a clan to another of the same clan, if such cases ever arose, was
not held punishable. In the case of a dispute between members
of different clans, the decision of a clan would always be given in
favour of its own clansman. If a man killed a fellow-clansman,
he was tied to a tree in the depths of a forest and left there to
perish.^

Clans sometimes made alliances called iiyeUaJch (' reconciled ',
'peaceful'). Sieroszewski thinks that these alliances were made

' Op. cit., p. 248.

^ The meaning of his is not quite clear. Some of the Yakut said that
it is identical in meaning with ulus. The spirits invoked by a shaman
are said to be divided into three his: heavenly, earthly, and subterranean.
Each of these his is as large as three times nine ttsa (op. cit., pp. 471-2).
This word, which is no longer in use, may be derived from the old
Turanian word hifjCdch, hicis, hi/cd, meaning free, unmarried girl, noble
woman (op. cit., p. 335j.

' Op. cit., p. 447. * Op. cit., p. 304, ^ Op. cit., p. 305.

« Op. cit., p. 304. " Op. cit., p. 252.



58 SOCIOLOGY

between clans more or less remotely related by bluod, that they
were compelled to enter into such pacts by their common need of
defence against outsiders or by some economic cause, and that they
cemented the alliance by common sacrifices and festivals. These
latter were called //si/alhs ; the most important Ijeing the lesser
i/s>j(tJch in spring, and the great i/si/alc/i at midsummer. Ysi/cdhs
were also celebrated at weddings, peace-conferences, or simply as
an expression of joyousness. They were sham fights or tourna-
ments, trials of military skill, and ]>y the results were decided the
position that a particular clan should occupy in a confederation or
alliance. Very often these tourneys ended in real fights.

Although nowadays ihaysyalih is in a state of decadence,^ never-
theless, so lately as 1880-81, Sieroszewski witnessed some of these
festivals in Verkhoyansk, which were quite crowded and very lively.
Formerly no ijsi/alJi could be held without the presence of a shaman,
and the di'inking of htmiys from a common cup was a ver}' impor-
tant feature of the festivities.'^

All the traditions point to the great solidarity of alliances
between the chiefs of clans ; also to their independent attitude
with regard to each other. Superior to them all was the council
of the confederation.

' This, like the clan council, was composed of three circles. In
the first sat the chiefs of the clans {bis-usa-ioyono) and scscny '' ; in
the second the nobles {toyons) and warriors {hatyrs) ; and in the
third the common people and the youths. Each clan was grouped
behind its representative in the first circle, an arrangement still
observed in the %ilus councils, when they are held in the open
air.'

The sj)eeehes of the orators were addressed to the whole tribe
thus assembled in council. Here the watch-word of the alliance,
Urui! (the same 'Hurrah!' whose sound has gone forth into all
lands) often rang out ; often the orators called upon the god of the
allies, the father of all the Yakut, Aiy-toyon, to hear them from
his milk-white throne. Here toyon-kyl, tlie eagle, symbol of the
confederation, looked down upon them from his perch.^

^ The ifxijalch was similar to the tsatjan-tsara (white month) or New
Year festival of the Mongols, to the taihjans of the Buryat, to the bear-
festival of the Gilyak, &c.

2 Op. cit., pp. 2G0-2.

^ Sesen or sckhen, an adviser or wise man (not necessarily old, but
always inspired). (Op. cit., 257.)

^ Op. cit., p. 260.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 59

Each clan and each confoileration of chins within the tribe liad
its own shout, or watchword, and badge and songs, but these are
now almost forgotten by the Yakut.

Thr Funiih/. The general term signifying relationship is itru.
But iini means also 'wedding', 'relationship by marriage'. To
denote blood-relationship the Yakut say kan-dt uruta ('blood-and-
flesh relationship '). There is no other word corresponding to the
concept of relationship, unless it be tonh'j, ' root ', ' Ijeginning ',
* origin *, or Mnjihi, ' household '. This latter term, however,
embraces even serving-men ; while a son who leaves the house is
no longer considered one of the largan.

There are two names for a clan : Yc-iisa, ' mother-clan ', and
aga-Ksa, ' father-clan '. Nowadays yc-usa, whatever its original
signification, is a ' mother-clan ' only in name, being really suIj-
ordinate to the aga-iisa. In the ye-usa relationship is reckoned in
the male line only to the ninth generation, as far, that is, as the
traditional sygan, ' whom it is no sin to allow to drown '. Since in
the aga-usa also, only nine generations are reckoned for con-
sanguinit}^, the sygan again marking the limit, since, in both
ye-usa and aga-usa, married females are not reckoned, and since, in
both, descent is reckoned in the male line, it follows, at least in
theory, that the two groups are identical. In practice they are
identical if the aga-usa comprises only one ye-usa ; but, as a matter
of fact, usually it is composed of several. According to traditions
recorded by Sieroszewski in the Namsk district, and according also
to his own opinion, the distinction between ye- and aga-usa arose
as follows : In comparatively recent times, until the coming of
the Russians, indeed, the Yakut had the custom of polygyny. The
offspring of a man by all his wives formed the basis of an aga-usa ;
while the offspring of each separate wife would form that of a
ye-usa.^ Each yc-usa has its own old name, better remembered
than the official name given at baptism after some Russian clerk
or merchant. -

Terms of Relationship.^
TiJrut {tordij), ' origin '. Torid-Uirhn, ' my ancestors '.
Ahugii, ' forefather '.

Asil, father's father and his brothers. KJios-iisa, ' paternal
grandfather '.

^ Op. cit., p. 298. 2 Op. cit., p. 293.

' Op. cit., Appendixes i. and ii. Also pp. 337-9.



60 SOCIOLOGY

Aba, father's mother and her sisters. Khos-iiM, ' paternal grand-
mother '.

Abaga [obaf/a], father's elder brother and father's elder lirst
cousin on the father's side ; also mother's father.

Agd, literally ' older ' ; also used to denote a father. A Yakut
will ask concerning the age of some person as compared with his
own : ' Is he ar/a (older) or balijs (younger) *? '

Agas {iidji/), elder sister, paternal uncle's daughter, daughter of
a first cousin on the father's side — in general, any woman older
than the speaker, and belonging to the same aga-usa.

Ubaif (biij), elder brother, elder male cousin on the father's side :
younger brother of father and father's cousin in the paternal line,
and their elder sons ; generally any man older than the speaker
and younger than his father, in the aga-usa.

Ini, younger brother, father's younger brother and his son ; in
general any man in the aga-usa younger than the speaker, but
who could not be his son.

Sitrdju (?) ^ By this term women address a younger brother,
younger sons of father's brothers, and the sons of these.

Surits (?) ^ This term is addressed by a woman to her father's
brothers younger than herself,

Sangas, father's sister, father's female cousin in the male line ;
wife of father's brother, wife of elder brother, and of elder cousin
in the male line ; wife of brother's son ; all being older than the
speaker.

Balys, younger sister, younger cousin in the male line ; father's
sister younger than the speaker ; generally, any woman in the
aga-usa younger than the speaker.

Sidn, grandson, brother's son ; generally any relative in the
third degree of relationship in the male line.

Sian-cMr, great-grandson, cousin in the male line of the fourth
degree of relationship ; generally, any person in the fourth degree
of relationship in the male line.

Sygan (?)^, the children and grandchildren of two sisters in their
relations to one another; family connexions.

St){g), remote relatives — so remote as not to come under the
prohibited degrees of marriage. In the female line this term
applies to the second generation. In former times, in the male
line, the prohibitions included even the ninth generation, and
nowadays reach to the fourth generation at least.

' The interrogation points are Sieroszewski's.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 61

Ychchaf, ' descendant ',

Ar, ' man '; (irim, ' my man ' — the colloquial name for a husband.
Ogonnlor, 'old', is another collo({uial term for a husband, or a
host.

Oiiolh, 'wife'. Amahhsin, 'old', amiilJisiii-cni, 'my old', are
colloquial terms for a ?wife. Dja'khtcr, 'woman', djalhterem,
' my woman ', are other colloquial names.

Yci, ' mother ' (literally ' womb ', ' embryo '), used also in reference
to mothers of animals.

Tai/, mother's brother. Ultilhan-Uui, mother's elder brother
(uhilchan, ' big '). Achchigaii-tay, mother's younger brother [achchi-
gat/, 'small').

Tai/sangcis, wife of a maternal uncle. AcJichir/a)j-ta/f is the
term for sons of a mother's brother older than the speaker ; chos-
tag, those younger than the speaker. The wife of an acJichigag-
tag is called achcJiigag-tag-sangas. The wife of a chostag is spoken
of as chos-Tiinit. The daughter of a maternal uncle older than the
speaker is called tag agas ; younger than the speaker, tag halgs.
Tag sidn is the name for a grandchild of a maternal uncle. The
mother's older sister is also tag agas. and her younger sister tag
halgs ; while their husbands are known as fag-Jcutwi.

Togon, father of the husband. The literal meaning is ' master ',
'chief.

Kliotun, husband's mother. Literally ' mistress '.

Aga-lajlgn, father-in-law (wife's father), his brother, and his
father. Tangiir also means wife's father, his brother, or his
father ; the father of a son's wife or of a brother's son's wife, or
of a grandson's wife. In a word, every man connected with the
wife, including the match-maker, or the men representing the clan
at the wedding.

BilldJch, remote relations or, rather, friends.

Ya-hglgn, wife's mother, wife's mother's sister or mother.
Kliodogog also means wife's mother, wife's mother's sister or
mother ; also the mother of a son's wife or grandson's wife ; and,
generally, every kind of remote female relative, match-maker, or
female representative of an allied clan at the wedding.

Uol-Jcglgn, wife's brother, wife's male cousins on both sides.

Agas kgign, wife's elder sister, wife's elder female cousins on
the mother's side, elder daughter of wife's brother.

Kiim halgs, wife's younger sister, wife's cousin on the mother's
side, younger daughter of wife's brother.

[Prometheus]

62 SOCIOLOGY

Kidiii) {?), luisband of an elder sister.

Kiitmt, daughter's husband, husband of younger sister and of
mother's younger sister.

Kinit, son's wife, wife of younger bruther. The wife of an elder
brother is sangas.

Bargiin, form of address of a younger brother's to an elder
brother's wife.

Badjjja, form of address of an elder brother's to a younger
brother's wife.

Kirani/aJch aga, stepfather. KiriinijaJch-i/u, stepmother.

Ogo, child. Kefers exclusively to age, and may be used also
with reference to birds, animals, trees.

Ogom, ' my child ', refers also to grandchildren and even to
younger brothers. Colloquially this is used by older people in
addressing younger ones, without any reference to relationship.

Vol, ' boy ', ' son '. Sister's husband younger than the speaker.
In general, different degrees in the descending line of male
relationship, defined more exactly by the addition of various
words.

Kt/s, 'girl', 'daughter'. Son's wife, and different degrees in
the descending line of female relationship, with various defining
terms added.

KaJch itol, adopted brother. Ittilih Jci/s, adojited sister.

Igird, twins.

Sieroszewski says that the Yakut have no name for widow
or widower.

From what has been said we see that the terms for ' mother '
and ' wife ' being definite and ancient, the concept corresponding
to these terms must have originated in the mind of the Yakut
before that of ' father ' and ' husband '. Another curious fact in
this connexion is that in the olongho we have frequent references
to heroes who go forth to find their fathers.^

The terminology of relationship takes into account primarily
sex and degrees of age. Thus Yakut society consists of two main
groups, [a) men and women of the paternal line l)orn earlier
[uhay, agas), and (b) men and women of the paternal line born
later {ini, haJgs).

' Op. cit., p. 338.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 63

VII. Tiii; MoNnuLic Tribivs.

Tlie Mongol ic tribes of Siberia belong to the nomadic peoples,
though their mode of life is becoming more sedentary. Mr. F. W.
Leontovich,^ ?who has made a special study of the Mongol
peoples, says that they still preserve ^vith great care their clan
genealogies ; and though they are widely dispersed, those living
among alien groups keep the memory of the clan to which they
originally belonged. The patriarchal type of clan-organization is
universal among the Mongolic tribes.

The Mongols proper trace their descent from Biurte-Chino
(' Blue- Wolf '). the ancestor of Djingis-Klian, and say that they
are in the direct line of descent from the latter.- But many
other Mongolic tribes make the same claim, e.g. the Buryat clan
of Selenginsk.

Historically, the Mongols are divided into two groups. East and
West Mongols. The latter were made up of four tribes, named
after four brothers, Djungar, Turgut (Turgout), Khoshot, and
Durbot (Diirbiit). They called themselves the Fourfold Con-
federacy, or the Four-Coloured Confederacj', from the four colours
of their insignia, as distinguished from the East Mongols, who
formed a Fivefold Confederacy of five groups corresponding to the
five colours of their insignia.

In war they formed nine group-units, each Avith insignia of
a particular colour, hence the name ' Nine-Coloured ' ascribed to
these people. In the clan, the rule of seniority is observed, so
that among the Kalmuk for example, when a new halting-place
is reached, they pitch their tents in an order depending on priority
of age.-'

The Urianlchai The Kobdinsk Ui'iankhai. like the Darkhat
and Baita, are Turki in origin, but use a Mongolic dialect and
consider themselves as belonging to the old Western Mongolic
branch of the Oliut."* The Mongols call them Uranga. They
have no hereditary rulers, as the Turkic and Tangnu Uriankhai
have, but are governed by two administrative officials called ombo.
They are divided into ten sumyns, and are, according to Fotanin, '
the poorest and most disorganized of the Mongolic tribes.

' TJi- Ancient Mongolo-Kalmuh Code ....

^ N. Kharuzin, Ethnoymphy, 1901, vol. i, part ii, p. 234.

' Op. cit., p. 2.3.5. * Sometimes spelt Eliiit.

® Sketches of North-Weatern Mongolia, 1881, vol. ii, i)p. 34-8.



64 SOCIOLOGY

The Kalniul: Eucli Kalniuk family occupies a tenl Ly itself;
and several such tents occupied by related families form a Ichoton
having a common household administration with an elder at the
head. Several hhoions, related to each other, and having a common
wandering-ground, compose an aijmali. A group of related aijmaJis
form an ofol; which was formerly mainly an administrative or
strategic group. These old ofoJcs are now represented by clans
{(ingi), and the word ofoJc is reserved for the common wandering-
ground of the clan. An ulus is made up of related clans forming
a 'confederation', sometimes called orda, and governed by an
elder, known as noi;on. The tiibe {tangatchi) comprises several
uIhscs, and is governed by an elder, called tayslia}

Kharuzin^ says that the tribal elder was elected at a general
assembly of the tribe. The result of the election was made known
by placing the chosen man upon a sheet of felt, called Icoshma.
Candidates must be in the line of direct descent from the clan of
Dj'nniis-Khan ; so that in the Mongolian state, based on the clan
system, one clan has precedence over all others. The descendants
of this privileged clan call themselves ' white-bones ' in contra-
distinction to all the other clans who are known as ' black-bones '.
Noble ladies are known as * white -flesh ' and common women as
'black-flesh'.^ At the present day the office of tribal elder is no
longer elective, but hereditary, passing from father to son or to
the nearest relative in the male line ; hence it is not now
a question of the ascendancy of a clan but of a family. The tribal
elder is in modern times almost independent of any control in
the exercise of his office ; for the council of clan elders, which was
formerly invested with the power of regulating his authority, has
practically lost all significance. Still, the old patriarchal tradition
prevents exercise of an unlimited despotism by the tribal chief
over people who are of the same tribe or clan as himself;
he may, however, be as despotic as he will towards the class of
slaves.'*

21ic Buryat. The Buryat form a branch of the Eastern Mon-
gols. They speak a dialect of the Mongolian language, differing
both from the spoken tongue of the true Mongols of Khalkas and
from the language of Mongolic literature. It is also distinct from
Kalmuk. According to some traditions, they are descendants

> Op. cit., p. 236. - Ethnography, 1903, vol. iii, p. 231.

^ 8. Pallas. Travels through Siberia and Tartary, part iii, p. 204.
^ Kharuzin, ibid.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 65

of the ancient Oyrat.^ The north-western Buryat trace their
descent from Bukha-Noyna, a mythical hero, while those of the
south-west claim as their common ancestor the hero, Barj^ubator.
The Selenginsk Buryat say that they are descended in direct line
from Djingis-Khan. The Buryat of the Irkutsk Government,
north-west of Lake Baikal, are called Bargu-Buryat ; those from
the south-west of tlie lake are known as Mongol-Burj'at. The
Buryat inhabiting the Amur basin have the name Aga-Buryat.

In ancient times the Buryat clan was known as >/agan. The
Russians have formed administrative clans, each composed of
several yoijans. At the head of the clan is an elder, called
shelenga. Several clans are combined to form an administrative
group called in Russian ricdonisira, with an elder known as taysha.
Among social events which help to preserve the unity of the
clan, one of the most important is their institution of a co-operative
hunt, in which all members of the clan, or of several allied clans,
take part. It is called zcgeta-aba among the Bargu-Buryat, and
by the Mongol-Burj^at, aha-JchaidaJc. The hunt sometimes lasts for
several months, and is under the leadership of a tiibucJd, whom
every one obeys, and whose office is very often hereditary.
Besides the tuhuchl there are usually several galshas {gal, 'fire')
whose duty it is to look after the fire and food ; and two guides,
gazarisli. There are also other assistants of lesser importance
called ya'klnihj and malgoP-

Another social event of great importance as a means for pre-
serving the unity of the clan is the tailgan. In the description
of this socio-religious festival we shall follow Klementz,''

The tailgan is a public sacrifice (as distinguished from a private
one, called kirik) performed on behalf of the whole community.
Sacrificial animals are supplied by several households, according
to their means ; and after the sacrifice the meat is divided equally
among the participants. The tailgan is a popular or social festival,
in which the youths engage in wrestling and jumping ; foi'merly
there was archery as well. Tailgans are celebrated in honour
of the various zayans, at certain definite seasons of the year: the

' N. Kharuzin in his Ethnographi/ (1901, vol. i, part ii, p. 2.34) says
that the Oliut are identical with the Oyrat and are Western Mongols.
Other reliable authorities, such as Agapitoft' and Khangaloft', and
Klementz, class them with the Eastern Mongols. Pallas says that ' Oyi-at
are commonly called Kalmuk '. (Pallas, op. cit., p. 203.)

- 'The Buryat', Brockhaus and Ephron, Encyclopaedia.

^ Klementz, Article ' Buriat ', E. R. E.



66 SOCIOLOGY

tailgan to the western Tengrris in spring corresponds to the Yakut
spring festival, >/s_)/rtJch ; that to the Waicr-Klmns is in summer,
and the one to the mothor-earth, at the end of the latter season.
The general character of all these festivals is the same, the only-
special features being connected with the character of the deities
invoked. The commonest and widest-spread form of the ritual
is that used at the sacrifices in honour of the western Khans}

A large open space at the foot of a hill is selected by the people,
who go out into the fields in a body.'- The various utensils, the
wine, and the sour milk provided for use at the festival, are
fumigated beforehand with pine-bark. At the house of one of
the more respected particii)ants, the shaman sprinkles tarasun
before the assembled company, who are in readiness to set out
for the appointed spot. There, utensils with i^rovisions are
arranged in a row from west to east ; the participants take their
seats towards the south in a place called turglie — a name also
given to branches of birch stuck in the ground in front of the
utensils. There is also a place set apart for the sacrificial animals,
and for big kettles in which the meat is to be boiled. Every
participant has to provide a rope made of white hair intertwined
with white and black ribbons. By means of the rope formed by
joining these (a white hare-skin being then affixed to it) the tops
of some birch-trees which are now planted in the ground are
bound together and the trees supported with pegs to keep them
in an inclined position. When this is done, the shaman reads
a prayer, and the participants, at his command, pour out the
contents of brimming cups, which they have been holding in
their hands.''

This libation is thrice repeated, and the empty cups are thrown
away. If a man's cup falls on its bottom, this is accounted
a favourable omen, and he is acclaimed by all with shouts of
' Torokh ! ToroJch ! ' Further libations are made, after the shaman
has placed in each cup a branch of the Picea sibirica {jido), and
sour milk is given to the sacrificial animals, which are then killed
and their skins taken off with the heads and legs. The lungs,
larynx, and heart are left with the skins, which are stuffed with



I Iljid.

- Except the married women and widows, who in exogamic society
are of a different clan. These remain at home. The jjarticipants in the
festival are all men and girls.

3 Ibid.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 67

straw. Birch-twigs are stuck in the nostrils, and to the foreheads
are fastened pieces of the bark of the Jido. Each of the stuffed
skins is hung on one of the birches prepared before, Avith the
head turned in the direction of the dwelling of the deity invoked.^

The meat is now boiled and separated from the bones, which
are collected, those of each animal in a separate heap, on little
tables made of birch-sticks, and burnt. The ends of the animals'
intestines are burnt in a separate fire.-

The principal rite is performed after this. Everyone takes
a pail containing meat, and stands up, while the shaman invokes
the western rayfl«6'. These come, each in his turn, and relate
their own stories. When Bukha-Noin-Baobai '?' arrives, the shaman
goes down on all fours, bellows like a bull, butts those present as
if with horns, and tries to overturn the birch-trees tied with the
white ropes, while several men hold up the trees against his
attack. Unsuccessful in this, the Khan dei>arts with fresh bellow-
ings. The shaman next invokes another ::ai/au, Nagad-Zarin ;
and then this rite, together with the whole ceremony, is con-
cluded by petitions and entreaties to the western gods for various
benefits.'*

VIII. The Finnic Tribes.

The clan among the Finnic tribes appears to have been in
the past, even if it is not always now, the most important social
unit. The terminology used within the clan in the Finnic tril)es
of the Votyak, Ostyak, Cheremiss, and Mordva, shows that family
relationships are classificatory, and that degrees of age play an
important part in these relationships. This is the conclusion
reached by Mr. Kharuzin in his Etlinocjraxjlnj .^ As far as the
evidence hitherto gathered goes, a similar system obtains among
other Neo-Siberians like the Yakut and the Altaians, as well as
among some of the Palaeo-Siberians, e. g. the Gilyak and Yukaghir,
and, to a certain extent, the Chukchee and the Koryak.

The Vofi/aJi. — Thus the Votyak use the words aij and mum// for
'father' and 'mother' respectively, these terms also signifying

' Ibid. 2 ii^i^i

^ Bukha-Noin-Baobai : ' Fathor-Master-Ox ', the most popular of the
?western Khans and progenitor of a Buryat tribe. He is the second son
of Budurga-Sagan-Tengeri (Klementz, ' Tengris or heaven-gods ', § 4 of
art. quotedj.

* Ibid.

^ Ethnography , vol. ii, 1903, p. 36.

F 2



68 SOCIOLOGY

* male ' antl ' female '. The terms nun'ia and agaii mean generally
'a man older than myself, whether father, elder bi-other, uncle, or
nephew. The word r//«, meaning a 'man younger than myself,
is similarly used. Apcvj and aliay, signifying a ' woman older than
myself, and ^ suzcr\ a 'woman younger than myself, are applied
in a similar way to relatives.^

A Votyak clan comprises from ten to thirty villages. The clan
is united by its descent from a common founder-protector, and by
a common cult. At the present day, however, the group of villages
is becoming more and more a territorial unit, known as mer, and
less of a clan in the strict sense. The group of clansmen claiming
descent from a common ancestor is known by the name di.'^

The OsfifctJi. Castren says that the Ostyak, like the Samoyed,
are divided into clans, of which each is in fact a large family and
an independent state .?^' * The elder of the clan was called urt. They
are sometimes mentioned in literature as kniaz (' prince '), a Russian
word imported by the Cossacks, and by them aj^plied indiscrimi-
nately to all sorts of native authorities. In ancient times the tcrt
was very powerful, but in some matters he gave place to the oldest
man of the clan in deference to the latter's greater age and
experience,^

At the time of the Tartar dominance the Ostyak clans were
called vdlosti. Since the Russian conquest the office of urt has
been abolished, and it has become difficult to trace the clan geneal-
ogies. The northern Ostyak are still nomadic and pagan, and are
occupied Avith reindeer-breeding. The southern division, living
along the Irtysh, are more or less sedentary fishermen and tillers
of the soil.^

From the old Ostyak tales and songs Patkanoff has drawn
an account of their society as it was befoi'e the Tartar and Russian
conquests. These people have never exhibited a tendency to unite
into anything resembling a nation or even an organised tribe ; they
have always been grouped in clans independent of each other, each
clan having its own chief, and there was seldom even anything

1 I. N. Smirnoflf, The Vot,jal\ 1890.

^ Piervukhin, Materials for the ArchaeoJor/y of the Eastern Provinces of
Russia, 1896.

^ Castren, Reiseerinnerungen aiis den Jahren 1838-1844, 1853, p. 286.

* Only the Obdorsk Ostyak have preserved their patriarchal insti-
tutions intact. (Castien, op. cit., p. 286.)

« N. ratkanoff, The Ancient Life of the Ostijal; 1891, vol. iv, p. 75.

'' Op. cit., vol. iii, p. 87.



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 69

like an alliance of clans. The chief (prince) was the real rulei',
but on certain important occasions there was an assembly, in which
only the oldest members of the clans were allowed to take part in
discussions. Every assembly began with a sacrifice to the gods,
and a general feast to which the people were summoned by the
slaves of the chief. ^ The chiefs (princes) and their families formed
a strong aristocratic caste. They were probably chosen for their
physical prowess and moral (Qualities, but this was before the time
referred to in the songs and legends. They were a warrior class,
whose duty it was to defend the land from foreign foes.'^ In time
of peace they occupied themselves with hunting and tournaments.

The commoners {mi/gdat-ijals), although much more numerous,
are but seldom referred to in the poems.^ The slaves {fei/, ort,
' male slaves ' ; teif-ncn, ort-ncn, ' female slaves ') were probably
obtained in war, and had various household occupations in the
houses of the nobles. They were private property, and their
owners could do with tliem what they Avould. They were often
given as part of the kalt/m for a bride. On the whole, the
treatment accorded them was kind.^

When the Ostyak were at war with the Saraoyed, and after-
wards with the Tartars and Russians, they formed alliances among
their clans.'* During these wars they had, like the Vogul and
Samoyed, the custom of scalping a slain enemy. Some of the
songs tell also of the heroes eating the hearts of the foes they had
killed.^

' Op. cit., p. 76. - Op. cit., p. 77. ^ Qp. cit., p. 82.

* Op. cit., p. 83. 5 Op. cit., p. 105. « Op. cit., p. 101.

[Prometheus]

CHAPTER IV
MARRIAGE

PALAEO-SIBERIANS
I. The Chukchee.

Among the Chukchee, especially among the reindeer-breeding
portion of the tril)e, unmarried people are extremely rare, and in
most cases they are individuals with a certain sexual defect. This
kind of deformity is called by the Chukchee totamorhinc {' thou
acquirest a swelling on the mcnibrnm virile ')}

In the Chukchee language there is no term for ' girl ', for
virginity is not required or expected. There is a word for
* woman ' {neusqat), and for ' separate woman ', i. e. a woman
living alone {nanra-naw). There is also an expression ' not yet put
in use' {yep ayaakelen), probably nearly equivalent to our word
' girl '. In spite of this and of the sensuality of the Chukchee,
which shows itself in private life and in their mythology, Bogoras^
observes: 'Still, many of the Chukchee girls are chaste until
their marriage ; and in comparison with the other tribes of this
country, the Chukchee are considerably more decent. Among the
Russians and Russianized natives throughout the whole north-
east from the Lena River to Kamchatka hardly any girl remains
a virgin until marriage. Most of them begin sexual life with the
first traces of maturity, being but fifteen or sixteen, and sometimes
only twelve or thirteen years old, and c^uite immature. All kinds
of cases of adultery and incest occur even in the families of the
clergy, and are participated in by monks and missionaries.' We
read that the Reindeer-Chukchee girl is shy and proud by nature,
and 'would avoid flirting with a man wholly unknown to her'.^
But if she has children before marriage they are treated in the
same way as children born after marriage. If a very young girl
bear children she is called ' the fawn mother ' (some female fawns
bearing young when they are one year old). On the whole, the

^ Bogoras, The aiidxhee, ,T. N. P. E., vol. vii, p. 539.
^ Op. cit., p. 672. 3 iijij_



MAEKIAGE 71

Chukcliee have an idea that early marriages are bad for the health
of the woman, and intercourse with one 'not having lull breasts
and the menses' is considered shameful.^ According to Dr. Meli-
koff, the violation of a girl not perfectly mature is a serious crime,
and therefore is Severely punished by the Council of the Elders.^

Marriage between relatives, especially between cousins, is the
most frequent form among the Chukchee. Sexual intercourse
between uncle and niece is considered incestuous, though Bogoras
knew of two cases of such relations, one of which was a marriage.
The husband in this latter case was ridiculed by the neighbours.
The same writer observed two cases of sexual relations between
father and daughter, and gives us many examples of Chukchee
tales relating to marriage between brother and sister, which in
actual life are considered incestuous.''

One tale about the country of Luren (a Chukchee village called
Luren lies on the Pacific shore, north from Indian Point) says :
* The Maritime people living in that country were exterminated
by famine. Only two were left : a full-grown girl and her infant
brother. She fed him with pounded meat. When he grew up
she asked him to marry her. "Otherwise we shall remain child-
less," said the sister. '*"VVe shall have no descendants, and the
earth will remain without people. It cannot be peopled other-
wise. And who sees us? Who will say 'shame'? Who wdll
know about it in the world ? We are all alone in the world."
The brother said, " I do not know, I feel bad ; it is forbidden."
Then the sister began to think. '' How can I do it ? Our line of
descent will break off with us." The young woman goes to
a distant place, builds a house, quite different to their own,
prepares everything belonging to it, and makes new clothes for
herself. Then she returns and tells her brother that she has seen
a house somewhere on the shore. The brother goes in search of
this house and finds it. The sister is already there. She has
changed her clothes, the expression of her face, the tone of her
voice, and he takes her for another woman. After some hesitation
he takes her for his wife. Then begins a life in two houses : the
sister is here and there and plays with success her double role.

' Op. cit., p. 573.

"^ Dr. Melikotf's report is in manuscript. Bogoras, however, expresses
some doubt with regard to the trustworthiness of Melikoff's interpreter,
the Chukchee Eiheli. There is no Council of the Elders now and no
punishment as a public institution, says Bogoras (p. 574).

* Bogoras, op. cit., p. 576.



72 SOCIOLOGY

Finally, when she is pregnant, the brother ceases to think of his
sister, and they live at the new place. One child is born, then
another. The family multiplies and becomes a peoi)le. From
them are born all the people in the camps and villages,'^

Tliere exists universally among the Chukchee a custom of
marrying young children, who then grow up together and are
very much attached to one another later on, when they are
actually married. This is the case in marriages between relatives
or between members of two friendly families.

While staying on the Dry Anui Kiver, Bogoras heard of
a marriage arranged before the birth of one of the children. One
Chukchee had a son three years old. The wife of another was
about to give biith to a child, and they were all convinced that it
would be a daughter ; so they settled that the marriage ritual
should take place the first autumn after the birth of the girl.
Sometimes families exchange their daughters.-

The most curious side of this custom is that the age of the
persons whose relatives marry them by exchange is of no account.
In a case he observed on the Oloi Eiver, Bogoras states that
a man, Qimaqiii, gave his five-year-old son to be married to a girl
of twenty, and in exchange for her he gave his niece of twelve
years old to be married to a man who was over twenty years of
age. The wife nursed the boy, waiting until he should grow up.
In some cases of this kind the wife may have a male * marriage-
companion', and, having a child of her own, nurse it and her
contracted husband together.^ This is done, as the Chukchee say,
*to ensure the love of the young husband in the future.''*

3Iarriage Ceremonies. The most usual method of oljtaining the
wife is by serving for her. This is called among the Chukchee
* for wife herdsman being ' {naundourgin). This term is also used
by the Maritime Chukchee, altliough they have no herds. There
the bridegroom lives in the house of the girl's father and works
for him. But we find, especially in the myths, the description of
another kind of marriage. When a man from one village seeks
a wife from another, often at a great distance, he has to surmount

' Op. cit. p., 577. 2 Op. cit., p. 578. ' Ibid.

* ' The marriage between a full-grown girl and a young boy ', says
Bogoras, 'occurs between many other people more civilized than the
Chukchee. Until recent times they were very frequent in the villages of
Great Russia, the role of actual husband in this case falling to the
father-in-law. This is called snokhachc^tvo (from s)iokha — daughter-in-law).
Such intercourse the Chukchee consider improper.' (Op. cit., p. 578.)



MARKIAGE 73

many diftieulties. either on the part of lier parents or herself. In
such tales the bride is sometimes described as being kept in a big
iron box, and the suitor must set her free ; sometimes the
parents conceal the place where she is hidden. But there are also
cases where the bride is the opposer, being described as a strong
and proud girl. Thus, in one story, a girl caused her suitors to
run foot-races with her. and the one who succeeded in distancing
her she took in marriage. Sometimes a series of contests takes
place before a man succeeds in obtaining his wufe. Even at the
present day such romantic marriages occur. ^

In the case of serving for a wife the bridegroom makes
preliminary inquiries through a friend or relative, a proceeding
which is termed 'Thou askest for a wife' [neicew girJcin). This
friend begins service as a representative of the suitor by bringing
from the woods bundles of fuel. The father-in-law then has
a conversation with him, in which the former shows anger and
displeasure, either real or affected. The * asking for a wife ' lasts
several days or even weeks, during which the representative must
not only work, but try to please the family. When the father
gives his consent, this is sometimes reckoned as the end of the
courtship, and the suitor may take the girl ; but in most cases,
even nowadays, this only gives him the right to court her person-
ally. Frequently he acts himself from the beginning without the
help of an intermediary ; the gathering of fuel is, however, an
essential part of the procedure. Only then does the period of
trial begin, and lasts from one to three years. Some of the old
Chukchee refuse food and shelter to the poor suitor, and at any
time he may be dismissed ; but it is considered a disgrace to
return home passively instead of resisting such treatment. After
the first few months, the suitor is allowed to sleep in the inner
room, and then usually he cohabits with his future bride. If he
is a good herdsman, the father endeavours to postpone their
departure, and ' when the son-in-law takes his wife home without
quarrelling with her father he is usually given some reindeer, the
number of which depends upon the quality of woi'k done by the
young man during his period of service'.

Bogoras was told that a wealthy Chukchee gives his son-in-law
* freedom of one day ', which means that the bridegroom is free to
catch as many reindeer as he can for himself on that day. As

' Op. cit, pp. 580-3.



74 SOCIOLOGY

a rule it is considered improper to pay for a bride 'as if she were
a reindeer', and the Cliukchee always criticize the Tungiis and
Yakut on this point. A second wife is very rarely acquired
through service ; the suitor gives to the girl's father a few
reindeer, not as payment, but as a so-called 'joyful gift'. Still,
Bogoras knew of middle-aged rich men who already had families,
and who had to serve several months in the families of the girls
whom they wished to marry.^

The time of trial is much easier and shorter when the suitor is
adopted as a son-in-law, called by the Chukchee ' continuous
dweller' {vata itilin). The wife is withheld from him for several
years to make his attachment stronger ; but even after his wife
has borne him a child, he may be dismissed at any time. ' Only
after a stay of several years, when his work has left its mark on
the common herd, and perhaps he has some reindeer marked with
his own ear-mark, does his position become more stable, and then
he receives a voice in the family affairs.' ^

Some tales describe the ravishing of Chukchee girls performed
by men of other tribes, by spirits, by an eagle, a whale, a raven,
&c. Sometimes the ravishing was practised within the tribe, but
this seldom occurs in modern times. ' In olden times ... a com-
pany of 5'oung men would seize a young girl in the open, bind her
hands and feet, and carry her to the house of one who wanted to
have her for a wife. Not only the men of alien families, but even
the relatives and the cousins, acted so after being refused by the
father of the girl.'^ After such an abduction the parents would
sometimes receive another woman of the family in exchange for
their daughter. Marriages by flight, in the case where parents
refuse their consent, do occur, though rarely.

The Eeindeer Chukchee sometimes like to take wives from
other tribes — the Koryak, the Tungus, and the Yukaghir. The
woman soon adopts Chukchee manners. As all the tribes in the
neighbourhood of the Eeindeer Chukchee are much poorer than
the latter, they very readily give their daughters in marriage to
rich Chukchee. A poor member of one of their tribes is thought
very lucky if he is adopted as a son, and later on as a son-in-law,
by a Chukchee reindeer-breeder.'*

Bogoras knows of twenty cases of marriages between Kussians
and Chukchee, and supposes that here economic reasons play a

» Op. eit., p. 586. - Op. cit., p. 587.

^ Op. cit., p. 590. ' Op. cit., p. 592.



MARRIAGE 75

certain part.^ The Russian women adapt themselves very easily
to the new hlb and like it, tliough it is dillicult for them in the
beginning. ' One knows neither the language nor the way of life '
— said one of them to Bogoras. ' One feels a yearning to go back
to the river, and weeps all the time. Then comes an old " knowing-
woman " and performs an incantation, which takes away the sorrow
and makes one more adapted to the new life.'^ Keferring to this,
the Russian women on the liver said that the Chukchee women,
with their incantations, take out of the woman her Russian soul
and put in its place a Chukchee soul. Therefore these women
ever afterwards love life in the open.^

Generally, mixed Russo-Chukchee marriages are without
children. 'I should also mention', says Bogoras, 'that many
Russianized families of the Lower Kolyma form actual combina-
tions of group-marriages with Chukchee families ; or, properly
speaking, the Chukchee consider it as a group-marriage, and the
Russians rather as a kind of prostitution. The Chukchee set
great value on these relations, because they consider the Russians,
notwithstanding all their hunger and need, as belonging to a
higher civilization ; and the Russians strive to get out of these
relatives some reindeer-meat free of cost, also some cheap reindeer-
skins and costly peltries of the tundra. So in several Eussian
families, even of clerks, merchants, and clergymen, there are
children reputed to be of Chukchee blood. Thus the two eldest
children of the church-beadle of Nishne-Kolymsk, a son and a
daughter, are called by the neighbours "Chukchee offspring".
I asked the mother about the origin of this name. '"Of course
they are Chukchee, paid for with many reindeer. In those years
I fed the whole hungry neighbourhood." And this "was true ' —
adds Bogoras — ' because on the Lower Kolyma in times of hunger,
every piece of food is divided among all.' ^

Bogoras did not know of any marriages between the Chukchee
and the Yakut, because, he explains, the Yakut do not suffer so
much from hunger as the Russian Creoles and the Tungus.

Marriage liite. This occurs in the house of the groom, if he

^ The Reindeer Chukchee of late years have removed to some fifty
miles' distance from the nearest Russian village in order to restrict the
coming of hungry river-men with their still more hungry dogs. But
those who have married Russian girls cannot very easily go away from
their relatives, and so they become poor. (Bogoras, p. 594.)

' Op. cit., p. 593. 3 iijid^ 4 Op. cit., p. 594.



76 SOCIOLOGY

takes the wife to himself, or in the house of the bride, if the
liridegroom becomes an adopted son-in-law. The groom goes to
the house of her father to fetch the bride ; she drives her own
reindeer, and is sometimes surrounded by her relatives. Then
behind the tent, at a spot set apart for sacrifices, is jjlaced a family-
sledge on which the tent-poles are usually carried, and on both
sides of it at some distance stand the travelling-sledges of the
bride and groom, on which fire-drills and charm-strings are placed.
A sacrificial reindeer is killed, and other ' sacrifices, bloody and
bloodless, are made to the dawn and the zenith. Then the couple
is anointed with the blood of the reindeer, one or two members
of the groom's family generally also undergoing the ceremony in
order that the bride may not feel lonely ; then the groom and the
bride paint on their faces the family mark of the groom '.' After-
wards the woman anoints the sledges with blood, feeds the holy
objects of the household with reindeer-marrow, and sprinkles
some sacrificial blood on the hearth, addressing it thus : ' Be well !
[Mimeleu gatvarlcni !).' -

A second marriage-rite is performed after a few days or a few
weeks, in the house of the bride's parents. It is called ' a journey
out of loneliness ' {Alaranto iirgin). The bride drives the reindeer,
but never the same as used for her first journey. The wife, the
groom, and his relatives, if they accompany him, bring to the
bride's parents some reindeer, some meat-puddings, and other
presents. But they insist that it is a present, not a payment for
the bride, as it is given after the marriage-ceremony. ' On their
arrival at the bride's camp, the bride and groom are again anointed,
the bride's family mark is painted on their faces, and the bride
makes a sacrifice to the hearth of her home.'^ After a feast, they
return the next day to the bridegroom's home, where the rite of
anointment is once more repeated, and the husband's family mark
is painted once more.

Marriage among them is not very permanent, however, and the
wife is sent back to her parents on very light pretexts. Bogoras
knew a family on the Dry Anui Eiver, in which the eldest son had
changed wives ten times in the course of three years. For one of
them he had served three, for another four months.'' Usually,
however, if the union is severed, this occurs shortly after the
marriage ceremony, and in most cases the marriage is broken by

1 Op. cit., p. 595. 2 ibiti

" Op. cit., p. 596. * Op. cit., p. 599.



MARRIAGE 77

the bride s famil)-, which rechiims lier. Th^ children who still
require nursing go with the mother, the others go with the father.
Sometimes the wife is carried away from her husband by her
elder brother against her wish.*

Bogoras himself met a rich and gentle Chukchee on the Dry
Anui River whose wife was taken away from him by her brother.
When he went to claim her, the brother asked him, 'Will you
promise not to refuse me your reindeer ? ' As the husband would
not accede to this request, his wife was not returned to him.

In 1897. Bogoras, during the census preparations, found out •.
that one-third of the women had been divorced several times.

The Reindeer Chukchee are mainly monogynists, but about
one-third are polygynists. Many rich reindeer-breeders who have
separate herds keep a wife with each herd, but frequently those
who have only one herd have several wives. When a Chukchee
has several wives in the same camp, he tries to give them separate
tents, or separate sleeping-places in one tent, but there are also
cases, met with chiefly in their tales, in which the husband sleeps
between two wives. The first wife is generally much older and
controls the others, who are more like servants.^ If a wife has no
children, she insists on her husband marrying another woman.'
' Cases are by no means rare, however, where the husband,
enamoured of the second wife, becomes indifferent to the first,
and even expels her from the house.'*

Precisely such a case is described in a popular tale, 'The Bigamist" :
' There lived a man with two wives, an old one and a young one ;
when he took the young wife he abandoned the old one, did not
love her or sleep with her any longer, he beat her all the time.
In great grief she went out into the desert and came to a bear's
haunt ; she entered, the bear-mother was angry Avith her for
entering ; the woman said, "Why don't you kill me ? My husband
always beats me. It is better that you kill me." The woman
stays with the bears and lives with them. When spring comes

[Prometheus]

1 Op. cit., p. 598. 2 Op. cit., pp. 159-60.

' W. H. Dall {Alaska and its Resources, p. 381) says that if a Chukchee
wife bear only daughters her husband remarries until he obtains
a son ; but Bogoras did not notice this as a rule, because a daughter can
replace a son veiy easily among reindeer-breeding people. He saw
some families consisting only of daughters— also in this case sons-in-law
may be adopted. Among the Maritime Chukchee, however, a girl
cannot replace a boy. (Op. cit., p. 601.)

* Ibid.



78 SOCIOLOGY

the Ijeavs let her go, with presents and incantations. She returns
home, and by means of their incantations succeeds in regaining
the favour of her husband, and persuades him to drive her rival
from the house. The latter perishes from hunger and cold.' '

Bogoras often saw women quarrel, and even fight, over the
favours of their husband.- Similar examples of jealousy are
described by Maydell.^

Supplcmentan/ Unions. The Chukchee form of supplementary
unions, called by Bogoras ' group-marriage ', sometimes consists of
ten couples. The husbands belonging to such a group are called
' companions in wives ' {nav-tnmgit). A man has a right to the
wives of all his companions, and may exercise this right when
visiting the camp of any one of them. The husband in this case
usually leaves the house for the night. In former times this
custom embraced only members of the same family, except
brothers ; but now friends, unrelated, may join such a group,
after which they become like relations, helping and sujiporting
each other. As in the case of individual marriage, a similar rite
is performed, consisting also in anointing each other with blood,
first in one camj) and then in the other, and sometimes the man
will even serve with the herd in order to be received into the
group.

People of unequal age and bachelors are not easily accepted.
People living in the same camp seldom unite themselves into
such a group, in which case, owing to the proximity of the tents,
the custom might easily develop into one of regular instead of
occasional intercourse. Poor people, however, who belong to
such a union sometimes live in one tent, it is said ; but Bogoras
did not himself see an example of this. Sometimes such unions
become polj^andry, if a bachelor is accepted as a companion.
Bogoras heard of certain cases in which each companion takes
the wife of another and lives with her for several months, or
even permanently. At the present time all Chukchee families
take part in such organizations. In some cases all men have
equal rights in each woman ; in other cases a man may have
several so-called marriage-companions, to whose wife he has a
right, while these companions do not possess the same rights with
regard to each other. Sometimes nowadays these unions are
entered upon without any rite. It is possible to break the tie

1 Op. cit., p. 601. 2 Op. cit., p. 602. ^ YqI i, p. 164.



MARRIAGE 79

which binds the union, but in practice this is not done, unless
there is a case of syphilis in the grouji. People of other tribes,
e. g. the Tungus, are also received into such unions, and also
Russians ; of course, in this case the Russians see in the custom
only an opportunity to profit by the loose conduct of women who
desire payment in the form of slaughtered reindeer. Such rela-
tions with the Eskimo have existed for a very long time, and
are undoubtedly due to trade intercourse ; and so the American
Eskimo has a temporary wife when visiting the Asiatic coast,
and the Chukchee when visiting the American shores.^

'These marital ties with strangers', says Bogoras, 'lead us to
the so-called "prostitution of hospitality ". It cannot be positively
ascertained whether in ancient times the custom existed among
the Chukchee. According to Russian accounts of ancient times,
it was customary for Russian merchants at the spring Chukchee
fairs to visit the rich maritime traders. They would bring with
them iron, kettles, tobacco in bags, and gave all this to the host
as a present. The host, in return, offered his Avife to the guests,
having first covered the sleeping place with beaver, fox, and
marten furs, numerous enough to cover the value of the present.
Nowadays no such custom exists.'- Cases in which the girl
accepts the guest willingly for some small present are considered
by the Chukchee as forms of supplementary marriage. Bogoras
says he was never offered hospitality -prostitution, but was often
asked to participate in what he calls ' group-marriage '.

After the death of one of several brothers, the next brother
succeeds him, and acts as husband to the woman and father to the
children, for whom he keeps the herd of the deceased. If the
woman is too old, he does not exercise his right of levirate, which
is here considered more as a duty than a right and only appertains
to the younger brother, cousin, or even nephew, and never to the
elder brother or uncle."

Bogoras says that his information about the Maritime Chukchee
is rather scanty. On the whole, however, the basis of marital
union among the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo is
the same as among the Reindeer Chukchee. We find again the
marriage of near relatives, marriage by exchange between families,
woman for woman, and finally marriage with a strange family

' Op. cit., pp. 602 and 607. ^ Op. cit, p. 607.

' The custom of levirate is widespread among the Amerinds and the
Aleuts (Veniaminoff; Dall).



80 SOCIOLOGY

after a term of service. 'Group-marriage'^ and the levirate are
fully developed. -

The only difference between the marriage customs of the Maritime
and Keindeer Chukchee is that the former are seldom polygynous,
as they cannot support more than one family ; in their tales,
however, wo frequently find examples of polygyny.^' Tlie marriage-
rite among the Maritime tribe consists of sacrificing to the hearth
and, generally, anointing with red ochre instead of blood. When
Bogoras asked what marks the married couple painted on their
faces, he received the invariable reply, ' It makes no difference.' *
Perhaps they have themselves forgotten that it was in former
times, as it is now among the Reindeer Chukchee, the family
mark that is so painted.^

II. The Koryak.
Contrary to the custom of all neighbouring tribes, Koryak girls
must have no sexual intercourse before marriage. A young man
who serves for a girl who has violated this rule is ridiculed, and
her father and brother 'are angry', as the Koryak say." It is
considered shameful for a girl to bear a child before marriage ;
she must go out into the wilderness to be delivered, and after-
"wards she kills and buries the child. After she has reached
puberty, she must not remove her combination garment during
the night, especially when a stranger is in the house ; she must

^ The quotation marks indicate that I do not agree with Mr. Bogoras's
use of the term. The Chukchee form of supplementary union does not
correspond by any means exactly to any of the types of group-marriage
instanced by Prof. Westermarck in his History of Human Marriage.

^ ' In regard to the prostitution of hospitality, it should be said that
under the influence of American whalers, paid prostitution has developed
among all the Maritime peoples on both coasts of Bering Sea. During
the entire voyage, each ship has on board several young women from the
Asiatic or the American shore. I have witnessed how, on the arrival of an
Ameincan ship at the village Unisak, women in skin boats ai^proached
it from all sides, offering themselves quite openly. In order to be better
understood, they would press their hands to their cheeks and close their
eyes, s3'mbolizing sleei^.' (Bogoras, p. 610.)

^ Op. cit., p. 611. * Op. cit., p. 610.

' When dealing with marriage among the Chukchee, we have limited
our sources to Bogoras, because all other writers on the subject, namely.
Resin, Maydell, Augustynowicz, and Diachkoff, give us similar, but not
such exact descriptions. Thus Bogoras's writings include previous, as
well as his personal, observations. Our action is sanctioned by the fact
that such an authority as Maksimoff makes Bogoras the chief, if not the
exclusive, authority in his work, Conirihutiou to the History of the Family
among the Aborigines of Russia, 1902. p. 45.

« Jochelson, the Koryak, J. N. P. E., vol. vi, 1908, pp. 134-5.



MARRIAGE 81

hIso bphave distantly to the man who is serving for her, and
frequently she is sent away from home for that period.^ Dittmar -
says that a Koryak girl who has sexual intercourse before
marriage is shot by her fatlier. and similar statements are found
throughout the Koryak mythology/^

When taking the census of the Maritime and Reindeer Koryak
families. Jochelson did not find a single illegitimate child, while
among the Yukaghir, northern Tungus, northern Yakut, and
Russian settlers in northern Siberia, it was almost impossible to
find a fomily not including such children. The chastity of Koryak
girls is confirmed 'not only', says Jochelson, 'by the tales and
assertions of the Koryak themselves and from my impressions
obtained in Koryak homes, but also by the testimony of such
experts in love afl:airs as the Gishiga Cossacks.'^

Jochelson gives the following table of Marriage ProJiibitions (rela-
tives between whom marriage is forbidden are quite numerous and
may be divided into relatives by blood and relatives by affinity):

Blood-relatives. A man is forbidden to marry (1) his mother,
(2) daughter, (3) own sister, (4) cousin, (5) fathers sister, (6)
mother's sister, (7) brother's daughter, and ( own sister's
daughter. Between all other blood-relations marriages are per-
mitted. In answer to Jochelson's questions concerning second-
cousins, some Koryak replied that they did not consider them
relatives. 'From this the conclusion may be drawn that beyond
that degree no blood-relationship is recognized, but, on the other
hand, in direct ascending and descending lines, even very distant
degrees, such as great-grandfathers, great-grandmothers, and
great-grandchildren, are recognized as relatives.'

Iielafives bij Affinity. A man may not marry the following rela-
tives by affinity : (1) stepmother ; (2) sister of living wife
(i. e. simultaneously two sisters) ; (3) cousin of living wife (i. e.
simultaneously two cousins ; (4) younger brother's widow ; (5)
deceased wife's elder sister ; (6) nephew's widow ; (7) sister of
brother's wife (i. e. two brothers cannot marry two sisters) ;
( cousin of brother's wife (i. e. two brothers cannot marry two

1 Ibid. 2 2)/e Kon'iken, p. 32.

' Krasheninnikoff (Description of the Country of Kamchatka, ed. 1786,
vol. ii, p. 163) mentions that among the Reindeer Koryak, the bride-
groom sleeps with his bride during the period of service, but as this is
not confirmed by any other authority it is probable that he has confused
them with the Chukchee. Even Krasheninnikoff states that at the
ceremony of seizure the bride's body is well wrapped up, (Ibid.)

* Jochelson, op. cit., p. 736.

1679 Q



82 SOCIOLOGY

cousins) ; (9) simultaneously an aunt and Lev niece ; (10) two
brothers cannot marry, one an aunt and the other her niece ;
(11) two male cousins cannot marry, one an aunt and the other
her niece ; (12) an uncle and nephew cannot marry two sisters,
two cousins, or two women of whom one is an aunt and the other
her niece; (13) a stej^-daughterJ

To Jochelson's questions concerning these prohibitions, one
Koryak said that ' relatives of the categories mentioned would die
soon if they should enter into cohabitation with one another'.^
At the same time, all our earlier evidence concerning the Koryak
seems to point to endogamic marriage. In the ' Description of
people living near Yakutsk, Okhotsk, and in Kamchatka',
compiled by the local administration circa 1780, but published in
1792, we read that the Koryak ' do not take wives from another
ord, and do not give their daughters for wives out of this ord, but
marry among themselves.''' Though the term ord is not defined,
one may suppose that it corresponds to a clan or local group.
The statement of Krasheninnikoff is similar : ' They take their
wives mostly from their own stock, first cousins, aunts, step-
mothers ; the only people whom they do not marry are sisters,
mothers, step-daughters.' "*

Jochelson '' himself asserts that in Koryak mythology only
marriage with a sister or a mother is held to be a crime, but there
are many instances of marriages between cousins. Thus we may
suppose that most of the marriage prohibitions are of later intro-
duction.

All ''' the authorities agree on this fact, that the bridegroom has
to serve his future father-in-law for a certain period and must
often undergo severe tests. No one of them makes any mention
of wife-purchase, or of the substitution of gifts or money for
service for a wife. On the contrary, Krasheninnikoff states that
the son-in-law, however rich he might be in reindeer, had to serve
for from three to five years. Bogorodski ' and Dittmar ® say that
if the man does not please his future father-in-law, he can be sent
away even after five or ten years without receiving any reward for his

1 Op. cit., pp. 736-7. 2 iijij 3 Op. cit., p. 395.

* Krasheninnikoff. ed. 1819, vol. ii, p. 221.

" Jochelson, op. cit., p. 738.

" Krasheninnikoff', ed. 1819,vol.ii,p.222; Lp.ssg^s, Eeise von Kamtschatka
nach Franl-reich, vol. ii, pp. 65 8 ; Kennan, pp. 152-5 ; Diachkoff,
p. 104.

^ Bogorodski, 1853, p. 109. '^ Dittmar, 1856, p. 25.



MARRIAGE 83

service. Maksimoff ^ thinks tli.at the custom of serving for the
bridle is the relic of a former custom by which a man went to live
2>ermanently in his father-in-law's house. As proof of his theory
he quotes the formula used in arranging a marriage, as given by
Yelistratoff.- The father of the suitor addresses the father of the
bride : ' I come to you, my friend, to assist my son in his court-
ship. Here you have my son I I give him to you — if you wish,
keep him as your son or as your workman.' Jochelson'' considers
that this custom of service provides a period of probation and test,
especially as the son-in-law is not treated so well as an ordinary
servant would be. ' The principal thought is not his usefulness,
but the hard and humiliating trials to which he is subjected.'
This opinion is confirmed by Koiyak tales.

In former times, not only the bridegroom but also his ' match-
maker ' was obliged to serve in the house of the bride.

Before the man enters the service of the father-in-law he has
chosen, the matchmaker, called by the Koryak " the asking one ',
entei's the home of the girl's father and the following dialogue
ensues : 'Here I have come!' 'What for?' 'I am looking for
a wife.' ' For whom ?' ' For So-and-so' (mentioning the name).
After some meditation, the host says: 'Well, we have girls, but
they are bad, later on you may yet scold us.' ' No, it is all right.'
' Then let him come, I will not harm him ' ; and in these words
the father gives his permission for the suitor to serve for his
dau2:hter. Very often the suitor goes to make the proposal
himself, especially if his parents disapprove of his choice. The
term of service varies from six months to three years, or even
longer, after which the father announces to the suitor that he may
take the girl to wife.'*

The marriage ceremony itself, which gives the husband full
right to his wife, is the act of 'seizing' his w'ife, described by all
our authorities with only slight variations. Most of them agree
with Jochelson that the bride must not surrender to the bride-
gi'oom without a struggle, nor will the bridegroom take her with-
out encountering the usual difficulties."' The bride is wrapped up

^ Maksimoff, op. cit., p. 47.

2 Yelistratoff, West Coast of Kamchatka, 1787, pp. 152-4.

' Jv)chelson, op. cit., p. 74. * Joclielson, op. cit., p. 739.

^ Jochelson {The Koryak, p. 742) quotes here Steller's explanation of
the origin of this custom. He thinks it is an imitation of animals — a bitch,
too, does not at once yield to the dog (Steller, Beschreibung von dem
Lande Kamtschatka, p. 347).

G 2



84 SOCIOLOGY

ill various garments which cannot be removod without cutting.
The bridegroom must attack lier, cut and tear off her clothes, and
touch her sexual organs with his hand. The girl herself resists,
and tries to run away, and besides this, her girl friends attack and
try to beat the bridegroom back ; and if tlie girl does not care for
the man she tries to hide among the neighbours, while her parents
endeavour to keep her at home.'

Kennan relates that on the marriage day the friends and rela-
tives are invited ; and, to tlie accompaniment of the drum and
songs, the bride runs round the yurta. The groom pursues her,
and at each corner is attacked by the women, who try to stop him
with their feet, and beat him unmercifully with branches of the
alder-tree. Finally the bride slackens her speed, or she would
not be caught at all. and then the man tears off her clothes and
touches her bod}'.^ Jochelson, on the other hand, says that
marriage is accompanied neither by feasts nor by shamanistic
ceremonies. Sometimes the couple leave at once for the bride-
groom's house, or they remain for some time still with her father.
In certain places the bridegroom, after successful ' bride-seizing ',
leaves at once for his home, and sends his parents or relatives to
fetch the bride. 'When the bride approaches the house of her
bridegroom's parents, the latter come out with firebrands taken
from the hearth to meet her.'^ The bride brings with her no
dowry, only her clothes ; but she brings some presents to the
bridegroom's mother and sisters. As soon as she enters the
hoiise she must prepare some meal. Among the Maritime Koiyak
this meal is eaten by the family, and among the Keindeer Koryak
this is followed by a sacrifice to the Supreme Being and his son
' the Cloudman ', the protector of married couples.

In former times there existed another rite called ' dyeing red ',
which consisted in anointing the bride's forehead and abdomen
with blood. After a certain time the 5'oung couple visit her
parents, and are again met with firelirands from the hearth, and
this time the bridegroom brings presents.

In certain rare cases it is the son-in-law who comes to live with
the bride's family. In such cases he is adopted into the family.
The young wife coming to tlie house of her husband must join

' In former times, apparently, not only the women but also the bride's
male relatives defended her from the groom (Jochelson, Tlte Korijah,
p. 743).

^ Kennan, op. cit., pp. 152-5. ^ Jochelson, 'Hie Koryak, p. 743.

[Prometheus]

MARRIAGE 85

him in the cult of his ancestors. Nevertheless, to a certain extent,
she is always under the protection of lier blood-relatives.'

Divorce is simple and easy, the daughters of the marriage
remaining with the mother, and the sons with the father. Some
Koryak men divide their reindeer equally between their children
when the latter marry— others give more to the sons. On the
father's death, daughters as a rule receive nothing ; sons or, in
their absence, brothers of the deceased, being the beneficiaries.
A widow's reindeer become the possession of her brother-in-law,
with whom she lives unless she has children, in which case the
brother-in-law has only temporary charge of them.-

The Koryak levirate rules are as follows ^ :

1. The widow must be married to the younger brother, younger
cousin, or nephew (son of sister or brother) of her deceased husband.

2. The widower must marry the younger sister, younger
cousin, or niece (daughter of sister or brother) of his deceased
wife.

According to Jochelson, the Koryak levirate has for its object
the maintenance of the union between two families. Thus, the
brother of a married woman will very often court her husband's
sister, and such marriages are preferred. Most frequently mar-
riages are contracted between the inhabitants of neighbouring
villages.

If the Koryak levirate aims at strengthening family alliances,
why then cannot a widower marry his deceased Avife's elder
sister, and why cannot a widow marry her deceased husband's elder
brother? To this question Jochelson suggests the following
reply : That the elder brother and elder sister occupy the places
of the mother or father in the family should either of the parents
die, and so marriage of the widower with the elder sister of his
former wife, and of the wudow with the elder brother of her
former husband, are held to be as incestuous as if these relations-
in-law were actually the parents.

In Kamenskoye a younger brother mat) marry the widow of his
eldest brother, and a younger sister may marry the widower of her
eldest sister, while in other places they must do it. There are
however, cases where the widow goes to live in the house of her
dead husband's younger brother without becoming his wife.*

1 Op. cit., p. 74G. ^ Op. cit. pp., 745-7.

» Op. cit., p. 749. ?• Op. cit., pp. 749-52.



8G SOCIOLOGY

Owing to the custom of levirate and the great desire for
children, polygyny is frequent, and in the mythology we have
tales of great Avari'iors ^\?ho had harems of women taken by force.
The first wife is the mistress of the house, and the husband even
sleeps between the wives, but the first alwajs lies on his right. ^

Su])plementary unions were liot found by Jochelson among the
modern Koryak, and they themselves deny that the custom of
exchanging wives ever existed among them.- The statements of
Krasheninnikoff and Steller bearing on this point are slightly
different. Steller says that among the inhabitants of Kamchatka
men sometimes decided to exchange wives, but he does not say
what people he refers to.-' Krasheninnikoff relates that the Rein-
deer Koryak are very jealous, so that a man will kill his wife merely
through suspicion, and if he find her with a lover, will rip open with
a knife the abdomens of both offenders. Owing to this, married
M'omen make themselves as repulsive-looking as possible, having
uncombed hair, unwashed feet and hands, and worn-out clothing."*
On the contrary, among the Maritime Koryak, as among the
Chukchee, a\ hen friends exchange visits, or when guests come to
the house, they sleep with the wife and daughters of the host, who
leaves the house for the night, in some cases to spend it with the
wife of the guest ; in consequence of this the women are very
careful as to their appearance. '

With regard to abnormal sexual relations, Krasheninnikoff says
that the Koryak had no concubines, but that some of them kept
Tcoeliclmch whom they called l:eijev (Jochelson writes qcccu).^ They
did not occupy honourable positions, as among the Kamchadal,
but were kept in subjection, and to be termed l;eycv was a great
insult." Kei/ev are not found among the Koryak of to-day, and
* transformed shamans ', i. e. those who have apparently changed
their sex, have now almost died out among these people, while
the few that remain are, as Jochelson thinks, more closely
connected with shamanistic exhibitions of power. ^ Even in the
case of the Chukchee, who still occasionally have * transformed

1 Op. cit., pp. 754-5. = Op. cit., p. 756. '' Steller, p. 347.

" Krasheiiinnikoft", ed. 1819, p. 201. ^ Op. cit., p. 202.

* It must be remembered that neither Krasheninnikoff nor any other
author who mentions koekrhiich explains precisely who these people were,
whether men or women. It is onl}- conjecture that they were men
living tnodo Socratis. This question will be more fully discussed in the
chapter on ' Shaman and Sex '.

'' Op. cit., p. 222. ^ Jochelson, op. cit., p. 755.



MARRIAGE 87

shiuiians ', Bogoras fouml among 3,000 Kolyma Chukchee only five
cases of men changing into women, and only two of them were
'married'. Krasheninuikoff mentions another 'marriage rela-
tion ' which can be called abnormal or mystical. The Maritime
Koryak have at times ordinary stones instead of wives. A man
will put clothes on such a stone, put it in his bed, and sometimes
caress it as if it were living. Two such stones were given to
Knisheninnikoflf by a man called Okerach from Ukinsk ; one of
them he called his wife, and the other his son.^

III. The Kamciiadal.

According to Krasheninuikoff,'- when a Kamchadal wished to
marry, he looked for a woman in the next village, very seldom in
his own. Having chosen one, he asks her parents to allow him
to serve them for a certain period : this permission is easily
obtained, and during the time of service he endeavours to win
their favour. When the period is at an end, he asks to be
allowed to take the woman, and if he has found favour in the eyes
of her, her parents, and her relatives, he marries her ; if not, they
recompense him for his services. At times a man takes service in
a strange village without disclosing his intentions, which remain
unknown, unless revealed by a friend or cousin.

Having obtained permission to take his bride, he is still obliged
to capture her, because now all the women of the village protect
her from him. She is dressed in several heavy gowns and closely
wrapped up so that she looks like a stuffed figure.^ If he is
fortunate enough to find her alone, or only a few women with her,
he throws himself upon her, and, loosening the strings, he tears
off her clothes until she is naked, for the w^hole marriage ceremony
consists in his touching her sexual organs with his hand.^ This
is not always easy ; because, although when clothed in this way
she cannot defend herself, tlie women with her are very active in
their defence of her.^ There is a case on record of a man who for

' Krasheninnikoff, op. cit., p. 222.

2 Op. cit, ed. 1819, vol. ii, p. 164. ^ Op. cit., p. 165.

* Steller's account on the whole agrees with that of Krasheninnikoff.
He says that the essential part of the marriage ceremony consists in
* Einstecken des Fingers in die Schaam'. (Op. cit., p. 345.)

* It is only among the Koi7ak and Kamchadal in Siberia that this
action constitutes the essential element of the marriage ceremony; but
a similar rite is found amonor certain tribes of the north-western Amerinds.



88 SOCIOLOGY

ten years had been trying to obtain his wife, and his head and
body were much disfigured by his struggles, which were neverthe-
less quite in vain. Sometimes, however, the bridegroom obtains
an immediate victory, and then he must leave the woman as soon
as possible and she must call after him in a caressing voice, *Mi,
Mi, Mi, Mi, Mi ! ' The same night he comes to sleep with her,
and the next day he takes her to his home without any ceremony.^
Only after some time does he come with her to her parents' house
to celebrate their marriage.^

In 1713 Krasheninnikoff witnessed, near the Eiver Katuga in
Kamchatka, the following marriage ceremony. * The bride, and
the bridegroom with his relatives, went to his father-in-law in
rude boats. The women, including the bride, sat in the canoes,
which were guided by the men, all quite naked. The women
carried with them a quantity of prepared food. About 100 metres
from the house, they landed and began to sing, and a shamanistic
ceremony was performed over the head of a fish, which was after-
wards given to the eldest woman of the company.^

' Then over the bride's dress they placed more garments, so that
she looked like a stuffed figure, and the bridal pair with their
attendants returned to their boats. On reaching the landing-place
near the house, the bride was carried into the dwelling by a young
lad sent for her by her parents. A leather strap was placed round
her body, and by this means she was let aown from the roof into
the yurta. She was preceded by the oldest woman already
mentioned, who placed the dried fish on the threshold so that the
pair as well as all the company might step over it. Then the
woman stamped on it and placed it on the wood for the fire.'^ All
the guests sat down and the women removed the extra garments,

See F. Boas, The Indian of the Lower Fraser Biver (Brit. Ass. Adv. So.,
1894) and J. Teit, The Thompson Indians of British Columbia, J. N. P. E.,
vol. i, p. iv ; also the same author. The Lillooet Indians, J. N. P. E.,
vol. ii, part v.

^ The other authority on the Kamchadal (Itahnen), Steller (Beschreibung
von dem Lande Kamtschatka, 1774), agrees -with Krasheninnikoff that the
man must serve the woman's father (' er kann auf keine andere Art zu
einor Frau kommen, als er muss sie dem Vater abdienen '), but he
difl'eis in stating that after the ceremony of resistance by the women the
bridegroom comes to live in his father-in-law's house. Maksimoff (op. cit.,
p. 50) supposes that they are both right, in that both customs have
existed among these people, or else that Steller describes the more
ancient customs, and Krasheninnikoff those which are more modern and
affected by Russian influence.

=* Op. cit., p. 166.

2 Op. cit., pp. 167-9. * Op. cit., p. 168.



MARRIAGE 89

\Yhich were divided among the relatives ; the latter also presented
gifts. The next day the father-in-law entertained his guests, and
on the third day all the company dispersed except the newly-
married pair, who had still to work for some time for the father-
in-law.' ^

All these ceremonies are held only in the case of a first
marriage. A widow marries a second husband without ceremony,
but before any one takes her as a wife she must have intercourse
with some one else, who is usually a stranger, as the fulfilment
of the office is rather despised. Krasheninnikoff relates that in
former times this fact prevented some widows from marrying
a second time, but since the Cossacks were established there, they
perform the office of a stranger.-

Marriage was forbidden only between a father and his daughter
and a mother and her son. A son-in-law could marry his mother-
in-law, and a father-in-law could marry his daughter-in-law.
Marriage was also allowed between first cousins. Divorce was
easily obtained, and it consisted in a simple separation. Re-
marriage is allowed, in the case of the woman, without the
ceremony of capture and without the intercourse above mentioned
(termed by Krasheninnikoff a purification ceremony). A man
could have two, three, or more wives according to his wealth.
Sometimes each wife lived in her own yurta, sometimes all lived
together, and each of them must be captured as above described.
' These people ', says Krasheninnikoff, ' are not so jealous as the
Koryaks. They do not look for virginity when marrying, and
some of them told me that the son-in-law may even reproach his
parents-in-law if his wife is a maid. This, however, I was unable
to confirm. The women also are not jealous, as is seen not only
from the fact that several wives of one husband live together quite
peaceably, but that they acquiesce in the presence of the koek-
chiicli whom some Kamchadal keep instead of concubines.'"^
Steller^ confirms Krasheninnikoff in his statement about virginity
not being regarded as essential in a bride.

IV. The Kuril.

According to Krasheninnikoff,'' the Kuril marriage ceremony
was similar to that of the Kamchadal. A man would have several

' Ibid. 2 Qp (.it^ p 169 ; Steller, op. cit., p. 346.

=> Op. cit., pp. 169. 170. " Steller, op. cit., 1774, pp. 345-6.

5 1786. vol. ii. n. 183.



' Up. cit., pp. 16y. 1 (
"^ 1786, vol. ii, p. 183,



90 SOCIOLOaY

wives, but did not live with them, only visited them secretly by
night. The otlier authority, Polonski,^ confirms this, and adds
that the man could avoid the cajituring process by settling matters
with the girl beforehand, and escaping with her to the next island ;
but whether wife-capture was really a custom of equal importance
with that of resistance, or a violation of it, he does not say.-

V. The Yukaghir.

Jochelson^ observed no rites connected with puberty, nor any
initiation ceremonies among the Yukaghir, but such rites may be
inferred from his description of the marriage ceremony, and from
certain taboos. For instance, a girl who has reached the age of
puberty must observe certain taboos when her brother is absent
on a hunting expedition. ' She must not look up above, but down
on the earth, and on the earth she must not look at the footsteps
of her brother ; she must not inquire about the hunt, or listen to
the tales of her brothers with regard to the hunting.''* She may
not eat of the head or fore part of the game killed, nor look at the
head of the animal. But this taboo affects only unmarried sisters,
and if the girl violates it the expedition will suffer from lack of
food.^

A boy becomes a man when he takes part for the first time in a
hunting expedition for big game, such as the bear or reindeer.
Then he is called ' four-legged-animal-killer-man' (jjclolcun-no
ineyebon Icudec'uje coromox). The girl becomes a woman at men-
struation, which is called by the Yukaghir 'red paint' {Jceileni).
After this she has a separate sleeping-tent, and is free to receive
visitors from the same local group at night. The visitor is,
however, usually the same man, and if he finds a rival in the tent
he fights with him ; and that the Yukaghir distinguish between
the girl who is faithful to one lover and one who is not, is shown
by the terms, ' a girl with one thought ' and ' a girl with many
thoughts ', the latter also having a special name ayuhol. If a man
wishes to marry an aijahol, it is not even necessary for him to
serve her parents. •"

There also exists the custom called by some anthropologists
* hospitality prostitution ', by which the bed of an unmarried girl

1 The Kuril, p. 382. ^ Maksimotf, op. cit., p. 52.

^ The Yukaghir and Yukaghirised Tuiigus, J. N. P. E., vol. ix,
pp. 63 5.

* Op. cit., pp. 77-8. " Op. cit., p. 78. ^ Op. cit., p. 66.



MARRIAGE 91

is offered to a traveller. An old Yukaghir woman explained to
Jochelson that this Wi\s due to the poor conditions of life among
the i>eopIe, and to the fact that the bed of a married couple was
taboo, and hospitality demanded that a good bed be offered to the
visitor. It did not follow tluit the girl yielded herself to him, for
often she did not remove her apron if she disliked the man.
Jochelson thinks that this custom cannot be reckoned as hospi-
tality prostitution in origin, but has acquired this character under
Russian influence.

* Men of authority or of wealth can choose any woman, married
or unmarried. Officials, Cossacks, merchants, and even mission-
aries introduce these habits into the villages and camps of non-
Russian tribes ; and thus the custom may have sprung up among
the Yukaghir of offering girls to travelling officials, merchants,
and other Russian guests. . . . One must conclude, then, that
what was first done by violence or at the orders of Russians,
found favourable soil and in time became a'custom.' ^ Mr. Jorgeson,
a Swedish investigator, found that the natives believed this custom
to prevail in Russian homes. On the other hand, it must be
remembered that a Yukaghir does not look for virginity in his
bride, and so long as a girl does not become pregnant the older
people close their eyes to her lover's visits. -

The Custom of Avoidance.'^ This custom is very strictly main-
tained among the Yukaghir, and is called nexiijini, which means
* they are bashful (in the presence) of each other '. It holds good
between blood-relatives of the class cmjepul, that is, brothers,
sisters, male and female cousins.

Among relatives by affinity the following persons must avoid
each other :

a. The father and his son's wife.

h. The elder brother or elder male cousin, and the wife of the
younger brother or male cousin.

c. The elder brother or the elder male cousin, and the wife of

the younger brother's or younger male cousin's son.

d. The elder brother or the elder male cousin, and the wife of

the son of his younger sister or of his younger female
cousin.

e. The mother and her son-in-law.

Besides this, the father does not speak to his daughter's husband

1 Op. cit., p. 67. 2 Op. cit., p. 68. ^ Op. cit., p. 75.



92 SOCIOLOGY

nor the elder brother to his younger sisters husband. Persons
wlio are ncxh/ini should not address eacli other directly, should
not look in each other's faces, and should not uncover their bodies
in the presence of each other, nor even bare the legs above the knees.
Men who are nexi/jinl to each other should not uncover their
sexual oi'gans or talk of sexual matters among themselves. The
same girl must not be visited by two men who are ncxiijini to each
other. These rules are more closely observed among the relatives
by affinity [poyilpc and uialpe) than among blood-relatives {emjcpul).^

On inquiring as to the origin of this custom, Jochelson was
told ' Our fathers did so ', or * Wise men know that it ought to
be so '.'^

One may suppose that these restrictions consciously aimed at
exogamy, especially if w^e take into account the fact that some
natives told Jochelson that when the parents are blood-relatives,
the children die.-' 'Wise people follow the custom of nexii/ini,'
said one Yukaghir.^ At the same time cohabitation between
near relatives at the present day does actually occur, and in this
case a special blanket is used, having two bags for the feet of the
couple instead of one.^

The violation oi nexii/ini is looked upon only as imprudent, and
as soon as the couple are married this relationship is removed by
means of certain ceremonies.*^

The Yukaghir say that in former times marriage was forbidden
only between first cousins, and that they do not consider second
cousins as consanguineous relatives. The myths often refer to
consanguineous marriages, especially between brother and sister.
Jochelson himself knew of a marriage between a woman and her
brother. Such cohabitation is at the present time secret, but
marriages between cousins do occur. "^

[Prometheus]

The custom of avoidance might perhaps prevent marriages
between relatives in spite of the inclination of the Yukaghir
towards consanguineous marriages, but it could not lead to a
strict exogamy owing to the environment. ' As a hunting tribe
they frequently have to scatter in various families, or groups of
related families, in search of food. In such cases, being isolated
and far away from other tribes or clans, they have had to satisfy
their sexual desires within the group or even within the family."*

1 Op. cit., p. 76. 2 Op. cit., p. 77. ^ Op. cit., p. 80.

* Op. cit., p. 86. ?• Ibid. « Op. cit., p. 82.

' Op. cit., p. 84. « Op. cit., p. 86.



MARRIAGE 93

This could not be prevented even by the extreme sh3'ness which,
according to Jochelson, characterizes the social relations of the
Yukaghir. Jochelson says that the exogamic Tungus and Yakuts
were influenced by the Yukaghir marriage customs where they
came into contact in the north, but we may just as well suppose
that it was the influence of their new environment, so different
from tliat in their original home in the south.

When a man favours a girl, he begins to perform different
services for her relatives. These are silently accepted or rejected
without explanation. They are called pogUomt (* to serve for '), and
form a test of the man's ability. The period of service is shorter
if the groom is an able man, or if the bride becomes pregnant, or
if the fiather feels that the man has already become sufficiently
attached to his house. ^

In former days the groom had to chop wood before the house of
his future father-in-law. After three da5'S of this work, if the fuel
was accepted, it meant that he was accepted also. Then the father-
in-law went with him to the wood and chose the thickest tree he
could. The gi'oom had to cut this down and drag it to his father-
in-law's house, and then only was he accepted. Nowadays, says
Jochelson, an intermediary is sent, and, in a standing posture, he
says to the girl's parents :

'Father and mother, I have come to you on an errand. The
old man [the name of the young man's father follows] sends his
greetings, and wants me to tell you that he wishes to sit with you
at one hearth.' [Free translation.]

But the bride's father answers diplomatically:

* Do not come to me with such propositions.' [Free translation.]

The matchmaker leaves the house, but returns on the following
day, and says:

' Father, mother, my orphan-lad you to the hearth's warmth
why not admit ? '

The bride's father answers :

' I have to find out what the other relatives think of it.'

The matchmaker thanks him for his answer and retires, but
returns again after some time, saying:

' My father, my mother, what words with, what thoughts with,
do (you) sit? Your good word to hear, having come, (I) stand.'

The father of the girl invites the matchmaker to a seat by his
side, saying :

» Op. cit., p. 88.



94 SOCIOLOGY

* I will say, tho bridogroom shall be admitted to my house if he
is willing to stay witli me till the end of my life, till my death.' ^

The matchmaker thanks him and goes away, and the next
night, when the groom comes to the sleeping-tent of his wife, as
he has done before, he brings with him his hunting implements
and places them where they can be easily seen, thus formally
becoming a member of the family. He must not, however, bring
anything more than his clothes and weapons, 'for', say the
Yukaghir. 'he comes to a ready-made bed.'-

Usually the young people settle the matter between themselves
before this formal ceremony, but the father may sometimes object
to having the young man as his son-in-law, which does not,
however, prevent the girl receiving him at night.

The son-in-law occupies a very subordinate position. Only
when he has his own children does he acquire the right to use
some of the furs and other objects without permission. Only
after the death of his fathei--in-law and other old men of the
family, and when his wife's brothers go away to their fathers-in-
law, does he become the head of the family."'

If the young man wants to leave his father-in-law, he can be
prevented from taking his wife with him, unless he has his own
children. Sometimes two families exchange their girls, and
some families do not allow the youngest daughter and the
youngest son to go aAvay.*

The Yukaghir of the tundra, who have been in contact with
the Tungus, combine their own custom of 'serving 'for the bride
with the Tungus' custom of purchasing her {marxin-woJcn, i. e.
' the price of a girl ') and taking her to the house of the bride-
gi'oom's parents.

The service for a wife lasts from one to three years ; and if the
parents reject the man, he leaves the house without receiving any
compensation. The marriage ceremonies are here more compli-
cated and better preserved. When the matchmaker comes to the
house, he brings some presents of skins called ' the mouth-opener '
{anan loholcrctc). After the parents have given their consent, he
settles with them the price of the bride and the time when she
can be removed to the house of her parents-in-law ; Avhen this

^ Op. cit., p. 89. == Ibid.

^ The son-in-law is nexiijinl to the parents and elder relations of his
wife, but he is not bound by this custom in relation to the younger
generation. ?• Op. cit,, pp. 90-2.



MARRIAGE 95

time conios, the bridegroom leaves the parents of the bride, a,nd
his parents frequently move their camp near to her home. The
matchmaker and his wife come to fetch the bride ; he states the
price paid for her and inquires what her dowry is to be. On one of
the sledges accompanying the bride are placed the wedding clothes
for the bridegroom, which she has made with her own hands.
But before the bride's train sets out on its journej', her father
kills a reindeer, and with its blood the mother and the match-
maker's wife smear the girl. This is termed * a washing ' (meciecum).
Concerning this custom, the Yukaghir say they wash the child
' before it is sent away to live with strangers '. After this, the
bride is dressed in her best garments, her face being covered with
a kerchief, and the matchmaker and his wife place her in the first
sledge, they walking beside her. Some relative in the wedding
party fires a gun to protect the bride from the attacks of evil
spirits : this is called ' shooting into the eyes of the evil spirits '.'

'On reaching their place of destination the train makes three
rounds about the tent of the bridegroom's parents, stopping
opposite the place where the nuptial bed is to be prepared inside.
Nobody comes out to meet the bride, but a young girl lifts the
door-flap of the tent, and the matchmaker leads in the bride.
All the bridegroom's relatives are assembled in the tent. The
kerchief is removed from the bride's face, and she bows to the
parents and to all the relatives older than the bridegroom. Then
the matchmaker's wife brings in the skins, the blanket, and other
articles of bedding, prepares the nuptial bed in the place previously
appointed, and sets the bride upon it. The costume sewed by the
bride for the bridegroom is then brought in. He puts it on, and
seats himself beside his bride. Then the matchmaker's wife
brings the presents, consisting of kerchiefs, shawls, trinkets,
knives, and other articles, and distributes them among the
relatives.' -

The reindeer brought by the bride have their heads behind the
antlers painted red, and are then turned in among the rest.
Then the matchmaker and the groom take certain reindeer from
the herd of the latter's parents, and, accompanied by the bride,
they lead them to her father's house to serve as her purchase-price.
' The matchmaker has a long leather halter and the bridegroom a
short one. The bride's father comes out of the tent to accept the

^ Op. cit., p. 94. 2 j]ji^|_



96 SOCIOLOGY

reindeer, and the matchmaker gives him the long haltor to
symholize that the reindeer nowhelong to him. The bridegroom,
however, retains his short halter.' ' They then return home,
announcing the success of their mission, and the bridegroom's
father sends the matchmaker to invite the parents and relatives
of the bride to the wedding feast. A separate place is prepared
for the couple on the skins which form their bedding. After the
feast, the father of the bridegroom, with the help of the match-
maker, distributes presents to the bride's father and other
relatives. These presents usually consist of spoons, plates,
arrows, and axes. Then the guests disperse, and tlie married
couple are left in the tent, which they do not leave for three days.
On the fourth day they go to visit the bride's parents.'-

If we take into consideration the fact that the reindeer and
other presents exchanged during these ceremonies are fairly equal
in value, we cannot regard any of them as the purchase-price of
the bride, as is the case among the Tungus ; neither do we find
here, either actually or symbolically, any trace of marriage by
capture.-' Jochelson says that among the Christianized Yukaghir
the Church ceremony is performed one or more years after the
native wedding.*

We do not find open polygyny in the present marriage customs
of the Yukaghir, but it existed previously, though only to a
limited extent. Of course, as a man went to live in his father-in-
law's house, he could not very well bring another woman there ;
unless, as some facts indicate, the wives were sisters, and in this
case the custom of ncxiyini was violated.^ Good hunters, strong
warriors, and shamans, who did not as a rule live in the houses
of their fathers-in-law, frequently had more than one wife. We
find also that in some cases a man played the part of son-in-law
in one house for one part of the year, and in another house for the
rest of the year. Jochelson met a Yukaghir on the Korkodon
Kiver who told him that his father had lived in this way." In
those parts where the Cliukchee have come into contact with the
Yukaghir, the latter have adopted a form of supplementary union
called by certain authors ' group-marriage ', in which members of
one group visit and may cohabit with the wives of another group,
with certain restrictions."

» Ibid. 2 Op. cit., p. 95. ^ Maksinioft; op. cit., p. 43.

* Jochelson, op. cit., p. 96. ^ Op. cit., p. 110.

« Op. cit., p. 111. ?' Op. cit., p. 112.



MARRIAGE 97

Although Me see in the Yukaghir marriage some matrilocal
arrangements, it docs not follow that we have here an instance of
matriarchy ; for the children are called by the name of the father,
they reckon their descent from their father's male ancestors, and
the duty of blood-revenge is incumbent on paternal relatives.
According to an old Yukaghir, there once existed the custom of
reckoning the first son and daughter among the relatives of the
mother and the rest among those of the father ; but, as Jochelson
t>bserves,^ this was probably in order to keep the son-in-law in the
house of his wife's parents. At the present day, Russian law calls
all children born previous to the Church marriage after the mother,
and the rest after the father.

VI. The Gilyak.

^Vmong these people a girl is not necessarily a virgin until she
marries, and if the parents are careful of her behaviour it is for
two special reasons : (a) they fear that the girl may be united to
a man who is not of her own social position ; they fear that
a child born of the union may be out of the marital class to which
it ought to belong. In this case, as well as in that where the father
is unknown, the child must be killed.^ A man ' without father' is
called ytk-lcliairnd, and is a pariah, who does not belong to the
marital class, cannot associate with women, &c. But there are, in
fact, very seldom such men ; for as soon as a girl is observed to be
pregnant, she is forced to tell the name of her seducer. He is
then called upon to marry the girl, and usually consents very
readily, as the lal/jm in such circumstances is a small one. Only
when the girl refuses to tell the name of the father of her child is
the infant killed to save the clan from shame. '^

But a Gilyak woman will very seldom have intercourse with
a man of a forbidden matrimonial class, i. e. with a man who is
not of the class of jpu (husband) to her, and Sternberg says that
they condemn Russian women who sell themselves for money.*

The marital classes of the Gilyak are based strictly on relation-
ship, and are interwoven with the regulation of sexual relations.
Age pla5-s here no part, for we sometimes find old men and young
lads in the same class.

» Op. cit., pp. 112-13. 2 Sternberg, The Gilijak, 1905, p. 25.

' Op. cit., p. 82. " Op. cit., p. 26.

167S Q



98 SOCIOLOGY

There aie four main social classes :
I. Ite, father's fathers.
II. Ymlc (mother) and ytk (father).
III. Angcy (wife) and^ or ivn (husband).
IV. Tuvn, brothers and sisters, real and classificatory.^

The Gilyak calls not only his own mother ynik, but also all her
sisters and all the wives of his father's brothers, real and classifi-
catory, as well as the sisters of these women. He calls not only
liis own father iitk, but also the husbands of his mother's sisters,
and his father's brothers ; though in certain tribes, e.g. in Sak-
halien, the term is applied only to the younger brothers of his
father. A Gilyak woman names by the term j)u not only her
husband, but his brothers and the husbands of her sisters. The
Gilyak calls not only his wife angei), but also the wives of his
elder brothers (real and classificatory), and these wives' sisters, and
similarly all sisters of his wife. He used the same term for all
daughters of his uncles (proper) and all daughters of the brothers
of the women whom he calls ymlcr

These classes could only originate under a rule by which all
men in one class, A, had to take wives from another class, B, so
that the men of class A are destined from birth to marry the
daughters of their mother's brothers. This most important regu-
lation of Gilyak marriage is implied in their saying : ' Thence,
whence you came forth — from the clan of your mother— you
must take your wife.' Although this regulation is not strictly
kejjt at present, it still exists in their terminology, the woman
who is not of the mother's clan being called yol^h, i. e. the woman
with whom sexual i-elations are forbidden (the elder brothers
among the eastern Gilyak, who are forbidden to have intercourse
with their younger brothers' wives, call them yolh). Also the
woman who is a relative on the mother's side is called angey ;



^ This term for the class of brothers and sisters, real and classificatory,
appears in print in four different forms : t'uer, nif, rum, iuvn. As
Dr. Sternberg uses the term turn (see pp. 22, 26, and 106 of Sternberg's
work) more often than r»r«, we prefer to follow the former spelling,
rather than the spelling riif, which occurs in some works in English.
Ruer appears to be a misprint.

* There is, however, a difference between western and eastern Gilyak
in this respect. Among the foi"mer a man terms his 'wives' — angey — all
his brothers' wives ; while among the latter only the wives of the elder
brother are addressed as angey, the wives of the younger ones being
called yokh (forbidden class). See op. cit., pp. 22-3.



MARRIAGE 99

while even to-day the correct marriage is one with the daughter
of tlie mother's brother (real or classificatory). On the other hand,
marriage with the daughter of the father's sister, or the inter-
change of daughters, is forbidden.^ When Sternberg made his
registration of families he discovered how greatly this custom
preponderates even now.

During the census which Sternbeig undertook in order to study
the Gilyak family and gens structure, he was impressed by the
large immber of married w^omen in one gens who call themselves
* sisters' and the older women 'aunts', and who in the latter case
were actually in that relation to the older women. Thus, in spite
of great changes in the social structure of these natives, the old
marriage regulations are still quite strongly preserved.^

The following schematic table showing the original marriage
regulations of three family-gentes, forming one clan, is given :

Gens A. Gens B. Gens C.
Male A marries fe- Male B marries fe- Male C marries fe-
male B (sister of male male C (sister of male male A (sister of male
B). Their sons marry C). Their sons marry A). Their sons marry
daughters B ; and their daughters C; and their daughters A; and their
daughters marry sons daughters marry sons daughters marry sons
C. A. B.

Inside the clan there is an endogamic arrangement, while each
gens is exogamic. The gens B, which gives wives to the gens A,
is called ahmalk (i.e. father-in-law); and towards gens C, which
takes wives from gens A, it is in the relation of tuyma ahmalk
(remote father-in-law). Gens C, in relation to A, is called ijn^gi
(son-in-law). All three clans call each other ^a^u// (cognate).

In some cases, if the brother has only one daughter, and the
sister several sons, or vice versa, not every man can have a wife.^
This holds, of course, only with regard to having an individual
wife ; but all people who are in the relation of angey and pu have
really the right of sexual intercourse, not only before, but also
after, the individual marriage. In the absence of her husband,
a wife can have intercourse with any man who is pu to her.
Frequently it is the brothers of the husband, or those pu who
live in the same village, that take advantage of this privilege.
Sometimes a man from a distant part, hearing that an angey of

' People who cannot marry or have sexual intercourse are under the
law of avoidance. Even brothers and sisters are forbidden to speak to
or look at one another.

2 Op. cit., p. 'ib. 3 Op. cit., p. 32.

H 2



100 SOCIOLOGY

his is living in a certain village, will come to claim his right.
A Gilyak accompanying Sternberg came with him from the west
to the east coast and found there an angcif in one of the yurta.^

If a wife is discovered having intercourse with a man who is
not her 2m, this involves a fight or tlie severe punishment of the
man ; but if the individual husband finds a^w with his wife, only
the expression of his face reveals that he is not indifferent, for he
cannot take any action.^

If a Gilyak M'oman has a son, she usually asks her brother to
betroth the boy to his daughter. The boy's father ties a dog's
hair round the wrist of the girl in token of the betrothal. When
the girl is five or six years old, she usually j^asses to the house of
her future husband, with whom she grows up, and whose wife
she Ijecomes at maturity.^

[Prometheus]

The typical Gilyak marriage-right includes cousins (though it is
exogamic), and marriages are arranged in childhood. The custom
of payment for a wife exists, but this is either merely a formality,
or what is received is divided among relatives.'* There are now,
however, a great many marriages concluded without regard for
the rules, for Schrenck ^ speaks of the Jcah/m as the one and only
condition of marriage. This Gilyak custom of * buying a wife ' —
umgtc geni/ch — he considers similar to the Neo-Siberian (Tungus,
Ostyak, Samoyed, Tartar, Votyak) marriage customs. In this case
the marriage is concluded, and the groom can take his bride

^ This type of supplementary union is in most cases equivalent to
polyandric marriage, and may be accounted for by the unequal propor-
tion of the sexes in the population. According to the last (1912)
statistics of Piitkanoff, for 2,556 Gilyak men there were only 2,093
women.

-' A. N. MaksimofF, in his work Group-Marriage, 1908, pp. 41-2, ques-
tions whether the Gilyak have any regular custom of supplementary
unions, called by Sternberg ' group-marriage '. He quotes statements
like the above, which show that the collateral j;» enjoys a husband's
rights only when the individual husband is away. Or, that when the
husband finds his wife in fla<jra:ite delicto with her jj», the expression of
his face reveals that he is not indifferent ; and he remarks that among
the Amur Gilyak the husband feels no less anger against a pa than
against any other man in such circumstances (L. Sternberg, 'The
Gilyak of Sakhalin,' E.Ii., 1893, No. 2, p. 26). If a/)^ had a right to the
wife of his ruf (brother), the husband would probably sink his jealousy
befoi'e that consideration. Maksimoft' thinks that there is no light in
question ; it is merely that if a woman betrays her husband with his ruf,
this is considered less blameworthy than if she had done so with
a stranger (op. cit., p. 41). See Sternberg, 'Hie Gilyak, p. 24.

* Op. cit., p. 29. * Op. cit., p. 81.

^ The Natives of the Amur Country, vol. iii, pp. 2-7.



MARRIAGE 101

homo as soon as tlio 7.(?7//»» is paid. Sometimes the high price of
a wife compels a man to abduct her from some remote viHage ; but
such an act is usually followed bj'' blood-revenge.^

The higher the price of a wife, the greater is the resjiect paid to
her in her husband's famil3\-

A Gilyak will usually have two or three individual wives; rich
people have more.^ After the death of a husband, his wife
passes, without any Icahjm, to one of his younger lirothers, ac-
cording to the decision of the clan. Of course, nominally and
even actually, she was already her husband's younger brother's
wife, and her children his children"^; but after the husband's
death another husband is chosen for social and economic reasons.

If there are no younger brothers, an elder brother of the
deceased is chosen to support the widow and her children, but he
has no right to live with her as his wife,"' The children ))elong
wholly to the father, and succeed to his property at his death.
After the l)irth of the first child, the father ceases to be called by
his own name, and is known as ' the father of So-and-so '.

VII. The Ainu.

Marriage among the Ainu is generally considered to be exo-
gamic, and indeed in one of the tales recorded by Pilsudski,"
a young man goes outside his own village to visit a young woman
he desires to marry, and who. he says, has been ' reared for him '.
Another suitor (who in the sequel turns out to be a sea-god) he
finds has preceded him, and the parents of the girl are puzzled to
know to which of the two they shall give their daughter, for by
their inlaid pipes and other marks, the two suitors appear to be
from one village, in the same neighbourhood as that of the girl.

On the other hand, in his article on the Ainu in Ephron and
Brockhaus's Enojclopacdla, Pilsudski says that the Ainu tries to
find a girl for his wife as near by as possible, even in the same
village and among near relatives.

* Op. cit., p. 4. ^ Ibid. ^ Sternberg, op. cit., p. 21.

* Sternberg met in the villag'e of Tangi a family in which two brothers
lived regularly with one wife, the union being based only on sentiment,
for the younger brother was rich and could bu}' a wife for himself
(pp. 24-5).

* Op. cit., pp. 81-2.

" B. Pilsudski, Materials /or the Study of the Ainu Language and Folk-
Lore, 1912 Tale No. 20, pp. 172-6.



102 SOCIOLOGY

Batclielor' also states that the Ainu marry cousins, and in some
cases, nieces, as well as a deceased brother's wife, but they cannot
form unions with a sister-in-law's sister or brother's wife's sister.
There is a firm belief that violation of this rule will be punished
either by death or by failure to have issue.

This restriction, however, does not imply true exogamy, because,
as we see from the following quotation,- peoj^le often marry
within the village.

' If the j^oung woman herself or her parents have V)een tlie main
movers in the business' — pi'oposals of marriage— 'the bridegroom
is removed from his own family to take up his a])ode close to the
hut of his father-in-law ; he is, in fact, adopted. But if the bride-
groom did the wooing, or his parents were the jirime movers, the
bride is adopted into his family. Or if a woman of one village
chooses a man of another, he, if agreeable, goes to live with her ;
or if a man chooses a woman who resides at a distance, she, if
agreeable, goes to live with him.^ Persons who marry in their
own villages are all called uinival; "blood-relatives", "brethren",
but those who remove from their homes to be married into some
distant family are called niritak, "relations taken away", or "dis-
tant relations", "brethren brought in".'

Betrothal of children exists, but it does not compel these
children to marry, if they are unwilling to do so on reacliing
maturity. ' The boy and girl exchanged clothes, and, I believe,
homes,' says Batchelor,^ ' until the season for their union came
round. Then, if the parents of the lad were the prime movers in
the proposal, the young lady remained at his home, but if other-
wise, the bridegroom went to live with the bride's parents, or at
least, in her village.'

The general method among the Ainu of obtaining a wife is by
serving for her ; and Pilsudski sa5'S that if jnu'chase of a wife
occurs either in real life or in the myths, this is usually in places
where the Ainu have come into contact with the Gilyak and are
influenced by them.^' ^

' Batchelor, TJie Ainu and their Folk-Lore, 1901, p. 229.

2 Op. cit., p. 225.

^ According to a personal communication from Mr. Pilsudski, the Ainu
do not like to give their daughters into another family, but prefer to
adopt the son-in-law. His position, though, is much better in such
a case than among the Gilyak.

* Op. cit., pp. 227-8. ^ Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 133.

® In a personal communication from Mr. Pilsudski, he says that the follow-



MARRIAGE 103

B.itchelor^ says that if a girl courts a young man. she 'may
enslave herself to his jtarents as a price for their son '. Pilsudski,^
however, states that though the custom of ?women trying to win
men did formerly exist, it is no longer observed, and Ainu women
'are even very much displeased at any hint of such a thing'.
Their mythology ascribes this custom to Tungus women. It is
called among the Ainu l-qjnjjoslirc, ' to make the first advances'.

A girl, until she marries, is quite free in her intercourse with
men. Some of the myths ?' mention that some time after a girl
was married to a man, she married him again ' for good '. In this
case we must understand the first 'marriage' as in fact a be-
trothal, accompanied by sexual intercourse ; while the second
marriage referred to was the real marriage, after which the
woman was called macipi, 'the wife'. While she is betrothed,
and if she is younger than her fimice, she is called ' circsJiX maci,'
' the brought-up wife ' ; and if she is about the .same age, she is
termed uJcoresJce maci.*

Batchelor gives the following desci'iption of the betrothal of an
adult man :

' The bridegroom's father takes a small sword, and, placing it
in the hands of the father of the bride, says: "This sword is
a pledge of betrothal ; take it and M'orship. Do thou pray to the
goddess of fire." Then, having received the sword, he worships
the fire, saying: "We have here and now settled to marry our
son and daughter ; therefore, O thou goddess of fire, hear thou and
be witness thereto. Keep this couple from sickness, and watch
over them till they grow old." The bridegroom's father then
receives the sword, and worships in like manner.'

The marriage ceremony consists in a feast and exchanging of
presents, the old men making fetiches for the new * heart of the
house '.

'Soon after marriage the bridegroom makes a knife-sheath,
a spoon, a shuttle, and a weaving-loom, and presents them to his
bride. This ... is called mat-eilara, i.e., "making my wife".
The bride then makes a girdle, a pair of leggings, a necklace, and

ing fact will show how foreign the idea of wife-purchase is to the Ainu
mind : If an Ainu wishes to purchase a wife, the only way he can accom-
plish his end is to form illicit relations with another man's wife. If the
fact becomes known, a divorce follows, and the Ainu is compelled to pay
damages to the aggrieved husband.

1 Op. cit., p. 230. 2 Op. cit., p. 142.

3 Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 236 ; also p. 59. * Op. cit., p. 63.



104 SOCIOLOGY

a headdress, which she j^resents to her husband ; this is called
IwTiu ciJiara, "making my husband", ' ^

Polyg5'ny is practised ; and according to Batchelor a man's
wives ' live in separate houses, and are not on speaking terms
with one another'.-

Polyandry is unknown among the Ainu •"' ; occasional cases only
occur in districts bordering on Gilyak territory.

Divorces are of frequent occurrence. The matter is settled by
the eldest of the clan ; the children being either divided between
the two parties, or all given to the one who is considered in-
nocent."* Among the grounds for divorce, according to Batchelor,
are, on the part of the man, ' want of love towards her, or of her
towards him ; incompatibilit}' of temper ; general disrespect on
the wife's part ; idleness, and failure to keep the hut supplied
with fuel and vegetable food ; unfaithfulness ; lack of male issue.
A woman might dissolve her connection with her husband for the
reason of adultery, dislike to him, idleness, inability to keep the
larder supplied with fish and animal food. . . . When a man
divorced his wife, he merely made her a present and sent lier
back to her parents, and when a woman wished to be free from
her husband, she simply walked off and left him to shift for him-
self. In cases which have occurred under my own eye, the
subject was made more of a familj^ aifair. and the presents were
sent to the parents of the women who were divorced, and were
not given to the women themselves.' ' Unfaithfulness is usually
punished by beating."

Both Sternberg" and Pilsudski" agree that the Ainu are the
only people of north-eastern Asia among whom strong traces of
mother-right are found. Pilsudski says that they are just at the
stage of transition from mother-right to father-right. As traces of
matriarchy he cites the superior position of women among the
Ainu as compared with neighbouring tribes, e.g. the Gilyak. Tliis
is especially evident during pregnancy, when she is surrounded



' Batclielor, op. cit., p. 226. - Op. cit., p. 231.

=" Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 130.

* Pilsudski, 21ie Ainu, Epliron and Brockhaus's Encyclopaedia.
"^ Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 233.

" Pilsudski, op. cit., p. 63; Batchelor, op. cit., p. 234.
' 'Hie Gihjal; 1905, p. 21.

* Pilsudski, ' Schwangerschaft, Entbindung und Fehlgeburt bei den
Bewohnern der Insel Sachalin (Giljaken und Ainu) ', in Anthropos, 1910,
pp. 762-4.



MARRIAGE 105

with every care, and even regarded with veneration. Marriage is
never by purcliase. If the husband does not go to live in the
house of his wife's parents, the wife goes to him, but the first few
yeai-s after marriage are usually spent with her parents, in whose
house her first child is often born.

Relationship through the mother is of more importance than
that through the father, the maternal uncle being very often the
most important member of the family.^ Another evidence of this
state of things may be cited from Batchelor, who, however,
curiously enough, considers it a mark of the inferior social position
of women after marriage : ' When not called by her own maiden
name (a wife) is merely called So-and-so's wife ... as long as her
husband is living. Should he die, she is always known by her
name as a maiden, or called So-and-so's mother, should she have
a son or daughter.' -

THE NEO-SIBERIANS.
VIII. The Tungusic Tribes.

The Tungus proper, Christians and non-Christians, customarily
begin sexual intercourse with their wives long ))efore official
marriage ; as soon, in fact, as a certain portion of the Icalym (ten
reindeer, more or less) has been paid to the father of the bride.''

The Tungus of the Yeniseisk Government practise polygamy.
According to PatkanofF,* a girl is free to choose her husband ; and
if her father does not approve of her choice, she elopes with the
man she has chosen. Samokvasoff "" says that among the Tungus
of Nerchinsk and Verkhneudinsk, there exists a custom of inter-
change of children, one family giving a son in exchange for
a daughter from another family. In this exchange, however, the
father of the bride still receives a small Icahpn from the groom.''
The Tungus give as a daughter's dowiy a new suit for the husband,
a cover for the chum (tent), some reindeer, and some household

^ Op. cit., PI). 763-4; see also The Ainu, Ephron and Brockhaus's
Eticijclopaedia, by the same author.

» Batchelor, op. cit., p. 226.

^ A. Sgibnieff, Tlie Tungus of the Sea-Coast Territory, 1859, p. 42 ; see
also Patkanoff, Essay on the Geography and Statistics of the Tungusic
Tribes of Siberia, 1906, part ii, p. 281.

? Op. cit., p. 282.

® Samokvasoff, A Code of Customary La>v among the Aborigines of
Siberia, 1876, p. 65.

« Ibid.



106 SOCIOLOGY

utensils. The Trans-Baikal Tungus give a complete house.^
The hilf/m usuall}^ consists of reindeer. If, after paying the
whole lalf/m, the bridegroom should die before taking home his
bride, his rights in the woman pass to a brother or other near
relative, who has to pay no further Imljim. Tliis, however, is
conditional upon the claimant's l)eing not more than twenty
years older, or ten years younger, than the bride.'-

If an elder brother dies, his wife goes to a younger brother ; or
sometimes a father will take the wife of a deceased son, it l^eing
considered that he bought her with the Tcali/m he paid for his son.^

If a wife is taken in adultery with her lover, both receive
coi'poral punishment. The lover, if he does not belong to the
same gens, has besides to give up his horse to the offended
husl)and.*

In spite of this rule, it must ])e observed that a Tungus husband
will often wink at illicit relations between his wife and, e.g.,
American fishermen, since this is found profital)le. This partially
accounts for the fact that the husbands themselves are quite
frequently unfaithful to their w'ives.

The Tungus proper are exogamic ; but on this point there is
a lack of detailed information, bej'ond the fact that they purchase
their wives from another gens (clan). The Tungus who have
migrated to the Arctic region very often marry within the clan.

The Tungusic tribe of Goldi has a custom under which the
bride must avoid the bridegroom from the time of the match-
making until the l.ast moment of one of the marriage ceremonies,
called dansari. At the dansari there is a certain ceremony called
' first meeting of the two ' {di/relacJio-iiri). After this a feast is
held for the guests, and afterwards, when every one is going to
bed, the bride is led to the bridegroom, and they are placed
beneath the same blanket, even though she may be quite imma-
ture. No sexual act takes place at this time, however. After
this the bride remains some time longer in her parents' house,
and is not taken to the house of the bridegroom until the time for
the performance of the next ceremony, hhosodabgalilni.'' She re-
ceives as her dowry various garments, carpets, household utensils.''
Only rich people can afford to have more than one wife.

* P. Tretyakoff, The Country of Turnldiaml; p. 380.

^ Samokvasoff, op. cit., p. 45. ^ Op. cit., p. 65. * Op. cit., p. 26.

^ P. Shiinkevich, ' Moments of Goldi Life,' E.R., pp. 12-13.

^ Op. cit., pp. 14-15.



I



MARRIAGE 107

Another Tungusic tiil>p— tlio Orochi — have collective marriage
existing alongside of individual marriage similar to that of the
Gilyak. The}- have a classificatory system, the terms of which
correspond with the norms of sexual relations, and they preserve
considerable traces of cousin-marriage. The difference l»etween
the Gilyak and Orochi is that a man's elder brothers are included
in the same class as his father's younger brothers. Hence a man
can marry the wife of his father's j'ounger brother, or his niece.
Two-sided cousin-marriage is allowed. Owing to their nomadic
life, however, these rules are not very strictly preserved.^

An Orochi generally has only one wife, though rich people may
have several. Poor men often carry off other men's wives, ]>ut
this is usually followed by bloodshed. Patkanoff says that a custom
exists among them of giving their wives and daughters to honoured
guests for the night. -

The custom of avoidance binding the wife, sometimes the bride-
groom, with regard to the relatives on the side of each respectively,
which prevails among the Finnic, Mongolic, and Turkic tribes of
Siberia, does not seem to have been observed among the Tungus.

IX. The Turkic Tribes.

A. The Yakut.

It would seem at first sight that the Yakut girl is fairly free in
her relations with men before the official marriage. In the
southern provinces of the Yakut district, says Priklonski,'" a. fiance
has the rights of a husband towards the girl after he has paid the
first instalment of the lali/m. Whenever he pays her a visit he
must make her a gift, and then only her parents give tacit consent
to his spending the night with her. But we read also in the
same author that among certain families there still exists the
following ancient custom: At the head of the bed where the
betrothed lie together (in the gii'l's home, if the Imhjm is not fully
paid up. in the man's, if it is) is placed a cup of salamata.* The
man, if he is satisfied with his fiancee, eats up the salamata ; if
not, he leaves it untouched. The parents secretly inspect the cup ;

^ Sternberg, The Turano-Ganotcanian System and the Xations of Is.E.
Asia, Int. Congr. Am., 1912, London, pp. 326-7.

* Patkanoff, op. cit., p. 116.

» Priklonski, 'Three Years in the Yakutsk, Territory,' L.A. T., 1891,
p. 54.

* Salamata, i. e. meal fried in melted butter.