IV

General Remarks. — Shamanism may be defined as the art of influencing by the help of guardian spirits, the course of events. Among the Koryak we may distinguish professional shamanism and family shamanism. Professional shamans are those who are inspired by special spirits. Their opportunities for displaying their powers are not limited to a certain group of people. The more powerful they are, the wider is the circle in which they can practise their art. Family shamanism is connected with the domestic hearth, whose welfare is under its care. The family shaman has charge of the celebration of family festivals, rites, sacrificial ceremonies, of the use of their charms and amulets, and of their incantations. Some women possess, besides the knowledge of incantations which are a family secret, that of a, considerable number of other incantations, which they make use of outside of the family circle for a consideration.

Professional Shamans. — The professional shaman is called eñe'ñala^sn (that is, a man inspired by spirits), from e'ñeñ ("shaman's spirit").¹ Every shaman has his own guardian spirits, that help him in his struggle with the disease-inflicting kalau, in his rivalry with other shamans, and also in attacks upon his enemies. The shaman spirits usually appear in the form of animals or birds. The most common guardian spirits are the wolf, the bear, the raven, the sea-gull, and the eagle. Nobody can become a shaman of his own free will. The spirits enter into any person they may choose, and force him to become their servant. Those that become shamans are usually nervous young men subject to hysterical fits, by means of which the spirits express their demand that the young man should consecrate himself to the service of shamanism. I was told that people about to become shamans have fits of wild paroxysm alternating with a condition of complete exhaustion. They will lie motionless for two or three days without partaking of food or drink. Finally they retire to the wilderness, where they spend their time enduring hunger and cold in order to prepare themselves for their calling. There the spirits appear to them in visible form, endow them with power, and instruct them. The second of the two shamans of whom I shall speak below told me how the spirits of the wolf, raven, bear, sea-gull, and plover, appeared to him in the desert, — now in the form of men, now in that of animals, — and commanded him to become a shaman, or to die.

¹ At present the Koryak also term the Christian God and the images of the Orthodox Church e'nen.

There is no doubt that professional shamanism has developed from the ceremonials of family shamanism.¹ The latter form is more primitive, while the functions of professional shamans somewhat resemble those of priests. However, the influence of contact with a higher civilization has had a more disastrous effect upon professional shamanism than upon that practised in the family.

There was a time when the Koryak had all the different kinds of shamans that are still in existence among the Chukchee. The Koryak tell of miracles performed by shamans who have died recently, but at the present time there are very few professional shamans among them. I did not find a single shaman in the settlements of the Maritime Koryak along Penshina Bay. The old men of these settlements told me that many people had died among them during

the epidemic of measles which had ravaged these regions before my arrival, because there were no shamans to drive away the
disease.³

The Koryak shamans have no drums of their own: they use the drums belong-ing to the family in whose house the shamanistic performance takes place. It seems that they wear no special dress: at least, the shamans whom I had occasion to observe wore ordinary clothing. One embroidered jacket (Plate 1, Fig. 1) and head-band (Fig. 18) were sold to me for my collection as the garb used by the Alutor shamans; but the jacket looks like an ordinary dancing-jacket used in the whale festival, except that it has some small tassels which have apparently been borrowed from Tungus shamans.

Fig. 18 (70/3386). Shaman's Head-Band.

1 It is very strange that both Steller and Krasheninnikoff, who spent several years in Kamchatka, assert that the Kamchadal had no professional shamans, but that every one could exercise that art, especially women and Koe'kcuc (men dressed in women's clothes); that there was no special shaman garb; that they used no dram, but simply pronounced incantations, and practised divination (Krasheninnikôff, III, p. 114; Steller, p. 277), which description appears more like the family shamanism of the present day. It is improbable that the Kamchadal should form an exception among the rest of the Asiatic and American tribes in having had no professional shamans.

2 It is interesting to note that among the Yakut, a people with a more developed primitive culture, the embracing of Christian teaching has resulted in the decline of family shamanism, which, according to Trostchansky (p. 108), used to be practised among them, rather than that of special shamanism. Professional shamans can be found everywhere among the Yakut, even at the present time.

During the entire period of my sojourn among the Koryak I had opportunity to see only two shamans. Both were young men, and neither enjoyed special respect on the part of his relatives. Both were poor men who worked as laborers for the rich members of their tribe. One of them was a Maritime Koryak from Alutor. He used to come to the village of Kamenskoye in company with a Koryak trader. He was a bashful youth. His features, though somewhat wild, were flexible and pleasant, and his eyes were bright. I asked him to show me proof of his shamanistic art. Unlike other shamans, he consented without waiting to be coaxed. The people put out the oil-lamps in the underground house in which he stopped with his master. Only a few coals were glowing on the hearth, and it was almost dark in the house. On the large platform which is put up in the front part of the house as the seat and sleeping-place for visitors, and not far from where my wife and I were sitting, we could just discern the shaman in an ordinary shaggy shirt of reindeer-skin, squatting on the reindeer-skins that covered the platform. His face was covered with a large oval drum.

Suddenly he commenced to beat the drum softly and to sing in a plaintive voice: then the beating of the drum grew stronger and stronger; and his song - in which could be heard sounds imitating the howling of the wolf, the groaning of the cargoose, and the voices of other animals, his guardian spirits — appeared to come, sometimes from the corner nearest to my seat, then from the opposite end, then again from the middle of the house, and then it seemed to proceed from the ceiling. He was a ventriloquist. Shamans versed in this art are believed to possess particular power. His drum'also seemed to sound, now over my head, now at my feet, now behind, now in front of me. I could see nothing; but it seemed to me that the shaman was moving around us, noiselessly stepping upon the platform with his fur shoes, then retiring to some distance, then coming nearer, lightly jumping, and then squatting down on his heels.

All of a sudden the sound of the drum and the singing ceased. When the women had relighted their lamps, he was lying, completely exhausted, on a white reindeer-skin on which he had been sitting before the shamanistic performance (Plate II. Fig. I). The concluding words of the shaman, which he pronounced in a recitative, were uttered as though spoken by the spirit whom he had summoned up, and who declared that the "disease" had left the village, and would not return.

The shaman's prediction suited me admirably, for one of the old Koryak had forbidden his children to go into the house where I stopped to take measure-mgnts^jaying that they would die if they allowed themselves to be measyred. 1

¹ It will be interesting to quote here from the work of Dr. Slunin (I, p. 378) on this subject: "Up to this time no one has taken any anthropological measurements of the Koryak: and this is impossible, for they are too ignorant and superstitious, and they are exceedingly opposed to being measured. They absolutely refused to comply with our request in this matter, despite the hospitality we met in their homes.

He also tried to stir up the other Koryak against me, pointing out to them that an epidemic of measles had broken out after the departure of Dr. Slunin's expedition, and that the same thing might take place after I left.

I made an appointment with the shaman's master to have him call on me, together with the shaman, on the following day. I wished to take a record in writing of the text of the incantations which I had heard; but when I woke up in the morning, I was informed that the shaman had left at daybreak.

I saw another shaman among the Reindeer Koryak of the Taigonos Peninsula. He had been called from a distant camp to treat a syphilitic patient who had large ulcers in his throat that made him unable to swallow. I was not present at the treatment of the patient, since the latter lived in another camp, at a distance of several miles from us, and I learned of the performance of the rite only after it was over. The Koryak asserted that the patient was relieved immediately after the shamanistic exercises, and that he drank two cups of tea without any difficulty. Among other things, the shaman ordered the isolation of the patient from his relatives, lest the spirits that had caused the disease might pass to others. A separate tent was pitched next to the main tent for the patient and his wife, who was taking care of him. I lived in the house of the patient's brother, the official chief of the Taigonos Koryak. At my request he sent reindeer to bring the shaman. The shaman arrived. His appearance did not inspire much confidence.

In order to obtain a large remuneration, he refused at first, under various pretexts, to perform his art. I asked him to "look at my road;" that is, to divine whether I should reach the end of my journey safely. The official chief said that this performance must take place in my own tent, and not in that of some one else; but the shaman declared that his spirits would not enter a Russian lodging, and that he would be in deadly peril if he should call up spirits for a foreigner. Finally it was decided that the peril for the shaman would be eliminated by making his remuneration large enough to completely satisfy the spirits, I promised to give the shaman, not only a red flannel shirt, which he liked very much, but also a big Belgian knife. I had offered him first the choice of one of the two articles; but he declared that his spirits liked one as well as the other.

Another difficulty arose over the drum. The chief himself found a way out of it by means of casuistry. He gave his own drum, saying that a family drum must not be taken into another Koryak's house, but that it was per-
missible to take it into mine. The drum was brought into my tent by one of the three wives of the chief. It was in its case, because the drum must not be taken out of the house without its cover. A violation of this taboo may result in bringing on a blizzard.

During the shamanistic exercises there were present, besides my wife and myself, the chief, his wife who had brought the drum, my cossack, and

the interpreter. The shaman had a position on the floor in a corner of the tent, not far from the entrance (see Plate II, Fig. 2). He was sitting with his legs crossed, and from time to time he would rise to his knees. He beat the drum violently, and sang in a loud voice, summoning the spirits. As he explained to me after the ceremony, his main guardian spirits (e'ñeñs) were One-who -walks -around -the-Earth (No'taka'vya, one of the mythical names of the bear), Broad-soled-One (Umya'ilhm, one of the mythical names of the wolf), and the raven. The appearance of the spirits of these animals was accompanied by imitations of sounds characteristic of their voices. Through their mediation he appealed to The-One-on-High (Gi'chola^sn) with the following song, which was accompanied by the beating of the drum: —

That is, "Let him reach home safely, and let me also reach home safely." Suddenly, in the midst of the wildest singing and beating of the drum, he stopped, and said to me, "The spirits say that I should cut myself with a knife. You will not be afraid?"¹ — "You may cut yourself, I am not afraid," I replied. "Give me your knife, then. I am performing my incantations for you, so 1 have to cut myself with your knife," said he. To tell the truth, I commenced to feel somewhat uneasy; while my wife, who was sitting on the floor by my side, and who was completely overwhelmed by the wild shrieks and the sound of the drum, entreated me not to give him the knife. Until that time I had heard different narratives about shamans cutting their abdomen, but I had never seen it done. On the Palpal Mountains I was told that a woman shaman, who died quite recently, used to treat her patients by opening the affected place, cutting out a piece of flesh, and swallowing it, thus destroying the disease, together with the spirit that had caused it. It was said that the wound she made would heal up immediately. Several times I attended the exercises of a Tungus shaman nicknamed Mashka, who subsequently served me as guide on my way from Gishiga to the Kolyma. He pretended that his guardians belonged to the Koryak spirits, and demanded that he cut himself with his knife. The wild fits of ecstasy which would possess him during his performances frightened me. In such cases he would demand all those present to give him a knife or a spear. He was married to a Yukaghir woman from the Korkodon River, whose brother was also a shaman. She would always search him before a performance, take away all his knives, and request all those present not to give him any sharp instruments, for he had once cut himself nearly to death. His spirits, being of Koryak origin, spoke out of him in the Koryak language; i. e., part of the performance _was in_the_Koryak

1 Shamans, with the help of the spirits, may cut and otherwise injure their bodies without suffering harm.

language. I asked him several times to dictate to me what his spirits were saving, and he would invariably reply that he did not remember, that he forgot ev'erything after the seance was over, and that, besides, he did not understand the language of his spirits. At first I thought that he was deceiving me; but I had several opportunities of convincing myself that he really did not under- stand any Koryak. Evidently he had learned by heart Koryak incantations which he could pronounce only in a state of excitement.

To return to our Koryak shaman. I took from its sheath my sharp "Finnish" travelling-knife, that looked like a dagger, and gave it to him. The light in the tent was put out; but the dim light of the arctic spring night (it was in April), which penetrated the canvas of the tent, was sufficient to allow me to follow the movements of the shaman. He took the knife, beat the drum, and sang, telling the spirits that he was ready to carry out their wishes. After a little while he put away the drum, and, emitting a rattling sound from his throat, he thrust the knife into his breast up to the hilt. I noticed, however, that after having cut his jacket, he turned the knife downward. He drew out the knife with the same rattling in his throat, and resumed beating the drum. Then he turned to me, and said that the spirits had secured for me a safe journey over the Koryak land, and predicted that the Sun-Chief (Tiyk-e'yim) — i. e., the Czar — would reward me for my labors.

Contrary to my expectations, he returned the knife to me (I thought he would say that the knife with which he had cut himself must be left with him), and through the hole in his jacket he showed spots of blood on his body.
Of course, these spots had been made before. However, this cannot be looked upon as mere deception. Things visible and imaginary are confounded to such an extent in primitive consciousness, that the shaman himself may have thought that there was, invisible to others, a real gash in his body, as had been demanded by the spirits. The common Koryak, however, are sure that the shaman actually cuts himself, and that the wound heals up immediately.

Shamans that change their Sex. — Among the Koryak, only traditions are preserved of shamans who change their sex in obedience to the commands of spirits. I do not know of a single case of this so-called "transformation" at the present time. Among the Chukchee, however, even now shamans called irka'-la'ul may be found quite often. They are men clothed in woman's attire, who are believed to be transformed physically into women. The transformed shamans were believed to be the most powerful of all shamans. The con- ception of the change of sex arises from the idea, alluded to farther on, of the conformity between the nature of an object and its outer covering or garb. Among the Koryak they were called qava'u or qeve'u. In his chapter on the Koryak, Krasheninnikoff makes mention of the ke'yev, — i. e., men occu- pying the position of concubines,¹ — and he compares them with the Kamchadal

koe'kcuc, as he calls them; i. e., men transformed into women. "Every koe'kcuc," says Krasheninnikoff, "is regarded as a magician and interpreter of dreams;" ¹ but, judging from his confused description, it may be inferred that the most important feature of the institution of the koe'kcuc lay, not in their shamanistic power, but in their position with regard to the satisfaction of the unnatural inclinations of the Kamchadal. The koe'kcuc wore women's clothes, they did women's work, and were in the position of wives or concubines. They did not enjoy respect: they held a social position similar to that of woman. They could enter the house through the draught-channel, which corresponds to the opening in the roof of the porch of the Koryak underground house,- just like all the women; while men would consider it a humiliation to do so. The Koryak told me the same with reference to their qava'u. But, setting aside the question of the perversion of the sexual instinct connected with this so-called "change of sex," the interesting question remains, Why is a shaman believed to become more powerful when he is changed into a woman?³

The father of Yulta, a Koryak from the village of Kamenskoye, who died not long ago, and who had been a shaman, had worn women's clothes for two years by order of the spirits; but, since he had been unable to attain complete transformation, he implored his spirits to permit him to resume man's clothes. His request was granted, but under the condition that he should put on women's clothes during shamanistic ceremonies.⁴ As may be seen from Plate II, Fig. I, the shaman wears woman's striped trousers.

It should be stated here that I did not learn of transformations of women shamans into men among the Koryak of to-day, which transformations are known among the Chukchee under the name qa'éikicheca ("a man-like [woman]"). 5 We find, however, accounts of such transformations in the tales; and the con-ception of the change of sex is the same in both cases.

Women shamans, and those transformed into women, are considered to be very powerful. I was told that a woman shaman on the Palpal Mountains

³ It is interesting to note that traces of the change of a shaman's sex into that of a woman may be
found among many Siberian tribes. During shamanistic exercises, Tungus and Yukaghir shamans put on, not
a man's, but a woman's, apron, with tassels. In the absence of a shamanistic dress, or in cases of the so-called
"small" shamanism, the Yakut shaman will put on a woman's jacket of foal-skins and a woman's white ermine
fur cap. 1 myself was once present at a shamanistic ceremony of this kind in the Kolyma district. Shamans
part their hair in the middle, and braid it like women, but wear it loose during the shamanistic performances.
Some shamans have two iron circles representing breasts sewed to their aprons. The right side of a horse-skin
is considered to be tabooed for women, and shamans are not permitted to lie on it. During the first three
days after confinement, when Ayisi't, the deity of fecundity, is supposed to be near the lying-in woman, access
to the house where she is confined is forbidden to men, but not to shamans. Trostchansky (p. 123) thinks
that among the Yakut, who have two categories of shamans, — the "white" ones representing creative forces,
and the "black" ones representing destructive forces, — the latter have a tendency to become like women, for
the reason that they derive their origin from women shamans.

4 Among the Eskimo "the servant of the deity Sedna is represented by a man dressed in a woman' s costume" (Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 140).

who was all covered with syphilitic ulcers, but whom I had no opportunity of seeing, did not die because she was supported by her guardian spirits. On the other hand, child-birth may result in a complete or temporary loss of shamanistic power. During the period of menstruation a woman is not permitted to touch a drum.

Eme'mqut's shamanistic power disappeared after the mythical Triton had bewitched him, and caused him to give birth to a boy. His power was restored to him after his sister had killed the Triton's sister, by which deed the act of giving birth was completely eliminated.¹ Tale 113 also tells of the transfor- mation of men into women. Illa' dressed himself like a woman and went to his neighbors. When River-Man (Veye'mila^sñ), the neighbor's son, recognized him, Illa', in revenge, filled him with the continual desire to become a woman.

In Tale 129 Kïlu"s brother became pregnant with twins. When he was unable to give birth, his sister took out his entrails and put the entrails of a mouse in their place. After the children had been born, she replaced his entrails. Apparently the tranformation was not complete in this case.

Family Shamanism. The Drum. — In the chapter on guardians and charms I referred to the drum as a household guardian. In connection with professional shamanism I mentioned that the drum is closely connected with shamanistic performances, but not with the person of the shaman, as is the case among other Asiatic shamans. I shall point out here the part played by the drum in family shamanism.

The power of the drum lies in the sounds emitted by it. On the one hand, the rhythm and change of pitch produced by skilful beating with the stick evoke an emotional excitement in primitive man, thus placing the drum in the ranks of a musical instrument. On the other hand, the sound of the drum, just like the human voice or song, is in itself considered as something living, capable of influencing the invisible spirits. The stick is the tongue of the drum, the Yukaghir say. As seen from Tale 9, The-Master-on-High himself, in his creative activity, needs a drum. Big-Raven borrowed the drum from him, and gave it to men.

The following song, which was sung while beating the drum by a Reindeer Koryak woman of the Taigonos Peninsula, and which may be regarded as a prayer to the Creator (Tenanto'mwan), to whom it was addressed, characterizes the relation of the latter to the acquiring of the drum by man.

"You said to us, 'Make a drum.' Now let us live well, keep alive also the reindeer, and after our death grant good living to our children."

In accordance with the dual character of the drum, as a musical instrument and as a sacred object in the household, it is not exclusively used for ritual purposes. Every member of the family may beat the drum. It is beaten for amusement, for enchantment, for propitiation of the gods, for summoning spirits, and also during family and ceremonial festivals. In every family, however, there is one particular member who becomes especially skilful in the art of beating the drum, and who officiates at all the ceremonies in the series of festivals. Women usually excel in the art of beating the drum (Plate III).

The Koryak drum (ya'yai) is somewhat oval in shape. The specimen represented in Fig. 19, front and back views of which are shown, is a typical

Koryak drum in size and form. Its long diameter is 73 cm.; the width of its rim is 5 cm., and the length of the stick 45 cm. The membrane covers the drum only on one side. It is made of reindeer-hide. The Maritime Koryak sometimes make the drum-head of the skin of a dog or of that of a young spotted seal. The drum-stick is made of a thick strip of whalebone, which is wider at the end that strikes the drum than at the other end, and is covered with skin from a wolf's tail. Inside of the drum, at four points in the rim, near its edge, are tied double cords made of nettle-fibre, which meet at the lower part of the drum and form the handle. These cords are not arranged symmetrically, but all towards one side of the drum. At the top edge ot the rim are attached iron rattles. There is no doubt that the custom of attaching

such rattles to the drum has been borrowed from the Tungus. Not all of the Koryak drums that I saw had iron rattles. The drum, before being used, is heated by the fire. Thus the hide is made taut, and the sounds become clearer and more sonorous.

Fig. 20 (70/8528). Yukaghir Drum and Drum-Stick

It is very interesting to compare the Koryak drum with other Asiatic drums which I collected. Fig. 20 represents a Yukaghir drum.¹ Its longitudinal diameter is 88 cm., the width of the rim is 6.2 cm., and the length of the stick is 42 cm. The Yukaghir drum is asymmetrical — somewhat egg-shaped — in form. It is also covered with hide on one side only. Inside of the drum there is an iron cross near the centre, which serves as a handle. The ends of the cross are tied to the rim by means of straps. Iron rattles are attached at four places on the inner side of the rim. This kind of drum is similar to that of the Yakut. This similarity may be observed not only in its shape, the cross, and the iron rattles, but also in the small protuberances on the outer surface of the rim, which are espe- cially characteristic of the Yakut drum. They represent the horns of the shaman's spirits. Judging from what the old people among the Yukaghir relate, in olden times their drums had no metallic parts, and were apparently like those of the Koryak. The metallic parts were borrowed from the Yakut. The Yukaghir drum is, however, larger in size than that of the Yakut, and its rim is not so wide. The stick is covered with skin of rein- deer-legs. The drum-head is made of reindeer-hide.

The Yakut drum (Fig. 21) is

Fig. 21 (70/9071). Yakut Drum and Drum-Stick

1 When in use, the dram is held with the broad end up, which is also the case with the Yakut drum
shown in the next figure.

covered with hide of a young bull. Its longitudinal diameter is 53 cm.; the width of the rim, 11 cm.; and the length of the stick, 32 cm. The wider part of the stick is covered with cowhide. There are twelve protuberances representing horns.¹ The cross inside is attached to the rim by means of straps. Little bells and other metallic rattles are attached inside around the rim.

The long diameter of the Tungus drum (Fig. 22) is 53 cm. In size and shape it is almost like that of the Yakut; but its rim is narrower, in one specimen only 7 cm. wide. The drum has no protuberances. The ends of the cross are attached to the rim by means of a twisted iron wire. The iron rattles are in the form of rings strung upon wire bows attached to the rim.

In comparing Asiatic with American drums, we observe that in most cases the Eskimo drums are not large. The only large drums are found among the tribes of the west coast of Hudson Bay. They are either oval (but not asymmetrical) or round; the rim is very narrow, like a hoop; and a wooden handle -is attached to the rim," like that of a hand mirror (Fig. 23). Mr. J. Murdoch, in his paper on the Point Barrow Eskimo,³

says that such drums are used by the Eskimo from Greenland to Siberia. The drum in Murdoch's illustration is somewhat oval in form (55 cm. by 47.5 cm.).

The Chukchee use the same kind of drum (Fig. 24) as the Eskimo. The Chukchee, as well as the Eskimo, strike the lower part of the drum with the stick.

¹ Sieroszevskj (p. 635) says that the protuberances are always in odd numbers: 5, 7, and 11. 2 Potanin (IV, p. 678) tells that divinators in China use drams with handles. ³ Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1887-88, p. 385.

The Koryak drum approaches the Asiatic drum, but its handle is not of metal: it does not form a cross, and is not placed in the centre, but nearer to the lower edge. All asymmetrical drums are held (in the left hand) in such a way that the wider part of the oval points upward. Since the handle of the Koryak drum is not in the centre, it is held, when being beaten, in a slanting position, so that the stick strikes at the lower part of the membrane. Other Asiatic drums are mostly struck in the centre.

On the American Continent, proceeding from the Eskimo southward, we find among the Indians small, round, broad-rimmed drums used for purposes of shamanism as well as in dancing-houses.

It is interesting to note, that, according to Potanin's description,¹ the drums of northwestern Mogolia and those of the natives of the Russian part of the Altai Mountains have not the egg-shaped form common to East Siberian
drums. They are round, and not large in size. Fig. 25 represents both sides of an Altai drum, according to Mr. Potanin.2 Circles and crosses representing drums, and other curved lines, are drawn upon the outer and inner sides of the membrane. Some Altai drums have drawings of animals, like those on

drums of the North-American Indians. Instead of the cross, which serves as a handle, we see on the Altai drum a vertical wooden stick, representing a human figure, passing through the centre of the circle, and a horizontal iron chord with rattles. The drum is held by the wooden stick, and not at the intersection of the stick and the iron crossbar.¹ In American drums, which have a single head only, the straps attached to the hollow side, and crossing each other, serve as a handle. These straps frequently form, not a cross, but a number of radii. According to Dr. Finsch's description, 2 the drums of the Samoyed and of the Ob-Ostyak are, like the Altai drums, round in shape, broad-rimmed, covered on one side only, and have a diameter of from 30 cm. to 50 cm.

Drums covered on both sides with hide, like those found among the North-American Indians, together with drums covered on but one side, are used in Siberia only by the Buddhists (for instance, the Buryat), who use them in their divine services. These drums are of a circular form, and have leather handles attached to the outer edge of the rim.

I do not know whether the Koryak word for "drum" (ya'yai) has any other meaning; but the Yukaghir word (yalgil) means "lake," that is, the lake into which the shaman dives in order to descend into the kingdom of shades. This is very much like the conception of the Eskimo, the souls of whose shamans descend into the lower world of the deity Sedna. The Yakut and Mongol regard the drum as the shaman's horse, on which he ascends to the spirits in the sky, or descends to those of the lower world.

The significance of family shamanism will become clearer by a discussion of the festivals of the Koryak. It seems desirable, however, to treat first the magic formulas used by them. In almost every family there is some woman, usually an elderly one, who knows some magic formulas; but in many cases some particular women become known as specialists in the practice of incantations, and in this respect rival the powers of professional shamans.

The belief regarding magic formulas is, that the course of events may be influenced by spoken words, and that the spirits frequently heed them; or that an action related in the text of an incantation will be repeated, adapted to a given case. In this way, diseases are treated, amulets and charms are consecrated, animals that serve as food-supply are attracted, and evil spirits are banished.

¹Potanin   (IV, p. 679)   calls   attention   to   the similarity of the cruciform figures on the drum to similar
figures on the clay cylinders discovered in Italy, and considered to belong to the pre-Etruscan period ( Mortillet,
Le   Signe   de   la   Croix   avant   le Christianìsme: Paris,   1886, pp. 80, 95, 96); but it does not seem to me thet the sign of the cross on the drum-handle had in itself any   religious or symbolical meaning.

them to mankind to help them in their struggle with the kalau. He and his wife Miti' appear as acting personages in the dramatical narrative which con- stitutes the contents of the magic formulas. The incantations are passed from generation to generation; but every woman versed in this art regards her
formulas as a secret, which, if divulged, would lose its power. A magic formula cannot serve as an object of common use. These women, when performing an incantation, pronounce the formula, and at the same time perform the actions described in it. This is done for a consideration. I know of a woman on the Taigonos Peninsula, whose husband was poor and a good-for-nothing, and who made a' living by incantations. "The magic formulas are my reindeer, they feed me," she said to me. A good incantation is worth several cakes of pressed tea, or several packages of tobacco, or a reindeer. When a woman sells an incantation, she must promise that she gives it up entirely, and that the buyer will become the only possessor of its mysterious power.

At first, during my stay among the Koryak, I was unable to record any formulas of incantations. To sell an incantation to a foreigner is considered a sin. It was only after I had lived with them for several months that I was able to record the incantations given below. Formulas 1-3 were told me by Navaqu't, a Maritime woman from the village of Kuel; and 4 and 5, by Ty'kken, a Reindeer Koryak woman from a camp on the Topolovka River. Before dictating them to me, the women sent out of the house all the Koryak except my interpreter, lest they should make use of the formulas without paying for them.

Tenanto'mwalan	ala'itivoño'i:	"Ki'miyñin,"	e'wan	"i'cuca	kala'iña	naca'-`
(The) Creator	began to worry:	"Son,"	says,	"likely	by the kala	carried
iciñin,	ena'nneña	yi'lqalan	kala'iña	naca'iciñin."	Ele'enu	tei'kenin	e'lle	aiño'ka.
away will be,	solitary	sleeping-man	by the kala	carried away will be."	In excre- ment	transformed (him)	not	susceptible to smell(by the kala).
tañ-i'lqañoi,	teñ-ikye'vi.
Well to sleep began (son),	well woke up.

The Creator began to worry, saying, "My son will probably be carried away by a kala; he will be carried away by a kala while he is sleeping alone in the wilderness." Therefore the Creator transformed his son into excrement, for the kala does not like the smell of it. Thus the son of the Creator fell asleep well, and woke up without harm.

In this incantation the belief is characteristic that the son of the Creator (that is, the traveller), charmed in this way, when preparing for the night in

the wilderness, is actually turned by the Creator into excrement, just as, in the Koryak ¹ and Kamchadal 2 tales, Big-Raven's excrement assumes the form of a woman. Something like the same trend of thought, though deviating somewhat from it, is found in connection with similar measures taken in other parts of Siberia for guarding against evil spirits. Among the natives of the Altai, if a person loses all his children, one after another, his new-born child is given as ill-sounding a name as possible: for instance, It-koden ("dog's buttocks"), thus trying to deceive the spirits which kidnap the soul, making them believe that it is really a dog's buttocks.³ In a similar manner, wishing to convince the spirits that the new-born child is a puppy, the Yakut call the child i't-ohoto' ; that is, "dog's child."⁴ The Gilyak, on their way home after hunting, call their village Otx-mif ("excrement country"), in the belief that evil spirits will not follow them to such a bad village.⁵

Tenanto'mwan	alai'tivoñoi	e'voñoi:	"Ñava'kketi	ci'nna	qoc	tye'ntyä^sn?"
Creator	think commenced	say commenced:	"(For) daughter	what	(I)	shall bring?"
Ye'nnin	co'nnin	ña'anen	ci'llinin	e'lle	kama'kata	ayo'ka	Nenenke'vin	yook.
Procured	brought	that	hung	not	(by) spirits	visited.	Caused stop	visit.

The Creator considered, and said, "What shall I bring for my sick daughter?" Then he procured an amulet, brought it to his daughter, and placed it on her in order that the spirits should not visit her. Thus the amulet 6 prevented the visit of spirits.

	Tenanto'mwAnmak	ena'n	cini'n	lautita'lgm	nenatai'kmvoqen;	ne'lqatqen
	(By the) Creator	he	himself	headache	commences to make;	(he) goes
notai'te	nenayo'qenat	ñau'gisat.	Quti'ninak	aal	cinca'tkinin	qoli'ninak	pe'kul
in the wilder- ness	overtakes	two (all alone with wife).	One	axe	holds	one	woman's knife
cinca'tkinin.	I'min	ña'cit	inala'xtathenat	nenanyai'tatqenat.	Nava' kikin	le' ut
holds.	All	those	(he) led away	brought home.	Daughter's	head
quti'ninak	a'ala	nenaala'tkoñvoqen	quti'ninak	vala'ta	nenati'npuqen	Miti'
one	with axe	knocks	one	(with) knife	thrusts.	Miti'

5 L. J. Sternberg, Materials for the Study of the Gilyak Language and Folk-Lore (Publication of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, p. 31). In press.

6 Any object given to wear may serve as an amulet in this case, since it becomes a guardian warding off the visits of the kalau by virtue of the incantation.

eni'k	cãke'tte	nele'qin	ni'uqin :	"qawya'nvat	ñava'kik."	Ni'uqin :	"Ena'n	cini'n
to his	sister	goes	says:	«Charm	(my) daughter."	Says:	"He	himself
tashe'ñin	tei'kinin	Ena'n	cini'n	nenmeleve'nnin."
pain	made	he	himself	let cure."
Niyaiti'qen,	ni'uqin:	"gina'n	cini'n	tashe'ñin	getei'kili."
Comes home,	says:	"Thou	thyself	pain	madest."
Ña'cit	ala'tkulat	pane'nak	galla'lenat.	Gichathicñe'ti	nelle'qin.	Gicha'-
Those	with axe cutting	to the old place	carried off.	To country of dawn	goes.	In country
thicñik	yaya'pel	nenayo'qen	Ña'visqat	ña'nko	va'tkin.	Mi'lut	ge'yillin.
of dawn	little house	reaches.	(A) woman	there	lives.	Hare	gave (him).
Ganyai'tilin	lawtika'lticñin	Kai'ñan	mi'lut,	le'vut	kunme'levenin	tethi'yñu
Brought home	for head-band.	Cries	hare,	head	cures	(with) seam
konnomaña'nen	a'yikvan	ne'lyi	hekye'lin	nime'leu.	Geme'leulin.
joins closer	better	became	woke up	better.	Cured.

The Creator himself caused his daughter to have headache. He went to the wilderness, and over- took a couple, — a kala with his wife. The former had an axe; the latter, a woman's knife. The Creator took the couple and brought them home. Then the kala commenced to knock with his axe the head of Creator's daughter; and the kala's wife began to hack the head of the girl with her knife. Miti', the mother of the latter, went to Creator's sister, and said, "Charm away my daughter's headache." Creator's sister answered, "The Creator himself caused the sickness: let him cure it."

Then the Creator carried back to their old place those who were knocking with the axe, and cutting with the knife, the head of his daughter. . After that the Creator went in the direction of the dawn, and when he reached there, he came to a little house in which a woman lived. The woman gave him a hare. The Creator took it home, and of it made a head-band for his daughter. The hare cried out, and in that way cured the girl's head. The seams of the injured skull joined together. Each day she woke up better, until she was entirely cured.

The story contained in this incantation is as follows: Creator (or Big- Raven) went into the wilderness, met a kala with his wife, and took them home. The kala had an axe, and his wife had a woman's knife; and they began to cut the head of Big-Raven's daughter, owing to which she suffered from headaches. Miti' went to Big-Raven's sister to ask her to work a charm over her daughter; but she was a woman shaman, and knew the cause of the girl's illness, and replied that her father himself had caused the illness, and that he should cure her himself. Miti' returned home, and said to her husband, "You yourself have caused the disease." Then he took the two kalau and carried them back to the wilderness.

In order to cure his daughter's wounded head, he went toward sunrise. There he found a little house in which lived a woman. That woman, according to the explanation of the woman from whom this incantation was recorded, was the Sun herself. She gave Creator a hare to cure his daughter. He took the hare home, and tied it around his daughter's head. The hare cried, and cured her head with its crying. The wounds closed up. It may be remarked here that the hare is an important amulet. It is

looked upon as a strong animal, hostile to the kalau. In Tale 74 Eme'mqut kills the kalau by throwing a hare's head into their house. During incantations, hare's hair is plaited into the hair of the parts cut; and sometimes parts of the hare — such as its nose, or a part of its ear — are attached to the charm-string. Since the formula speaks of a hare whose cry is to effect the cure, and since in reality the charm is made of a part or parts of a hare, it would seem that these parts serve as substitutes for the whole animal.

Tenanto'mwAnen	Miti'in	kimi'yñm	e'wan:	"Menganno'titkm."	"Miti',
Creator's (and)	Miti''s	son	says:	"Arm swells."	"Miti'',
qo'yañ	welv-i'san,	walva-oca'mñin!"	Ganto'len	a'ñqan	gagetacaña'ñvolen,
fetch	raven's coat,	raven's staff!"	Went out	sea	to look upon began,
galqa'llen	anqatai'netin,	vã'yuk	gayo'len.	Ya'xyax	qolla	milu'tpil	koai'ñan.
went	to sea-limit,	then	reached.	Gull	other	little hare	cry.
A'ñqan	yawa'yte	gapa'ñvolen.	Esgina'n	a'iñak	ganapa'nñolen.	"Tu'yi,	ce'qäk
Sea	great distance	(to) dry commenced.	They	(by) crying	(to) dry (the sea) commenced.	"You two,	what for
nayava'ñvotkinetik?"	E'wan:	"Mu'yi	tnu'tila	tnutka'ltisño	nayavañ'votkine'mok.
used are?"	Say:	"We	for swollen,	for bandage on swelling	used are.
Mu'yi	mitainanvotkme'mok,	u'iña	anno'tka!"	E'wan:	"Minyai'tatik!"	Nenayai'-
We two	together cry,	not	swells!"	Says:	"Shall take you two home!"	Carried them
tatqenat	ña'cit	nenaya'vaqenat	kimi'yñik	tnutka'ltisño.	NEnqä'uqin	tïñu'tik.
two home	these two	uses	(on) son	for bandage of swelling.	Stopped	swelling.
Esgina'n	ai'ñak,	tíno'tgisñin	u'iña	amai'ñatka.	Am-aiña'nva	tíño'tgisñin
They	when cry,	swelling	not	increases.	All by means of crying	swelling
nenmelewe'titkin.	Geme'leulin.
improves.	Recovered.

Creator's and Miti"s son said, "My arm is swelling!" Then Creator said to his wife, "Miti', fetch my raven's coat and my raven's staff!" She brought them. Creator dressed himself and went out to the sea, looked upon it, and went to the limit of it. There he met a couple, — a gull and a little hare. Both were crying, and from their cry the tide became lower, and the shore com-menced to dry. Creator asked them, "For what are you both used?" They answered, "We are used for swollen men, — for a bandage on swelling. When we both cry together, the swelling ceases." Then Creator said, "I shall take you both home." Then he carried them both home, and used both for a bandage on his son's swelling. From their cry, the swelling ceased to increase. en, all by means of their crying, the swelling improved, and Creator's son recovered.

When the patient is a woman, the beginning of the incantation is : "Daughter of the Creator and Miti'." The Creator asks Miti' for the coat and staff. The association in the text, of the idea that the crying of the gull and hare causes the tide to ebb and the swelling to go down, is interesting.

recedes on account of the screaming of the gull and of the hare ; and in the same manner the swelling is made to decrease by their screams. Of course, on the bandage or amulet, only parts of the hare or gull are used, such as the hare's hair or the beak of the gull; but these parts are substituted for the whole animal.

Miti'in	kimi'yñin	nagi'tkataletqeñ.	Vã'yuk	Tenanto'mwanen	krmi'yñin
Miti's	son	(with) legs ill.	Then	Creator's	son
nagitka'yan.	"Ña'visqat,	qre'tgin	welv-i'san,	walva-oca'mñin."	Vã'yuk
legs (ill)	"Wife,	fetch	raven's coat,	raven's staff."	Then
ganto'len,	ei'yen	o'miñ	ninencice'tqin.	Vã'yuk	ci'ñei	es-gatgisñe'te,	vã'yuk
''went out,	sky	always	looked.	Then	flew	to sunrise,	then
tín-u'pnäqu	venviye'un.	Es'ga'tgisñik	vã'yuk	gayo'len	tín-u'pnäqum,	gañvo'len
big moimtain	clearly saw.	On the sunrise side	then	reached	big mountain,	started
catapoge'ngik	tin-u'pnäquk,	vã'yuk	gata'pyalen	gisgo'lalqak.	Ennë'n	vä'aye'mkin
(to) ascend	big mountain,	then	came up	to (the) very top.	One	assembly of grasses
nappa'tqen.	Vä'aykinin	o'miñ	yalña'gisne	gayiki'sñilane,	o'miñ	cacopatkala'tke.
standing.	Of grass	all	joints	with mouths,	all	chewing.
"Tu'yu	ce'qäk	nayavañvola'knatik ?"	"Mu'yu	gitkatalo'.	Mosginan	ka'lau
"You	what for	used are?"	"We	with leg-pain.	We	kalau
mitkono'mvonnan."	Ña'nen	vä'a'yemkin	ninepyi'qin,	nenanya'itatqen,	me'no
eat."	That	assembly of grasses	pulled out,	carried home,	where
ki'mi'yñinin	gitka'lgin	nanena'ta	nenapnra'n-aqen.	O'miñ	ka'lau	vä'a'ya
son's	leg	therewith	bound.	All	kalau	(by the) grass
ku'nñunenau,	o'miñ	gitkalqa'tilau	ka'lau	ku'nñunenau.	Vã'yuk	geme'leulin,
eaten,	all	upon legs coming	kalau	eaten.	Then	recovered,
gaenqäeu'lin	gitkata'lik	ge'mge-kye'vik	ayi'kvan.	Geme'leulin.
ceased	leg suffer	at every awakening	anew.	Recovered.

Miti"s and Creator's son had pains in his legs. Then Creator said to Miti', "Wife, fetch my raven coat and raven staff." Then Creator went out and always looked up at the sky. Then he flew in the direction of the dawn. Soon he caught sight of a big mountain on the side of sunrise. He reached that mountain, started to ascend it, and finally went to the very top of it. There he found an assembly of Grasses. All their joints had mouths that were always chewing. "For what are you used?" asked, then, Creator. "Our legs pain us," answered the Grasses; "and we eat the kalau that cause the pain."

Creator drew that assembly of Grasses out, carried them home, and bound his son's legs with them. The Grasses ate all kalau that came upon the legs and caused the pain. Then Creator's son ceased to suffer with his legs, at every awakening he felt better, and finally recovered.

It may be remarked, in connection with this formula, that the grass mentioned is a species of Equisetacece, the joints of which are regarded as mouths that eat kalau. Grass charmed in this manner is tied around the affected part.

"Gi'ca	ivi'hi'	'ya'yai	getei'kilin'	nime'leu	mini'tvala	qoya'u	evi'yike	I'miñ
"Thou	said,	'drum	make'	well	(we) shall live	the reindeer	not dying	also

		Shamanism	47
		General Remarks	47
		Professional Shamans	47
		Family Shamanism	54
		Incantations	59

Fig. 2	Fig. 1
PERFORMING SHAMANS