The paper deals with the Khakas hunting fetishes. The author, relying on the wide range of sources both published and introduced into scientific discourse for the first time – such as archive data and museum collections, analyses the role and place of these cult things in the spiritual life of the Khakas. The external features of the stuff are thoroughly examined, and the ways of their symbolic style are defined. The author also identifies sacral functions and methods of ritual interaction with the sacral things. Hunting fetishes took exceptional position among the ritual thing of this type. The worshippers believed that they were powerful familiar guardian spirits. Besides their direct duty to provide success in fishing activities, they functioned as guards and patrons of household. People also thought that such things could heal, so they were extremely popular. The fetishes were of different design and a special ritual was established for each of them.
Key words: Khakas, traditional worldview, ritual, cult, hunt, fetish, paired gods, shamanism, folk medicine
About the author
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Venariy A. Burnakov – PhD (History), senior research associate at the Department of Ethnography of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of SB RAS; of. 404, 17 Lavrentyev ave., Novosibirsk. Russia, 630090; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |