Before the child is born, the Supreme Being sends into the mother’s womb
the soul of some deceased relative of the child to be born. The length of life
of each soul is predetermined. Souls are hanging on the cross-beams of the house
of The One High Above. The duration of the earthly life of the future owner
of the soul is marked by the length of the strap which is attached to the soul’s
neck or thumb. The shorter the strap, the shorter will be the life of the newborn.
As soon as the child is born, it is given the name of the dead relative whose
soul was reborn in it. The father of the newborn uses divining stone to discover
whose soul has entered the child. Another way of determining the identity of
the soul is by observing the behavior of the child itself. A number of names
are mentioned. If the child cries while a name is pronounced, it is not the
name of the soul reborn in the child. When the proper name is pronounced, the
child stops crying, or begins to smile. After the name has been given, the father
takes the child in his arms, caries it out from the sleeping tent into the house,
and says to his people that a relative has come. For a year after a childbirth
the woman is expected to observe certain taboos. Children in general, and the
new born in particular, are more than the adults, subject to the danger of becoming
the victims of the kalau. Children souls are very shy and inexperienced. The
least fright may cause them to leave the body, and once they have left, they
are unable to find the entrance that leads back into the body. They are also
apt to lose their way. Therefore during the entire winter the newborn child
must not be taken out of the house, where it is under the protection of the
family guardians. In case of the absolute necessity, the mother must keep it
in her bosom under her coat, and must not take it out when in a strange house.
Only after the spring equinox the child may be taken out of the house safely.
The after birth is put in a bag and hung on a pole some distance away from the
village.
As with all the primitive people, death does not appear to the Koryak as a natural
process, as most people are killed by the kalau, but it happens that the Supreme
Being and other supernatural beings may bring about the death of a man as a
punishment for violation of a taboo. Shamans frequently inflict death upon men.
On the other hand, there is a tradition according to which it was Big Raven
that caused people to die.
The soul of a man, frightened by the attack of the kalau upon it, deserts the
body and rises to the Supreme Being. The boundary between life and death is
very ill defined. The dead body is believed not to be deprived of the ability
to move. The deceased man arises if he is not watched.
The soul does not leave earth at once. The person may be dead, but his soul
is souring high above him. The soul resembles a small fire. It is outside of
the body during illness. If the illness is slight, the soul keeps close above
the patient; and if it is severe, it is higher up, and farther away from him.
Powerful shamans are able to cause the soul to return, and thus restore to life
a person who has died recently.
The Koryak have also a double concept of the country of the shadows. While the
soul rises to the Supreme Being, the deceased and his shadow depart into the
underground world of the shadows, ancient people, and people of the former times
(Peni´nelau). The entrance into this country is guarded by dogs. If a
person beat his dogs during his life, he will not be admitted. These Dog Guards
may be bribed, however. For this purpose, fish fins are put into the mittens
of the deceased, that they may give them to the dogs.Peni´nelau
live in the underground world in villages, just as human beings live on earth;
and relatives live together in the same house. Every newcomer joins his own
relatives. The inhabitants of the underground world take care of their relatives
on earth by sending them animals, which they kill, and other kinds of food supply;
but they also punish them if they are displeased with them for one reason or
another. Presents for dead relatives are put on the pyre when the body of the
deceased person is burned. The deceased pass underground through the pyre and
the road closes behind them.
The person is declared dead when breathing ceased. Then word is sent from the
house where the deceased is lying to all the inhabitants of the village. Among
the Reindeer Koryak, as soon as someone dies, a messenger is sent to the neighboring
camps, informing them of the death that has occurred. This is done for the purpose
of preventing the spirit of death, or the spirit of the deceased from entering
into other houses. Once the news is received, a blade of grass or a splinter,
which represents a noose, is placed near the head of the ladder. After all the
neighbors have been informed, the deceased is placed on his bed. Somebody closes
his eyes, and his face is covered with a fur robe. It is a sin to look at the
face of a dead person.
The Koryak cremate their dead. In the house where the body lies is no work done,
except the preparation of the pyre and of the funeral clothes for the dead.
People from other houses come to assist in this work. The people keep awake.
The men play cards which is a necessary part of the formalities. While the dead
person is in the house, he is considered to be a member of the family, and the
people try to make it appear as though nothing has happened.
Just before the body is taken out it is clothed in special, beautifully embroidered
funeral garment made of the skins of white fawns. The clothes are put on in
a peculiar manner to indicate that the dressing of the dead is different from
the dressing of living people. For instance, the left-hand mitten is put on
the right hand, etc. Before dressing the deceased, one of his nearest relatives
wipes his face with wet moss, without looking into his face. A pole is put down
from above through the entrance and placed alongside the ladder. It is assumed
to be the ladder which the dead uses. A strap is tied under the arms of the
body, which is drawn out together with the pole. It must not be burned but thrown
away. The Reindeer Koryak do not carry out their dead through the usual door,
but under the edge of the tent cover, which is lifted up.
After being taken out of the house, the body is put on a sled and tied with
straps to prevent its getting up. The body is taken to a place not far from
the settlement, where wood can be gathered. The Maritime Koryak draw the sled
themselves or hitch the dogs. The Reindeer Koryak hitch the reindeer team of
the deceased to the sled. They are slaughtered at the pyre, that he may have
reindeer in the next world. It is customary for the neighbors to follow the
body to the burning place: every person carries a log for the pyre. The scraps
left from the funeral garments, the sweeping from the house, and everything
left of the dead person’s things is placed in the hole near the pyre,
so that the deceased should have no reason to come after them. The body is placed
on the pyre on the right side. Then the straps that tied the legs and arms are
cut. Different things which can serve as provisions for the deceased are put
by the side of the body. They also place a large leather bag with presents for
those who died earlier. No clothing is among the presents or anything connected
with hunting at sea or with fishing in the river. The Koryak believe that everything
relating to the dead must be kept away from the sea mammals.
After the presents have been given, the women go away, and the men start a fire
a little aside from the wood pile and with it light the pyre in several places.
The first fire brand is placed by the official chief of the settlement.
When the clothes are burned, one of the people takes a pole and thrusts it into
the body, imitating the actions of the magpie of the world of the dead, in order
to inform the deceased that he is passing to another world and must not return.
When the flames of the pyre are dying away, some twigs from the bushes growing
nearby are broken and strewed around the pyre. The twigs represent a dense forest
which is supposed to surround the burning place. People leave the place while
the pyre is still burning. Before leaving, one of the people goes around the
pyre, first from the right to the left, and then from the left to the right,
in order to so obscure his tracks that the deceased would not be able to follow.
Then, stepping away from the pyre toward the houses, he draws with his stick
a line on the ground, jumps across it, and shakes himself. The others follow
the example. The line represents a river which separates the village from the
burning place. After being taken out of the house, the deceased is apparently
regarded as a spirit hostile to the living. Immediately after the body has taken
out of the house the bedding of the deceased is removed, and the place of the
dead one is taken by some other inhabitant of the house. For ten days his place
in the house must never remain empty, that the kalau may believe they were not
successful in their ‘hunt’ among the inmates of the house.
Ten days after a death the Koryak beat the drum thus expressing their grief
for the deceased. Some Koryak observe annual memorials for their dead. The Reindeer
Koryak slaughter reindeer in honor of the dead and pile up the antlers on the
burning places of their relatives. They also send presents to the next world
for those who died recently. There are also some indications that other manifestations
of an ancestral cult among Koryak once existed.
- W. Jochelson. The Koryak. Leiden, New York, 1908