УДК 39: 291.218
RELIGION OF THE SOLON EVENKS (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE 2021, 2022 EXPEDITIONS)
Uladzislau Ch. Hrushakevich
Central University of Nationalities, Beijing, China
Abstract
This article briefly describes the results of the author’s two expeditions to the territories of the People’s Republic of China, where the Solon Evenki live, namely seven Evenki Ethnic Townships by the east of The Greater Khingan and to the Evenki Autonomous Banner. The first of these expeditions took place in the summer of 2021, and the second in the fall of 2022. The main part of the material presented in the article is a description of the religious beliefs that have now stay in a ”living form”. The religion of the Solons on different sides of the mountains has significant differences – this is a consequence of the Evenk population in the Evenki Autonomous Banner being descendants of the Evenks resettled by the Qing government in this area from the east in the XVIII century. This resettlement led to some Solons gaining a new natural environment, the steppes, and social context among the neighbouring nomadic peoples. Due to its limited length, this article does not contain a detailed analysis of the changes that have occurred in the religion of the Solons, but does provides a large amount of material for such future work. Of particular interest is the almost complete identity of the rituals performed at the worship of the Bainacha to the east of the mountains with the rites adopted at the worship of the dragon on the territory of the steppes. The article also provides current information about the shamanism of the Evenks of the Autonomous Banner, the cult of Ovoo, the worship of Barkens (receptacles of the spirits) and the cult of the Fox Saint.
Keywords: Solon Evenki, Bainacha, Ovoo, Fox Saint, Barkens, dragon worship, shamanism.
For citation: Грушакевич, В. Ч. Религия эвенков-солонов (по материалам экспедиций 2021, 2022 годов) / В. Ч. Грушакевич // Северные Архивы и Экспедиции. – 2023. – Т. 7, № 2. – С. 140-154. – EDN LBGLXT.
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