Article

Name: The Bear feast of Orok: common and specific features

Authors: G. Vrtanes’an, L. Ozolinya

In the section Study of folklore

Abstract: The Bear feast and the bear cult in the Far East have every reason to be considered one of the cornerstones of the ecological culture of the indigenous peoples of the region including the Orok culture. Although this rite has become to a large extent a part of the history, it still arouses interest. The Orok rite has many specific features. They are the eating of the bear’s head after returning from the killing site, keeping the bear’s meat in the storage bin (labaz), cutting the bear’s heart and tongue into three parts. In addition, burying the bear’s bones together with the bear’s wooden image. The specific features of the Orok rite are preserved in the ritual vocabulary – in the naming units for the winter (хуриачи – khuriachi) and summer (гупури – gupuri) bear feast having, according to the authors, the semantics of the rebirth and dying of the Sun.

Keywords: bear cult, bear feast, rite structures, specific features and variability of rite

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