The Tulys Kis’ton Spring Commemorations of the Dead among the Eastern Udmurt: Modern Living of a Tradition

Abstract

This article examines the Eastern Udmurts’ spring commemorations of the dead (tulys kis’ton, “spring pouring”), which are part of the spring ritual calendar cycle. It describes a ritual scenario with details of the participants’ behavioural stereotypes: preparation for meeting the souls of the dead, with the following “escorting”, visits to patrilinear kin’s houses, and visits to the cemetery on the day after the commemoration. This research is based on the fieldwork conducted by the author in 2019 in Udmurt villages (Urazgil’dy, Starokal’miyarovo and Petropavlovka) in the Tatyshly district of the Bashkortostan Republic. Special attention is paid to microlocal peculiarities. The article presents a range of novel materials and introduces new ritual terminologies in the attempt to describe the state of the tradition today.