On the Fishing Ritual of Olkhon Buryat Fishermen: Drawn on Materials of the S.P. Baldaev Foundation of TsVRK IMBT

Abstract

The article examines the cultural and historical aspects of fishing among the Buryat, drawing on materials collected at the S.P. Baldaev Foundation, particularly on the case of “Sacrifices of Fishermen of the 1st and 2nd Talovsky Uluses of the Shonoev Kin of the Yelantsinsky Non-Native Department of the Verkholensky District” (item 1217, file 36), which were recorded by the famous folklore scholar S.P. Baldaev at the beginning of the 20th century. Our goal is to introduce and explore this rare archival document throwing light on the fishing rites of Olkhon Buryat fishermen of the early 20th century, in order to dive deeper into various features of these rites. We provide a translation of the ritual texts from Buryat to Russian, and employ content analysis methods, as well as methods of social-historical reconstruction that let us better understand and examine the subject. This study is novel and pioneering insofar as S.P. Baldaev’s legacy is still little known and the complete text describing the rites of Buryat fishermen of the Baikal lake has not been scrutinized either in its Buryat or Russian version.