Noore põdra püha

Abstract

Jelo lives among the Chukch reindeer herders. In autumn, a helicopter forcibly takes children to school and brings provisions for the winter which everyone can take from the warehouse according to his needs. Since school education results in Russification, reindeer herders are mostly older men. One morning Jelo wakes to find out that it is the young reindeer holiday (qaanmatgörgön), consisting of two holidays. First is the day of killing young thin-furred reindeer (teetawhögögön) for summer skins. As the weather becomes colder and the reindeer fur thicker, the second reindeer holiday (wöllgönqaanmatgörön) takes place where reindeer are killed for winter skins. Fire can not be lighted from a match on these days but has to be lighted with traditional means; the coals are kept then overnight in a special vessel. The Chukch clad in festive clothes and the reindeer herd is let loose. They catch a black-and-white patched male calf, cow and bull chosen last night by the wiseman guided by spirits. These reindeer are traditionally sacrificed with a ritual spear - first the bull, then cow and calf. People smear each other's faces with blood of the sacrified animals and also mark the natas. It brings bad luck to wash the blood off and thus people look blood-striped for the next couple of days until the dried blood comes off. The reindeer heads are put on top of staves and leftt here. Next come festivities at the fire, culminating in people becoming crazed from eating mushrooms (Amanita muscaria).