Local Tradition of Burial Rite of Slavic Population of South of Western Siberia in 17^th - 20^th Centuries: on Problem of Typology

Abstract

This work continues the studies on the ritual practices of the Russian and Ukrainian population in the South of Western Siberia. It focuses on the ritual of transmission of living hen through the coffin during the funeral rite. It is reported that the earlier assumption about the Northern Russian origin of the ritual is confirmed by archival sources about the emergence of the Russian pioneers in a number of villages of the Novosibirsk region. It is emphasized that the old believers were among natives from the Russian North. It is shown that in the course of the development of Baraba and Kulunda steppe in the South of Western Siberia by Russians an extensive area of villages was formed, united by kinship marriage ties and cultural traditions. The authors argue that later (early 20th century) Ukrainian (mostly from Poltava) and the southern Russian immigrants, included in this area, took the ritual with a hen, enriching it with their own traditions. It is noted that in other (many) villages of the Siberian Ukrainians outside this area a similar ritual was not recorded. It is argued that this fact is another argument in favour of the assumption about the Northern Russian origin of the funeral ritual with a hen.

Keywords

• south of western siberia
• ukrainians
• siberian long-term residents
• old believers
• russian north
• traditional culture
• funeral rites
• black hen