Фольклор юкагиров. - 2005. (Т. 25.)

the first time in print both in the original Yukaghir and in Russian trans­ lation. These materials derive from the following three sources: 1) the ar­ chival collection of the Yakut National Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), which houses a collection of field mate­ rials collected from the Nizhnekolymsk Yukaghir in 1959 by A.N. Laptev of the Institute of Language, Literature, and History of the Yakut Branch of the Siberian Division of the Academy of Sciences; 2) recordings made at various times by G.N. Kurilov, the volume's compiler; and 3) two examp­ les of Nizhnekolymsk folklore recorded by S.N. Kurilov. Republished works contained in the volume derive from the following published sources: 9 texts from the collection of A.N. Laptev and 9 recordings made by I.A. Nikolaeva and L.N. Zhukova taken from a reading book entitled Folkore o f the Yuka­ ghir o f the Upper Kolyma and first published in a small edition in Yakutsk in 1989; 4 items from the collection Materials for the study of Yukaghir language and folklore gathered in Kolyma District , by V.I. Jochelson, a work originally published in 1900 and rightfully considered one of the primary sources on the Yukaghir poetic heritage; and finally a text from E.A. Krei- novich’s Studies and materials on Yukaghir language , published in 1982. Verkhnekolymsk (Upper Kolyma) folklore in the volume includes ver­ sions of «folktales» ( chuuld'iipeY — animal tales, fairy tales, and mythic tales. There are also tales of everyday life describing traditions and legends, as well as one story. The oral poetic creations of people living in the Lo­ wer Kolyma tundra is represented by «tales about ancient people» (chuoVed'i pundulpe), «stories» ( karavaalpe ), and «stories about ancient people» (< chuoVed'i n’ied’ilpe). It must be noted that Yukaghir folklore reflects a unique native layer of archaic northern culture and is characterized by considerable overlap between the different genres. Its scholarly classifica­ tion is one of the most difficult and current tasks of Siberian folklore studies. The genre system utilized here by the volume’s compiler is new to Siberian studies. Tales about ancient people are an epic genre of the Tundra Yukaghir and can be divided into heroic tales and stories about daily life. They were usually told for the purpose of teaching adolescent males the qualities neces­ sary for establishing a family and fostering the clan and tribe. The leitmo­ tiv of all these tales is the maturation of a youth into a man: a future hunter, breadwinner for his relatives, and protector of his native land must be adept at bow and arrows, be able to throw a spear a good distance, and * In Yukagir words, the symbol *indicates that the preceding cons o nant is soft (palatalized).