Cattle in the traditional socio-normative and ritual practice of the Khakasses (the end of XIX - mid XX century)

The aim of this work is to study the place and role of cattle in traditional life, family and tribal rituals of Khakass people. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were solved: identification of its economic value and role in the worldview and ritual practices of the people. The chronological scope of works covers the late XIX - mid XX centuries. The choice of these temporal boundaries caused primarily by the state of the database sources on the research topic. The main sources are the historical-ethnographic and folklore materials. The work based on complex, system and historical approach to the study of the past. Research methodology based on historical-ethnographic methods - scientific descriptions of concrete historical and relic. In the analysis we can draw the following conclusions: 1) in the traditional economy of Khakass people an important place was given to the cattle; 2) Special attention was paid to the breeding of cattle. He was distinguished by its functionality. From this type of pets in the greatest number received the bulk of meat and dairy products, skin , etc. used for manufacturing clothes and various household needs; 3) High utilitarian value of cows / bulls contributed to the fact that in everyday life of the Khakass people, they acted as the common settlement funds, as well as the most important subject of trade, including barter; 4) the presence of cattle and its quantitative composition was the basis of material well-being and stability of people's lives. All this was a marker of social status and of his family, and often a key identification factor; 5) High practical and symbolic importance of these pets is reflected in the folklore and in the religious-mythological views of the Khakass people. Animals were identified a special role in rituals, due to the life cycle of man: birth, marriage and death. In rituals in addition to its direct purpose, such as the main source of meat and dairy products, considerable importance was attached to their iconic status. Cows and bulls, as prestigious gifts were the key subject of such processes for child birth, wedding ceremonies and funerals. The way these animals became an integral part of the ritual texts associated with the life cycles of man. In family and tribal rites special symbolic value endowed and private part of their body - the head, sternum, sacrum. Great sacred significance was attached to the cow's milk. In the religious-mythological consciousness of the Khakass people cattle is often perceived as a vehicle for the soul of the deceased. Summing up the above it can be stated that in the traditional culture of Khakass people considered pets and their images took an important place and has carried out various socio-normative and ritual functions.

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