The maternity rite of Ukrainian rural population in the south of Western Siberia in the late 19th-20th centuries

This paper aims to consider the maternity rites of the Ukrainian rural population in the south of Western Siberia in the late 19th-20th centuries. It describes the preserved complex of traditional elements of the rite in the period under review, reveals its transformation under the influence of a number of factors. The research is primarily based on the field work data collected by the author and other staff members of the Oral History & Ethnography Center of the Laboratory of the Lore Local History at Altai State Pedagogical University in areas of compact and dispersed settlement of the Ukrainians in Altai and Novosibirsk provinces. It is determined that until the second half of the 20th century the Ukainian rural population in the south of Western Siberia maintained traditional ideas of childlessness, signs on which sex of the unborn child was determined, pregnant women followed certain standards of behavior. When considering actions related to childbirth, the author reveals the observance of Ukrainian traditions. It is noted that with the coming of the Soviet power special attention was paid to the development and adoption of legislative acts in the field of medicine, which increased penalties for illegal medical treatment and for refusal of assistance in the birth of non-certified private midwives. Among all, medical services in the field of gynecology were intensifying, as a result of which a significant part of the traditional actions associated with childbirth was lost. The naming of newborn children is also considered here. The author comes to a conclusion that till the 1930s the tradition was respected to name the newborn by the name of a saint whose memory day was celebrated by the church on the child's birthday or in the near future. Later, a new Soviet tradition of naming was established. In some areas of Novosibirsk Province one more feature of double naming is identified. Meantime, field data evidence the distinctive sounding of Ukrainian and Russian names. The tradition of celebrating childbirth is also followed: till the 1950s the traditional set of elements with which it was customary to visit the mother and the child was preserved. Thus, traditional ideas and rituals connected with the maternity rite among the Ukrainian rural population in the south of Western Siberia were in force till the second half of the 20th century. However, a number of factors (political, economic, social) influenced significantly the loss of individual traditional elements of the maternity rite and its components.

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