Betyuns-wolves: structure, settlement and totemic representations of the wolf clans of Yakutia in the 1632-1917's

Vinokurov Aleksandr Danilovich ORCID: 0000-0001-8925-8750 Junior research fellow at IHRISN SB RAS 677000, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1, office 410 ad.vinokurov@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

The Betyunts are one of the key ethnic components that had a significant impact on the formation of the modern Sakha people. As a result of the events of the 17th century . They were forced to settle in vast territories, from the Lena-Aldan interfluve to the northeastern regions of Yakutia and Lake Essey.

The question of the early ethnic origin of the Betyunans remains open. Ethnographer V.V. Ushnitsky connects the Betyunts with the Mongolian tribe "Chino" (Shono) ^{[20, p.49]}. In the course of the study, the nomenclature of the ancestral composition of the Mongols of Outer (Khalkha) and Inner (PRC) Mongolia was analyzed, presented in the work of A. Ochira. Representatives of the genus "Biduun" (Bidegun) live in the Bayanbulag and Buutsagaan somons of the Bayankhongor aimag of the Republic of Mongolia, as well as in the Ordos of Inner Mongolia of the People's Republic of China. The same study mentions that the Biduuns were not of Mongolian origin and were part of the Dayan Khan naimans ^{[16, pp.34-35]}. Currently, there is no single point of view regarding the ethnic origin of the Naimans.

By the time Yakutia joined the Russian state, the Betyunts were a single tribal group divided into clans of the "patron-client" type ^{[1, p.11]}. The Betyun people of Yakutia are characterized by the cult of the ancestor, the wolf, which became the basis for the formation of the ethnonym "Boro Botu" (translated from Yakut, boro means "wolf"). Thus, the name can be interpreted as "Wolf clan" or "Betyunts wolves". Perhaps the mythological relationship with the wolf reflects the belligerence of the Betyunsky clans of Yakutia, which is confirmed by early archival documents and folklore data.

To clarify the generic nomenclature and places of settlement, archival sources were used from the fund of the Yakut District Police Department (F.I15) ^[9], Nam Foreign Administration (F.I44) ^[10], the Yakut Statistical Office (F.I343) ^[12], the Yakut Treasury Chamber (F.I349) ^[13] and the Census Area No. 2 on Baturussky ulus (F.I570) ^[15]. The final data presented in the table reflect the state of 1917. Topographic sources on the administrative-territorial settlement have practically not been preserved, therefore, maps of the Yakut district (1896), Vilyuysky district (1932) and the settlement scheme of the northern Yakut reindeer herders (1926-1927), compiled by I.S. Gurvich, were used to visualize the settlement sites of the Betyunsky clans ^{[3, p. 27]}.

Namsky ulus

Historically, the Betyunians occupied the northern part of the territory of Namsky ulus, living on both banks of the Lena River and the mouth of the Aldan River (see Fig. 1). In the acts of the 17th century, the independent Betyunsky parish was localized near the mouth of the Aldan, on the right side of the river, in the area of Lake Taragana. In 1642, the governor sent an envoy to convince the Bethune people to "live in their former places on Taragan" ^{[19, p. 40]}. According to F.G. Safronov, in the 1720s, with the beginning of the introduction of a two-level management system, Betyunskaya volost became part of the newly formed Namsky ulus ^{[18, p. 13]}. Unfortunately, the exact date of the separation of the Kobekonsky nasleg from the indigenous Betyunsky nasleg has not been established at the moment.

Figure 1. The Bethune villages of Namsky ulus as of 1896

As of 1917, there were three villages of Bethune origin in Namsky ulus (see Table.1): 1) Betyunsky (7 genera); 2) Tyubyatsky (7 genera); 3) Kobekonsky (6 genera) (see Table 1). According to the revision tale of Namsky ulus for 1768, Kobekonsky volost was marked as an independent unit, which indicates the separation of Kobekontsy from Betyuntsy in the first half XVIII century ^[14]. In 1910, seven clans of the Betyunsky nasleg expressed a desire to separate into an independent Tyubyatsky nasleg, and this process was completed by 1917 ^[11]. According to the documents on the separation and the 1917 census, part of the siblings of the Setet and Haryalakh families remained in the indigenous Bethune region. The majority of the names of the clans of the Namsky Betyunts shown in the table indicates the geographical nature of the genus name and names formed from the personal names of the clan leaders, which indicates the late nature of the disintegration of the indigenous Betyunsky clan into a number of small ones. The Arbyn region separated from the indigenous Bethune region after 1917.

Table 1.

The famous folklorist and ethnographer A.A. Savvin, according to P.F. Savvin, a resident of the 2nd Sittinsky village of Kobyai district, recorded the legend "The Wolf God": "In the old days, the inhabitants of the village of Namsky district told about the Betyunts: the Betyunts who walked around the abandoned pit seven times and had a wolf" ^{[17, l.46]}. The plot was dedicated to the discovery of a large cache of food supplies on one of the Lena River islands by hungry ancestors of the Bethune people. The above–mentioned text of the legend points to the plot group "zoomorph - savior (plots of one-time help)" and indicates the presence of remnants of totemism, commercial cult and fear of animals among the Bethune people.

Amginsky (Baturussky) ulus

In the first half of the 17th century, there were no written references to the presence of Betunian genera in the basins of the Amga River and the Aldan River. However, folklore evidence suggests that the Betyunans lived along the Amga River before the arrival of the Russians. The first mention of the Betunsky volost of the Yakuts living on the Amga River dates back to 1653 ^{[4, p. 364]}. In the 18th century, the Amginsky betyunts became part of the Baturussky ulus, which existed until 1911 (see Fig. 2). On December 12, 1911, the Amginsky ulus was separated from the Baturussky (Churapchinsky) ulus. As can be seen from the map, the Betyunians had land plots between the rivers of Amga and Aldan.

Figure 2. The Bethune villages of Amginsky ulus as of 1896.

In 1917, there were three villages of Betyunsky origin in Amginsky ulus: Betyunsky (4 genera), Kennyansky (5 genera) and Uranai (3 genera) (see Table 2). Perhaps the reason for the rapid division of the old genera into a number of smaller genera is the principle of geographical remoteness from the indigenous genus and the presence of a gap with other genera of the nasleg and other nasleg. In 1912, the Uranai and Badaran clans were separated into a separate Uranai family ^[6]. Kennyansky nasleg was approximately formed in the period 1913-1915 ^[8].

Table 2.

The central storyline of the Amga Betyunts is the clash with the Nahars over land, reflected in the legend "Wolves-Betyunts with wolf luck" ^{[5, p.15]}. Of course, the legend traces the remnants of the cult of the wolf that existed among the Bethune people and strong military traditions. Unlike the Nam Betyunts, the Amgins have preserved a cycle of legends about legendary ancestors, which has the following scheme:

1. Augustakh Serguy (Augustakh Sorguy)

2. his son Kogas Bachchy (Kuoҕas Bachchy);

3. My grandson, I will Run (Egey Luglu);

4. the grandson's sons, the progenitors of the Betyunsky Amgins families.

Betyunts of other uluses and regions

The settlement of the Bethune clans (see Fig. 3) outside the Nam and Amga local groups was associated with forced migration during the period of armed uprisings against peasant arbitrariness and repressive measures of the first voivodes.

Figure 3. Betyunsky (Chordunsky) forests of the North-West of Yakutia as of 1926-1927.

In the books of yasak collection and investigation, there is information about the Betyunsky Yakuts who paid yasak in the middle of the 17th century. In the Olekminsky, Butalsky, Verkhnevilyuysky, Ust-Vilyuysky and Zhigansky winter quarters ^{[4, p.455]}. By 1917, the Betyunsky (Chordunsky) family of northern Yakut reindeer herders, who roamed within the Vilyuysky and Zhigansky districts, and the Bekcheginsky (Betyunsky) nasleg of Srednevilyuysky ulus, which had previously been part of the 2nd Chochunsky nasleg of Verkhnevilyuysky ulus, were independent administrative-territorial units. In 1914, an attempt was made by foreigners of the Betyunsky family of the Malzhegar rural society of the Olekminsky ulus to separate into an independent Betyunsky rural society, unfortunately, the petition was rejected by the Olekminsky district police officer in 1916 ^[7]. There were Chordun (Betyunsky) clans among the Essene Yakuts of the Turukhansk department and the Yugyulyat Tunguska clan of the Vilyui district (see Table 3).

Table 3.

Let us take a closer look at the totemic beliefs among the Betyunts of other uluses. The Olekmin and Middle Vilyui Betyunts retained their ideas about belonging to the wolf clans (Boro BotuҥNer). The geographical distance from the indigenous Betyunsky villages, the change in the type of economic activity caused the replacement of the totem with an eagle among the Betyunsky reindeer herders (Chordunsky) Zhigansky and Oleneksky districts, lake. Essenes ^{[2, p.129]}.

As a result of the conducted research, based on a set of archival documents, it was possible to recreate the nomenclature of the Betyunts' ancestral composition, places of settlement, and identify the features of the genus names. Along with this, folklore data on the totemic beliefs of the Bethune people about the relationship with wolves were studied, and a conclusion was made about their belonging to the zoomorph – savior story group (one-time help stories).