Among the Goldi the mode of settling resembles rather that used among the semi-settled Northern Tungus of Manchuria of the upper course of the Amur River, who have Chinese houses with small kitchen gardens, grouped into small villages, but periodically moved to other places, while the Manchus form typically sedentary groups. Among the Goldi the houses are built absolutely in the same manner as among poor Manchus, i.e., they use a simplified Chinese type. There are also some simplified dwellings — underground houses, semi-underground houses — well known among poor Manchus and Tungus, also Chinese new settlers [28]. The Goldi wigwam of a semi-spheric form erected in the summer stations is a very interesting element of the Goldi complex. The framework is made of light bending wood and willow in such a manner that being covered with birch-bark (lately cloth) it forms a characteristic spheric hut. This kind of wigwam among the Northern Tungus of the upper course of the Amur River is met with as a summer hut in a reduced form and in a still more reduced form, as a hunting shelter it is known among the Reindeer Tungus of Manchuria and Transbaikalia [29]. Among the Goldi of the Sungari River one meets a wig warn of conical form, like that of the Northern Tungus of Mongolia, Manchuria and Siberia and that of other ethnical groups living in similar conditions [30]. It may, however, be noted that the Goldi use the same name — malu — as the Reindeer and other Northern Tungus do, who use this term for designating a place near the principal poles of a conical wigwam, while the Goldi use malu for a place near the principal poles supporting the roof of their houses of Chinese type. Among both the Goldi and Northern Tungus the «placings for spirits» are kept at these places and the latter have a special importance in social and religious performances. This seems to point to a common origin of those ideas.
The Goldi also have a special type of dwelling for winter hunting. This type closely resembles the Chinese hunting hut and is no doubt borrowed, either directly from the Chinese or through the Manchus. The storehouse elevated on high poles is common among the Goldi and all Northern Tungus, as well as among the early population of Manchuria and neighbouring ethnical groups. The Goldi living on fish and having no other means of communication than dog and water courses very largely use canoes of various forms. The most typical canoe is that made of a piece of wood. This type is supposed to be characteristic of Palaeasiatic groups [31] and it is not common among the Northern Tungus who have a marked preference for a very light portable canoe made of birch-bark. A light canoe made of wooden planks is also known among the Goldi. It may be supposed to be a mere imitation of a light canoe made of birch-bark. It is important to note that the Goldi do not use any canoe made of animal skin [32]. The third type of canoe is that evidently borrowed from the Chinese. The Manchus at present know but the third type of canoe.
The snow-shoe of the Northern Tungus type is also known among the Goldi, while Giliaks use a snow-shoe of an entirely different type. The dog sledge of Goldi, however, is similar to that of Giliaks (and Kamchadals!). The hunting arms and utensils among the Goldi are almost the same as among the Northern Tungus. Arms made of iron are of Chinese origin. As to the methods of hunting, they are similar in many respects among the Goldi and Northern Tungus. The same methods, however, are employed by the Manchus, Chinese and other ethnical groups of this region.
The social organization of the Goldi is based upon an agnatic exogamous clan with male filiation called xala. Among the Manchus the clan has about the same system and is called by the same term xala. Among the Northern Tungus of Manchuria and Mongolia the clan organization is in main Iine3 similar to that among the Goldi and called kala, while among the Reindeer Tungus of Manchuria it is called by a Yakut term and among those of Transbaikalia by a Mongol term. Unfortunately, the clan names among the Goldi are not established with all desirable details and J. A. Lopatin gives only thirteen clan names of the Goldi living in the vicinity of the Amur River. Owing to the great importance of this problem I shall dwell a little longer upon the analysis of the clan names given by J. A. Lopatin. I have arranged them into four classes, as shown [33], in the Table.
I. gejker
djaksor
dier (also, diger) xoзar
II. on'enka (also, onika)
udynka
donka
perminka
jukaminka
III. odjal (also, oзal)
IV. neergu
bel'daj (also, bel'dy)
kil'i (also, kil'e or kil'en)
In so far as this material permits, we may see that the clan names may be divided into the four groups as shown above, i.e., (1) the names with the suffix r, which is probably the suffix of plural of word ending in n, (2) the names with the suffix ka, which is perhaps an abbreviation of kan, ken of the Northern Tungus or even a Russian diminutive suffix (nka) quite common among the aborigines of Siberia when they speak «business language» to Russians; (3) one name ending in I (plural?); and (4) three names a part. The first of the last group is not clear at all [34], while the second may be connected with one well known among various Tungus groups and Dahurs, — the clan name bol'd + suff., or bul'd + suff., or bul't + suff. The third one among the Goldi is sometimes pronounced kil'er, evidently from kil'en, and I think this is not an old clan name, but a new designation originated from the name kil'i (kil'e) = kil'in (kil'en) = cil'in = čil'in given by the Chinese trappers to some Tungus groups, for example, to those in the upper course of the Amur River [35]. The name diger seems to have a Northern Tungus suffix ger, gir characteristic of clan names [36]. Among the Goldi clan names I do not see any Manchu clan name [37] The name udyn-ka may be connected with Negidal clan udan [38]; the name xoзar (it may also be xodjan, xodja) may be connected with Negidal xodzo (original transcription); don-ka is close to dun-e-gir, dun-enken of the Northern Tungus of Manchuria of Birar Yaman [39]; odj-a-l is close to odj-i-gir and odj-a-gir of the Nerchinsk Tungus, also a typically Reindeer Northern Tungus group; bel'd-aj and bel'd-y may perhaps be connected with bul'd-ute of the Amur Gov. Reindeer Tungus and Dahurs [40] also bul't-o-gir of the Nerchinsk Reindeer Tungus. To the above it may be added that sama-gir, under which name a Goldi group living in the lower course of the Amur River is known, is a Northern Tungus name of a clan which had migrated, as I have established, together with other clans from the region of Lake Baikal eastward, to Eastern Transbaikalia (among the Nerchinsk Reindeer Tungus and Nomad Tungus of the Argun River, Mankova), to Manchuria (east from the Great Khingan Mountains) and probably to the lower Amur River. I shall not go further in showing other instances of migrations, but I want to point out that some clans of the Birar Yamen Northern Tungus pretend to have come to their present habitat in the middle course of the Amur River from the lower course of the same River, which shows that the migrating waves in the Amur River basin were simultaneously going in two opposite directions — eastward and westward. Moreover, as I have shown, the Northern Tungus groups migrated southward from the northern part of the Amur Gov. and Yakutsk Gov. and descended to their present habitat after the latter had been left by another group called nugal. This migration took place probably by the end of the XVIIth centry, when the first Russian onset had failed and Manchus had withdrawn their kinsmen southward, to China. It is then quite probable that some clan names have been brought by nugal westward.
The above instances of common clan names are sufficient for showing that some Goldi clan names are the same as those recorded among the Northern Tungus and that the most part of their names are, from a morphological point of view, of Northern Tungus origin (suff. gir, ger, plural r and l, which are not characteristic of Manchu). Thus the Goldi clan names indicate a mixed origin of Goldi clans [41].
Let us now see, in so far as the material published by J. A. Lopatin permits, the functions of the clan. Among the Goldi a council of elders controls the clan life, as it is among the Northern Tungus, while among Manchus a general meeting of clan members and an elected chief mokunda transact all business [42]. A Clan has its yearly sacrifice when pig's blood is offered to the clan spirits. Women do not take any part in this sacrifice. Among the Manchus who practise election of a women's chief, women's meetings, etc., and where women are not allowed to participate in men's meetings, women may attend the performance of sacrifice [43]. The system of relationship terms did not attract J. A. Lopatin's attention. A few terms he gives seem to point to the Manchu system. The family system, being a resultant from the clan system and economical needs, is like that among the Manchus, but among the Goldi large, numerous families are found in a reduced state. Some families, however, attain the number of even twenty-five members, the average family being much smaller than among the Manchus and about the same as it is observed among the Northern Tungus settled in Manchuria. Unfortunately, a description of the family members' rights is lacking in this investigation, but J. A. Lopatin emphasizes the «low and rightless position of woman», which he concludes from a comparison of the Russian intellectual middle class complex of customs and manners with that of the Goldi. In terms of the first complex [44] the position of the Goldi woman is certainly low and rightless, which considerably impedes this investigator in seeing the essentials of the Goldi social system, restrictions, various taboos, and their ideas [45]. It may be noted that an unmarried (not widow!) woman enjoys liberty almost beyond any control and virginity being formally required, if lacking, has no influence on woman's position, as it is sometimes observed among the Manchus. The practice of the freedom of sexual intercourse in the absence of husband, as among the Northern Tungus, is usual, but it is supposed that should the husband learn of his wife's conduct, he might avenge it. On the other hand, the sexual intercourse with brothers' and cousins' wives seems to be more common and accessible. So, a woman being requested is obliged to consent with a presumption that her husband does not know the fact [46]. This custom approximates the Goldi ideas to those of the Manchus and points to early forms of marriage among the Goldi and Manchus. The levirate among the Goldi is an obligatory institution, as among the Northern Tungus, but, as I have stated, it is at present unknown among the Manchus. The practice of polygamy seems to be much wider among the Goldi than among the Manchus and the Northern Tungus, which perhaps partly depends upon the local conditions of marriage and in some degree, I think, upon a decline of the clan system regulating marriage [47].
The Goldi wedding customs are different from those of the Northern Tungus and Manchus. The essential difference is that the wedding takes place in the house of the bride's family and the first night is supposed to be spent in this house, after which the bride stays for some period in her mother's house, while the bridegroom goes home. The bride's relatives (probably the persons belonging to her clan), including her father and mother, carry her in a canoe or dog sledge to the house of the bridegroom's father. Then a sham-capture is performed and she enters the house, where a sacrifice to the fire spirit (possibly the spirits of her husband's clan) is performed. The bride's mother stays with her daughter for some period of time and watches whether her daughter is well received. The marriage may be broken at once, on the mother being dissatisfied with her son-in-law's conduct. It is evident that the match making and two parts of the wedding are followed by feasts. Here it may be noted that the consummation of marriage in the house of the bride's mother is a peculiarity known among the Northern Tungus of Transbaikalia, where the bridegroom presents to his affianced wife's parents some gifts and is allowed to stay with the bride the night before the wedding [48]. On the other hand, some traces of this practice are also known among the Manchus. In fact, the bridegroom goes to the house of the bride's father and stays there with his people (never with the bride, according to the Manchu assertion). At the same time, no capture performance is practised among the Manchus, but perhaps a slight hint at practice of it, i.e., the taking off of the bride's veil before entering the house, while some evident traces of the capture custom are seen in the wedding ceremony among the Northern Tungus of Transbaikalia. Moreover, among the Tungus and the Manchus the bride's mother and father stay at home when their daughter is going away. Perhaps a visit to the mother's house (i.e., clan!) after the wedding and prohibition to stay there a night observed among the Manchus is a survival of the wife's mother's control and right of protecting her daughter expressed in a negative form. Summarizing these customs it may be seen that some of them are common to the Manchus while others are common to the Northern Tungus, different moments of wedding showing survivals of distinct systems of wedding. The Goldi seem to preserve some early forms better than the Manchus. On the other hand, complex customs of capture find their analogy among Giliaks where this custom is much more than a mere performance of a tradition [49]. The kalym [50], dowry, match-making, etc., do not show very essential differences among the groups in question. So, the custom and practice of child delivery, also various taboos and prohibitions concerning this process are in main lines similar [51] among these groups. It may be noted that there is a difference among the Goldi compared with other groups, i.e., the shaman may perform in order to facilitate delivery and he, or she, may approach a woman lying-in. The cradle is similar among these groups showing its nomad origin and being entirely different from that used by Giliaks and Mongols [52]. The custom of name-giving is similar to that among the Northern Tungus and is different from that among the Manchus, namely, children are called by names of things or adjectives, according to the mother's choice or that of other kinsmen.
Among the clan functions the custom of vendetta, widely spread among the Goldi, may also be quoted. This practice calls to mind the vendetta among Giliaks. However, this practice is at present unknown among the Northern Tungus investigated by me, while among the Manchus it shows some very insignificant traces, which may also be considered to be due to recent influences [53].
In a section entitled, I think owing to a misunderstanding, by J. A. Lopatin «Communism,» some instances of co-operative work are given, e.g., the building of houses (those of Chinese type!), fishing, storage and using of food stock [54]. The co-operative building of Chinese houses is also characteristic of Giliaks, described by L. Schrenck (op. cit.), and as J. A. Lop'atin shows it is caused by climatic conditions, i.e., the process of building must be accomplished in the shortest period. This custom, as far as I know, is not characteristic of the Manchus. The co-operative fishing (salmon!) also results from its technique: it requires a numerous group of fishers in order to get a maximum during a few days when this fish is passing on [55]. Yet, the storage of food supply and the right of using it if needed are also characteristic of certain ethnical groups knowing nothing about «primitive communism». This is a result of a mere development (further complication) of the economic system in the regions where the food supply is subject to seasonal fluctuations. On the contrary, it points to a relatively complex phenomenon, not a primitive one.
[28] J. A. Lopatin has evidently made a mistake in supposing these kind of dwellings to indicate some connexion between the Goldi and Paleasiatics. This kind of underground house has nothing to do with the underground houses of Paleasiatics and those which were excavated by me (in 1916) on the banks of the middle course of the Amur River. The first is a temporary dwelling of a reduced Chinese type, while the second is characterized by a not square form, entrance from the roof, with a ladder made of wood trunk, etc., i.e., just as it was described by the early Chinese among the aborigines of Manchuria. By this remark I do not intend, however, to assert that the ancestors of Goldi did not know true underground houses. (Back)
[29] One must have for such a semi-spheric hut a special flexible material, like willow, which is rare in the northern regions of the Amur River basin and almost none in the territory of the Reindeer Tungus. Thus, this form is a local variation in a developed form of the hunting semi-spheric hut of the other Tungus groups, while the conical wigwam spread over a huge territory has also been borrowed from the Tungus by some Palseasiatics (Reindeer Koriaks, cf. W. Jochelson, The Koriaks, Part II., Publications of the Jesup Expedition, Vol. VI, Part I, Leiden, 1908) and perhaps some Yakut groups. It is very interesting that among Indians of North America both forms, conical and semi-spheric, are met with, which is rather a mere convergence, (cf. T. T. «Waterman North American Indian Dwellings, in Ann. Rep. of the Board of Reg. of the Sm. Inst. 1924, Washington, 1925, pp. 461 H.) Underground houses are also known among the population of Western America, but in the case of this form the underground house seems to belong to an ethnographical complex widely spread along the coasts of the Pacific and partly known to some ethnical groups of Eastern Asia. (Back)
[30] Orochi of Port Imperial (Cf. V. P. Margaritov, op. cit.) use a conical wigwam for hunting and women lying-in, though they have adopted a roofed hut of the same type as that among Udehe (Cf. S. Brailovsky, Ta-tse, or Udihe, an Essay of an Ethnographical Investigation, in Zivaja Starina, Fasc. II, 1901, St. Petersburg, in Russian). However, among Udehe a conical wigwam is observed as a survival. Moreover, M. Veniukov (Travels Along the Frontiers of Russian Asia, St. Petersburg, 1868, in Russian, p. 89) who travelled in Ussuriland in 1858, asserts that the Ussuri Goldi use a conical wigwam and Orochi use a conical wigwam covered with birchbark. It ought to be pointed out that the Orochi of M. Veniukov were probably Udehe who differ in many respects from the Orochi of Port Imperial. (Cf. also supplementary Note III). (Back)
[31] W. Jochelson (Ethnological Problems on Northern Coast of Pacific, in Bulletin of the Imp. Russ. Geogr. Soc, Vol. XLIII, 1907, St. Petersburg, in Russian, p. 79) says that among Palasasiatic groups, like Yukagirs, Kamchadals, this type of canoe is used. It was also probably known to the early population of Manchuria, Yih-leu (Cf. de Saint Denys, op. cit, p. 331). The Manchu language possesses a special term for it: — djaxa. Let us remember that birch-bark was probably as rare in the region occupied at that time by Yih-leu, as it is at present. However, M. Veniukov (op. cit. p. 26) in 1858 met with Goldi who used a birchbark canoe in the Ussuri River. (Back)
[32] In a perfectly developed form this type of canoe is known among Eskomos, Chukchis Aleutians, etc. But it is also known among the Northern Tungus who use this kind of canoe in a very primitive form. It is mentioned in the Northern Tungus folk-lore. (Cf. also further footnote 85.) (Back)
[33] J. A. Lopatin's transcription is not exact owing to typographical and, I think, other conditions of recording. I shall give a transcription of his names given with an adaptation to Russian. Moreover, J. A. Lopatin does not seem to be interested in the problem of clan names and their origin, therefore he did not pay due attention to this branch of investigation. He does not sharply distinguish the notion «clan» and familija (of Russians) and both terms he uses in the same sense. However, among the Goldi the clan organization is still alive, so it may happen, as it does among other aborigines of Siberia, that some of J. A. Lopatin's clan names are of recent origin, i.e., familija of Russians. Such clan names, if they should occur, must be excluded from his list altogether. In fact, he asserts that the clan system is already shaken by the Chinese and Russian influences. Such an analysis and corrections ought also to be done in some other records of the Tungus clan names, for instance in the work of S. K. Patkanov (Essay on Geographical and Statistical Distribution of the Tungus in Memoirs of the Imp. Russ. Geogr. Soc, Vol. XXXI, 1906, in Russian) where the true clan names are mixed up with the family names given to the Tungus by Russians. Something similar occurs nowadays among the Northern Tungus living under Chinese rule. (Back)
[34] I fear to falling in to an error in supposing this name to have any connection with a clan name nirger known among Dahurs. (Back)
[35] I have shown (cf. Soc Org. of the Manchus) that the Manchus (Man. Sp.) by this name sometimes designate the Northern Tungus of this region. The Goldi call them kilör, kiröl; Orochi and Olcha -kilö; Negidals -kilöl and Gilyaks -kil (cf. Professor Schmidt, op. cit.). This name is recognized by the Manchus to be of Chinese and, I should add, of a relatively recent origin. The Chinese also refer this name to some non-Tungus groups, e.g., Koreans. Thus I do not see any reason for introducing this term with reference to any Tungus or Goldi group as a separate ethnical unit or Tungus dialect as some authors do. Neither is the group mentioned by A. Lopatin a clan, but a Northern Tungus group which have lately joined Goldi and preserved this name (kilen), being goldified, as a passport of their non-Southern Tungus and new origin. (Back)
[36] Cf. Soc. Org. of the Manchus, etc. pp. 20-28. (Back)
[37] Ibid. p. 31, Footnote. (Back)
[38] Cf. Professor Schmidt, The Language of Negidals. Among Negidals who are a Northern Tungus group, this clan name seems to be of a recent origin. (Back)
[39] This group was called Birary, Byraly by Russians according to their administrative subdivision. It is most closely connected with the Tungus of Kumar Yamen, called sometimes kumarc'en (and birarc'en) by themselves and Man'egry by Russians. These two groups naturally have common clans and intermarry. Their dialects must be regarded as sub-dialects. Thus, the term Birar cannot be justified as a designation of a group ethnographically and linguistically distinct from Manegry. Both groups belong to the Northern Tungus groups of Manchuria incorporated into the Manchu military organization. They may be called geographically: group of the Upper Amur. It is slightly distinct from the Northern Tungus of Naun, the Nonni River, with tributaries, called nauncen, and group of Northern Tungus of Mongolia, provisorily designated by me the Khingan Tungus. In Professor Zaxarov's Manchu Russian Dictionary dung'a is the name of a Manchu clan. I did not find this name among other Manchu clan names. It is quite possible that this clan originally belonged to the Goldi who were included in the list of clans as one of ici mandju clans. (Back)
[40] Some clan names among Dahurs of Butxa District in North Western Manchuria are of a Northern Tungus origin, e.g., in my list of Dahur clan names, which is not a complete one, four names out of eighteen are of a Northern Tungus origin, even with the suffix gir. Dahurs, as we know from Professor A. O. Ivanovsky's Mandjurica. I., etc. St. Petersburg, 1894, speak a Mongol dialect, are ethnographically and anthropologically (Cf. my Anthrop of North China) different from the Northern Tungus (and Manchus!). It is not clear why J. Deny (Les langues du monde par un groupe de linguistes sous la direction de A. Meillet et Marcel Cohen, Paris, 1924) included them in the Tungus linguistical family. By the way, this author has recognized that no classification of the Tungus group is possible with the present knowledge of these dialects. Moreover, he has uncritically copied the names of various clans (sometimes living in distinct parts of Siberia and Manchuria among other groups — regional — mentioned by him!) regional groups, mere nicknames; he has once more repeated all misunderstandings introduced by travellers and Cossaks, also a traditional enumeration of various groups of Manchuria which were known to the Chinese and are supposed (it is not clear why!) to be all ancestors of Tungus, but he did not look at what has already been done for an approximate classification of Tungus dialects. In this footnote I unfortunately cannot enter into details for a criticism of this article, but I may say that in the publications of some previous authors one may find more definite and exact ideas as to the Tungus classification than in this article in a responsible publication. (Back)
[41] The list of clan names among the Ussuri and Sungari Goldi could be of great value for our comparison. It would be very desirable that along with further investigations the distinction of clan names properly speaking and «familija» also Chinese names should be made the most carefully (cf. Soc. Org. of the Manchus, etc. pp. 30-32). Generally speaking the clan names are very old and well preserved among some Tungus groups. Moreover, the borrowing of clan names (the Northern Tungus) in the basin of the Amur River is hardly possible because the population of this region from a cultural stand-point was always superior to the wandering Northern Tangus groups and did not speak Northern Tungus dialects. On the other hand, borrowing of new names for new subdivisions by the Northern Tungus clans is quite common and can be still observed among the Northern Tungus. In the process of formation of new clans the Northern Tungus very often take some nicknames or alien names (without suffix gir or ger\). In order to warrant from a possible misunderstanding I want to point out that a failure in finding the facts concerning the history of the Southern Tungus clan names in Chinese annals cannot disappoint us, because the Northern Tungus and Manchus of our days when speaking Chinese never use their proper names in their own language but always try to adapt their clan names by an alteration and abbreviation, also a translation, to the Chinese mind and language. The same occurred previously to the modern time and especially when the Chinese did not know any «barbarian» languages. In Russia the earliest indications as to the Tungus clans in general are found in reports of the XVIIth century. In the XVIIIth century several clans were mentioned by travellers. Many of them are still known among the Tungus of Siberia. «With reference to the neighbourhood of the Goldi we have some clan names recorded by Krasheninnikov in the region of Udskii Ostrog. He mentioned the names : butal, laligir, goigan, oddian, oginkagir and kisigir. Among the group of Sobatschi (in Russian—dog) Tungus Ph. J. von Strahlenberg (Das nord und ostliche Theil von Europa und Asia, etc., in einer historiseh-geographischen Beschreibung, Stok-holm, 1730, p. 423. English translation: An Historico-Geographical Description, etc. London, 1738, pp. 450-451) mentioned: Lamunka, Kaeltaku, Lakigir, Brangatkal, Nynengath, Bugari, Maimogir, Bold-ati, Mamour, Ilagin, Kotnachan and Jukagri or Jukairi. Some of these names are common among the Reindeer Tungus and some others are mentioned in the Tungus folk-lore. One sees among these names some which are now met with among the Goldi, e.g. oddian (odjal), oginkagir (on'enka?), Beldati (beldai), Jukagri (jukaminka?). (Back)
[42] Among the Northern Tungus of Manchuria and Mongolia (incorporated into the Manchu military organization some time ago) the clan chief—mokunda—used to be elected. Nowadays they have abolished this practice since the Manchu influence disappeared. So this practice seems to be implied by the Manchu system. However, it is very old among the population of Manchuria and it is mentioned in Chinese chronicles. (Back)
[43] J. A. Lopatin thinks women do not belong to any clan (!), which is, of course, wrong. They do certainly belong. He says himself that a woman being married performs a rite of her adoption by her husband's clan (p. 186), which is also not quite correct, because she preserves her own spirits throughout her life. Owing to this a married woman is tabooed in many instances. Generally speaking, this investigator did not understand the Goldi behaviour and manners in regard to woman. So, in many instances he repeats she is not kindly treated, while she is merely tabooed. (Back)
[44] I must, however, confess that a selection of terms for the description of an alien complex presents a very great difficulty. It is especially difficult when one uses a foreign language in writing. In such a case lapsus are almost inevitable. It often happened to me to find such lapsus in my previous writings. It will probably happen to all ethnographers, until a special conventional terminology is elaborated. (Back)
[45] Another case of a much more complicated aspect of European complex behaviour may be seen in Dr. E. Lauf er's short criticism (in the American Anthropologist, 1924, No. 4, pp. 540-3) concerning my general conclusion as to women's place in the system of human society, viz. women's role in human society is of a secondary importance and among the Manchus as well as among all groups, society is baaed upon a preponderant role of males. Indeed, external signs of an esteem for women, customs allowing women to discuss questions of importance, materlinear system of kinship, even a formal heading of clans by women, etc. are well known, but all these customs do not give females a real power of social control and, e.g., the greatest problems as to the defence of the ethnical unit and denning of its, say, internal and interethnical policy are always solved by males. Formal relations not being taken in a complex, but separately, do not always express the essential of social relations. Let us take an instance well known to Dr. Lauf er. No sociologists, except of course, those who are simultaneously politicians, would -agree that an American average citizen, being allowed to discuss and vote as much as he likes, is really allowed to control political affairs which are, above all, beyond his understanding, but he is wisely conducted through daily press, public meetings, various institutions and associations, etc., by those who are sociologically in charge of the real control of the United States as a political and newly formed ethnical unit. An average American citizen, however, believes — and the responsible leaders maintain this belief—that the fate of the United States is on the hands of that average citizen. In the case of the problem of woman's rights and social position, political ideology and social philosophy naturally influenced investigators and indirectly led the discussion along the lines of various mental and psychic European complexes, one of which strongly required the recognition of woman's » rights» and influential r61e as a stage of an historic evolutionary development infallibly ending by abolition of the present position of woman. In spite of these influences human thought, searching for an impartial truth, I think, has already led modern ethnography to understand that it does not require any general scheme for conceiving the process of variations of social forms and their adaptation to practical needs for assuring the existence of ethnical units. It rather needs a study of succession of forms and deduction of principles to which this succession is subject. As an imperfect analogy Cuviers' and Osborn's methods in palseontology maybe taken. (Back)
[46] It would be interesting to know whether the facultative rights on those women spread over the wives of elder brothers and cousins only, as it is among Manchus, whether they spread over the elder and younger brothers' and cousins' wives? (Back)
[47] Among the Goldi the female rate in 1897 was 901 to one thousand men; in 1915 it was 894, whence it may be seen that the number of males considerably exceeds that of females, which surely impedes the polygamic practice. In such a case among the Manchus the clan function is to linfit polygamy as much as possible in order to provide, if possible, females for all males of a clan. (Back)
[48] I could not establish on the spot whether this practice is an innovation or an ancient custom. (Back)
[49] The capture among the Manchus as described by me (cf. Soc. Org. of the Manchus, etc., p. 72) is practised in the case of the bride's becoming pregnant before the wedding. Being a violation of existing customs of wedding, it is not analogous to the capture practised among the Goldi and Giliaks, where the capture is an essential moment of the ceremony. I would also add a few words with reference to the wedding customs in general. The Manchus, Goldi and Northern Tungus show some common practices in various degrees developed among them. So the custom of staying in the house of the bride's mother, in so far as the present practice and survivals show, seems to be common to all groups in question, which indicates that in the past the bridegroom probably used to go to his wife's house. With a transition to a male filiation this custom fell in contradiction to the first and was strictly prohibited, for instance, among the Manchus. This deduction suits well to other customs showing that the present social system of the Manchus is different from their former system, which was probably based upon a materlinear filiation. Without referring to any relationship between various groups which lived in Manchuria and the present Manchus, Goldi and Northern Tungus, I shall quote some customs which coincide perfectly with those observed nowadays, showing that the present practices are certainly very ancient. According to Chinese chronicles, Tung-hu, in the beginning of our era, possessed some customs which indicate a materlinear system of clan organization (Cf. E. Parker, A Thousand Years of the Tartars, Shanghai, 1895, p. 119, sq.). Among Mu-ki (the Vlth century A.D.) the bridegroom used to stay the first night in his future wife's house, also in the case of the wife's misconduct the husband used to kill her at once. (J. Klaproth, Tableaux historiques de I'Asie depuis la Monarchie de Cyrus jusqu 'a nos jours, Paris, 1826). With reference to Tung-hu it is known that «their marriage always began with clandestine commerce and then capture of the woman. After from three to six months a go-between was sent with presents and horses, oxen, or sheep, as marriage gifts» (E. Parker, ibid.). These practices, as shown, are still alive. Among Yih-leu, who are supposed to have been the ancestors of the Southern Tungus (Manchus, etc.) and who were agriculturists and pig breeders, and lived in underground houses, but did not know any iron or pottery (about the IIIrd century A.D.), the husband used to live some period of time in the house of his wife's family (Cf. A. Wylie, History of the Eastern Barbarians, in Revue de 1'Extreme Orient, Vol 1, Paris, 18S2, pp. 60-66). However, it is not clear whether Yih-leu were a Southern Tungus group or a pure Paleasasiatic one. It is very curious that these people used the basket as a seat (cf. J. Klaproth, op. cit. p. 84) and the wedding customs among the Manchus, namely fe mandju (not ici.mandju!), require that the bridegroom should sit down on a basket (cf.Soc.Org.of the Manchus, etc p. 82). However, de Saint Denys (op. cit. p. 330) with reference to the same Chinese text translates: «Ils s'assoient par terre, les jambes allongees». For us, of course, it is very important which translation is correct- The most interesting problem is the establishing of the early social organization among the Northern Tungus who at present snow much less ancient survivals than Manchus. To this question I shall return with all possible details in my further study on the social organization of the Northern Tungus groups investigated by me. (Back)
[50] An approximate meaning of kalym is the price for a bride-However, this translation does not render quite exactly the idea of this institution. Owing to this I prefer to use the term kalym borrowed by Russians (including ethnographers) from aborigines and adopted as a technical term. (Back)
[51] J. A. Lopatin says that a woman's mother takes a very important part in the care of her daughter during the first delivery. However, it ought to be remembered that the woman does not live together with her mother, so the latter occasionally may be very far from her daughter at the moment of delivery. So probably the woman's mother is merely allowed to care for her daughter as well as the other women. It is interesting to remember that among the Manchus the delivery at the mother's house is strictly prohibited and the woman's mother may visit her daughter only on the third day after confinement (cf. Soc Org. of the Manchus, etc., Ch. IV.).
[52] The Northern Chinese and Japanese have no cradle. (Back)
[53] Among the early population of Manchuria the practice of vendetta was very wide, but, again, the relationship of these groups is not established. (E. Parker, op. cit. p. 123). (Back)
[54] At the basis of the preservation of the clan (also family) property, the tendency of living together, in the same village or station, the hunting of bear, sacrifices and «feasts at the shamanistic performances (kamlanije)», the clan interests lie and not the idea of «primitive communism» as J. A. Lopatin believes (cf. above). This point of view is connected with one of European complexes. (Back)
[55] Cf. co-operative hunting, zegete aba, among Buriats, is elaborated into a peculiar social system; the co-operative hunting among the Reindeer Tungus is also known (junat). Among the Manchus co-operative hunting (aba) also played a very important part as a clan affair and later on as an Imperial duty (g'joro clan!) (Back)