E-mail: Muhopleva@mail.ru;
Tel.: +7 (4112) 35 49 96;
Petrovskogo St. 1, 677007 Yakutsk, Russian Federation;
PhD (Philology), Associate Professor, Senior Researcher, The Institute for Studies in Humanities and Problems of the Indigenous Rare people of the North, the Siberian Branch of the RAS.
The process of vanishing of northern Yakut reindeer breeders as ethnographic group is observed at present time. In this situation, sharply there rieses an acute issue of saving of the sub-ethnos,its peculiar language and culture. Thus research of regional specificity of its folklore heritage is necessary. Simultaneously, a decline of scholarly interest in this topic is obvious. The new impulse can be given by means of defining the state of its cross-disciplinary studies of the problem. In this paper, the author introduces to readers the results of the collection, publication and research upon epic of the ethnic local group of Northern Yakut reindeer breeders, lasting from the end of the 19h to beginning of the 21st centuries, using inaccessible editions in the Russian and Yakut languages, archive and field materials of researchers. The concept of the "northern Yakuts" is specified, genres existing in folklore of Yakut reindeer breeders are presented.
There at the extensive territory of four regions of Yakutia and along the Lake Yessey of Krasnoyarsk Territory, since 1848 to 2013, i. e. during 165 years, only 24 olonkho epic texts have even recorded. The existence of olonkho has been observed on all places of expantion of northern Yakut reindeer breeders. In the 20h century the Lake Yessey was the center of an epic singing. Only olonkho texts among 24 recordings are published. An invaluable contribution to collecting was done by the author of "Memories" A. Ya. Uvarovsky, the ethnographer B. O. Dolgikh, researcher of epic N. V. Yemelyanov, folklorists, linguists, local historians of Yakutia.
The tradition of research upon olonkho among northern Yakut reindeer breeders was established in the end of the XX century. In his studies upon epic the researcher N. V. Yemelyanov has revealed features of olonkho typical for the entire folk tradition of Yakut reindeer breeders. He has noticed, that the later olonkho type didn't appear in the local tradition. The studies of local features of olonkho and xosun tales are observed there in the scientific report by P. E. Efremov named "Epic Creativity of Northern Yakut Reindeer Breeders". In the given paper readers will get an opportunity to examine basic observations from the unpublished work of a researcher of Dolgans, who was recognized as the connoisseur of culture of the northern peoples of Yakutia.
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