The View of Death and the Funeral Protocols of Orok in the Far East
Soon Cheon Eom
Institute for Russian and Altaic Studies Chungbuk University August 31, 2023 DOI: 10.24958/rh.2023.27.195 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | The Orok, an indigenous people of Sakhalin Island |
| Key points | Argues that Orok death beliefs center on the soul's presence in or separation from the body, and that funeral protocols move through stages culminating in a shaman-led soul-transfer rite held three or four years after burial, after which the soul enters the underworld and is later reincarnated into its own clan. The author contends these protocols fuse customs of neighboring peoples (Nivh, Nanai, Ulchi, Evenki, Russian, Chinese) and layers of shamanism, animism, and cosmology. |
Abstract
This paper examines the death view and customs of the orok, which belong to the three major indigenous peoples of Sakhalin Island along with the paleoasiatic nivh and tungusic evenki. The orok link life and death with the presence or absence of a soul. Life is a state in which the soul resides in the body, and death is a state in which the soul is separated from the body. The funeral protocols encompasses the entire process from death, funeral, y, and the soul transfer rites. Although shamans do not participate in funeral, do participate in the soul transfer rites. In the past, funerals for children were absolute. The size and procedure of adult funerals vary depending on the deceased's surname, age, social status, and cause of death. The funeral is gradually converted into a rites for the soul of the deceased, a rites for the middle realm between the soul of the deceased and an ancestor spirit, and a rites for an ancestor spirit. Three or four years after the funeral, the soul transfer rites is held near to the tomb, led by a shaman, to guide the soul of the deceased to the underworld. After the soul transfer rites, the souls of the deceased are completely integrated into the underworld, and after a certain period of time, they are reincarnated into their own clan. The funeral protocols of the orok are a complex ritual in which mixed and fused of various tribes of different ancestry, such as the neighboring paleoasiatic nivh, tungus nanai, ulchi, evenki, russian, chinese, etc. In addition, various layers of ideas from different eras, such as shamanism, animism, the soul view, and the cosmic view, are mixed and fused here.