428 ANNUAL. REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



upper branches a flag is hung. At the bottom of the tree nine steps 

 {tapty) are cut with an ax. Round the yurta a penfold is made. 

 Opposite the door of the yurta is the entrance from the courtyard 

 and near this entrance a birch pole with a noose of horsehair is set 

 up. Then a horse agreeable to the deity is chosen, which is held by 

 a person chosen from those present and who is called "holder of the 

 head" — hashi-tukan kiski. The shaman waves a birch twig over the 

 horse's back, thus driving its soul to Ulgan, accompanied by the hold- 

 er's soul, invoking the spirits to come and assist in the action of the 

 sacrificing. The assembling of the spirits in the tambourine takes 

 place with great solemnity. The shaman summons each spirit sep- 

 arately, who answers : " Here I am Kam," at the same time moving 

 the tambourine as if taking the spirit into it. When he has assembled 

 these spirit assistants, the shaman goes outside the yurta, sits down 

 on a scarecrow in form of a goose stuffed with hay and covered with 

 cloth, and moving both arms rapidly like wmgs, sings in a loud 

 voice : 



Below the white sky, 

 Above the white cloud, 



Below the blue sky. 

 Above the blue cloud — 



Mount a bird to the sky ! 



The goose replies by quacking: "Ungai gak gak, ungai gak, kaigai 

 gak, kaigai gak." The shaman himself, of course, does this imitation 

 of the goose's quacking, as he also answers for the spirits. On this 

 feathered steed the shaman pursues the soul {pur a) of the horse, 

 imitating the horse's neighing. Finally, with the aid of the specta- 

 tors, he drives the horse to the birch pole with the noose which repre- 

 sents the guardian of the animal's soul. After much straining and 

 drawing, to represent the breaking away and the recapturing of the 

 pura, the shaman incenses the animal Avith juniper, blesses it, and, 

 Avith the aid of some of the bystanders kills it in a most barbarous 

 and cruel manner. The dead animal is skinned and cut up in a very 

 elaborate manner so that bones are not broken or damaged in any 

 way. The flesh is cooked in caldrons and then laid out 'on birch 

 branches. The shaman first takes part of it in a wooden dish and 

 offers it to the ancestral and the protecting spirits of the yurta. Part 

 of this offering the shaman distributes among the members of the 

 family and their relatives. The best part is presented to the 

 shaman ; the remainder is distributed among the guests. The bones 

 are preserved as consecrated to the gods. 



The most important part of the performance takes place on the 

 second evening, when the shaman's journey to Bai Ulgan in heaven 

 is enacted. The shaman invokes with rhythmical chants the various 

 spirits, the lords of the tambourine, the mother of the fire, the seven- 



