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Date: | Tue, 25 Jul 2006 21:59:21 -0400 |
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Dr. Sasaki asked that this be forwarded to SAHALIYAN:
Begin forwarded message:
> From: ssasaki <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: July 25, 2006 4:30:53 AM EDT
> To: Pamela Crossley <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: folk knowledge
>
> Dear Professor Crossley
>
> As far as I know, the "Sewe" is used as a general term of gods or
> spirits in
> all the Tungus languages except the Manchurian. If one of the
> dialects of
> the Machurian language has this term, it is very intersting for me,
> because
> it clarifies a fact that the manchurians share a common concpt of
> spirits
> with other Tungus peoples.
> Though the term and belief of the Sewe is widely seen among the
> northern
> Tungus peoples like, Evenki and Even, they are especially obvious
> among the
> peoples on the Lower Amur basins and Sakhalin, i.e., the Nanais,
> Ul'ches,
> Udehes, Oroches and Uiltas. They have various Sewes of desease,
> animals,
> natural phenomena, and so on. Some are human enemies, while some
> can be
> assistants of a shaman. So this belief is related to the shamanism.
> Sewes
> are often represented by idols made of wood or grass that look like
> human
> beings or animals. Idols are often made by the shaman for his
> rituals. One
> can see many wooden idols that represent Sewes in a museum in
> Khabarovsk.
> Even today, the Nanai and Ul'ch people keep some idols and worship
> them in
> their house.
>
> Best wishes
> Shiro Sasaki
> Narional Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan
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