Tanana (people)

The self-designation of the people “ tnayna ” goes back to the word “tnay” - “man”. The modern self-name is dena'ina (“people”, pronunciation: [dənʌʔɪnʌ] or [dənʌ͡ɪnʌ] ), akin to the self-name of the Navajo people - diné ^[7] .

The Russian name “ Kenai ” is borrowed from the Alutiik language (“ throw ”) ^[2] . The Russians also called other quivers (quivers) (other than tanain), sometimes specifying that these are “second” or “distant quivers” ^[6] .

Winter dwelling - multi-family chopped houses, land or semi-dugouts, like barracks . They were divided into departments according to the number of families and had several outbreaks. At the edge, they adjoined two or more small chambers, covered with turf, which were heated by hot stones and used as a steam bath and a winter home. In the fishing camps they lived in single-family dwellings made of logs and turf, in hunting camps - in huts made of birch bark or hides ^{[4] [2]} (see. Wigwam ).

Along with the usual clothes for atapaskas, they had waterproof boots made of salmon skin and the same or from a whale membrane of caramel. Pierced lips, inserting labret, and nose.

Transport: in the winter - snowshoes , in the summer - canoes from birch bark or hides, borrowed kayak and umiak leather boats from the Eskimos , used dogs for transportation of goods, from the mid-19th century - dog teams, in the 20th century - sailing and motor boats, from the 1960s years - motor cards ^[4] .

Activities

Engaged in fishing (salmon: pink salmon , char ) and hunting (elk, bear, partridge, beaver), hunted seals in Cook Bay and Lake Iliamna ^[4] . Specially did not go to whales, but if he was thrown to the shore of the bay, then people used his meat and fat ^[2] . Women dried yukola , picked berries, stocked caviar, boiled fish oil ^[2] . In the fall, hiking was made for the hunting of caribou deer and mountain sheep. They used purchased native copper. They lived semi-saddle in winter villages (settled - in Kachemak Bay on the Kenai Peninsula ), leaving them in the spring-autumn for fishing and hunting. Actively participated in intra-and tribal trade. Dentalium shells, later also beads , served as a treasure and exchange equivalent ^[4] .

Today, tanain are engaged in commercial fishing (on leased or own vessels), employment in construction and other industries, commercial air travel on their own small aircraft, travel guides (fishing and hunting). Since the middle of the 20th century, part of tanain has received a share of oil production revenues. In a number of regions, traditional occupations are preserved (inland tanain - hunting for a caribou) ^[4] .

Religion

The basis of traditional religion is shamanism . There were myths about the cultural hero and trickster Raven , cycles of traditions (sukdu) about supernatural beings, about animals ( totemism ), hunting cults. According to the beliefs of tanain, a person continues after death to live in the earth as well as on earth. The difference is that they sleep there when they are awake on the earth, and vice versa ^[2] .

In addition to animism (10%), modern tanain professes Christianity (60%): Protestantism (60%), Catholicism (20%), Presbyterianism (20%). 10% of tanain is non-religious ^[3] .

Mythology

There was a belief among the Indians of the Atabasque ethnolinguistic group that “before all animals were human” and could understand the human language and even speak it. However, later animals supposedly lost the ability to speak the human language and take their appearance. However, the Indians believe that some animals can understand their language, which is why some hunters avoid calling commercial animals by their direct name - this is a taboo . Tanana was a special animal with a horned owl, which understood human language and communicated with shamans with its hoot, predicted the weather and warned of imminent disasters ^[8] .

The Myth of Origin

According to the legends of Kenai, Raven created two women from various substances, each of which became the ancestor of generations. Six genera emerged from one generation: Kakhgia (from the scream of a raven), Kali (from the fish tail), Tlakhtan (from the grass mat), Montokhtan (from the back corner in the hut), Chihei (from paint), Nukshi (fallen from the sky). From another generation, 5 genera emerged: Tulchin (from hunting to bathe in cold water when it begins to freeze in the fall), Katlukhtana (hunters to string beads), Shshulakhtan (tricksters like a raven who deceived them when they were created), Nuhiggi and Tsaltan (from mountains near Lake Skilyakh, near the top of the Koktnu River) ^[2] .

Men of generation 6 births cannot marry in the same births, but are required to choose wives in another generation . Children are reckoned with the kind and generation to which the mother belongs. The closest heir is a child born of a sister; the son inherits a small part from the father, since during his lifetime he chose his share of food and clothing ^[2] .

Rich tanain owned slaves - captured Eskimos , who in their language called " ulchna " (from the "ulchag" - "slave") ^[2] . A few years later slaves could be given freedom; the rich man’s prestige increased if a freedman remained with him. There was a blood feud (also with wars, when prisoners were not enslaved, but released for ransom) and ransom for the murdered ^[4] . These practices in the rule of the Russian Empire nipped, conflicts were resolved peacefully after consideration of the issue by the manager ^[2] .

Matchmaking

Practiced avunculocular marriage ^[4] . The groom without invitation appeared in the house of his chosen bride, drowned the bathhouse, obtained food, and dragged water. This went on until they asked him who he was and why he was working so hard. Having announced his desire to marry, the groom remained a worker in the house for a whole year. At the end of this period, the father of the bride paid a proportionate fee for the service of the groom, who now could take the bride to his house. There was no wedding ceremony. Wealthy men had 3-4 wives, each of whom led his own farm ^[2] .

A woman, if desired, could return to her parental home, requesting funds paid for work in a matchmaking. She had the right of ownership and kept all the gifts and all the things she bought, and her husband could, if necessary, buy them from her ^[2] .

Funeral

The deceased mourned the whole generation at the light of fire. The owner of the house where the mourners gathered, put on the best clothes, put on a headdress of eagle feathers, threaded an eagle feather through the nose cartilage and with a blackened face appeared before the meeting to sing a tombstone. He sang the deeds of the deceased, and the rest echoed him, after each verse they beat a tambourine and cried in one voice:

“He was boldly chasing after the Beluga;
Never returned home without prey;
Will the deer follow the ridges
His arrow flew right into the heart of the beast;
Will the bear meet in the forest
He did not miss either black or brown! ”

After the ceremony, the head of the house distributed property of the deceased between relatives. Close friends of the deceased did not participate in the mourning ceremony, but gave the next of kin skins. The body of the deceased was put on fire, and the ashes were buried in the ground. The next year, the next of kin tried to get as many skins as possible to celebrate. He invited his family and three friends, treated them and gave them skins in gratitude for the help in the funeral. Relatives danced, sang sad songs, trying to earn approval from guests and friends. From this day on, it was forbidden to mention the name of the deceased, and the next of kin changed his own name, which the deceased called him during his lifetime. For violating the taboo, the guilty party was supposed to pay off with a gift ^[2] .

• Peter of California (1911-1993) - writer, ethnographer;
• Alice Elissa Brown (1912-1973) - A fighter for the rights of Indians.