Shamanism as what makes living on hunting ideologically possible. Recapitulation of analyses of Siberian data.

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C h a m a n is m e

Shamanism as w

living on hunting ideologically possible

Recapitulation of analyses

Roberte Hamayon (UMR 7535 Laboratoire d’ethnologie et de sociologie comparative)

The d a ta c o m e from th e small stateless societies living on hunting h the Siberian forest, c o n sid e re d h their traditional way of life that is h the pre-Soviet era a n d subsequently, insofar as it was m aintained through th e c h an g es imposed by th e Soviet regime. According to this analysis, shamanism a p p e ars to b e a sym bolic system providing th a t hum ans e n g a g e h an exch an g e relationship with the animal species they live on. This e x c h a n g e a p p e a rs to function as what makes living on hunting possible from an ideological point of view.

Sham anic rituals a re m e a n t to stage the exchange process at a symbolic level and the sham anic m o d e of behaviour is m eant to express aspects of this process.

The m odel drawn from th ese d a ta stresses ex change as a process m e a n t to legitimate the p red a tio n to which those who h av e nothing must resort. The underlying principle a t work is that taking edible wild resources is possible only if included in an ex change process with Nature. In other words, hunting is co n ceived of as a p a rt of an imaginary life-exchange involving imaginary partners. Thus, the notion of ex ch an g e is a n a ly se d a s a c o n c ep tu a l creation, a n d taking appears to b e w hat actually gives the impulse to th e process. As a first ste p , this model attributes a determ inant part in the symbolic thinking of the society to the very fact of living directly on wild resources which accounts for similarities b etw een hunting societies th e world over by virtue of their com m on d e p e n d e n c e on nature. Its characteristics are b e tte r e v id e n c e d if c o m p ared to those of the m odels drawn from neighbouring pasforal kin societies. For this reason, I shall also briefly com m ent on s o m e c h a n g e s occurring h relation with the vanishing of hunting as a way of life a n d th e adoption of sto ck -b reed in g . W hereas no determ inant part can b e claimed for stock-breeding as such, the whole system of relationships with the natural environment is modified, beginning with th e triggering event th a t m oves th e e x c h a n g e p ro c e s s forward : th e impulse shifts from taking to giving, a n d this gives rise to the practice of sacrifice h these societies.

As a seco n d step, however, the determinant part is rather to b e attributed to a certain type of view of th e world and relation to it : the world consists of limited g o o d s of various kinds, w hose com m on points a re that they a re not pro d u ced but provided for, therefore not available to anybody a t any time : g am e, rain, fertility, health, success all that is considered to b e depending on good luck or fortune.

The sham anic worldview is e n a c te d in the framework of rituals that are often but not necessarily c o n d u c te d b y th e religious figure called sham an. The rituals staging th e ex change process c a n b e c o n d u c te d as well by th e hunters themselves or by the whole human community. As a rule, a sham an is invested by a com m unity to c o n d u c t the ritual as its tem porary representative and under its control, for all that his person is not an institutional sham an and he has to re-qualify periodically. The function remains clearly p e rc e iv e d as collective, a n d its monopolisation by a specialist appears to be no more than a sociological m odality am ong others. In Siberian languages, as a rule, th e notion of shamanizing applies to th e m ode of behaviour prescribed for th e ritual ( s e e below ) an d is not reserved for the shaman. Hunting : a tricky g am e with imaginary partners

More precisely, ac co rd in g to the world-view of the hunting societies of the Siberian Forest, life rests on an e x c h a n g e relationship b etw een the human community a n d the spirits of th e wild animal species they e a t. The spirits are, so to speak, im agined in order to make hunting possible by turning it into an e x c h an g e w h e re they serve as partners. In this case, the notion of exchange em erges as a symbolic construction which c a n n o t b e re d u c e d to a functional organization of socio-econom ic realities. This e x c h a n g e is c o n c e iv e d of as reciprocal a n d symmetric : just as humans live on gam e, consuming the m e a t a n d vital force of animals, so

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animals’spirits fee d on humans, devouring their flesh a n d sucking the vital force h their blood. The progressive loss of vitality linked to ageing, as well as death, are considered to b e part of the natural order of things : h the hunters' w ay of thinking, humans are to b e c o m e quarry for th e animal spirits. Sickness (experienced as loss of vital force) a n d d e a th a re not only a kind of paym ent to the spirits for the food that is given, but also the prerequisite for the provision of food for future generations. Thus, life is p e rp e tu a te d h both the realm of humans an d that of g a m e animals, in the sh ap e of an everlasting mutual consumption th a t also brings death to the two. The e x c h a n g e law operating b etw e en these realms m akes them partners as well as objects of e x c h a n g e for one an o th er : they are both hunters a n d quarry h a reciprocal hunt.

Taking first, then letting the partner take

Such is the ideological formulation of the e x c h an g e law. It properly applies to society itself, as a self-reproducing whole. An implicit side-rule is necessary for the ex change to o p e ra te a t the level of individuals, h as much as one should e a t before dying, b e hunter before becom ing quarry. Therefore taking and giving b a c k (used here as analytical concepts) must b e disconnected both

their carrying out and n time. In symbolic terms, they reflect the alternation of life an d d e a th . More precisely, in th e hunters' perception of e x c h an g e , a time lag betw een taking an d giving b ack (p erceived n terms of spirits' taking) is what allows individual life to h ap p en . In other words, taking is associated with living, giving b a c k with dying. This makes the interval b etw e en them correspond more or less to the length of o n e's life, h ence it is com pulsory. Although a t first g la n c e this delay would seem to go against the alleged reciprocal ch a ra c te r of the exch an g e, this is not so. Reciprocity with animal spirits may remain explicitly proclaim ed as the ideological ground of a hunting society, while being factually denied. This leads us to em phasise th a t the e x ch an g e process is to b e taken into a c co u n t as a constituent elem ent of it.

A full partnership

Such claim ed reciprocity is to b e understood with reference to the idea th a t hum ans and animals h ave similar properties, in particular the above-m entioned one of having souls (or spirits) th a t anim ate bodies. Souls are su p p o sed to b e re-used from generation to generation within the sam e human line or the sam e animal species a n d this is, for th ese societies, what explains th e periodical re a p p e a ra n c e of g a m e . This conception should not b e labelled reincarnation, since th e soul is notpersonalised. Soul is rather m e a n t to serve as a sort of right to anim ate a living being which is to b e inherited. It is simply said that another animal of the sam e sp e cie s or another person of th e sam e family as th e d e a d is bom. As a rule, a soul normally returns for a new life only

one's progeny. This is a g o o d reason for th e emphasis on having children. However, every new-born child is related to a d e a d m em ber of his or her family without being considered to b e th e d e a d person re-born. Souls are supposedly lo ca ted in th e bones, h the sam e way that vital force is located in the m e a t (as flesh) a n d blood. W hereas vital force disappears with death, the soul remains a tta ch e d to th e b ones for som e time until it is re a d y to b e re-used h a new individual. For this reason, funeral rites performed on humans as well as rites perform ed on hunted animals consist h preserving th e bones a n d treating them so that the soul they co n v ey could re a p p e a r in a new body for a new life. This conception is reflected in the la n g u a g e a n d practices of these societies. O ne never says to kill but to obtain g am e. O ne also say that the animal has given itself, has c o m e by itself, spontaneously m eeting the hunter's arrow which c a n also b e interpreted as a rhetoric d e v ic e to ideologically lessen th e am ount to b e repaid to the spirits. Hunting rites are intended to both preclude any idea of murder and reduce hunting to just taking m eat. Not only would killing a m em b er of an animal sp e cie s entail v e n g e a n c e on th e part of its fellows in th e sh ap e of som e human's death. But a b o v e ai it would am ount to suppressing an individual of the animal species h question by hurting its soul a n d preventing it from reap p earin g for a new life, h e n c e it would b e detrimental to th e success of further hunting. In fact, the hunter takes meticulous c a re not to d a m a g e the bones of the hunted animal and to perform the necessary rites for them to b e revived in a new animal. Symmetrically, upon dying a human is supposed to b e taken by the spirits.

From this belief springs a custom praised by th ese societies as a hunter's ideal d e a th : that of going alone far aw ay into th e d ep th of the forest to the e n d of being taken, that is e a te n by the spirits. It is known

ethnographic literature as voluntary death, a n d it is to b e paralleled to the su p p o sed self-gift of the animal, although it is rather perceiv ed as animal spirits'taking. On th e whole, the life-exchange b e tw e en humans and animal spirits c an b e described as a reciprocal a n d symmetrical exchange of flesh (or m eat) b etw e en two groups of bones ensuring self- perpetuation. Now in these societies obeying patrilineal law and organised h two ex o g am ie moieties, bo n e is used to conceptualise the principle of patrilineal d e sce n t, a n d flesh that of m arriage alliance. Accordingly, an e x c h an g e b etw een a human group a n d a gam e-anim al species is likened to a m arriage b e tw e en two human groups. The similarity of the two e x c h a n g e processes also derives from th e identical e s se n c e of what is e x c h an g e d b etw een th e tw o sides : m eat (flesh) in o n e case, women in the other. This a c co u n ts for the wide use of hunting and m arriage (seen from a m ale's point of view) as

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privileged m etaphors for e a c h other so are g a m e and wom en, as well as, from another point of view, eating a n d sexual intercourse. The sham anic m an a g e m e n t of th e e x c h a n g e relation

There can b e no substitute for human com pensation (i. e. hum an flesh an d vital force) o w e d to the animal spirits. Absolute loyalty to the principle of exchange is compulsory. However, this d o e s not preclude the possibility of seeking to put it into practice in the most a d v a n ta g e o u s manner. In the first p lac e , this is do n e at th e symbolic level, conceived of as both determining a n d foreshadowing the real level. To put it differently, the shamanic relation to the spirits is a prerequisite for the hunting relation to the animals. The sham anic function consists h ritually setting the terms of the exchange. Given that m arriage alliance is understood as the institutional fram e most appropriate for carrying out an e x c h a n g e , alliance relations a re s ta g e d one way or another h th e collective periodical rituals m eant for ensuring hunting life, which are the main rituals perform ed by these societies. In societies with sham ans, the sham an must ritually marry the gam e-giving spirit's sister or daughter in order to obtain good luck for the hunting season to com e, that is prom ises-of-gam e, h the sh a p e of animal vital force. Only h his c a p a c ity as husband (in contrast to an abductor) is h e entitled to rightfully obtain promises- of-g am e from his spiritual wife. In other words, his legitimacy as sham an com es from his marrying a spirit. The ritual either stages a wedding as such (as in the Alta.) or hunting with o n e 's n-laws (which is the way a m arriage relation is ritually m arked out am ong the lenissei Tungus). As far as th e sham an's wife is thought of as an animal, he play-acts his husband's part in a m ale animal's shape (costum e, head-dress, body m ovem ents, voice and vocabulary). At the en d of the ritual, he lies for som e time com pletely motionless on his b a c k on a rug depicting a forest with wild animals. He is supposedly b ein g devoured by their spirits, and h e is to b e ritually revived afterwards. In sum, during this type of ritual the sham an b e h a v e s as if he w ere an animal, first h a stag's part to push his rivals aw ay a n d copulate with his fem ale spirit-wife, and lastly as self-offered quarry, thus com pleting the whole ex ch an g e process on his own. His symbolic self-offering is intended to serve as a token of the group's future repaym ent to the spirits. The ritual e n d s with a divinatory se q u e n c e w here the shaman p ro c e e d s to determine th e supposed life e x p e c ta n c y of the participants.

Some of them m ay then b e m arked out for dying soon. Their eventual d e a th will b e interpreted in terms of paym ent to th e spirits, like the old hunter's so-called voluntary d e a th : it is necessary that so m e m em bers die for the group to survive. Thus, rep ay m en t to the spirits is individualised, w hereas the m e a t o b ta in e d from them is shared out a m o n g all members of the group. Now, the sham an is to try to take as much animal vital force as possible as soon as possible. In like manner, he tries to have the spirits take b ack as little hum an vital force as possible a t th e last possible m oment. In other words, the sham an takes a d v a n ta g e of th e delay b etw een taking and giving b ack imposed by th e vital exchange process insofar as it must respect th e alternation of life and death. He is e x p e c te d to use this lag to a c t both on the timing an d the am ount of hum an vital force to b e repaid to the spirits. Not only d o es taking co m e first n the process. What is more, only taking is e m b ra c e d as an altitude from an ideological standpoint : Siberian hunting peoples think of themselves exclusively as takers a n d they p erc e iv e giving as losing. Any hunting community claims for itself a taker's position a n d properties a n d keeps silent on the duty of giving back, which it nevertheless deem s compulsory to fulfil. Symmetrically, a taker's altitude is eventually also ascribed to the animal spirits, who are imagined to b e greedy and voracious.

The duty of redistribution

Furthermore, the primacy of taking app ears to m ake redistribution into a duty. The moral connotation of this term is ap p ro p riate here. Not only must the taker not k e e p for himself a good taken from wild resources, but share it out : eating one's g a m e would b e eq u a te d with committing incest and, as a rule, th e hunter p asses on the g a m e o b tain ed to his n-laws, who then divide it up. But he is also led to consider co o p e ra tio n am ong hunters to b e the most essential relationship within society, for it is what m akes living on hunting concretely possible : marrying a wife is first of all p erceiv ed as acquiring n-laws with whom to live a n d hunt. In the sa m e way, the sham an's ritual activity is closely controlled by th e community, to the point of prohibiting private perform ances for his own family. In particular, the prom ises-of-gam e (good luck) the sh am an is to obtain from the spirits are for th e benefit of th e community. In other words, the duty of the taker, w hether hunter or shaman, is to a c t as a provider for his group, while he is a t the sam e time fully entitled to e x p ect benefits from his fellows' takings. Thus, on th e whole, the life-exchange process is s e tu p so as to both preclude a n y monopolising and to subordinate human individual actions to collective interest. Individual shots are a im e d a t providing the whole group with g am e. Individual d e a th s are m eant for repaying the spirits on behalf of the whole group.

Insofar as th e e x c h an g e process is m a n a g e d to the benefit of the human partner, a crucial part falls to the shaman h c h a rg e of handling relationships with the spiritual partner. The go o d sham an is th e o n e who takes as much a n d as soon as possible a n d repays as little and as late as possible. This explains why his practice is n o ta highly prescribed liturgy to b e carried out faithfully, but rather an art to b e perpetually renew ed h a personalised way. As an art, th e sham an's is m ade up of seduction a n d cleverness, and, a s long as it respects the rule of paying th e spirits with hum an flesh and force, this art must include some trickery h timing an d amount.

Stock-breeding : offering prayers a n d sacrifices to ancestors.

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Only a few of the many changes that occur in the way of life of Siberian peoples w henhunting is replaced by stock-breeding will b e mentioned below. The idea of a life- e x c h a n g e process with spirits is still operative, but unlike the hunters'. Food is no longer o b tain e d and shared out, but p ro d u ce d a n d possessed, that is both reserved for oneself (therefore transmissible within one's line) a n d accum ulative. The spirits involved are no longer animals but, so to speak, hum an: they are the souls of the ancestors from whom herds a n d pasturelands h a v e b e e n inherited, so that reference to ancestors is used to legitim ate property rights. What is supposed to b e obtained from they would rather say provided by the ancestors is rain, g o o d grazing, protection against woives and so on, that is, ail that is necessary to b ree d stock. Thus, while stock-breeding is a productive activity, the spirits supposed to com m and this activity a re essentially c o n c e iv e d of along the sam e lines as the game-giving spirits, as providers of things that are uncertain (although the se things a re prerequisite s of food instead of being food as h the c a s e of g a m e animals). In return for their help as providers, th e ancestors request from their descendants sacrificed dom estic animals, th a t is, products of their activity as stock-breeders. More precisely, dom estic animals a re seen as a sort of p ro d u c e d progeny of humans insofar as they have b een bred by them which m akes them appropriate as substitutes for humans h repaym ent to the spirits. Thus, sacrifice is clearly derived from a logic of substitution, if c a n b e analysed as taking over from such practices as voluntary death. Sacrificing, or shifting to th e primacy of giving

The e x c h a n g e relationship with spirits is no longer held to b e reciprocal an d symmetrical. It is perceived as reflecting a fixed hierarchy, where positions a re not reversible. The living a re subordinate to their ancestors, as being both d e s c e n d e d from and d e p e n d e n t on them. What they receive from them is not identical n e ssen ce a n d function to whcrt they offer them . Moreover, th e subjective dynam ic that m oves the e x c h an g e process forward is turned around if c o m p a re d to the hunter's : for the sto ck -b reed er, giving takes p re c e d e n c e a n d triggers the process. H ence all ideological em phasis is put on sacrificing dom estic animals, which am ounts to investing products of work, with the perspective of profit in return. Sacrifice is held to b e the most profitable a n d honourable way to com pel ancestors to grant their favours, m ore especially since it goes with prayers, which are the other constituent elem ent of worship. Worship is a d a p te d to such spirits as ancestors w ho a re located on mountains a n d assigned a perm anent higher status. Let us n o te th e fixedness of positions, (c o m p a re d to their alternation in the hunters model), which precludes their symbolic manipulation.

Worshipping the ancestors falls to the elders of lineages, who conduct collective rituals with prayers and sacrifices as priests would do. In these rituals, the part of t i e sham an is re d u c e d but still essential, since it is to return to the living the benefit of the ancestors' worship, that is to g e t their fortune an d g ra c e . The shamanic institution, while still having a specific function, has b e c o m e subordinate to patrilineal rules a n d authorities.

Ftivate healing a n d divining activities d e v e lo p h relation to the souls of d e a d p e o p le which balances the d e c re a s e of th e sham an's influence on the group as a whole. Nevertheless, th e sham an still maintains relations with animal spirits h some fertility rituals. On th e whole, the pastoral worldview contrasts h several ways with that of the hunters : the spirits com m anding the environment a re humans instead of animals, relations with them develop vertically, as a hierarchy, instead of being horizontal a n d egalitarian, a n d positive or negative values replace th e principle of general am bivalence. The sham ans' pow er n society d e c re a s e s . Their p lac e is m ore and more th a t of professionals paid for private services a n d less a n d less that of representatives of an entire social group. Moreover, if one agrees that shamanism d e p e n d s on making spirits into partners, the more a ritual is infused with hierarchy, the less it is shamanic. However, the increase h kinship ties with life-giving spirits observed a m o n g th e c a se described here is only one a m o n g m any other possibilities of c h a n g e n shamanic institution a n d activities.

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