Totemic representations in the Yakut genealogical traditions: images and plots of local communities (based on documented genealogy)

The subject of the research is the study of totemic representations in the Yakut genealogical traditions. Purpose: to present a comprehensive description of totemic representations in the historical and genealogical aspect, including the study of the features of totemic beliefs, the definition of the relationship of tribal structure and totemism among the Yakuts. The research's source base is represented by a wide range of published and unpublished documents. Unpublished materials have been identified in the National Archives of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The methodological basis of the research was formed by the basic principles of historical science - the principle of historicism and the principle of objectivity. The main research methods used were both historical (historical-comparative, historical-typological, historical-systemic, source analysis, anthroponymic analysis) and general scientific (analysis, synthesis, abstraction, analogies, deduction). The novelty of the research lies in the fact that, based on the involvement of a wide range of sources and folklore materials, an attempt has been made to study totemic representations in the Yakut genealogical traditions. The main result of the study is a list of Yakut clans based on the "tribe-paternal clan-minor clan" model. Totems are systematized and classified within the framework of the above model. As a result of the work, databases on the genera of the Yakut, Vilyuysky and Olekminsky districts were created and registered in the FIPS. Based on the results of the work, it was concluded that further research is necessary due to the presence of a large number of unpublished documents. The research materials can be used in the process of teaching historical subjects, developing textbooks, conducting individual and generalizing research on the history of Yakutia.

archival documents, database, genealogy, zoomorphs, cult, ancestors, clans, totems, folklore, yakuts