Chapter 7 Part I Shaman Cultural Memory of the Oroqen Nationality-4

Our next stop is the Oroqen Ethnic Township in Shibazhan, Tahe County.The township has a population of 4,780, including 522 Oroqen people. There is only one Oroqen elder over 80 years old, and less than 20 people over 50 years old.Oroqen language has been maintained, adults and children can speak it.Guan Xiaoyun, a cadre of the Tahe County Political Consultative Conference, received us and acted as an interpreter and guide for us. (12) Guan Xiaoyun had just attended a funeral. After seeing us, she started talking about the Oroqen funeral.She said that after a person dies, the family members must be notified immediately. If the deceased is a woman, the natal family must be notified immediately, and they will be blamed if they are late.The shroud of the deceased is made of cloth, and things with wool cannot be worn.The head of the deceased was thrown at the door, and those who came to mourn lit cigarettes and toasted.The deceased is buried in a coffin, and three pockets are sewn with white cloth, one for rice, one for an iron pot like a frying spoon, and one for dry food, which must be put into the coffin.The dead woman also had to put a sewing kit and scissors.The host is Shan Qin, who must be a relative by marriage.Everything at the funeral has the final say.Several people carried the coffin, and the children followed behind.At the time of the funeral, the children prepare things to go to the underworld.If the deceased is a male, he needs to shoot arrows. Shooting two arrows to the west means opening a way to the west for the soul to go back smoothly; shooting one arrow to the south means opening a way for the children and benefiting their children.After shooting, everyone scrambled for the arrow.Introduce the life of the deceased from the beginning of coffining; posterity will look at the things placed for the deceased.If there is something wrong with the things put there, the deceased will not go back smoothly.During the burial, people shouted: Don't worry, don't miss this place, go quickly.The children first throw three shovels of soil into the grave, and then everyone fills in the soil together.After the burial, the children knelt down and toasted everyone one by one, and tied a handkerchief or a piece of cloth on the arm of the helper to express their gratitude.

In the past, after the burial, everyone ate and drank in the cemetery, talking and laughing, not sad at all.Relatives don't cry and no one laughs.Before the burial, there is a vigil for the dead. The vigilantes make fun of each other, and the old people sing ditties.Paper is burned before the funeral.After three days of burial, return to the tomb and cultivate soil for the tomb.The woman sits on the left side of the grave, and the man sits on the right side of the grave, with a bonfire in the middle.You should tell the deceased, tell us what you want, and we will send it to you. The children are very filial to you.In the past, horses were killed and buried with them, saddles and knives were prepared, and the hides of the horses were hung on trees.The Oroqen do not eat dog or horse meat, but they do not kill dogs to be buried with them.The Oroqen used to be tree burials. After the logs were emptied, the two halves of the empty logs were filled with the dead, clasped with each other, and placed on the tree.Now it is a burial, and the family members are all buried together, with the elderly on top and the children on the bottom. (13)

Guan Xiaoyun talked about so many funeral customs in one breath, which shows that she is a caring person who pays great attention to observing and collecting the traditional customs of the nation, and she speaks in detail, complete and orderly.At that time, Guan Xiaoyun had already started writing a book. She aspired to become a researcher of Oroqen culture, and she has been tracking and investigating people who know the culture of the Oroqen people.Whenever outside investigators come, she is also willing to accompany her, acting as an interpreter while making records, taking pictures and videos.She and Wang Honggang, a researcher at the Jilin Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, co-published the book "A Survey of Oroqen Shamanism", which comprehensively combed and analyzed the Oroqen shamans, shaman sacrifices, and shaman gods.In addition, she is investigating and writing about the birch bark culture of the Oroqen people.She is very skillful and can make birch bark boxes by herself. The lid of each box is pierced with various exquisite patterns with small cones.Before we left, she gave us each a birch bark box.There is reason to believe that the Oroqen cultural investigations on local ethnic workers like Xiaoyun will be done better. (14)

Of course, Guan Xiaoyun also has times when he can't do what he wants.In the next few days, she translated for us the shaman song sung by shaman Guan Koni when he danced to the gods. Since the recording at that time was not very clear and the meaning of the shaman song was difficult to understand, she worked hard for a long time, and what she translated was only are some fragments.The general idea of ​​the lyrics is: Guan Koni has been ill for many years, we prayed for her well, we have prepared the offerings and put on the shaman clothes.For many years, we have been looking for you and have something to tell you.Guan Koni has been away from the gods for many years, and he is sick. Please come back to the gods. We have put the offerings in front of the gods, using the blood of two pairs of animals to sacrifice to the gods.In the ceremony at that time, everyone repeatedly followed the gerliely sung by Ershen (shaman assistant), gerliely, which means looking for.Guan Xiaoyun said, because everyone wants to help Guan Koni find the gods.