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YAKUT (Siberia)
There is reason to consider that betrothal of
young children was almost general among the Yakuts
(Kharuzin, 1898)[1].
The Yakut betroth their children when only one of
two years old (Czaplicka, 1914:p108)[2].
“[…] [S]ome Ykut Mothers
are reported to masturbate their infants to calm them” (Ford, 1945
[1964:p20]). Popov (1946:p12-3)[3]:
“The Dolgani [ethnologically,
comprised of Yakut and Tungus
clans Dolgan, Dongot, Edjan or Edzhen, and Karanto or Karóntuo] thought
that devka abasy [an evil
spirit] would visit boys at night and would attempt to enter into sexual
intercourse with them. In former times a shaman would then be called upon to
mend matters by conducting a religious ceremony. In conducting it the shaman
would use rotten wood to construct an image of a woman and upon sucking the devky abasy with his lips out
of the child would blow the spirit of the woman into the image. The shaman
would then go through the gestures of having a sexual intercourse with the
image, after which the latter was sent into the subterranean world. This was
achieved by burying the woman into the ground after the ceremony was over”.
Sieroszewski ([1896]:p887)[4]:
“[…] it is not without interest to note
that a boy is fed separately from his sisters once he reaches the age of ten
or twelve. At this age he stops sleeping in one bed with them; he is given a
bed of his own. This involves a certain expense, and is caused, I think, not
so much by a feeling of shame as by an ancient prohibition, ai. It happens sometimes that these same sisters walk
about completely naked, unembarrassed at the presence of grown brothers, and
without any formality sometimes carry on such conversations and jokes with
them as would embarrass the most cynical European”.
Janssen,
D. F., Growing Up Sexually. VolumeI. World Reference Atlas. 0.2 ed. 2004. Berlin:
Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology
Last
revised: Sept 2004
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