Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

B42m1. Ket, Selkup, and Evenk.35.36.

Each of the three (rarely: four) hunters who chase moose and turn into stars is of a special nationality.

Northern and Eastern Khanty, Northern Selkups, Southern Selkups, Kets, Sym Evenks, Turukhan Evenks, (Evenki Orochons), Evens.

Western Siberia. The Northern Khanty [hunt, Nenets, Evenk chased the elk; Evenk decided to kill his comrades first; the hunt managed to kill the elk himself with an arrow; all were moved to heaven; Bolshaya Bear - Kuring Howl Hes, "Elk Star"]: Senkevich-Gudkova 1949:157; Eastern Khanty [The Big Dipper is called Elk; the Tungus, Ostyak and Samoyed decided to kill the elk; the Samoyed wanted to roast meat on a spit, eat the tungus raw, the ostyak boiled; at the beginning of the chase, the Ostyak returned for the pot, overtook the Samoyed; the Tungus was ready to hit the elk with a palm tree (spear); asked for perfume for the moose from now on they lived in the land of the Tungus, for which he promised to kill Ostyak and Samoyed; Ostyak managed to kill the elk with an arrow, destroying the spell of the Tungus; therefore, moose are found in the land of the Ostyaks; the four stars of the bucket are the legs of an elk; the first the tail star is the Tungus, then the Ostyak, leaning to the right, shooting; next to it there is a bowler hat; the last star is a Samoyed; three stars in front of the bucket are an arrow; if the Elk goes faster than other constellations, spring is early, a lot of fish and animals]: Grigorovsky in Potanin 1883:778; the northern Selkups [Big Dipper is an elk, there is a legend about him; Yurak, Selkup, Tungus met an elk; the Selkup and the Tungus had bows, yurak - spear; before shooting, the Selkup ran after the pot; in his absence, the Tungus wounded the elk; the Selkup returned and killed him; in versions where Selkup, Kat and Yurak operate, the first two friendly couple against Yurak]: Prokofiev 1961:64-65 (=1976:198); Southern Selkups: Alatalo 2004 (records by K. Donner, 1911-1914), No. 1630 (Baidon yurts, Chulym) [the four stars of the Ursa Major are elk; the other three are Tungus, Ostyak and Samoyed chasing moose], 1645 (b. Tym) [Big Dipper - "(Jagd-) Zugnetz des Tym-Flußes"; four stars are elk legs, the rest are three hunters: Samoyed, Ostyak and Tungus]: 86, 234, 237; Kets: Alekseenko 1976 [ Ket, Selkup and Evenk chased the elk; the Selkup, then the Ket overtook Evenk, but Ket returned for the forgotten pot and fell behind; Evenk refused to shoot, said he would kill with a stick; Selkup missed, ket wounded the elk in the shoulder blade; everyone was in the sky; the four stars of the Ursa Major bucket were the legs of an elk, the left front (knocked down) slightly aside; three stars in front were the nose and ears elk; bucket handle - selkup, ket, evenk (last); point near the middle star (Alcor) - bowler hat; six stars (three outside Ursa Major) - arrows; Ursa Minor - also elk, hunting for which was before]: 84-85; 2001, No. 10 [ket, Russian, Evenk and Selkup drove the elk; where they stopped to eat, left the pot; the keth realized that he had forgotten the boiler, came back, began to catch up; The Selkup was now in front, but Ket managed to shoot first, the Selkup shot when the elk had already fallen; the hunters did not notice how they were in the sky]: 64-65; Donner 1933 [(like the Samoyed Ostyaks, the stars Pleiades {usually Ursa Major} show four legs of an elk, and next to a Tungus, who failed to kill an elk, then a ket {Yenisei ostyak} who killed an elk, and finally a Nenets {yurak}, who shot at moose, but missed]: 82.

Eastern Siberia. Sym Evenks (b. Ket) [Evenk, Selkup and Russian drove the elk, he ran to heaven; the Russian fell behind, then the ostyak (i.e. Selkup); Evenk shot the elk's leg, took the cauldron, began to cook meat; they are still in the sky visible; the Milky Way is a ski track, on the other side of the ski track there is a shot leg; a small star is a bowler hat; it is seen by someone with good eyesight]: Lukina 2004, No. 3.6:70-71; Turukhan Evenks ( Podkamennaya Tunguska pool) [Russian, Ostyak, Tungus argued who is better at skiing; found Hoglen's trail (elk, Ursa Major); the Russian ran to the foot of the mountain, the Ostyak jumped out to the top, the Tungus was already below the mountain, overtook Hoglen; they can be seen at night {three stars of the bucket handle}]: Osharov 1936a (Gainda, right tributary of Podkamennaya Tunguska, Western 1920): 22 (=1936b, No. 13:280); (cf. Evenk-Orochons (the upper reaches of Olekma, Amur Oblast; western 1980) [In autumn, the Evenk, Yukaghir, and Chukchi argued which of them was the best hunter; they found the elk and chased it; the beast ran across the sky, the hunters continued to pursue it: Evenk was the first to run, the second - Yukaghir, third - Chukcha; they all turned into stars; Big Dipper bucket - elk, first star of the bucket handle - Evenk, second - Yukaghir, third - Chukcha; star from the constellation Hounds Dogs near the last bucket handle stars, - Evenka dog]: Mazin 1984:10; {the Orochons could not contact the Yukaghirs and Chukchi; the text is very similar to Even; it's hard to say how it got to the informant}); Evens [ Even, Evenk and Yukaghir (or Chukchi, h eek) decided to find out which of them is stronger, faster and more enduring; agreed that whoever gets the largest and fastest animal and will bring home the uncut, will be considered the strongest, fastest and most enduring hunter in the middle world; chased an unknown animal; where he stepped with his foot, a lake appeared, where they passed hunters skiing, rivers appeared, and where they ran, a river (roll); the beast ran north, where frost comes from and where the sky is closer to the ground; left traces in the form of lakes (so there are many lakes in the tundra); this animal, i.e. the moose, began to be called toki ("coming or leaving a trail"); hunters did not notice how they found themselves in the upper world; there Havack turned an elk, three hunters (even, Evenk and yukaghira) and a dog into the stars for climbing into the upper world without Havek's permission; the four stars of the Big Dipper are the four legs of an elk; they froze near these four stars not far from each other star-turned hunters, and not far from these seven stars, another frequently flashing "North Star" {unlikely; the North Star does not blink; rather Alcor} is a hunting dog]: Keymetinov 2000:125-127.