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- 249 During the Soviet period, the state provided government officials with Volga cars to use for their work. My sister in-law used to be driven by my uncle’s driver.
- 250 A long rope secured into the ground at the two ends. It is used to tie the foals to prevent from suckling their mothers.
- Deceased and the Boz iiy
- 251 Danforth, pp. 71-72. 252 Op.cit.
- 253 ak orgoo is a large size yurt with white felt coverings. Historically, ak orgoo was mostly used by khans and tribal leaders.
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respect for an older man. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 4 0 Klynali'p bagi'p chongoytkon, Your daughters, whom you suffered to raise, Bozdogon menen ayla jok, Even if we lament, we are helpless, Azaytayi'n keyishti. Aylanaym jan akem, Aralap jiirgiin beyishti. Si'zdatip aga-tuugandi', Salip bir ketting keyishti. Aylanaym Apte akem, May I grieve less. My dear brother, May you stroll in Heaven. You left all your relatives in anguish Giving them a great suffering. My dear Apteake, Emi, aralap jiirchii beyishti. May you now stroll in Heaven. When my uncle’s one-year memorial feast was held, my grandmother and aunts sang lament songs. While sitting with them and listening to their lament song inside the yurt, I was very much touched by the words of the above lament song composed by my father. Its strong sentiment inspired me and I composed extemporarily my own lament song to my deceased uncle. For the first six lines, I used some of the verse lines from the popular poem Balam jok (I Have no Child/Son) composed by a famous Kyrgyz oral poet, Jengijok, who laments the fact that he is getting old and has no heir to leave behind. Balam jok, is one of my favorite dastans, poems, which I sing by accompanying myself on a komuz. The underlined verse lines are from that poem and the rest are my own composition: Alfindi'n iavi' giilbakta. Algan bir iaring Kadicha Armanda iiirot ushu tapta. Kiimushtun iavi giilbakta. Kiikiiktoy bolgon kizdaring, Kuyiitto iiirot ushu tapta. Altindi iezge otkorbovt, Aylanaym Apteke, The place of gold is in the flower garden, You wife, Kadicha, Lives now in mourning. The place of silver is in the flower garden, You daughters like the cuckoo, Live now with grief. Gold cannot be exchanged for copper, Oh, dear Apteke, Aytpasam darfim boksbrbbyt. I can’t ease my grief if I don’t tell. Kumushtii iezge otkorbovt. Silver cannot be exchanged for copper, Kagilayin Apteke, Oh, dear Apteke, Kiiybosom darfim boksorboyt. I can’t ease my grief if I don’t express [it]. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
241 In the following section of my lament song, I used the beginning lines from another poem by a Kyrgyz oral poet Toktogul (1864-1933), who composed it when he was exiled to Siberia during Tsarist Russia. In the following short lament song that I sang, I used the well-known formulaic verse lines from the epic Manas. In the epic, when the hero Manas dies, the singer describes the deep grief of his people with a beautiful metaphor. The sudden death of my uncle at the age of 48 made many people weep, including the ethnic Uzbek community in which he served for many years. So, while I was composing my own lines, I remembered these lines from Manas, which seemed to fit the situation of my uncle very well: Kayran akem blgondo, When my dear uncle died, Karagay i'ylap, tal i'ylap, The pine trees wept, the poplar trees wept, 249 During the Soviet period, the state provided government officials with Volga cars to use for their work. My sister in-law used to be driven by my uncle’s driver. Avian gan toonun burkutii, Tuuruna kayra kono albayt, Arffngda kalgan baldaring, Apteke sizdey bolo albayt. Aylangan tonun burkutii, Ak ierden torgo chal'ind'f. Azapka bash'f mali'ndi'. Armanduu ushul diiynodon, Aylanai'n Apteke, A diiyno arti'k kordiingbii? Kiiyiittiiii ushul diiynodon, Kagilayi'n Apteke, Kor diiyno arti'k kordiingbii? Ech bolboso Apteke, Eliiiigo chi'gi'p olbdiing, A diiyno ketken atangd'f, Ardaktap abal kombodiing. Ak Volga mingen jengekem, The eagle which flew over the mountains, Can’t return/land to his perch. Your children who remained behind, Cannot be like you, Apteke. The eagle which flew over the mountains, Got trapped out of the blue, My dear sister-in-law, who used to ride in a white Volga,249 Now remained in great suffering. Instead of this world filled with troubles, Dear Apteke, Did you prefer the other world? Instead of this world filled with grief, Dear Apteke, Did you prefer the world of the grave? You could have reached at least fifty And then die, Apteke. You could have first buried Your father who has left for the other world. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
2 4 2 Kali'ng jurttun baari' i’ylap... Kari'ndash-uruk baari i’ylap. Oziibek, ki’rgi’z biit keldi, Ozgocho ele dep si'ylap. All of the many people we p t . . . All the relatives and tribesmen wept, Uzbeks and Kyrgyz all came Showing respect to this unique man. When my paternal grandfather died, my father again wrote a special lament song and gave it to me to sing. Toburchak minip julkuntup, Top jilki toogo aydading. Torgoydoy bolgon atakem, Too-Jayloo barip jaylading. Argimak att'i julkuntup Adirga jilki aydading. Ay'ildi katar kondurup, Abayga chi'gi'p jaylading. Chuburtup jilki aydading, Chingirtip kulun baylading. Cholpondoy bolgon atakem, Chatkaldi barip jaylading. Temintip jilki aydading, Tektirge kulun baylading. Tegerek-Sazdi jaylading. Jelpintip jilki aydagan, Jelege kulun baylagan. irisim asil atekem, Ispini barip jaylagan. Riding fast on a toburchak stallion, You drove herds of mares to the mountains. My dear grandfather who was like a skylark, Summered in the Too-Jayloo pasture. Riding fast on an argimak stallion, You drove mares to the hills. Pitching the yurts in a row You summered in the Abay pasture. You drove herds of mares, And tied their foals [to make koumiss]. My shining grandfather, You summered in the Chatkal pasture. You drove mares riding your horse, And tied foals on a hill [to make koumiss]. You summered in the Tegerek-Saz pasture. He drove mares with glowing manes, And tied their foals to a jele. 50 My dear and noble grandfather, Summered in the Ispi pasture. These new and individualized koshoks are the best example to demonstrate how this old traditional custom of singing laments was preserved among the women. Some elderly Kyrgyz women ask their daughters to write down koshoks from them while they are alive. It is very embarrassing for grown up women and daughters not to sing koshoks at the funeral of their close one. Not everyone has a good voice and skill for singing 250 A long rope secured into the ground at the two ends. It is used to tie the foals to prevent from suckling their mothers. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 43 them, but they must do their best anyway. Since “laments are composed, performed, and transmitted orally,” states Danforth, “ . . . one authentic or correct version of a song does not exist.” 251 Therefore, women can draw lines from general reserve of traditional koshoks, by adding the “proper names, kin terms, and descriptive phrases that fit the circumstances of the deceased are inserted in the appropriate places.”252 Deceased and the Boz iiy For centuries, the boz iiy (lit.: “gray house” or yurt) has been an integral part of Kyrgyz nomadic culture. During the 1930’s, due to Stalin’s sedentarization policy, the Kyrgyz and the other nomadic peoples of Central Asia, like the Kazakhs, were forced to give up the their nomadic life which centered around the yurt. Upon gaining their independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz chose the boz iiy as their unique symbol of their national heritage. This is evident in the Kyrgyz national flag, which portrays the tiindiik, the round wooden disk of the yurt through which the smoke goes out and light enters. A yurt is a very simple, one-room, portable dwelling consisting of three main parts: tiindiik, the round top part, kerege, the collapsible side wings, and uuks, the poles connecting the kereges to the tiindiik. The boz
The collapsible side wings are all connected to one another with leather strings. Both the dismantling and the erecting of the yurt take no more than twenty minutes each. Its coverings are made from felt made from sheep wool. It is best suited for cold and mountainous environment, practical and easy to transport on camel or horseback. The
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 4 4 inside of the yurt stays cool in summer and warm in winter. The size of the yurt varies according to the size of the family. Wealthy people, khans and biys [judges] used boz iiys with twelve kanats [wing] yurts, with twelve collapsible wings, whereas—smaller or less well-to-do families used four to six kanat boz iiys. The exterior felt covering also consists of three separate pieces, one each for the tiindiik, the kerege, and the uuks. Even though the boz uy consists of only one round room, the inside of the room is divided into three main parts: er jak, the men’s side, which is to the left of the entrance, tor, the seat of honor, opposite t© the door, and epchi jak, the women’s side, which is to the right of the entrance. The kitchen is on the women’s side. Men’s coats, hats, tools and the horses’ tack are all hung in the er jak. The family’s beddings is folded and placed behind the tor, the seat of honor. On special occasions, in a six kanat yurt, one can host about twenty to twenty five people. During the Soviet period, yurts were rarely used, except for funerals. After the 1930’s, due to the Soviet’s sedentarization policy, most nomadic Kyrgyz gave up their yurt and began switching to mud houses. During the WWII, according to my grandmother, among other things like wool socks, people were ordered to give their yurts to the front to house soldiers in cold places. All those yurt were not returned, of course. As a result, later the state was not able to provide the herders with regular yurts with felt coverings. So, instead, they equipped the chabans, herders with canvas coverings, which were lighter than felt coverings, but cold inside. My grandparents and great uncles took care of the state livestock for more than forty years and they lived in chati'r, a yurt with canvas coverings. The wooden structure of the chati'r was different than the traditional frame of a yurt, which consisted of four or six kanats, collapsible wings. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
245 Although the Kyrgyz gave up their nomadic life half a century ago and no longer live in yurts, the yurt is now often used for special occasions. These include family feasts, weddings, anniversaries, and most importantly, funerals. After the Soviet collapse, like other newly independent non-Russian nation states, the Kyrgyz experienced the process of national awakening by reviving and reinventing their cultural past. In the early and mid 1990’s, the independent Kyrgyz government, in close collaboration with native intellectuals and writers, sponsored many national grand celebrations. These included 1000th anniversary of the epic Manas (in 1995), the 180th anniversary of the [birth and Death date of the?] well-known Kyrgyz wrestler Kojomkul (1990), and the 180th anniversary of Kurmanjan datka. These grand celebrations all took place in wide mountain pastures and valleys, where the people could erect hundreds of yurts and play traditional games on horseback. Almost all of the villages, formerly called sovkhoz and
decorated yurts to these celebrations. People remember the three-story yurt from the city of Osh, which was displayed at the Manas celebration in 1995. The state gave prizes to the most beautifully decorated yurts. From the sky, the yurts resembled hundreds of large white eggs spread out on the wide green pastures. The whole nation was the witness to these grand displays of yurts, symbol of nomadic culture. These celebrations inspired many Kyrgyz, especially those living in the countryside. Many families, in particular the women, became interested in having a yurt in their own courtyard next to their permanent house. I remember when the women in my hometown, including my own mother and our neighbors, became very involved in making felt coverings for their iron yurts (temir boz iiy) which had almost the exact shape of a traditional yurt made from wood. The tradition Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 4 6 of making wooden yurts was almost forgotten and many people ordered heavy yurts from iron, which can neither be folded nor transported to the mountains. People liked this kind of yurt because they did not have to maintain it, as they would have had to do with a wooden yurt. Moreover, once erected, the iron skeleton of the yurt lasts for a lifetime. People painted their iron yurt red, blue, or white, and used traditional felt coverings, which they made themselves, for exterior and interior decoration. Those who do not have an iron yurt borrow from those who have for special occasions, and they transport it by a tractor. In summer of 1995, when I returned from the United States after having studied for a year, my mother put up her own iron yurt, with colorful decorations for the first time. It was a very special “welcome home” for me. Upon entering the courtyard of our brick house and greeting everyone, I was led towards the new yurt erected under the shade of high grape vines. Before entering the yurt, according to tradition, my mother circled a bowl of water three times over my head, then I spat into the bowl. This ancient ritual signifies the purification of a person returning safely from a long journey. This ‘welcome-home” party, at which many peoples were gathered, was also, in a way, the opening ceremony or presentation of my mother’s yurt to our relatives and neighbors. My mother was very proud of her work, into which she put so much effort and passion. Inspired by mother’s yurt, our neighbors also bought their own iron yurts and installed them in their courtyards. During my subsequent home visits from the United States, I noticed that almost every third family had at least the skeleton of an iron yurt standing in their yard. They decorated the yurt only for special occasions. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 47 The erection of the yurt is mandatory among the Kyrgyz and Kazakhs for funerals. For example, in the Kyrgyz epic Kojojash, when the hunter Kojojash dies by falling from a high cliff upon chasing a mountain she goat, his kinsmen, even if they did not the body, returned to their camp and immediately erected a yurt for the funeral: Thus the Ki'tay returned And settled in their camp, Loosing their hope for Kojojash, The Ki'tay settled down quietly. The ak orgoo253 of Kojojash, Was pitched away from the camp, A tul was placed in the kapshi't.254 Zulayka, dressed in mourning dress Sat there weeping and singing laments. A spear with a flag was placed on the yurt, Zulayka sat crying by the tul And singing a mourning song.255 The yurt erected for a funeral does not differ much from a regular yurt in terms of its decorations. Some people, particularly in the north, cover the front exterior of the yurt with a colorful rug onto which they hang a large portrait of the deceased, which is Soviet influence. In the past, as the above verse line show, when a man died, it was customary to place a spear on the funeral yurt with a black, red, or white piece of fabric tied on its tip. If the deceased was a young man a red color cloth was tied, if he was a middle aged, black color cloth, and if he was an old man, the spear had a white fabric. Some feasts may take place without a yurt, but not a funeral and memorial feast because all the important rituals and customs of the funeral take place inside and outside 253 ak orgoo is a large size yurt with white felt coverings. Historically, ak orgoo was mostly used by khans and tribal leaders. 254 kapshi't is the place where two tuurduks (felt coverings) o f the yurt. In this context, the tul is being placed in the men’s side, i.e., left side from the entrance. 255 Kojojash, p. 110. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 248 the yurt. The yurt stands at the center of all funeral procedures. It houses the dead for at least one or two days before the burial (if the deceased is male he will be placed? on the men’s side, if the deceased is female, she will be placed on the women’s side, the deceased’s body is washed inside the yurt behind the curtain, female mourners sit inside beside the deceased’s body and sing lament songs, and male relatives sit on a bench outside the yurt on the side where the body lies. According to Kyrgyz funeral etiquette, all visitors should approach the yurt, greet the family and close relatives of the deceased, and dedicate Quranic recitations to the dead. The yurt remains erected throughout all the initial memorial feasts. These include the beyshembilik, Thursday memorial, jetilik, seventh day memorial, and the k'irk'i, the fortieth day memorial. After the ki'rk'i, the yurt is put away until the ji'ldik or ash, which is the most important and final obligatory memorial feast, held on the one-year anniversary of the death. In the past, when the Kyrgyz led a nomadic life, people did not usually erect a separate yurt for the funeral; the deceased was housed in the yurt where s/he lived with his/her family. All the guests who came from far away were housed and fed in neighboring yurts. Bellow Esengul Ibraev puts everything in context: For example, each nomadic settlement consisted of about thirty tuttins [yurts/households]. They did not have a hotel or restaurant to accommodate the guests. Therefore, people hosted their guests who come from near and far places in their yurts. Twenty people fit in one yurt. The neighbors divide the tasks among themselves, e.g., one family kills this or that animal and hosts these many people, the second family cooks the
together at good and bad times. It is not like the rich exploited the poor, but rather the outcome of real life necessities Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 24 9 Today, Muslim reformist movements like Hizb-ut-Tahrir are opposing, among many other “pagan” customs, many of the rituals and practices of a Kyrgyz funeral, which center around the yurt in which the deceased is laid. People are told to bury their dead within twenty-four hours, according to Sharia law. However, Kyrgyz people simply cannot obey this religious “law” due to their strong adherence to their traditional nomadic values and pre-Islamic religious beliefs and practices. Burying the dead on the same day or as soon as possible would eliminate many of the important rituals and customs of the Kyrgyz funeral. The Kyrgyz consider it very important for the close relatives who live far away to see their deceased family member before the burial. In addition, boz iiy is quite practical for receiving the hundreds of visitors who come to pay respect to the deceased and express their condolences to his relatives. By placing the deceased’s body inside the yurt, male and female relatives can spend some time, at least one full day, next to the body, and express their feelings by singing lament songs. My great uncle Anarbay summed up why the Kyrgyz need to erect the yurt for the funeral: We, the Kyrgyz did not have any other house than the yurt in the past. We hold it close to our heart. It is very practical. People feel comfortable in it. The deceased’s body is placed on one side of the yurt and relatives sit near the body. We keep the body for at least one or two days. The Uzbeks do not have a yurt and they also do not keep the body overnight. They cry by staying away from the body, whereas? we cry sitting next to the body. It is a sign of respect to sit close to the deceased. We want the deceased to leave being grateful to us. Erecting yurt, especially for a funeral and memorial feast will continue among the Kyrgyz. As the Kyrgyz say: “Kyrgyz was born in the yurt and will die in the yurt.”
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