Aspects of the Music of the Nivkhs
by Natalia Mamcheva, Ethnomusicologist, Sakhalin

The Nivkhs are one of the minority indigenous peoples, who live in the region of the Amur river on the island of Sakhalin. Apart from the Nivkh people, other indigenous people who have long lived on the island are the Oroki (Uil’Ta) and Evenki people and until the mid 20th Century, the Ainu people. The Nivkh people have lived in the region for many centuries and indeed millennia. Their musical culture is rich and differs, in many respects, from contemporary European culture. Even at the beginning of the 20th Century they still followed an ancestral system, which ran through all facets of their lives, especially in their beliefs and their folklore. It is unique because it is so ancient and this determines many of its characteristics.

The folklore of the Nivkh people can be divided into 2 groups, the first being distinctive by its ritualistic character and the second by its lack of ritual. Ritualistic folklore is the most ancient and distinctive folklore because it is closely interwoven with traditional beliefs. Many of its specifics can be appreciated through the prism of religion. Until the end of the second millennium, the Nivkh people’s complex beliefs were connected to shamanism and in particular with the particular worship of the bear, which even had its own festival and where music played a vital role.

Nivkh music is chiefly vocal although it also uses musical instruments. In the most ancient forms the music is onomatopoeic and made up of signals. These are mainly imitations of animals, birds and the sounds of nature.

Shaman rituals took on their own specific form of music and song. They were played during special gatherings for healing and augury when the Shaman came into contact with spirits. When a Shaman passes into a trance, his singing would move from exclamatory sounds, growls, wheezing, and different tonal modulations and rhythmic changes. During the Shaman’s ritual, percussion instruments are often used, such as the Khas - a tambourine with rattles, as well as the Yampa - a girdle with metallic rattles. Apart from their musical role, these instruments have another function. The buben is a combination of a tambourine and a drum made either out of the skin of reindeer or seals. It is the main instrument of the Shaman and is believed to hold secret powers. Indeed it is believed that the power that calls up the spirits is contained within it. The girdle symbolizes the intermediary earthly life, as part of their trinomial view of the world, a characteristic of the ancient peoples of Sakhalin. One of the girdle's functions is to protect, as the Nivkhs believe that ringing sounds, noise and metallic bobs drive away the forces of evil.

The bear ritual was a complex ritual, which lasted several days. This is the initiation of the main Nivkh totem, the bear, considered to be related to man. During the bear ritual the main instrument used was a percussive instrument, the Tyatya Chxach - Musical Log (a percussion instrument). It is played exclusively by women, who beat it with wooden poles. The pole symbolises the body of the bear. On one of its sides is carved the head of a bear. The instrument was considered sacred. The rhythm of the strokes depended on the rhythmical texts. The words were made up from ancient mythological texts, symbols, which are connected for the most part to the bear. The log dances were performed by the women dancing with fir twigs and wooden clacks – Korgosh - or with sacred bark from the Inau (a tree believed to have great healing powers). The dances of the women imitated the movements of the bear. These ritualistic dances were considered the climax of the Bear Ceremonies.

The music of the Shaman Rites and the Bear Ceremonies belongs to the most ancient times and has its roots deep in the Neolithic period. The ethnographer E.A. Kreinovich, wrote: “During the days when I observed the Bear Ceremonies, I was overwhelmed by everything that I saw and heard. Indeed everything that the Nivkhs uphold to this day with their worship of the bear, comes down to us from the Stone Age, thousands of years ago, of which neither we, nor they (despite having preserved these traditions) have absolutely any comprehension.

The epic genres of the Nivkhs are made up of myths and sung legends, both recited and in prose. In particular there are two specific genres; the Tilgush, which are heroic myths and the Nasmund, which are magic tales about wild animals and the need to co-exist with them.

The songs reflect the everyday life of the Nivkhs. The majority of the songs are improvised, although there are some that have a fixed melody and text. Musical instruments are divided in to several different groups. The most ancient are the ritual instruments of the Bear Ceremony and Shaman Sacred Rites.

Apart from these, the non-ritual instruments are very diverse. On Sakhalin one finds three types of Nivkh Jewish harps, the Zakanga, which is an arched form made of iron, the Kanga or Kongon, a brass and wooden laminar with an inner reed, and the more ancient Koka Chir which is a grass instrument.

During the playing of the instrument the wavering of the reed amplifies with the help of the performers mouth, which is the main resonator. The melodies played by the mouth organ do not differ very much in difficulty, but the attraction is in the beauty of the flowing 'cosmic' sound, which is rich in deep overtones.

Tynryn - a peculiar Nivkh viola with round bow - belongs to the string instruments. The playing technique is unique. The instrument has three soundboards: a pannier made of birch tree bark the fingerboard and the performers mouth. While playing the performer lightly touches the open string with the tongue causing a tremolo. In the result of that an extra overtone line in appearing. Therefore one can play even two or thee voiced melody.

There are a great variety of woodwind instruments. The simplest are the wooden buzzing instruments, which rotate on a long rope. Over the years they have served many functions from being used as ritualistic instruments, or imitating the sounds of the wind, or have even been used as children’s toys.

There are many variations of the whistle, known as the Pevs, which is made from different kinds of cane – reed, bulrush, bamboo and others. Kalni is a peculiar musical pipe transforming the human voice. In to it melodies are sung with different colours caused by the vibration.

Nivkh Folklore has always been carried from one generation to the next through an oral tradition. It has never been written down. This means that improvisation and variations of character make up the whole process of folklore creations. At first sight Nivkh melodies are not difficult in their formation. They are based on 3 to 4 musical degrees. At the same time if one listens carefully, one realises that they don't stay unchanged but vary all the time. Each sound should be thought of as a living organism. In most cases the melody represents improvisations on a theme.

The same song sung by different performers or even the same performer will sound different every time and will never repeat itself. Variations will remain within traditional musical norms and will have been produced in that particular ethnic environment.

All the songs are in one voice (without harmony) and without instrumental accompaniment. The instrumental music also has a solo character. There are two types of intonation – natural singing and singing with a throat trill. The second way is more ancient and traditional (with the throat trill) but only very few performers are able to master it. With this manner of performing the voice becomes richer, wider and creates different colours.

I would like to draw attention to the perception of early folk music and its specific nature. Sometimes its sound goes fundamentally against the aesthetic norm of general European listening traditions. That is why its value must be measured against other aesthetic changes and criteria of beauty. In early folklore music, including Nivkh music, the beauty is not in a richness of harmony, nor in complete forms as is the case in European classical music, but in the finest nuances and micro movements within the improvisation and sometimes with completely unexpected developments. As a result, someone who has been brought up within other musical traditions needs to try to penetrate as deeply as possible the very roots of this culture and to comprehend the rich possibilities of expression (with the very minimum of recourses) in full appreciation of its humble beauty.

In the twentieth century the traditional Nivkh way of life has chanced fundamentally. Due to this, the traditional lifestyle has also transformed gradually and with it the traditional beliefs and the rituals. This has fundamentally affected the culture. Some genres have begun to fade away and some have disappeared altogether. Nevertheless at the same time many musical genres have received a second life within the national folklore groups and we can only hope that this original and unique culture will not vanish and will continue to give us much joy for a very long time.

I am not specialist enough on music to know if there are common elements between all the cultures around the Artic circle. Maybe common construction materials or techniques? That is a point I never had thought about, but it could be very interesting, as music in old communities is strong and important, sometimes closely linked to spirituality or shamanism as well as to celebrations and rituals. The weak antropologist on me should start kicking the linguist! As far as I know, and i know it is not too much, the Bear Celebration could be a common element in many of this cultures. At least was practised for Saami people, as well as Nivkhi. Throat singing is practised also in Alaska, maybe in other places too.

Veus de la tundra i la taiga

El projecte NWO anomenat "Veus de la tundra i la taiga" va començar el maig de 2002 i es va allargar fins el juny de 2005. Dividit en subprojectes duts a terme per diferents equips en diferents territories de la Federació Russa, aquest projecte ha contribuït a l'enfortiment i la revitalització de diverses minories indígenes del nord de Rússia, incloent-hi els Nenets, Nivkh, Yukagir, Khanty, Mansi i altres. El projecte forma part d'un programa general de recerca amb el mateix nom.

Informe final

Descripció breu de les línies generals:

El tema del programa de recerca "Veus de la tundra i la taiga" és l'estudi de les llengües i cultures amenaçades de la Federació Russa, que cal descriure ràpidament abans que desapareguin. Aquesta recerca es duu a terme des de l'experiència que dóna la feina prècia en la tecnologia per la reconstrucció d'antigues gravacions de so trobades en arxius de Sant Petersburg ha fet possible de comparar les llengües que actualment es parlen en aquelles àrees amb les que es parlaven fa mig segle. Aquestes gravacions consisteixen en parla espontània, cançons tradicionals, llegendes... narrades el llengües siberianes, entre d'altres.

En el projecte NWO vam aplicar les tècniques desenvolupades anteriorment a algunes de les minories lingüístiques i culturals de Rússia que estan en perill d'extinció:els Nivkh i Orok a Sakhalin, i les llengües Yukagir i Tungus a Yakutia. L'objectiu és establir una llibreria fonètica i de vídeo d'històries, folklore, cançons i tradicions orals dels pobles de Sakhalin i Yakutia. Per tal d'aconseguir-ho es comparen els arxius antics amb els nous, i aquests últims s'afegeixen a l'arxiu material de Sant Petersburg, part del qual es pot trobar a Internet i/o en CD-ROM.

La parla espontània i els textos preparats que es recullen són valuosos per la etnolingüística i també per l'antropologia, el folklore, i l'anàlisi etnomusicològica. Per aquest propòsit, les dades són (vídeo)enregistrades, i analitzades des del punt de vista de la construcció i l'ús de la llengua. Els textos, un cop descrits, es publiquen en revistes científiques i llibres amb il·lustracions, en CD-ROM i Internet. Aquestes anàlisis, per tant, resten a disposició d'investigadors en els camps de la fonètica, la lingüística, l'antropologia, la història, l'etnomusicologia i el folklore. Per aquest propòsit els nous centres estan equipats amb ordinadors, programari, gravadores de veu i llibres.

La recerca i documentació es duu a terme amb una cooperació propera amb els estudiosos locals. A Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk i Yakutsk els investigadors d'allà participen en l'arxivament de gravacions de so i en les expedicions per a realitzar el treball de camp. Es formen a la Universitat de Sant Petersburg i els especialistes d'aquesta universitat els visiten per tal d'establir nous centres per l'estudi i l'ensenyança de les llengües locals i els temes que s'hi relacionen.

Veus de Buryatia

El juliol de 2005, Tjeerd de Graaf va presentar l'informe final del projecte dut a terme juntament amb col·laboradors russos en el marc de treball del projecte “Veus de la tundra i la taiga”. El grup de recerca va rebre moltes reaccions positives, tant de científics com de professors, estudiants, parlants nadius i autoritats locals. Això s'aplica en particular a Buryatia, una de les repúbliques federals de Rússia a Sibèria, on Tjeer de Graaf i el seu company de Buryat Ljubov Radnajeva van visitar diversos centres el juny i juliol de 2005. Durant seminaris per a la formació de professorat, van comunicar els resultats dels seus projectes, així com l'ús de les noves tecnologies en l'ensenyament de llengües. Centífics i professors de Buryatia estan preparats i a punt per continuar realitzant projectes similars. Una proposta per aquest projecte ha estat preparada i enviada a l'INTAS, organització de la Unió Europea.

D'acord amb les últimes dades de la UNESCO, la llengua Buryat és considerada una llengua amenaçada, i registrada al Llibre Vermell de la UNESCO de llengües amenaçades. Mentrestant, molts dels seus parlants demostren el seu desig que els seus fills emprin la llengua nadiua. Els recursos educatius moderns (com ara l'aprenentatge assistit per ordinador, o el materia multimèdia) són pràcticament inexistents per ensenyar el la llengua Buryat. Cal dir, però, que existeixen condicionaments favorables perquè aquests materials es desenvolupin. LA recerca conjunta mencionada anteriorment permetria que aquest projecte es dugués a terme.

Si teniu més boles de neu per a mi (també conegudes com informació, enllaços, recursos...) no dubteu d'escriure'm unes ratlles!

Voices from tundra and taiga

The NWO project "Voices from Tundra and Taiga" started in May 2002 and lasted until June 2005. In a number of subprojects, carried out by different teams throughout the Russian Federation, this project contributed to the strengthening and revitalization of various minor indigenous languages of the Russian North, including Nenets, Nivkh, Yukagir, Khanty, Mansi and others. The project was part of a general research program with the same name.

Final report

Short description of the overall approach:

The topic of the research program "Voices from Tundra and Taiga" is the study of endangered languages and cultures of the Russian Federation, which must be described rapidly before they become extinct. This research is in the fortunate position that our earlier work on the reconstruction technology for old sound recordings found in archives in St. Petersburg has made it possible to compare languages still spoken in the proposed research area to the same languages as they were spoken more than half a century ago. These sound recordings consist of spoken language, folksongs, fairy tales etc., among others in Siberian languages.

In the NWO project we applied the developed techniques to some of the disappearing minority languages and cultures of Russia: Nivkh and Orok on Sakhalin and Yukagir and Tungus languages in Yakutia. Our aim is to set up a phono- and video-library of recorded stories, and of the folklore, singing and oral traditions of the peoples of Sakhalin and Yakutia. For this purpose the existing sound recordings in the archives of Sakhalin and Yakutia are used together with the results of new fieldwork expeditions. The data are added to the existing archive material in St. Petersburg and part of is made available on the Internet and/or CD-ROM.

Spontaneous speech and prepared texts are collected that are valuable for (ethno)linguistic as well as for anthropological, folkloric and ethno-musicological analysis. For that purpose, the data are (video)recorded and analysed as to the art of story telling and language use. Described texts are published in scientific journals and books with audiovisual illustrations on CD-ROM and on the Internet. The materials thus become available for further analysis to researchers working in the field of phonetics, linguistics, anthropology, history, ethno-musicology and folklore. This information is also important for the development of teaching methods for representatives of the related ethnic groups and for the conservation of their language and culture. For this purpose the new centres are equiped with computers, software, sound recorders, literature, etc.

The research and documentation is carried out in close co-operation with local scholars. In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Yakutsk local scholars and their assistants participate in the archiving of the sound recordings and in fieldwork expeditions. They are trained at St. Petersburg State University and specialists from St. Petersburg State University also visit them in order to set up new centres for the study and teaching of local languages and related subjects.

Voices from Buryatia

In July 2005, Tjeerd de Graaf presented the final report of the NWO project carried out together with Russian colleagues in the framework of theVoices from Tundra and Taiga research program.The research group received positive reactions, both from scientists as well as from teachers, students, native speakers and local authorities. This applied in particular to Buryatia, one of Russia's federal republics in Siberia, where Tjeerd de Graaf and his Buryat colleague Ljubov Radnajeva visited several centres in June and July 2005. During special teacher seminars, they reported on the results of their projects and on the use of information technology in language teaching. Scientists and teachers from Buryatia are ready and eager to take an active part in the realization of similar new projects. A proposal for such a project has been prepared and submitted to the INTAS Organisation of the European Union.

According to the latest UNESCO data, the Buryat language is considered an endangered language and is registered in the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages. Meanwhile, many Buryat people demonstrate their wish that their children use the native language. Modern educational resources (such as computer-assisted language learning, multimedia teaching material) are almost non-existent in teaching the Buryat language. It should be mentioned that good and promising conditions exist to develop such teaching resources based on information technology. The proposed joint research project will make this possible.

If you have more snowballs for me (aka information, links and resources...) do not hesitate to drop me a line!

தமிழகத்தில் உள்ள கூடங்குளத்தில் ரஷ்ய உதவியுடன் கட்டப்பட்டு வரும் அணுமின் நிலையத்தில் கூடுதலாக மேலும் நான்கு அணு உலைகளை அமைக்க ரஷ்யா ஒப்புக்கொண்டுள்ளது.

இரண்டு நாள் பயணமாக புதுடில்லி வந்துள்ள ரஷ்ய அதிபர் விளாடிமிர் புடினுக்கும், இந்தியப் பிரதமர் மன்மோகன் சிங்கிற்கும் இடையே இன்று நடைபெற்ற பேச்சுவார்த்தையைத் தொடர்ந்து இது தொடர்பான உடன்பாடு கைச்சாத்திடப்பட்டது.

வியாழக்கிழமை காலை புடின் புதுடில்லி வந்தடைந்தார்.

அதன்பின்னர் இரு தலைவர்களுக்கும் இடையே நடைபெற்ற பேச்சுவார்த்தையில், ஒன்பது உடன்பாடுகள் மற்றும் புரிந்துணர்வு ஒப்பந்தங்கள் கைச்சாத்திடப்பட்டன.

கூடங்குளத்தில் ஏற்கெனவே இரண்டு அணு உலைகள் ரஷ்ய உதவியுடன் கட்டப்பட்டு வருகின்றன. அத்துடன், மேலும் நான்கு அணு உலைகளை அங்கு அமைக்க உடன்பாடு ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. அதுமட்டுமன்றி, இந்தியாவில் வேறு இடங்களிலும் புதிய அணுமின் நிலையங்களை ரஷ்ய தொழில்நுட்பத்துடன் அமைக்க ஒப்புக்கொள்ளப்பட்டிருப்பதும் குறிப்பிடத்தக்க அம்சமாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது.

ரஷ்யாவின், உலக கடல்வழி தொடர்புடைய செயற்கைக் கோள் மூலம் கடல்வழி சமிக்ஞைகளை, அமைதிப் பணிகளுக்காக இந்தியா பயன்படுத்திக் கொள்வதற்கான ஒப்பந்தமும் கைச்சாத்திடப்பட்டது.

இரு நாட்டு எண்ணெய் நிறுவனங்களும் எண்ணெய் மற்றும் எரிவாயு துரப்பணத் திட்டம் தொடர்பான பணிகளை, தங்கள் நாடுகளிலும், மற்ற நாடுகளிலும் இணைந்து மேற்கொள்ள ஒப்புக்கொண்டுள்ளன.

புடின் மற்றும் மன்மோகன் சிங், பேச்சுவார்த்தையின் முடிவில் கூட்டாக செய்தியாளர்களைச் சந்தித்தார்கள். கடந்த பத்து ஆண்டுகளில், உலக அளவில் பெருமளவில் மாற்றங்கள் ஏற்பட்டாலும் கூட, இந்தியாவின் வெளியுறவுக் கொள்கையைப் பொருத்தவரை, ரஷ்யாவுக்கு எப்போதும் சிறப்பிடம் உண்டு என்று மன்மோகன் சிங் தெரிவித்தார்.

இந்தியாவுடனான சர்வதேச அணுசக்தி ஒத்துழைப்புத் தடைகளை நீக்கியதற்காக ரஷ்யாவுக்கு நன்றி தெரிவித்த மன்மோகன் சிங், பல நோக்கு விமானங்கள் மற்றும் நவீன ரக போர் விமானங்கள் உற்பத்தியில் கூட்டாகச் செயல்பட முடிவு செய்திருப்பது, இரு நாட்டு உறவில் முக்கியத் திருப்பத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியிருக்கிறது என்று மகிழ்ச்சி தெரிவித்தார்.

அதே நேரத்தில், பொருளாதார ஒத்துழைப்பு எதிர்பார்த்த அளவுக்கு வளர்ச்சியடையவில்லை என்றும் அதில் கூடுதல் கவனம் செலுத்தப்பட வேண்டும் என்றும் அவர் சுட்டிக்காட்டினார்..

ரஷ்யா - இந்தியா -சீனா இடையிலான முத்தரப்பு ஒத்துழைப்புக் குறித்துக் கருத்துத் தெரிவித்த புடின், எதிர்காலத்தில் அதற்கான வாய்ப்பு பிரகாசமாக இருப்பதாகக் குறிப்பிட்டார். மேலும், ரஷ்யா - இந்தியா - சீனா - பிரேசில் நாடுகளிடையே பொருளாதார ஒத்துழைப்பும் வருங்காலத்தில் மிக முக்கியப் பங்கு வகிக்கும் என்று நம்பிக்கை தெரிவித்தார் புடின்.

வெள்ளிக்கிழமை நடைபெற உள்ள இந்திய குடியரசு தின விழா நிகழ்ச்சியில், கௌரவ விருந்தினராகக் கலந்துகொள்கிறார் புடின்.

Now all posts are there. Welcome! :)