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THE EAGLE TOTEM IN THE MYTHOLOGICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SAKHA AND BURYATS // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2021. Issue 2 (32). P. 161-170

The article studies the eagle totem in Yakut and Buryat mythology. The aim of the article is to establish the connection of the totem cult with the social organization of society, the presence of a single totem indicates the tribal organization of society. The objectives of the article can be considered the study of information about the veneration of the eagle in the Yakut and Buryat mythological culture. The relevance of the article is shown in the fact that the information about the archaic totemic cult is compared with modern rites and folklore texts. The study of totemic beliefs refers to the study of the pre-religious state of society. The novelty of the article is the use of research methods of foreign anthropologists in the study of the totemic beliefs of the Sakha. The research method is comparative. The materials and results. The ideas of the Sakha people about the eagle (the sun — the creator — the regenerator of nature, the bringer of fire, the eagle and the cosmic egg, the eagle and shamanism, the eagle and the world tree) are universal. Mythological ideas associated with the Eagle and the Sun is universal and goes back to the deepest antiquity. Interesting parallels with the Yakut and Buryat ideas are found in the mythology of the Scandinavia peoples and in the religious cults of ancient Egypt. It is showing the commonality of mythological ideas. In the Sakha religious beliefs, the Eagle occupies a key position. The cult of the eagle is associated with the Khangalas family, but according to the materials of G. F. Miller, it was considered its patron by the Khorins and Batulians. Moreover, in folklore texts, the terms horo and Hotoi — eagle are compared. In Buryat folklore the Eagle is the owner of the Olkhon and the totem bird of the Ekhirit tribe of the Upper Lena, in the old days it was a revered bird among the Khorin people. Totem beliefs belong to the oldest cults. They are characteristic of societies that have not begun to create their own state-hood, a primitive tribal community. Primitive families believed in their origin from the revered bird and personified themselves with it.

Keywords: religious beliefs, shamanism, mythology, ethnography, Yakut studies, totemism, eagle