Round table dedicated to the Yukaghir woman Ekaterina Dyachkova
On June 6, 2024 in the building of the Institute of Humanitarian Research and Problems of Indigenous Peoples of the North held an event “Round table dedicated to the 110th anniversary of Ekaterina Nikolaevna Dyachkova, a connoisseur and promoter of the Yukaghir language and culture”. Her relatives shared their memories of Ekaterina Dyachkova, researchers presented their scientific works on her songs performed in the traditions of the Yukaghir people.
All participants of the table spoke warmly about Ekaterina Dyachkova, noting her soulfulness, openness, gentleness and hospitality. “The language and folklore of the Yukaghirs lived through her,” noted Vyacheslav Shadrin, vice-president of the Association of Indigenous Minorities of the North. Andrei Douglas, a researcher of ancestral ties of the peoples of Yakutia, a distant relative of Ekaterina Nikolayevna's husband Boris Douglas, presented his family's genealogical tree and shared about his memories with her (Andrei Douglas' website http://xn—-7sbbldbf6avn8atw.xn--p1acf/).
Elena Alexeevna Dyachkova, niece of Ekaterina Nikolaevna, shared with the participants that her aunt liked to tell how she used to nomad with her family along the Kolyma River, set snares to get game, how they were often hungry in the nomad, but various obstacles did not break her. Ekaterina Dyachkova was a real treasure trove of Yukaghir folklore, she knew many tales and legends, and researchers from distant lands came to record her knowledge. According to Evdokia Cheprasova, a teacher at the Spiridonov N.I. - Teki Odulok secondary school in the village of Nelemnoye, Ekaterina Nikolaevna was always hospitable and served guests delicious Yukaghir dishes, she loved children very much, and Ekaterina Nikolaevna herself brought up seven children. She was also known for skillfully composing and singing songs dedicated to children. She also had a wide knowledge of using herbs for medicinal purposes.
A famous Yukaghir singer, Irina Duskulova is Ekaterina Nikolaevna's grandniece; according to her memories, her grandmother taught Irina throat singing and encouraged her singing and dancing abilities in every possible way. Candidate of Historical Sciences, Lyudmila Nikolaevna Zhukova noted Ekaterina Nikolaevna's contribution as an informant in the study of Yukaghir language and culture along with other Yukaghir informants such as Vasily Gavrilievich Shalugin, the Likhachev brothers and others. Her unique nomadic worldview experience was important to the researchers to keep the culture alive. Yukaghirs from Seimchan settlement, the administrative center of Srednekansky district and its corresponding urban district of Magadan Oblast, were also present at the round table. There are 324 people in the settlement, 70 of whom are Yukaghirs, and participants reported on the upcoming Yukaghir holiday “Shakhadibe” (gathering of all tribes) on June 21.
Tatiana Ignatyeva, a researcher in the field of Musical Folklore of the Arctic Peoples, said that Ekaterina Nikolaevna told her that smoothness was necessary for singing and that one should pull well. Such intonation was considered correct among the Yukaghirs. As a synonym for the word “singing” in Yukaghir and the definition of these song samples, Ekaterina Dyachkova used the word “yoluga” meaning “I pity-sing”. Tatyana Innokentyevna presented recordings of songs about the river, seagull and wolverine performed by Ekaterina. Makar Semenovich Kurilov, a Yukaghir cultural figure, spoke about the need for Yukaghirs themselves to collect materials from their fellow elders as long as they live and centralization of the collected materials.
Panna Egorovna Prokopyeva, Senior Researcher at the Department of Northern Philology, worked with Ekaterina Dyachkova in the early 2000s. In her presentation, Panna Prokopyeva characterized her as a connoisseur of the song tradition of the Yukaghirs and a performer of folk songs and her own composition. “In Ekaterina Nikolaevna's songs one can see the musical tradition that can be traced in the lyrics of songs of the 19th - early 20th century recorded by Iokhelson. The songs express lyricism, imagery, descriptions of nature. Her songs are full of detailed descriptions of nature, which according to the Yukaghirs' worldview is the mother of all things. Her lyrics are characterized by the use of diminutive and affectionate suffixes, of which there are many, for example, “...on the Mother River, sparkling white, the Mother Mountains stand, the waters of the Mother River ripple silver, sparkling, stand, the gulls walk by with candle heads...”.
At the end of the round table, two cartoons based on the fairy tale by Lyubov Nikolaevna Demina “A Mouse's Journey through the First Snow” were shown (link: https://youtu.be/KTT6WwTRjAM) and “Yarhadana” (link: https://youtu.be/2NNwL-c3xo0) that based on the legend of the forest Yukaghirs. Vyacheslav Shadrin also announced the forthcoming publication of a booklet dedicated to Ekaterina Nikolaevna Dyachkova at the end of this year.
We invite you to watch videos on Yukaghir folklore at the link: https://arctic-megapedia.com/video/
Asya Konstantinova, Leading Specialist of the UNESCO Chair at M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University
