Ket calendar as a reflection of their way of life

Abstract

The article deals with the Ket calendar. The author carried out several expeditions to the places of residence of the Kets during the period when the older generation lived there, who spoke their native language well and knew all the rites and customs of their people in a nomadic way of life. The names of the months reflect the state of nature and the economy of the Kets. So, November is tabeiη qi.p ‘month of hiking with dogs’ (tab > tap ‘dogs’-eiη ‘to go, go’); January – qäqi.p ‘big month’ (qä- ‘big’) or qä-hɔl’aη-εkη-qi.p, lit. ‘big month of short days’, etc. Particular attention is paid to the winter months, since the Kets spent them hunting in the taiga, which was associated with large movements, with changing camps, with certain rituals, pleasing the “old woman on the road”, observing the rules for hunting bear, sable, squirrel, on an elk, etc. The months of spring and summer are associated with water. For example, May – qudebΛl' qi p – ‘pike spawning month' (qude 'pike' – bΛl'>bεl' is the root of the word bεl'aη 'separate, isolated, different'. In June, the Kets built dams- fish traps, set up summer plagues on the banks of the Yenisei or its tributaries, and held fairs. They met with relatives, visited the sacred places of their clan, celebrated the summer solstice. In August, they collected forest fruits, berries, mushrooms, medicinal herbs and roots. Based on the analysis of the data of the Ket calendar, the author comes to the conclusion that the Kets were the bearers of the Mesolithic culture of primitive hunters, fishermen and gatherers.