Mälestamisrituaal tšekan nüüdisaegse udmurdi küla etnokultuurilisel maastikul
Authors: Anisimov Nikolai 
Published: January 2019

The Chekan Commemoration Ritual in the Cultural Landscape of the Contemporary Udmurt Village

In investigating the chekan ritual of commemorative sacrifice carried out in Kalašur and Dubrovski Villages in the Kiyassovo region of the Udmurt areas, it emerged that certain changes had taken place at various levels. The term chekan has become demythologised in the Udmurt language, but scholars believe that its roots go back to Turkic languages, and that as a cultural sign it means ‘offering sacrifice/sacrificing’ and is related to the cult of the dead. Commemorative practices that bear some likeness and similarity have been seen in the traditions of local groups among the Udmurt peoples, as well as among other Finno-Ugric peoples (the Zyrian and Perm Komis, and the Maris) and neighbouring peoples (Russians and Chuvass). Yet chekan is a unique ritual with specific attributes: it takes place only in June of leap years and is dedicated to those who died abroad, loved ones buried elsewhere and people who committed suicide. Through the commemoration, the Udmurts in this group devote attention to their ‘special’ category of deceased, the belief being that otherwise they may become demonic spirits. Research trips spanning sevaral years (2008, 2012 and 2016) have shown that the traditional structure and rules governing the ministrations have changed. For example, the sacrificial animals are not bled on the eve of the ritual, but on the day of the ritual itself. The ritual food is no longer cooked all night long but from morning to mid-day, and the ceremony no longer is presided over by a priest. Both linguists and the author have observed that fewer and fewer people take part in the ritual and people living in more distant parts no longer make the trip, which makes the older generation concerned. It is presumed that the ritual was previously held every three years, as in the case of similar customs mentioned in scholarly literature (Chekaskon Chokskon) and only later was it scheduled to coincide with leap year, referring to the symbolic semantics of the year with the extra day. The biggest changes concern the site of chekan. In 2008 and 2012, the ritual and the rites for the departed souls were relocated, without any procedures related to the change of venue, but solely based on consensus reached by local inhabitants. The main reason cited for the change of venue is that the original place had become overgrown by brush, and it was difficult to reach the original sacral ‘centre’ and the spruce tree where the offerings were laid. The rituals carried out in 2008, 2012 and 2016 also pertained to another shrine on the village’s ethnocultural landscape, the sacral place where once the worship was held in honour of the god Aktash. This led a number of older inhabitants to enquire into the feasibility of the whole development. The given shrine took on a double sacral quality as fieldwork showed that among young people, knowledge of this place, which became inactive in the 20th century, was no longer salient. All of the topographical sites where the sacrifices took place in recent years are marked with the commemorative ritual in question.
To sum up, it can be said that the chekan, a commemorative ritual in the calendar cycle of the Udmurts of Kiyassovo region, is changing, which is leading to a transformation in the village’s cultural landscape. The spatial changes related to the local population’s sacral sphere lead to a specific mode of behaviour and regimentation of rites in space and time.