Aboriginal Women Shamans, Storytellers and Embroidery Artists in the Russian Far East Women s storytelling, shamanic, and artistic traditions in the Amur River region are better preserved than men s. Today most Amur shamans are elderly women, who survived war and repression. Men s traditions were more disrupted by the Soviet system. So far there are no young shamans, who must be selected by spirits, have shaman ancestors, and undergo an initiatory illness. Stories and legends follow every stage of the shaman s life.
Heroines often live alone, undergo an initiation, or marry an animal.
Another constant female image is the wise old woman. These strong images empower women today. Shamanic traditions are alive in the Amur and much needed. They needed fortune-tellers to set the most appropriate time for harvest, and turned to the kaula s, the Hawaiian diviners, who played a role analogous in many ways to that of the miko in Japan. The paper discusses how the Japanese tradition mixed with local, Hawaiian ways of divination.