Birth

Interviewer (I): What rituals do we perform when a child is born? Do we have such rituals?

Alena (A): Yes, we do.

I: How is a new-born received, how is the umbilical cord cut, how is a new-born bathed?

A: When a woman is about to give birth, a midwife or an elderly woman is invited. After the baby is born, she measures its umbilical cord with her index finger and then cuts it. If it is a boy, it is announced. If it is a girl, her birth is not announced. Then the family visits a Buddhist temple or invites an astrologist to give the baby a name.

I: How is a new-born baby bathed?

A: In Buddhist temples monks give special water to parents to wash their new-born babies. After their umbilical cord falls off, a ritualized bath is performed using milk and incenses.

I: How is the hair cut when a baby reaches a year?

A: When a baby reaches a year, a bundle from their hair is cut off and kept in a secure place. The number of kept hair bundles is the same as the number of children in the family. Hair bundles are wrapped in a white cloth and kept for many years until the child reached 50 or 60 years.

I: (In the past) where in the yurt did people keep their babies?

A: A cradle with a crook was attached to a roof pole of the yurt. Babies were put in there.

I: Did babies feel cold inside the yurt in the winter?

A: I do not remember. Probably they did. I remember how we all sat around the fire to warm up our feet.

Kalmyks kill a sheep, and take from inside it a gullet-like intestine outgrowth named ul’trkha in Kalmyk in order to determine the gender of an unborn child. This outgrowth is cut open. If its inside wall has swellings, this means that the child will be a boy. If not, a girl.

Anatoliy says that his children were named by his relatives, including his older sister, a cousin and his parents-in-law. His children had their first haircut by their uncle. The first hair should not be disposed of but kept in a safe place.

Dmitriy, Zula and Valentina talk about name giving practices among Kalmyks.

Dmitriy: My parents wanted to name me Dordzhi-Garya in honour of my grandfather. My father’s name is Matsg, but on his passport he is Vladimir. My surname of Orusov derives from the Kalmyk word ors, meaning ‘Russian’, because there was a Russian woman among my ancestors. My wife has three names. On her passport she is Olga, at home we call her Delgir, and when she got married my parents gave her the name of Tsagan.

Zula: The Kalmyks gave a second name to a person in order to protect him/her from evil spirits.

Valentina: When a girl gets married, she is treated as if she is dead for her natal family. She has her nails trimmed and her hair cut so that her happiness remains at her natal home. In her husband’s family she receives a new name. A new name brings new happiness to the bride. When Kalmyks were in Siberia, children were given Russian names only. In my village school girls were called either Valentina or Galina.

Before I was born, my parents had a daughter who died in 1933. My grandfather brought home lama Sangadzhi – whom we called Kaaka – to read memorial prayers. The lama told my parents, ‘You should read prayers for your daughter for seven days, otherwise she might be reborn in an inauspicious direction. If you do it, she will return to you as a baby boy’. Since there was no one around who could read these prayers, my grandmother asked Kaaka to do it, to which he agreed. Some time passed, and I was born. When I turned one month, my mother fell ill and could not breastfeed me. She said, ‘My eyes can see, but my tongue cannot move’. My grandmother was upset and crying. A female relative breastfed me. My uncle decided to bring Kaaka to our house, who stayed to perform a ritual all night long. In the morning a dry bush blossomed outside the house. Kaaka sat next to the hearth, took me in his arms and began to swing me. He calmed my grandmother by saying, ‘Don’t worry, grandmother. Your daughter-in-law is a cheeky girl. Why did she eat the meat of an animal that was attacked by a wolf? That’s why she had a girl instead of a boy’.

After this prayer my mother recovered. Later she said, ‘Kaaka caught me. When I was pregnant, I went to see my parents. There was not much food around at that time. Nearby, there lived a relative, an old woman, whom I went to see. When I entered her house, she was eating some boiled meat and drinking tea. As soon as she saw me she put the meat away and said to me, ‘I can see that you are pregnant, but you should not eat this meat’. When the old woman left the house to throw bones out, my mother took the bowl and ate a piece of horse meat that was inside. She did not know that that horse had been attacked by a wolf. That old woman knew about this taboo and cautioned my mother, but she did not listen to her. That is why I was born as a girl.

Elza talks about a celebration called malyagud.

When a child was born, the Kalmyks made a celebration called malyagud with plenty of food for all the guests. The birth of a boy was advertised loudly: ‘A son is born!’ In the case of a girl, the baby’s gender was communicated only to those who enquired about it. For the celebration, the parents fried biscuits and bought sweets and cookies which they gave to children and all the quests alike. Both elders and children uttered well-wishes to the new-born. This celebration of malyagud was made when the baby’s umbilical cord fell off.

Galina talks about the ritual of the first haircut and name giving conventions among the Kalmyks.

Babies have their first haircut at the age of 1. It is a maternal uncle who cuts the baby’s first hair.

Galina’s children received their names from her grandfather. One of Galina’s sons was named Sandzhi-Garya in memory of his great grandfather, although Kalmyks try not to name their children after deceased relatives. But since the grandfather said that the name of Sandzhi-Garya suited the boy, the family decided to stick to his advice. Galina’s paternal aunt named Galina’s other son Ilya.

Galina says that all Kalmyk girls with Russian names have a Kalmyk name by which they are addressed at home.

Gerel says she grew up as a shy girl. She was not supposed to be noisy in front of her father or brothers. Today whenever she visits her brothers Gerel always helps them lay the table and do the washing up. In her childhood, she was discouraged from looking at the mirror too often or admire herself. Gerel’s mother did not praise her children.

These are common traditional bans for women: single women should not sharpen a knife, women cannot sing to themselves, argue with men, or interrupt their elders.

Gerel says that the Mongolian spot could be of various size. Some people contend that it is ‘Chingis Khan’s birthmark’. Gerel saw one such birthmark on a Russian child in Dagestan.

Irina talks about name giving practices and the ritual of the first haircut.

About name giving. When a child is born, the parents should give their own parents a gift and ask them to say a well-wish. In their turn, the grandparents of the newly born baby give their daughter-in-law a scarf so that she gives birth to more children. In the past, it was grandparents who named their grandchildren. Today, by contrast, it is the parents. Irina’s daughter, Baira, received her name from Irina’s father. In the past, people did not go to lamas to ask for a name for their babies. Sometimes babies were named after the person who visited the house during the birth. Paternal uncles could also name babies.

About the first haircut. Babies have their first haircut when they are 1. The first bundle is cut by the baby’s maternal uncle who before the ritual touches the baby’s head with white and yellow coins, and wishes prosperity for the baby. Then the uncle gives the baby a gift (in the past it was livestock). The hair is cut and wrapped in a cloth to be kept in the house. When babies grow up, the parents return their first hair to them.

As in the old days, the name of the new-born children was given by a monk in a temple. People would come to temple, to tell the day and month of a child’s birth. Looking at all the astrological information, a gelyung would give the child a name.  The name could also be given by parents themselves. Often the boy was given the name of his uncle on his father’s side, and the girl would be named after her grandmother or her uncle would give her name. If there was no temple nearby, the name would be related with some occurrence on the day of birth. For example, on the day of a child’s birth there was a snowstorm, shuurgn in Kalmyk, so the child would be called Shuurgn. If the father of the child worked as a horse herder, aduchi in Kalmyk, then the child was given name Aduchi. Numbers from five to ten were also names. I do not know why such names were given. I can say for sure that there was no such special tradition.

When a woman gave birth, people would say ‘Tsagan tor boljana’ and all children were taken out (from a yurt). There were no diapers then, instead ash left from burning the dung was used. Ashes being soft were poured into a bag and a child was put into this bag. It was a very good absorbent. In order to keep the baby’s back straight, a piece of solid cardboard was used. The cardboard also made holding a baby easier. Instead of diapers, old clothes of a baby’s father were used.   People say that Kalmyks have bowed legs, it is because babies were put in bags with ashes and when they grew up a bit, they rode a horse.

Larisa says that in Kalmyk culture there is special respect towards pregnant women. For example, it is forbidden to upset or say bad words to them. In the past, women tried to keep an eye on the health of their daughters-in-law by examining their urine.

Traditionally, newly born children were wrapped in the robes of their grandparents (symbolizing longevity). Their cradles were also filled with dung ashes that served as nappies. This prevented babies from having a skin rash.

In this interview Larisa talks about the following topics: how people celebrated the birth of their children, what rituals were performed when a 1-year old child could not walk; a ritual of the first haircut; and name giving.

Larisa: In the past, people always wanted sons. Women who had boys were respected in their families. Whenever a boy was born, the father celebrated this occasion with others by firing a rifle and making noise. A girl’s birth, by contrast, was not celebrated by anyone. If a child did not start to walk by 1, the parents brought a dog, bandaged its eyes with a ribbon and pulled the dog around the child. If this did not help, the parents called the child’s maternal uncle who threw his hat between the child’s legs. This ritual was done in a celebratory atmosphere. Children had their first haircut at the age of 3. It was their maternal uncle who cut their hair, which then was kept wrapped in a white cloth. The Kalmyks believe that a person’s hair and life are inter-connected. Hence, people had their haircut at certain hours and on certain days.

Question: Why?

Larisa: Hair was like an amulet. By the way, one’s placenta was also kept for such purposes. It was dried and sewed to a corner of the child’s pillow. During the first haircut the parents invited guests to celebrate. People gave the child various presents, including livestock (a horse, a goat, a camel, a foal, a sheep, or a lamb). The Kalmyks did not hold gold or money in high regard. Livestock was more precious. In this way, a child had personal livestock from young age. At 3 boys were taught how to ride a horse. Today children are afraid of horses.

Babies received their names from close paternal relatives. In the past, people also went to the temple where a lama would look at his book and propose a list of names from which the parents chose. Today young couples also go to temples. 30 years ago, we named our children as we wished. We did not give the names of deceased people though.

Question: Why?

It is a bad omen. It is believed that the dead person whose name is given to a child may take the child away. In the past, people often had many children, some of whom died early in life. (In order to cheat evil spirits which were blamed for children’s deaths) people gave their children such names as Mukovyun (Bad Boy), Nokha (Dog), Taka (Hen), Nokhan Kichg (Puppy), etc. Even today people give such names. When I was studying at a pedagogical college, my friend told me that the head of her village council was a man with a strange name. His name was Gakha (Pig), surname – Nokhaev (Dog), and patronym – Takaevich (Hen). I laughed a lot. Even today we have such names. It is believed that bad names are actually good for children.

Lidzhi talks about the power of personal names. He contends that people’s fate depends on their names. When his granddaughter was born, Lidzhi wanted to name her Amulanga (meaning ‘Calm’), because he saw this name in his dreams. His wife, however, offered to choose one of three names. They went to a temple and asked the lama to choose a name. The lama chose Amulanga from a list of four names.

Lidzhi recalls a lama named Bada Pavlovich who secretly practiced folk healing methods in the Soviet period. In his youth this lama spent 10 years studying at a Buddhist Academy. When Lidzhi’s cousin fell ill, Lidzhi and his brother went to see that lama. The lama asked: ‘Who named this boy?’ ‘His grandfather’, was the answer. ‘If it is his grandfather, then everything will be all right’, said the lama.

Lidzhi’s brother’s name is Nikolai who was a sickly boy in his childhood. In 1959 the family went to the lama Bada Pavlovich who tied five amulets to the boy’s legs, arms and neck, and instructed: ‘When you give your boy a bath, untie the amulets and put them in a clean place. Every time one amulet will disappear. When four amulets disappear, keep the fifth one to yourself.’ Things turned out as the lama predicted, and in four days four amulets disappeared. After this Nikolai recovered.

Svetlana talks about names among Kalmyks. This is her story:

Names such as Badma, Tsagan(a), Saglr and Amulng are gender neutral. Jangar, Baatr, Chingis, Aldr and Zerg are male names. The Kalmyk language does not have a grammatical gender. Gender-neutral names such as Saglr today became Saglara. Many Kalmyks have Russian names, which is connected with the exile of the Kalmyk people to Siberia. The Kalmyks had to adapt to the new environment and gave Russian names to their children.

Svetlana’s name was given to her in honour of a midwife who was present at her birth in Krasnoyarskiy krai. Svetlana’s brothers also have Russian names, although her nephews have Kalmyk names only. Recently, Dayana became a popular name among Kalmyk girls. The original meaning of this name is ‘a recluse’. The Buddhist practice of staying alone is called ‘daya’ or ‘dayand orkh’. In this sense, Dayana should be regarded a sacred name, and as such it is not appropriate to give this name to girls just because it is fashionable. Other sacred names are Zayana, Chingis and Aldar. European names are also known among Kalmyks, including Gerhard, Leonel or German.

The birth of a girl was not as joyous an occasion as the birth of a boy. After his umbilical cord dried out and fell off, guests were invited to celebrate the boy’s birth. A sheep was slaughtered and its tibia bone was hung above the entrance of the yurt. Even dogs were happy on this occasion, for they were given bones and food leftovers from the boy’s meals. By contrast, the birth of girls was not celebrated, for they left their families following their marriage to join their husbands’ clans.

If a child could not walk for a long time, people performed a special ritual. The child’s paternal male relative took scissors and cut invisible ties between the legs of the child, while uttering a well-wish. Another custom was when an old man threw his hat between the legs of the child.

In the past, in order to remove a fear from a child, old people shouted loudly. Today, by contrast, parents do not allow for their children to be shouted at.

About children with mental disabilities (dutu zuurm). It was believed that children with mental problems were born to clans that had committed great sin. Since there were no clinics, such children were treated by lamas.