Sheep in the traditional khakas ritual of the children'S cycle (late 19th to mid-20th century)

Domestic animals, including rams/sheep, always formed the basis of the economy and traditional rituals of the Khakas. This reality is reflected in the folklore and ritual practice of these people. Along with this, note that, in the Khakas ethnography, the ram/sheep and its image was never as a special subject of scientific research. This testifies to the novelty of the provided work. The purpose of this article is to determine the function of the ram in the Khakas rituals associated with the children ’s cycle. The chronological framework of the study is limited to the framework of the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. The research is based on ethnographic and folklore sources. The folklore materials used in the work include excerpts from heroic legends (alypty nymakhtar) in the author’s translation into Russian, and archival ethnographic information is also introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The study made it possible to identify and analyze the place and role of the ram in the ritual practice of the Khakas people associated with childhood. It was determined that the animal in question had a great economic value and was in extreme demand in many areas of human life. It was widely used as food and material for making clothes, beds, etc. It was revealed that the sacral function of the animal was expressed in endowing it with protective properties. The image of a ram and individual parts of its body were used as a popular amulet and a symbol of fertility. All this contributed to endowing the ram with a high semiotic status. In this connection, it was widely involved in the rituals associated with the children ’s cycle: birth, naming, etc. It is shown that it was a widespread subject of gift exchange processes, both within the human community and in relationships with the world of spirits.