The tree-clan-individual concept in traditional Khakas culture (late 19th to mid-20th century)

On the basis of ethnographic, folkloric, and linguistic materials, most of them newly-introduced, the "tree-clan-individual " concept in the Khakas culture is reconstructed and analyzed. The status and image of the tree in the traditional mytho-ritual system is assessed. Notions of man and his environment related to anthropomorphic reasoning, whereby natural objects, such as trees, were endowed with human attributes. The head was conceived as a crown, the body as a trunk, arms as branches, blood as sap, etc. Trees were believed to be either male or female. Human life scenario was closely paralleled to that of a tree. The vegetal code was used to refer to various psychophysical, mental, and other human phenomena. Social norms included special rules of dealing with trees, used in logging. In essence, a tree had to be dealt with as a humanlike being. In mythological thinking, felling a tree was to some degree tantamount to murder. Souls of specific individuals or groups were likewise associated with trees, so each Khakas seok (clan) had a sacred tree. It was an integral part of the burial rite. The tree, then, was the key element in the ideological structure, having a broad semiotic field.