CLANS

Clans: translation

Ioan Lewisstates that “shamanism is tied to the Tungus [Evenk] clan structure of which, indeed, it is an essential component,” thereby situating shamans in their communities and social contexts in a way that few other interpreters have done. Noting that Evenk clans, like those in many other indigenous andanimistcultures, include not only living humans but alsoancestors, other-thanhumanpersons, andspirits, Lewis encapsulates much of what might be labeledtotemism, that is, the understanding that humans are intimately related not only with their genetic (“blood” or “uterine”) kin but also to a range of other persons, not all of whom are human or mortal. Within this social context, Lewis argues, the shaman asmaster of spirits“is essential to the well-being of the clan, for he controls the clan’s own ancestral spirits and other foreign spirits which have been adopted into its spirit hierarchy.” Left outside of the clan relationship, “free spirits” can be “extremely dangerous . . . pathogenic . . . sources of the many diseases” that afflict people. Shamans, therefore,mediateamong members of the clan and between the clan and hostile beings, and they alsocombat“noxious” spirits and seek to curethe illnessesthey cause. The collaborations betweenCaroline Humphrey, Nicholas Thomas, andUrgungeOnonhave resulted in similarly important and rare discussions of thepoliticaland social contexts in which shamans live and work. They demonstrate, for example, that shamans can work with emperors on behalf of imperial conglomerations of clans, and that they can be distinguished fromelders, who also lead clans and engage withancestorsin particular ways.