ABSTRACT
This paper presents an account of a shamanic rite (Russian kamlanie) performed by Matriona Petrovna Kurbeltinova, an Evenki shaman woman. I myself recorded her shamanic songs in the summer of 1987 along with colleagues from Yakutsk, Dr. A. N. Myreeva, and Dr. G. I. Varlamova. Today, Kurbeltinova is the only Evenki shaman able to present such valuable and unique material. a She was about ninety years old at the time of the recording. She lived with her relatives in the taiga (Siberian forests) and had been nomadizing with them. She enjoys great respect among her kinsmen. This rite was performed on the occasion of our arrival and is called alga, which means “blessing,” “wishing [someone] well.”
