"Neduok, dieve, svetur kaulus padėti": Sibiro tremtinių palaikų sugrąžinimas į tėvynę

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Laidojimas; Laidotuvių papročiai; Liaudies kultūra; Lietuviai tremtiniai Sibire; Tautosaka; Sibiras; Tremtis; Burial; Exile; Folk culture; Funeral customs; Lithuanian deportees in Siberia; Lithuanian folklore; Siberia.

ENIn 1988-1991, when the opportunity arose to travel to locations of exile, Lithuanians went to Siberia to bring back to Lithuania their deceased family members. Stories about bringing back the remains of family members from Siberia and their burial in Lithuania, reminds of recent historical events in Lithuania, yet they are also witness to and continuation of an old tradition, according to which the living are required to perform their duties to the dead: to bury them in the right place and perform the necessary rituals. This tradition can be found in folklore texts from the 19th-early 20th c. Funerary rituals are performed with the aim of bringing change in the worlds of the living and the dead: the deceased, when their bones are buried in their homeland, can finally leave to the land of the dead, while their family, having performed their duties, become calmer, stronger, happier. The fateful object of these changes, the magical key, are the bones of the dead - the most durable part of the human body, after death becoming the family’s property and treasure. Bringing back the bones of deceased exiles and burying them in their homeland - a burial ritual that was delayed for several decades - was performed in 1989-1991. This is a strong manifestation of innate culture in modern Lithuanian culture. [From the publication]

• Etnologija / Ethnology
• Istorija / History