According to archaeological data, the Yakut nationality arose as a result of the combination of local tribes living near the middle reaches of the Lena River with southern Turkic-speaking settlers. Over time, the created new nationality was divided into several groups. For example, reindeer herders in the northwest, etc.
Yakuts, description of the nationality
The Yakuts are considered one of the most numerous Siberian peoples. Their number reaches over 380 thousand people. Yakuts live in Irkutsk, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, but mainly in the Republic of Sakha. The Yakut language belongs to the Turkic dialects that are part of the Altai family. The main occupations of the Yakuts are horse and cattle breeding, fishing and hunting. In modern times, the main wealth of the Yakuts is diamonds. The extractive industry is very developed. The Yakut dwelling is yurts, which can be small and vice versa, different in height. Yurts are built of wood.
Whom did the Yakuts worship since ancient times?
Among the Yakuts, reverence for nature still occupies an important place in their beliefs. All the traditions and customs of the Yakuts are closely related to her. They believe that nature is alive, and all earthly objects have their own spirits and inner strength. Since ancient times, the owner of the road was considered one of the main ones. Earlier, they even made sacrificial offerings to him, leaving horse hair, scraps of cloth, buttons and copper coins at the crossroads. Similar actions were taken for the owners of reservoirs, mountains, etc.
Thunder and lightning, as seen by the Yakuts, pursue evil spirits. If a tree splits during a thunderstorm, it is believed to have healing powers. The wind, in the minds of the Yakuts, has four spirits that guard the earthly peace. The Earth has a female deity - Aan. She monitors the growth and fertility of all living things (plants, animals, people). Special offerings are made for Aan in the spring.
Water has its own master. Gifts are brought to him in the fall and spring in the form of a birch-bark boat with an image of a person carved on it and attached pieces of cloth. Dropping sharp objects into water is considered a sin.
The owner of the fire is a gray-haired old man who drives out evil spirits. This element was always treated very respectfully. The fire was never extinguished and in the old days they carried it with them in pots. It is believed that he is the patron saint of the family and home.
The Yakuts call the spirit of the forest Baai Bayanai. He helps in hunting and fishing. In ancient times, it was chosen which could not be killed and eaten. For example, goose, swan, ermine and some others. The eagle was considered the head of all birds. The bear has always been the most revered among all groups of Yakuts. His claws and other attributes are still used as amulets.
Holidays
Yakut holidays are closely related to traditions and rituals. The most important is Ysyakh. It takes place once a year and reflects the worldview and picture of the world. It is celebrated at the very beginning of summer. According to ancient traditions, a hitching post is set up in a clearing surrounded by young birches, which symbolizes the World Tree and the axis of the Universe. In modern times, she has also become the personification of the friendship of the peoples living in Yakutia. This holiday is considered a family one.
Ysyakh always begins with sprinkling kumis of fire and four cardinal points. This is followed by a request to the Deities for the bestowal of grace. For the celebration, national dress is put on and traditional dishes and koumiss are prepared. The meal is always held at the same table with all relatives. Then they begin to dance in circles, sports competitions, wrestling, archery and tug of a stick are arranged.
Yakuts: families
Yakuts live small until the 19th century, polygamy was widespread. But they all lived separately, and each had its own household. The Yakuts enter marriage between 16 and 25 years of age. In case of matchmaking, kalym is paid. If the bride can be kidnapped with subsequent detention.
Rites and traditions
The Yakut people have many traditions and rituals, from the description of which even a separate book can come out. They are often associated with magical actions. For example, the Yakuts use a number of conspiracies to protect their homes and livestock from evil spirits. Important components are the ornament on clothes, jewelry and utensils. There are also ceremonies for a good harvest, offspring of livestock, the birth of children, etc.
Until now, the Yakuts have preserved many traditions and customs. For example, the Sat stone is considered magical, and if a woman looks at it, it loses its power. It is found in the stomachs or liver of animals and birds. After extraction, it is wrapped in birch bark and wrapped in horsehair. It is believed that through certain spells with the help of Sat, you can cause rain, wind or snow.
Many traditions and customs of the Yakuts have been preserved since ancient times. For example, they have it, but in modern times it was replaced by a ransom. The Yakuts are very hospitable, they love to exchange gifts. Birth rites are associated with the goddess Aiyy-syt, who is considered the patroness of children.
Hitching posts
The Yakuts have a lot of different tethering posts. And this is no coincidence, since since ancient times they have been one of the main components of the culture of the people. Beliefs, many rituals, traditions and customs are associated with them. All hitching posts have a different ornament, decoration, height, shape.
There are three groups of such pillars in total. The first (courtyard) includes those that are installed at the dwelling. Horses are tied to them. The second group includes pillars used for various religious rituals. And in the third - hitching posts, which are installed on the main Yakut holiday Ysyakh.
Yurts of the Yakuts
Yakut settlements consist of several houses (yurts) located at a great distance from each other. The Yakut dwelling is created from round standing logs. But only small trees are used in construction, since cutting large ones is considered a sin. The doors are located on the east side towards the sun. Inside the yurt there is a fireplace covered with clay. The dwelling has many small windows. There are wide sun loungers of different heights along the walls. At the entrance - the lowest. Only the owner of the yurt sleeps on the high one. The sun beds are separated from each other by partitions.
For the construction of a yurt, a low place is chosen, protected from the winds. In addition, the Yakuts are looking for a “happy place”. Therefore, they do not settle among the mighty trees, since they have already taken all the power of the earth. There are many more such moments, as in Chinese geomancy. When choosing a place to build a yurt, they turn to a shaman. Often, yurts are built collapsible so that they can be transported in a nomadic lifestyle.
National clothes
Consists of a single-breasted caftan. Previously, for winter, it was sewn from fur, and for summer - from the skin of a horse or cow. The caftan has 4 additional wedges and a wide belt. The sleeves are wide. Fur socks are also worn on the feet. In modern times, the Yakuts use fabric for sewing clothes. They began to wear shirts with collars, belted with a belt.
Wedding fur coats for women are sewn long, to the heels. They expand towards the bottom. The sleeves and collar are decorated with brocade, red and green cloth, silver ornaments, and lace. The hem is lined with sable fur. These bridal coats are inherited. On the head, instead of a veil, fur hats with a high top made of black or red decorated cloth are worn.
Folklore
Talking about the traditions and customs of the Yakuts, one cannot fail to mention their folklore. The main thing in it is the epic olonkho, which is considered a kind of poetry, and is performed like an opera. This art has been preserved since antiquity. Olonkho includes many traditional legends. And in 2005 this art was recognized as a UNESCO heritage.
Poems from 10 to 15 thousand lines long are performed by folk storytellers. Not everyone can become one. Storytellers must have an oratorical gift, be able to improvise, and have an acting talent. Speech should be of a different tone. Olonkho, which are large in volume, can be performed for seven nights. The largest and most famous work consists of 36 thousand lines of poetry.
Faces of Russia. "Living together while remaining different"The multimedia project "Faces of Russia" has existed since 2006, telling about Russian civilization, the most important feature of which is the ability to live together, while remaining different - this motto is especially relevant for the countries of the entire post-Soviet space. From 2006 to 2012, within the framework of the project, we have created 60 documentaries about representatives of different Russian ethnic groups. Also, 2 cycles of radio programs "Music and Songs of the Peoples of Russia" were created - more than 40 programs. In support of the first series of films, illustrated almanacs were released. Now we are halfway to the creation of a unique multimedia encyclopedia of the peoples of our country, a picture that will allow the people of Russia to recognize themselves and leave a legacy of what they were like for their descendants.
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"Faces of Russia". Yakuts. "Yakutia - Siberia Siberia", 2011
General information
IK'UTS (from the Evenk Yakol), Sakha (self-name), one of the northernmost Turkic peoples, the people in the Russian Federation (380.2 thousand people), the indigenous population of Yakutia (365.2 thousand people). According to the 2002 census, the number of Yakuts living in Russia is 443,852 people; in the 2010 census, more than 478,85 people were recorded speaking the Yakut language.
Yakuts live in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), as well as in the Irkutsk and Magadan regions, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk regions. In Taimyr and in the Evenk Autonomous Okrug. Yakuts make up approximately 45 percent of the population of the Sakha Republic.
The main groups of the Yakuts are Amga-Lena (between the Lena, the lower Aldan and Amga, as well as on the adjacent left bank of the Lena), Vilyui (in the Vilyui basin), Olekma (in the Olekma basin), northern (in the tundra zone of the Anabar, Olenek, Kolyma river basins) , Yana, Indigirka). They speak the Yakut language of the Turkic group of the Altai family, which has groups of dialects: central, Vilyui, north-western, Taimyr. Believers are Orthodox.
The ethnogenesis of the Yakuts was attended by both the Tungus population of taiga Siberia and the Turkic-Mongol tribes that settled in Siberia in the 10-13th centuries and assimilated the local population. The ethnogenesis of the Yakuts ended by the 17th century.
By the beginning of contacts with the Russians (1620s), the Yakuts were divided into 35-40 exogamous "tribes" (Dyon, Aimakh, Russian "volosts"), the largest were Kangalas and Namts on the left bank of the Lena, Megins, Borogons, Betuns, Baturus - between Lena and Amgoy, numbering up to 2-5 thousand people.
According to archaeological and ethnographic data, the Yakuts were formed as a result of the absorption of local tribes in the middle reaches of the Lena River by the southern Turkic-speaking settlers. It is believed that the last wave of the southern ancestors of the Yakuts penetrated the Middle Lena in the XIV-XV centuries. In the process of resettlement to Eastern Siberia, the Yakuts mastered the basins of the northern rivers Anabar, Olenka, Yana, Indigirka and Kolyma. The Yakuts modified the Tungus reindeer husbandry, created the Tungus-Yakut type of harness reindeer husbandry.
The cycle of audio lectures "Peoples of Russia" - Yakuts
The tribes were often at odds with each other, divided into smaller clan groups - "paternal clans" (aga-uusa) and "maternal clans" (iye-uusa), that is, apparently, dating back to different wives of the progenitor. There were customs of blood feud, usually replaced by ransom, military initiation of boys, collective fishing (in the north - catching geese), hospitality, and exchange of gifts (belekh). The military aristocracy stood out - toyons, who ruled the clan with the help of the elders and acted as military leaders. They owned slaves (kulut, bokan), 1-3, rarely up to 20 people in a family. Slaves had families, often lived in separate yurts, men often served in the toyon's military squad. Professional traders appeared - the so-called townspeople (that is, people who traveled to the city). Livestock was in private ownership, hunting, pasture land, hayfields, etc. - mainly in the community. The Russian administration tried to slow down the development of private ownership of land. Under the Russian government, the Yakuts were divided into "clans" (aga-uusa), ruled by elective "princes" (kines) and united in naslegi. The nasleg was headed by an elected "grand prince" (ulakhan kinesis) and a "clan administration" of clan elders. The community members gathered at tribal and inherited gatherings (munnyakh). The people were united in uluses headed by an elected ulus head and a "foreign council". These associations date back to other tribes: Meginsky, Borogonsky, Baturusky, Namsky, West and East Kangalassky uluses, Betyunsky, Batulinsky, Ospetsky naslegi, etc.
Traditional culture is most fully represented by the Amga-Lena and Vilyui Yakuts. The Northern Yakuts are close in culture to the Evenks and Yukagirs, the Olyokminskys are strongly acculturated by the Russians.
The inclusion of the Yakuts into the Russian state in the 1620s-1630s accelerated their socio-economic and cultural development. In the 17th-19th centuries, the main occupation of the Yakuts was cattle breeding (breeding of cattle and horses), from the second half of the 19th century, a significant part began to engage in agriculture, hunting and fishing played an auxiliary role.
The main traditional occupations are horse breeding (in Russian documents of the 17th century the Yakuts were called "equestrian people") and cattle breeding. The horses were looked after by men, the cattle by women. In the north, deer were bred. The cattle were kept on pasture in summer and in barns (khotons) in winter. Haymaking was known before the arrival of the Russians. Yakut cattle breeds were distinguished by their endurance, but they were unproductive.
Fishing was also developed. They fished mainly in the summer, but also in the winter in the ice hole; in the fall, a collective non-water game was arranged with the division of production between all participants. For the poor, who did not have livestock, fishing was the main occupation (in the documents of the 17th century, the term "fisherman" - balyksyt - is used in the meaning of "poor man"), some tribes also specialized in it - the so-called "foot Yakuts" - Osekui, Ontuls, Kokui , Kirikians, Kyrgyz, Orgots and others.
Hunting was especially widespread in the north, constituting here the main source of food (arctic fox, hare, reindeer, elk, bird). In the taiga, before the arrival of the Russians, both meat and fur hunting (bear, elk, squirrel, fox, hare, bird, etc.) were known; later, due to a decrease in the number of animals, its importance dropped. Specific hunting techniques are characteristic: with a bull (the hunter sneaks up on the prey, hiding behind the bull), the horse chasing the animal along the trail, sometimes with dogs.
There was gathering - the collection of pine and larch sapwood (the inner layer of bark), harvested for the winter in a dried form, roots (saran, chakana, etc.), greens (wild onion, horseradish, sorrel), raspberries, which were considered unclean, were not used from berries.
Agriculture (barley, to a lesser extent wheat) was borrowed from the Russians at the end of the 17th century, until the middle of the 19th century it was very poorly developed; its spread (especially in the Olekminsky district) was facilitated by Russian exiled settlers.
Processing of wood (artistic carving, coloring with alder broth), birch bark, fur, leather was developed; crockery was made of leather, rugs were made of horse and cow skins, sewn in a checkerboard pattern, blankets were made of hare fur, etc .; from horsehair they twisted the cords with their hands, weaved, embroidered. Spinning, weaving and felting were absent. The production of molded ceramics, which distinguished the Yakuts from other peoples of Siberia, has survived. Smelting and forging of iron, which were of commercial value, smelting and chasing of silver, copper, etc., were developed, and from the 19th century - carving on mammoth bones.
They moved mainly on horseback, and the goods were transported in a pack. Known were skis lined with horse kamus, sledges (silis syarga, later - sleds of the type of Russian firewood), usually harnessed to bulls, in the north - reindeer straight-dust sleds; types of boats are common with the Evenks - birch bark (tyy) or flat-bottomed planks; sailing ships-karbas are borrowed from the Russians.
Winter settlements (kystyk) were located near mows, consisted of 1-3 yurts, summer settlements near pastures, numbered up to 10 yurts. The winter yurt (booth, dyie) had inclined walls of standing thin logs on a rectangular log frame and a low gable roof. The walls were covered with clay and manure on the outside, the roof over the log flooring was covered with bark and earth. The house was placed on the cardinal points, the entrance was on the east side, the windows were on the south and west, the roof was oriented from north to south. To the right of the entrance, in the northeastern corner, there was a hearth (sediment) - a pipe made of poles coated with clay, which went out through the roof. Plank bunks (oron) were arranged along the walls. The most honorable was the southwest corner. The master's place was located at the western wall. The bunks to the left of the entrance were intended for male youth, workers, on the right, at the hearth, for women. A table (ostuol) and stools were placed in the front corner. On the north side, a stable (khoton) was attached to the yurt, often under the same roof as the dwelling; the door to it from the yurt was behind the hearth. In front of the entrance to the yurt, a shed or canopy was arranged. The yurt was surrounded by a low embankment, often with a fence. There was a hitching post near the house, often decorated with carvings. Summer yurts differed little from winter ones. Instead of a khoton, a barn for calves (titik), sheds, etc. were placed at a distance. There was a conical structure of poles covered with birch bark (urasa), in the north - turf (kalyman, holuman). Polygonal log yurts with a pyramidal roof have been known since the late 18th century. From the second half of the 18th century, Russian huts spread.
Traditional men's and women's clothing - short leather trousers, fur belly, leather leggings, single-breasted caftan (sleep), in winter - fur, in summer - from horse or cow hide with wool inside, the rich - from fabric. Later, fabric shirts with a turn-down collar (yrbakhs) appeared. Men girded with a leather belt with a knife and flint, while the rich - with silver and copper plaques. Women's wedding fur long caftan (sangyyakh) embroidered with red and green cloth and gold lace is typical; an elegant women's fur hat made of expensive fur descending to the back and shoulders, with a high cloth, velvet or brocade top with a silver plaque (tuosakhta) and other adornments sewn onto it. Women's silver and gold jewelry is widespread. Shoes - winter high boots made of reindeer or horse skins with the wool outward (eterbes), summer boots made of soft leather (saar) with a top covered with cloth, for women - with applique, long fur stockings.
The main food is dairy, especially in summer: from mare's milk - kumis, from cow's - yogurt (suorat, sora), cream (kyuerchekh), butter; they drank butter melted or with kumis; Suorat was harvested for the winter frozen (tar) with the addition of berries, roots, etc .; from it with the addition of water, flour, roots, pine sapwood, etc., a stew (butugas) was prepared. Fish food played a major role for the poor and in the northern regions, where there were no livestock, meat was consumed mainly by the rich. Horse meat was especially appreciated. In the 19th century, barley flour was used: unleavened cakes, pancakes, salamat stew were made from it. Vegetables were known in the Olekminsky district.
The family is small (kergen, yal). Until the 19th century, polygamy survived, and the wives often lived separately and each ran their own household. Kalym usually consisted of cattle, part of it (kurum) was intended for a wedding feast. For the bride, they gave a dowry, which in value was about half of the kalym - mainly items of clothing and utensils.
In the second half of the 18th century, most of the Yakuts were converted to Christianity, but shamanism also persisted.
In the life of the Yakuts, religion played a leading role. The Yakuts consider themselves children of the good spirit of aiyy, they believe that they can become spirits. In general, the Yakut from the very conception is surrounded by spirits and gods, on which he is dependent. Almost all Yakuts have an idea of \u200b\u200bthe pantheon of gods. An obligatory rite is feeding the spirit of fire on special occasions or in the lap of nature. Sacred places, mountains, trees, rivers are revered. Blessings (algys) are often real prayers. The Yakuts celebrate the Ysyakh religious holiday every year. The ancient epic "Olonkho" handed down from generation to generation by storytellers is included in the UNESCO World Intangible Heritage List. Another well-known distinctive cultural phenomenon is the so-called Yakut knife. There are many regional variations of the Yakut knife, but in the classic version it is a blade with a length of 110 to 170 mm, set on a wooden handle made of birch burl with a leather sheath.
Orthodoxy spread in the 18-19th centuries. The Christian cult was combined with belief in good and evil spirits, spirits of dead shamans, host spirits, etc. The elements of totemism have been preserved: the clan had a patron animal, which was forbidden to be killed, called by name, etc. The world consisted of several tiers, the head of the upper one was considered Yuryung aiy toyon, the lower one - Ala buurai toyon and others. The cult of the female fertility deity Aiyysyt was important. Horses were sacrificed to the spirits living in the upper world, and cows in the lower world. The main holiday is the spring-summer kumys festival (Ysyakh), accompanied by libations of kumis from large wooden cups (choroon), games, sports competitions, etc. Shamanism was developed. Shaman tambourines (dungyur) are close to Evenk ones. In folklore, a heroic epic (olonkho) was developed, performed in recitative by special storytellers (olonkhosut) with a large crowd of people; historical legends, fairy tales, especially animal tales, proverbs, songs. Traditional musical instruments - jew's harp (khomus), violin (kyryimpa), percussion. Of the dances, the round dance osuokhai, game dances, etc. are widespread.
School education was conducted in Russian since the 18th century. Writing in the Yakut language since the middle of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the intelligentsia was formed.
In 1922 the Yakut ASSR was created, since 1990 - the Republic of Sakha, Yakutia. Cities are growing in the country, industry and agriculture are developing, in the 1930s-1940s the Yakuts settled in new settlements. A network of secondary and higher educational institutions emerged. Literature is published in the Yakut language, periodicals are published, television broadcasts are conducted.
V.N. Ivanov
YUKAG'IRY, odul, vadul (self-name - "mighty, strong"), etel, etal (Chukchi), omoki (outdated Russian), people in the Russian Federation. The number of people is 1.1 thousand. They live in the Nizhnekolymsky (tundra Yukaghirs, or vadul) and Verkhnekolymsky (taiga Yukagirs, or odul) regions of Yakutia (about 700 people), as well as the Alaikhovsky and Anadyr districts of the Magadan region. According to the 2002 census, the number of Yukaghirs living on the territory of Russia is 1 thousand 509 people, according to the 2010 census. - 1 thousand 603 people.
They speak an isolated Yukaghir language, the dialects are tundra and taiga. Writing since the 1970s on a Russian graphic basis. Russian (46% of the Yukagirs consider native), Yakut, Even and Chukchi languages \u200b\u200bare also widespread. Believers are mostly Orthodox.
Most researchers see in the Yukagirs the descendants of the most ancient population of Eastern Siberia, who also took part in the formation of other Paleo-Asian peoples. The settlement of the Tungus (Evenks and Evens) and Turkic (Yakuts) peoples in Eastern Siberia in the 1-2 millennia led to a reduction in the ethnic territory of the Yukagirs and their partial assimilation. By the time the Russians arrived in the middle of the 17th century, the Yukagirs occupied the territory from Indigirka to Anadyr, numbered 4.5-5 thousand people and made up several tribal groups ("clans"): Yandins (Yangins), Onondi, Kogime, Omoki, Alai (Alazi ), Shoromba, Olyubens, Khomoroi, Anauls, Khodynians, Chuvans, Omolontsy, etc. Inclusion in Russia, oppression of the Cossack administration (yasak, amanatism), military clashes with the Yakuts, Evens, Koryaks, Chukchi, devastating smallpox epidemics in 1669 and 1690 led to a sharp reduction in the number of Yukagirs. By the end of the 17th century, the Yukaghirs numbered 2535 people, in the first half of the 18th century - 1400-1500 people, in 1897 - 948 people, in 1926-27 - less than 400 people.
The main traditional occupations are semi-nomadic and nomadic hunting for wild deer (tundra Yukaghirs), elk, deer and mountain sheep (taiga Yukaghirs), among the taiga Yukagirs, lake and river fishing, and among the tundra ones, transport reindeer herding. In the summer they rode on deer on horseback, in winter - on arched-dust sleds. Among the tundra Yukagirs, dog sleds were widespread. They moved along the water on birch-bark, dugout or plank boats, in the snow - on foot-lined skis, on the crust - on golits.
The ancient dwellings of the Yukagirs were semi-dugouts-chandals, the skeletons of which were preserved at the time of the arrival of the Russians, in some places - to the present time. Later, the taiga Yukaghirs lived in conical huts made of thin logs, covered with sod, or in tents with bark or rovduzh covering. The chum was heated by a central hearth, one or two transverse poles were arranged above it for hanging boilers, drying clothes, drying fish and meat. There were also known large log yurts, similar to the Yakut ones, in the tundra regions - cylinder-conical plague borrowed from the Evens. Barns and storage sheds on pillars served as outbuildings. Most of the modern Yukagirs live in log houses in the villages of Andryushkino and Kolymskoe (Verkhnekolymsky district), Nelemnoye and Zyryanka (Nizhnekolymsky district), Markovo (Magadan region), etc.
Traditional clothes are close to Evenk and Even. The main clothing is a knee-length swinging caftan with a hem, tied with ribbons, and an inner fold on the back, in summer - from rovduga, in winter - from reindeer skins. Long "tails" made of seal skins were sewn to the back: for men - bifurcated at the back, for women - on the sides. A bib and short pants were worn under the caftan, leather in summer and fur in winter. Men wore a belt with a knife and a pouch over a caftan. In winter, a long squirrel-tailed scarf was worn on top. Winter clothing made of rovduga was widespread, close in cut to the Chukchi kamleika and kukhlyanka. Summer shoes are made of rovduga, with leggings, tied with straps at the thigh and ankle, in winter - high torbasses made of reindeer kamus, stockings made of reindeer or hare fur. Women's clothing was lighter, sewn from the multi-colored fur of young deer. Festive clothing was decorated with deer hair embroidery, beads, cloth trims, expensive fur, appliqué. Silver, copper and iron jewelry were widespread - rings, plaques, etc .; characteristic decoration of women's bibs - "breast sun" - a large silver plaque.
The main food is meat and fish - boiled, dried, frozen. The meat was harvested for future use - dried and then smoked and ground into powder. The fish was kept in the form of yukola, crushed into a porsa powder; in winter it was boiled with reindeer blood or pine sapwood (anil carile); boiled fish was pounded with berries and fat (kulibakha). Fish offal and caviar were fried, and cakes were baked from caviar. In summer, they ate fermented fish, wrapping it in willow leaves for a day. They also consumed wild onions, saran roots, berries, in contrast to the Yakuts and Evens - mushrooms. Amanita was used as an aphrodisiac, tobacco, thyme leaves were smoked, tea and birch growths were brewed.
The family is large, mostly matrilocal, patrilineal inheritance. There were customs of levirate, avoidance (taboo on communication between a father and a married son and daughter-in-law, etc.). From the end of the 19th century, the kalym institute spread.
The customs associated with fire played an important role: it was forbidden to transmit fire from the hearth to strangers, to pass between the hearth and the head of the family, etc. Traditional beliefs are cults of host spirits, the supreme heavenly god Hoyle (merged with the Christian cult), game animals (especially elk), bear cult, the cult of fire, ancestral spirits. The ideas of the division of the universe into upper, middle and lower worlds ("earths"), connected by a river, and shamanism were developed. The bodies of the dead shamans were dismembered, the skulls were kept in the house as a shrine. The main holidays are spring (Shahadzibe), weddings, successful hunts, military campaigns, etc. - were accompanied by songs, dances, performance of legends, shamanic rituals. Until the 20th century, pictographic writing on birch bark (tossy, shongar-shorile) was preserved. The main genres of folklore are legends, stories and fairy tales. The main dances are circular (longdol) and paired imitative - "Swan". Christianity has been spreading since the 17th century.
Modern Yukaghirs are engaged in fur trade, fishing, reindeer husbandry. The intelligentsia appeared. Tribal communities - "Chaila" ("Rassvet") and "Yukagir" are being recreated, they have been allocated territories traditional for the economic activity of the Yukaghirs, and financial support is provided.
In December 1992, the Council of Elders and the Yukaghir People's Revival Fund were created.
Municipal budgetary educational institution
"Secondary school number 26"
Municipal formation "Mirninsky district"
Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Research work
Traditional culture of peoples
Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Completed:
Kalacheva Rosalia
Alina's share
pupils of grade 9 "G"
Mayorov's leader
Tamara Alexandrovna,
teacher
russian language and literature
year 2012
mirny
Relevance of the topic.Yakutia! You are covered with forests . Yakutia is in a necklace of stars.
Yakutia! The sky above you is blue. The land is harsh, taiga
We love to tears!
Modern Yakutia is a highly developed region. The main wealth of the republic is not only natural resources, but also people whose work glorifies their small homeland.
More than 120 nationalities live in the land of Olonkho. The indigenous inhabitants of Yakutia are Yakuts, Evenks, Evens, Chukchi, Dolgans, Yukagirs. Each nationality has its own rituals and traditions.
Getting acquainted with the history of the republic, we learned that the Turkic-speaking people yuch - kurykany - ancestors of the Yakuts. The people appeared and existed from the 6th to the 11th century. Kurykanyin the 6-10 centuries were the most numerous and powerful people of the Baikal region . Until the 13th century, they were resettled to the Lena, coming to the middle Lena, the ancestors of the Yakuts met with the Evens, Evenks, Yukaghirs and other local tribes, some of them were ousted, some were assimilated.
That is why we became interested in the traditions and rituals of the peoples of Yakutia and set a goal for ourselves.
Goal: study of the customs and traditions of the peoples of Yakutia, determination of their role in modern life.
An object: customs and traditions of the peoples of Yakutia.
Thing: origins and role customs and traditions in modern life.
Tasks:
- study the literature on the chosen topic;
- to interview people who know the rituals of antiquity;
- systematize and summarize the collected material;
- to arrange the results of search work.
Methods: study of literature, interviews, visualization, analysis and synthesis,
generalization and systematization
Hypothesis: if in the process of searching on the topic enough material is studied on the customs and traditions of the peoples of Yakutia, then we will determine the origins of their origin and their role in modern life.
Plan.
1. The culture of the Sakha peoples in the modern world.
2. Customs and holidays (optional):
A. Yakutov;
B. Evenkov:
V. Evens;
G. Dolgan;
D. Chukchi.
3. The value of the customs and traditions of the peoples of Yakutia, the definition of their role in modern life.
1. The culture of the Sakha peoples in the modern world.
Many peoples live in Yakutia and everyone has a similar culture, lifestyle, beliefs and way of life, which has changed over time, begins to change with the entry of Yakutia into the Russian state. The Russians are introducing legal norms, general rules, yasak fees, a new religion. The spread of Christianity leads to a change in the customs and lifestyle of the aborigines of Yakutia, the disappearance of the concepts of kinship, blood feud.
For the Chukchi, the main occupation is reindeer husbandry and sea fishing. Culture and everyday life do not receive cardinal changes, but an additional occupation appears, which gradually becomes predominant - fur trade.
For the Evens, reindeer breeding, fishing and hunting continue to be the main activity, which is becoming the second most important.
The Evens change their clothes, into which the Russian style is introduced.
The main occupation of the Yukaghirs is reindeer breeding and dog breeding. Semi-nomadic lifestyle.
IMPORTANT: occupation affects
2.a. Customs and holidays Yakuts.
The Yakuts (Sakhalar) are one of the most numerous peoples of Siberia. They live in Evenkia, in the Irkutsk region, in the Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk territories, but mainly in Yakutia (the Republic of Sakha), on the territory of which the cold pole of our planet is located. The Yakut language belongs to the Turkic languages \u200b\u200bthat are part of the Altai language family. The traditional economic activities of the Yakuts are cattle breeding, horse breeding, hunting and fishing.
Festival of kumys (Ysyakh). This holiday is celebrated in late spring in the open air. People sing, dance, watch the fights of the fighters, drink a delicious drink made from mare's milk - kumis. The name of the holiday comes from the verb “to spray”, “to sprinkle”. In the past the culmination of a holiday Ysyakh- a ceremony during which shamans sprinkled fire with kumis. This action was performed in honor of the "holy deities", to which among the Yakuts, cattle-breeding peoples, the deities of fertility were ranked first of all. This tradition is associated with another cult - the cult of the horse. Indeed, in the myths of the Yakut people, the first living creature on earth was a horse, from it a half-horse - half-man and only then did people appear. This holiday has survived to this day.
"The blacksmith and the shaman are from the same nest." The libation of kumis on the fire could be performed only by the "light shaman" - "Aiyy-oyuuna". Along with the “white shamans”, the Yakuts had “black shamans” - this was the name of the intermediaries between people and spirits of the “lower world”. All shamans were treated with respect and fear. The Yakuts treated the blacksmiths with the same feelings. In the old days they said that "a blacksmith and a shaman are from the same nest." Blacksmiths were considered sorcerers by many peoples of the world, including Siberia. This reflects the cult of fire: everyone who is associated with the flame has a special magical power. According to Yakut beliefs, a blacksmith, forging iron pendants for a shaman's costume, acquired a special power over spirits. There was one more belief: the spirits are afraid of the clatter of iron and the noise of the bellows, the spirits are afraid of the blacksmiths, therefore, people need to treat them with respect and caution.
"Don't forget to feed the fire." This rite is rooted far
into the past, back to the ancient stone age. Flame was considered by the Yakuts to be the personification of purity. Dirty objects could not be thrown into the fire, and before the start of any meal it was necessary to "treat" him. For this, they put pieces of food into the fire, sprinkled milk on the fire. It was believed that this is how people express their respect for the owner of the fire - Wat-icchite
2.b. Customs and holidays evenki
This people is called the "Indians of Siberia". Indeed, there are many things that these indigenous inhabitants of North Asia have in common with the famous St. John's wort from the Iroquois or Delaware tribe. Like the North American Indians, the Evenks are hereditary hunters, artificial trackers, tireless travelers. Their number is a little over 30 thousand people. But the Evenks are settled in a vast territory - from Western Siberia to Yakutia, Buryatia and Primorye. The Evenk language belongs to the Tungus-Manchu branch of the Altai language family. They used to be called tungus.
How the guests were received.This custom - hospitality - is known to all peoples of the world. The Evenks also have it. Many Evenk families had to wander through the taiga in isolation from other families. Therefore, the arrival of the guests was a great holiday. They were given gifts, seated in a place of honor in the tent (behind the hearth, opposite the entrance), treated to the most delicious dishes, for example: finely chopped bear meat, seasoned with fried bear fat. In the warm season, in honor of the guests, he arranged dances in the meadow, in which all the inhabitants of the camp, from young to old, took part. The dances of this people are very temperamental. And in the evening the story of one of the guests or the host began. This story was unusual: the narrator spoke, then began to sing, and the audience repeated the most important words. The heroes of the story were people and animals, powerful spirits. The legends could last all night, and if they did not end, then the guests stayed one more night.
How peace was made. Evenki appreciated the ability not only to fight, but also the ability to negotiate peace. A detachment led by a shaman approached the enemy camp and warned with a loud cry of their approach. The enemy expelled the envoys - two elderly women. The straps of their fur boots must be undone - this is a sign that the enemy is ready to negotiate. The same elderly women, representing the hostile side, entered the negotiations. The shaman defiantly rejected the proposals and ordered to prepare for battle. Then the defenders sent two elderly men with untied fur boots. New negotiations began, led by the oldest men .. But these negotiations did not bring success. Then a shaman from the defending camp arrived at the attackers' camp. Both shamans sat with their backs to each other, on either side of the cross-swords thrust into the ground, and speak directly. This conversation ends with the conclusion of peace .. Such a ceremony for the conclusion of peace proved that this is an important, but difficult matter, that the world must be protected
2.c. Customs and holidays evens
The Evens are a people closely related to the Evenks. They also hunt taiga animals, speak a language similar to the Evenks. But unlike the "Indians of Siberia", the Evenks are not settled in such a vast territory. They live mainly in Yakutia, in the Khabarovsk Territory, in the Magadan and Kamchatka regions. The number of Evenks is about 17 thousand people. One of the ancient names of the Even tribes - "lamuts" - comes from the word "lama". Translated, it means "sea". It is very likely that in ancient times Lake Baikal was called so in Siberia. In the Baikal region, as studies of archaeologists have shown, 2000 years ago, the process of the formation of today's Evenks began.
The bride came to the house. The Evens bride came to the groom's chum, as a rule, riding a deer. This significant event was preceded by a number of other, also quite important events. At first, the parents of the young man decided what kind of family the bride should be.
The next step is to send in matchmakers. Their actions could have ended in failure. If, for example, among the Kamchatka Evens, the girl's parents refused to smoke the pipe offered to them with the matchmakers, this meant that the bride had to be looked for in another house.
After the conclusion of the contract, the parents of the young man had to pay the kalym. And only after receiving the kalym, the bride was put on a deer and, accompanied by numerous relatives, was taken to the groom.
Before crossing the threshold of her new home, the bride drove around it three times, and she had to go from left to right - in the direction of the sun. Entering the chum, the girl took out the cauldron brought with her and cooked venison. When the meat was ready, the wedding feast began.
"Help us, sun!" In the past, the Evens often turned to the sun for help, especially when someone fell ill. The sun for them was a powerful deity, who needed to make sacrifices. Usually it was a deer. The animal was chosen at the direction of the shaman or as a result of fortune telling. And when they wondered, they listened to the crackle of the hearth. The cult of the sun was associated with the cult of fire. The skin of a sacrificial deer was hung on a pole leaning against a tree, and two freshly cut young larches were placed on the sides of the pole. The meat of the deer donated to the sun was eaten together and necessarily on the same day when the ceremony was performed.
The funeral of the bear. Another cult of the Evens was the cult of the bear. It was like that. After killing the beast, the hunter greeted him and thanked him for coming. Since it was believed that the killed bear voluntarily came to visit people. When dividing the carcass of the bear, Nimat was observed: the meat of the bear was distributed to all residents of the camp, and the head was cooked separately, and the men cooked it. Women were not allowed not only to cook, but also to eat their heads. After the meal, the bones of the bear were buried here: the skeleton was laid in a strict anatomical order on a wooden platform, which was installed on reinforced piles.
The Evenks also buried their fellow tribesmen on stilts. This continued until the 19th century.
2.d. Dolgan customs and holidays
Nowadays there are over 7 thousand Dolgans. They live mainly in Taimyr, as well as in Yakutia and Evenkia. Dolgan is very close to Yakut. The Dolgans formed into an independent people in the 18-19 centuries as a result of the merger of separate separate Evenk and Yakut clans, as well as the Russian old-time population of Taimyr - tundra peasants. The Dolgans are engaged in reindeer husbandry, hunt wild deer, hunt for furs, and fish. Their folk art is very developed: singing, playing a musical instrument - jew's harp. Women perfectly embroider with beads and silk threads, men master the ancient art of carving on mammoth tusk.
"The Dolgans have such a custom ..." The famous Dolgan poetess Ogdo Aksenova wrote the following lines: “The Dolgans have such a custom - to share the first prey. Remember, boy! " In the old days, the Dolgans always gave part of their prey - deer meat and caught fish to relatives and neighbors. But furs were not subject to division. She was a valuable commodity, in exchange for which one could exchange guns, gunpowder, tea, flour, sugar from visiting merchants.
Traps for Arctic foxes - "Easter" - were the personal property of each hunter. Only the owner could take the prey. There was one more rule associated with hunting foxes. If you decide to set your traps to the south of those set by another hunter, you do not need his permission for this .. But if you set them to the north, you must definitely ask the consent of their owner. This is due to the fact that Arctic foxes come to the Dolgan land from the north, and hunters who set traps to the north have a better chance of success in hunting.
Little mistress of the great plague. The Dolgans retained vestiges of matriarchy almost until the 19th century - the primacy of women. The women supported the fire, "fed" it; they were in charge of all the household shrines. In winter, as a rule, several Dolgan families united, built and lived in a large chum. We chose a common hostess. She was often an elderly woman, tired of work. The mistress's word was law for everyone, even for the proud and warlike Dolgan men.
Ichchi, satians and other spirits. Dolgans were considered Christians . They performed many Orthodox rites, but at the same time retained their ancient beliefs.
Deities and spirits, the Dolgans believed, were divided into three categories:
1 - "icchi" - incorporeal, invisible creatures, “souls”, capable of settling in inanimate things and “animating” them;
2 – malicious "abaasy", bringing illnesses and misfortunes that were beating on the earth and in the underworld, they sought to steal a soul from a person, take it underground. And then enter his body. The person who was possessed abaasy, was seriously ill, and, according to Dolgan beliefs, only a shaman could help him.
3 – "Siteans" - any object in which the shaman infused the soul - "icchi". It could be a stone of unusual Thomas, a horn of a wild deer ... Saitaanspossessed powerful force and were in the eyes of the Dolgans a kind of amulet that brought good luck on the hunt and in household chores.
2.d. Chukchi customs and holidays
The number of this people today is more than 15 thousand people inhabiting the extreme north-east of Russia, Chukotka. The name of this distant Arctic region means "the land of the Chukchi" in translation. The Russian word "Chukchi" comes from the Chukchi "Chauchu" - "rich in deer." Their distant ancestors came to the Arctic from the central regions of Siberia, when on the site of the Bering Strait there was a vast isthmus connecting Asia with America. Part of the residents of Northeast Asia crossed the Bering Bridge to Alaska. In the traditional culture of the Chukchi, traditions are brought together with the Indian peoples of North America.
Canoe holiday.According to the old ideas of the Chukchi, everything that surrounds a person has a soul. The sea has a soul, a canoe has a soul - a boat covered with walrus skin, on which sea hunters fearlessly go out into the ocean today. Before going out to sea in the spring, the hunters held a holiday. The boat was solemnly removed from the pillars of bowhead whale jaw bones, on which it was kept all winter. Then they sacrificed to the sea: they threw pieces of boiled meat into the sea. The boat was carried to the yaranga. All the participants in the festival solemnly walked around the yaranga. The oldest woman in the family went first, then the owner of the canoe, the helmsman, the rowers and all the other participants in the holiday. The next day, the boat was transferred to the seashore, the sacrifice was again made, and only after that the canoe was lowered into the water.
Whale festival.This holiday took place at the end of the fishing season. It was based on the rite of reconciliation between hunters and killed animals. Lydia, dressed in festive clothes, including waterproof raincoats made of walrus intestines, asked for forgiveness from whales, seals, walruses. “It was not the hunters who killed you, the stones rolled down the mountain and killed you,” the Chukchi sang songs. Men staged wrestling fights, performed dances in which they reflected dangerous scenes of hunting sea animals.
At the festival of the whale, sacrifices were always made Karetkunu - master of all sea animals. After all, it is from him, the inhabitants believed, that success in the hunt depends. Even his sculpture was carved from wood. The culmination of the holiday was the sinking of whale bones into the sea. In the sea water, the Chukchi believed, the bones would turn into new animals, and next year whales would appear again off the coast of Chukotka.
Feast of the young deer (Kilvey).The ego was arranged in the spring when the deer were calving. The shepherds drove the flock to the yarangas, and the women made a sacred fire. Fire for such a fire was obtained only by friction. The deer were greeted with shouts, shots, and beaten with tambourines-yarars to scare away evil spirits. She invited guests - Chukchi living on the seashore. People exchanged gifts, venison was valuable, as it was a delicacy. During the holiday, not only had fun, but also separated the young deer from the main herd to graze them on the abundant pastures. At this time, old deer were also slaughtered in order to prepare meat for future use for women and old people, children. After all, they stayed in winter camps, where they caught fish, picked berries and mushrooms. And the men set off with reindeer herds on a long journey, to summer camps. Moving with the herd was long, difficult and dangerous. Therefore, the holiday of a young deer is also a goodbye before a long separation.
3. The value of the customs and traditions of the peoples of Yakutia, the definition of their role in modern life.
Conclusion. Having studied various literary sources, having interviewed experts in the rituals and traditions of the peoples of Yakutia, we can put forward our own hypothesis about the origin of customs and holidays of the peoples of Yakutia:
We believe that these people, being illiterate, believed in the forces of nature. Therefore, they deified fire, sun, sea, bear, horse, ...
Faith was passed down from generation to generation, and traditional holidays have survived to this day, but already changed by modern life.
With our work, we have confirmed the hypothesis put forward.
The material collected as a result of the research can be used:
- on classroom hours at school,
- as a result of search activities at the NPK "Step into the Future"
- when implementing sample program "Culture of the peoples of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)".
YAKUTY (self-name - Sakha), the people in the Russian Federation (382 thousand people), the indigenous population of Yakutia (365 thousand people). The language of the Yakut Uyghur group of Turkic languages. Believers are Orthodox.
Tongue
They speak the Yakut language of the Turkic group of the Altai family of languages. The dialects are combined into the central, Vilyui, northwestern and Taimyr groups. 65% of Yakuts speak Russian.
Origin
In the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts, both local Tungus-speaking elements and Turkic-Mongol tribes (Xiongnu, Türks-Tugu, Kypchaks, Uighurs, Khakases, Kurykans, Mongols, Buryats), settled in Siberia in the X-XIII centuries, took part. and assimilated the local population. The ethnos was finally formed by the 17th century. By the beginning of contacts with the Russians (1620s), the Yakuts lived in the Amga-Lena interfluve, on the Vilyui, at the mouth of the Olekma, in the upper reaches of the Yana. Traditional culture is most fully represented among the Amga-Lena and Vilyui Yakuts. The northern Yakuts are close in culture to the Evenks and Yukagirs, the Olyokminskys are heavily cultured by the Russians.
Farm
| Yakuts-hunters |
The main traditional occupation of the Yakuts is horse breeding and cattle breeding. In Russian sources of the 17th century. Yakuts are called "horse people". The horses were looked after by men, and the cattle by women. The cattle were kept on pasture in summer and in barns (khotons) in winter. Haymaking was known even before the arrival of the Russians. They bred special breeds of cows and horses, adapted to the harsh climatic conditions. conditions of the North. Local cattle were notable for their endurance and unpretentiousness, but they were unproductive, milked only in summer. Cattle occupies a special place in the Yakut culture; special rituals are dedicated to it. Burials of Yakuts with a horse are known. An important role in the Yakut epic is assigned to her image. The northern Yakuts adopted reindeer husbandry from the Tungus peoples.
Hunting
Both meat hunting for large game (elk, wild deer, bear, wild boar and others) and fur trade (fox, arctic fox, sable, squirrel, ermine, muskrat, marten, wolverine and others) were developed. Specific hunting techniques are characteristic: with a bull (the hunter sneaks up on the prey, hiding behind the bull, which he drives in front of him), the horse chasing the animal along the trail, sometimes with dogs. Hunting tools - bow with arrows, spear. We used notches, fences, trapping pits, snares, traps, crossbows (aya), mouth (sokhso); from the 17th century. - firearms. Subsequently, due to the decrease in the number of animals, the importance of hunting fell.
Fishing
Fishing was of great importance: river fishing (fishing for sturgeon, chir, muksun, nelma, whitefish, grayling, tugun and others) and lake fishing (minnow, crucian carp, pike and others). Fish were caught with tops, snouts (tuu), a net (ilim), a horsehair net (baady), and they beat them with a spear (atara). Fishing was carried out mainly in summer. In the fall, they arranged a collective net with the division of the booty between the participants. In winter, they caught fish in the ice-hole. For the Yakuts, who did not have livestock, fishing was the main economic occupation: in the documents of the 17th century. the term "balysyt" ("fisherman") was used in the meaning of "poor man". Some tribes also specialized in fishing - the so-called "foot" Yakuts - Osekui, Ontuls, Kokui, Kirikians, Kyrgyz, Orgots and others.
Collecting and farming
There was gathering: harvesting pine and deciduous sapwood, collecting roots (sarana, chakana and others), greens (wild onions, horseradish, sorrel), and to a lesser extent berries (raspberries were not consumed, they were considered unclean). Agriculture was borrowed from the Russians at the end of the 17th century. Until the middle of the XIX century. it was poorly developed. The spread of agriculture (especially in the Amginsky and Olekminsky suburbs) was facilitated by the Russian exiled settlers. They cultivated special varieties of wheat, rye, barley, which had time to ripen in a short and hot summer, and garden crops were grown.
During the years of Soviet power, the Yakuts developed new branches of the economy: cage farming, small-scale animal husbandry, poultry farming. They moved mainly on horseback, and the goods were transported in a pack.
Everyday life
There were known skis lined with horse kamus, sleds (silis syarga) with runners made of wood with a rhizome, which had a natural curvature; later - a sled of the type of Russikh wood, in which bulls were usually harnessed, among the northern Yakuts - reindeer straight-dust sleds. Water transport: raft (aal), boats - dugout (onocho), shuttle (tyy), birch bark boat (tuos tyy), others. The Yakuts counted time according to the lunisolar calendar. The year (syl) was divided into 12 months of 30 days each: January - tohsunnyu (ninth), February - olunnyu (tenth), March - kulun tutar (month of feeding foals), April - muus is outdated (month of ice drift), May - yam yya (month of milking cows), June - bes yya (month of harvesting pine sapwood), July - from yya (month of haymaking), August - atyrdyakh yya (month of haystacking), September - balagan yya (month of moving from summer to winter roads), October - altynnyi (sixth), November - setinnyi (seventh), December - ahsynny (eighth). The new year came in May. Weather forecasters (dylyty) were in charge of the national calendar.
Craft
Among the traditional crafts of the Yakuts are blacksmithing, jewelry, processing wood, birch bark, bones, leather, fur, in contrast to other peoples of Siberia - molded ceramics. Crockery was made of leather, horsehair was woven, cords were twisted, and they were embroidered. Yakut blacksmiths (timir uuga) smelted iron in cheese-blowing forges. Since the beginning of the twentieth century. forged items from purchased iron. Blacksmithing also had a commercial value. Yakut jewelers (kemus uuga) made women's jewelry, horse harness, dishes, cult objects and others from gold, silver (partially melting Russian coins) and copper; they knew the chasing and blackening of silver. Artistic woodcarving (ornamentation of serge hitching posts, choron cups for kumis and others), embroidery, applique work, horsehair weaving and others were developed. In the XIX century. mammoth bone carving became widespread. The ornamentation is dominated by curls, palmettes, meanders. A two-horned motive on saddlecloths is characteristic.
Dwelling
 |
| yakut |
The Yakuts had several seasonal settlements: winter (kystyk), summer (sayylyk) and autumn (otor). Winter settlements were located near mows, consisted of 1–3 yurts, summer (up to 10 yurts) - near pastures. The winter dwelling (booth kypynny dye), where they lived from September to April, had sloping walls made of thin logs on a log frame and a low gable roof. The walls were covered with clay and manure, the roof over the log flooring was covered with bark and earth. Since the XVIII century. polygonal log yurts with a pyramidal roof are also widespread. The entrance (aan) was made in the eastern wall, the windows (tyunnyuk) - in the southern and western, the roof was oriented from north to south. In the northeastern corner, to the right of the entrance, a chuvala (opoh) -type hearth was arranged, plank bunks (oron) were built along the walls, and a bunk going from the middle of the southern wall to the western corner was considered honorable. Together with the adjoining part of the western bunk, it formed an honorable corner. Further to the north was the owner's place. The bunks to the left of the entrance were intended for young men and workers, on the right, at the hearth, for women. A table (ostuol) and stools were placed in the front corner; from other furnishings there were chests and boxes. On the north side, a stable (khoton) of the same design was attached to the yurt. The entrance to it from the yurt was behind the hearth. A shed or canopy (kyule) was erected in front of the entrance to the yurt. The yurt was surrounded by a low embankment, often with a fence. A hitching post was placed near the house, often decorated with rich carvings. From the 2nd half of the 18th century. as a winter dwelling among the Yakuts, Russian huts with a stove spread. The summer dwelling (uraga sayyngy dye), in which they lived from May to August, was a cylindro-conical structure covered with birch bark made of poles (on a frame of four poles, fastened at the top with a square frame). In the North, frame buildings covered with sod (holuman) were known. In the villages there were outbuildings and structures: barns (ampaar), glaciers (buluus), cellars for storing dairy products (tar iine), smoking dugouts, mills. At a distance from the summer dwelling, they set up a shed for calves (titik), erected sheds, and more.
clothing
The national clothing of the Yakuts consists of a single-breasted caftan (sleep), in winter - fur, in summer - from cow or horse hide with wool inside, the rich - from fabric, it was sewn from 4 wedges with additional wedges at the belt and wide sleeves gathered at the shoulders; short leather pants (syaya), leather leggings (sotoro), fur socks (keenche). Later, fabric shirts with a turn-down collar (yrbakhs) appeared. Men girded with a simple belt, the rich with silver and copper plaques. Women's wedding fur coats (sangyyakh) - toe-length, widening downwards, on a yoke, with sewn-in sleeves with small puffs and a fur shawl collar. The sides, hem and sleeves were bordered by wide stripes of red and green cloth, lace. Fur coats were richly decorated with silver jewelry, beads, fringes. They were highly valued and passed on by inheritance, mainly in Toyon families. A women's wedding headdress (djabakka) was sewn from sable or beaver fur. It had the appearance of a cap descending on the shoulders, with a high top made of red or black cloth, velvet or brocade, densely trimmed with beads, braid, plaques, and certainly with a large silver heart-shaped plaque (tuosakhta) over the forehead. The oldest djabakkas are decorated with a sultan made of bird feathers. Women's clothing was complemented by a belt (kur), chest (ilin kebiher), back (kelin kebiher), neck (mooi simege) jewelry, earrings (ytarga), bracelets (begeh), knuckles (suhuyeh simege), rings (bihileh) made of silver, often gold, engraved. Shoes - winter high boots made of reindeer or horse skins with fur outside (eterbes), summer boots made of suede (saar) with tops covered with cloth, for women - with applique.
To live in harmony with nature, faith and oneself, honor traditions, but not be afraid of changes - all this is about the Yakuts, one of the most numerous northern peoples of Russia.
The Yakuts (self-name Sakha or Sakhalar) as a people appeared as a result of the mixing of the Turks with the peoples living along the middle reaches of the Lena. It is believed that the Yakuts were formed as an ethnic community by the XIV-XV centuries. Nevertheless, even then, the process was not fully completed: as a result of the nomadic way of life, this people constantly moved, infusing new blood into the nation, for example, Evenk, on the way.
Yakuts belong to the North Asian type of the Mongoloid race. In many ways, their culture and traditions are similar to the customs of the Central Asian Turkic peoples, but there are still some differences. The Yakut language belongs to the Altai family and belongs to the Turkic dialects.
Patience, perseverance and high efficiency are the national traits of the Yakuts: despite the extremely harsh climate and harsh living conditions, Sakha from time immemorial managed to graze livestock and plow the cold, ungrateful lands. The climate also had a great influence on the national costume: even for a wedding, Yakut girls wear fur coats.
Horse breeding, hunting and fishing are the main trades of the Yakuts. In our time, it is problematic to feed on such activities, therefore many Yakuts are involved in the mining industry, because their region is rich in diamonds.
The Yakuts are traditionally a nomadic people, so they use an easily disassembled yurt as their dwelling.
But do not rush to imagine a felt house, similar to those built by the Mongols: the Yakut yurt is made of wood and has a paneled roof resembling a cone.
There are many windows in the yurt, and sleeping places are arranged under each of them. The sun beds are separated by partitions separating small "rooms" from each other, the heart of the yurt is a smeared hearth. In the hot season, short-lived birch bark yurts are built, which are called urasami... Not all Yakuts are comfortable in yurts, therefore, starting from the 20th century, many prefer huts.
Traditional beliefs and holidays
Yakut beliefs are characterized by an appeal to nature as a mother, love and respect for her. At the same time, there is a kind of "non-family" detachment in relations with the environment: nature is perceived as an otherworldly force that cannot be completely controlled. All that exists, according to Sakha, has a soul and strength. And the rituals of the Yakuts are designed to establish relations between numerous spirits and humanity.
Sakha has his own, rather curious, explanation of the origin of natural disasters: they arise to cleanse places affected by evil spirits.
Thus, a tree that is split or burnt by lightning is clean of any defilement and can even heal.
Of great importance is the goddess Aan, the patroness of all living things, helping people, plants and animals to grow and reproduce. The offering ritual for Aan takes place in the spring.
One of the most important spirits in the Yakut tradition is the master of the road. They try to cajole him with small offerings: horse hair, coins, pieces of fabric and buttons are placed at the intersections.
No less important is the owner of the water, to whom it is customary to present gifts twice a year: in autumn and spring. They consist of a birch bark boat, on which an image of a person is carved, and pieces of fabric, ribbons, etc. tied to it. Do not drop knives, needles and other sharp objects into the water: this can offend and offend the owner of the water.
The owner of the fire is old and gray-haired, his purpose is to drive out evil spirits. Fire, as a symbol of light and warmth, Sakha has always been revered. They were afraid to extinguish it and were transferred to a new place in pots, because while the flame was glowing, the family and the hearth were protected.
Baai Bayanai - the spirit of the forest - an assistant in everything related to hunting. In ancient times, the Yakuts chose some animals as sacred, closest to Baai, and therefore put a taboo on their killing and eating. These animals included the goose, swan, ermine. The eagle was considered the king of birds. The bear was the main one among the animals and the most revered among the Yakuts. And in our time, many believe in the miraculous power of amulets from his claws or teeth.
The roots of the Yakut holidays go back to ancient rituals, among which the most important is Ysyakh, celebrated in early summer. During the holiday, a hitching post is made around the young birches in the meadow. In our time, such an action is associated with the friendship of all peoples living on the territory of Yakutia, while earlier it symbolized the World Tree. Ysyakh is a family day and is celebrated by people of all ages.
An important part of the holiday is sprinkling the fire with kumis, and then addressing the Deities with a request for the bestowal of such benefits as luck, peace, etc. The Yakuts put on a traditional costume, cook national dishes, and drink kumis. During the meal, it is imperative to sit at the same table with the whole family, close or distant relatives. Ysyakh is a merry holiday with dances, round dances, wrestling competitions, tug of a stick, and archery.
Family rites and traditions
The modern Yakut family differs little from the average Russian one. But until the 19th century, polygamy was widespread among Sakha. According to the Yakut traditional family model, each of the wives lived separately, observing their own way of life, way of life, and household. The Yakuts preferred to tie the knot at the age of 16-25. When the groom's family went to woo the bride's parents, it was customary to pay a kalym for the girl. If the groom is too poor, he could steal the bride and “work off” the money later.
To protect the house and livestock from damage, evil eye, evil spirits, and still in some uluses, a number of measures are being taken. For a successful conspiracy, seemingly trifles like ornament on clothes, "correct" decorations, special utensils matter. Conspiracies alone are not enough; it is also necessary to carry out special rituals, with the help of which the Sakha hope to get a good harvest, increase the livestock population, give birth to healthy children, etc.
Old customs and traditions are of great importance. Women cannot look at the magic stone Sat, which is found in the stomachs or liver of animals and birds, otherwise it will lose its power. Sat is wrapped in birch bark and horsehair, cherished like the apple of an eye, because with its help you can invoke rain, wind, snow. The first is especially important in case of dry weather, because soil fertility largely depends on timely watering.
Interesting facts about the Yakuts and Yakutia
The most famous component of Yakut folklore is the epic olonkho, considered a type of poetry, but sounding more like an opera. Thanks to the ancient art of olonkho, many Yakut folk legends have survived to our time. The contribution of olonkho to the folklore of the peoples of the world is so great that in 2005 it was included in the UNESCO list of cultural heritage.
One of the popular Yakut dishes is stroganina: thinly sliced \u200b\u200bfrozen fish.
The area of \u200b\u200bYakutia is larger than the area of \u200b\u200bArgentina.
Yakutia accounts for about a quarter of the world's diamond production.
More than forty percent of the territory of Yakutia is located beyond the Arctic Circle.
When Sakha eat bear meat, they imitate the cry of a crow before the meal begins. Thus, they protect themselves from the spirit of the bear, posing as birds.
Yakut horses graze on their own, they are not looked after by a shepherd.