Khanty, Reindeer sled crossing a shallow lake, 1998.
“In every aspect of their daily life, in the midst of their interminable struggle against the unrelenting landscape and weather, we may glimpse the expression of an irrepressible aesthetic.”
The traditional lifestyles of the various communities that live in Siberia depend on one or more activities – fishing, hunting, the herding of reindeer or the breeding of cattle – that are specific to their locality, but also subject to regional variations, some of them significant, even within a single ethnic group. For example, the Evenki may herd reindeer and hunt, may hunt and fish, or may instead farm cattle and breed horses depending on where they live. The Eveni people, on the other hand, herd reindeer and hunt in the tundra and the taiga, while on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk they rely solely on catching marine creatures.
Communities in Siberia tend by tradition to live on the resources available to them, making the best of the geographical and climatic conditions. Factors that have a far-reaching influence on their everyday lives include fragile ecosystems; the long, cold, dark northern winter; the migration of herds; the hibernation of species upon which they rely for food; the brevity of the crop-growing period.
Reindeer herders thus take it for granted that when the reindeer make their annual move to seek out new pasturage, they must go with them, so becoming nomads. The arrival in the far north of migrant birds in May marks the beginning of the most bountiful hunting season of the year. In spring and autumn various species of fish swim up the rivers to spawn. Each has its own preferred riverine destination – salmon, for instance, find their way far upriver to the shallow headstreams. The fishermen naturally follow season after season to where their preferred fish are most plentiful, to make their best catches while the fish are at their meatiest and while the females are full of roe. In summer, the brief period of plant growth is punctuated by the ripening of different types of berry, one after the other, in their preferred surroundings.
At the coasts, however, there are always animals and birds to catch, which means that littoral communities, at least during peaceable times, have never needed to become nomadic.
The fauna and the flora, the regenerative cycle of nature in Siberia – all determine the rhythm of life of the aboriginal people, and embody an annual calendar of things to do and things to go and get for individual groups and, indeed, for individuals.
The peoples of Siberia are the inheritors of highly practical and specific traditions that distinguish one group from another but contain elements common to all. For example, almost all the inhabitants of Siberia eat fish, although it is prepared in various fashions. The most widespread recipe – known from north to south and from east to west – is undoubtedly yukola, in which the fish is dried on large wooden frames in the summer sun to preserve it for the winter. Highly nourishing, the yukola has for centuries taken on the same role for Siberian groups that bread plays elsewhere in the world. Similarly, stroganina is the dish of choice for inhabitants of some of the coldest regions: it is fish caught in winter and frozen the instant it leaves the water in air temperatures of under -40°C (-40°F), preserved, and eaten just as it is, cut into fine strips. A favourite of all dwellers in the north, Russians as well as indigenous peoples, stroganina is mostly kept for special occasions. In the smaller villages, the fish may be stored frozen on the outdoor porches and balconies of the houses over the winter (for the average temperature outside is usually lower than that of electric freezers anyway).
Another constant among the differing traditions is the use of natural materials – wood, bark, furs and skins – to make clothing, handicraft-work and/or a shelter. Throughout all the regions of Siberia, reindeer-skin is most used for winter clothing, in particular for knee-boots fashioned from strips of hide taken from the lower limbs of the reindeer. The more northerly peoples – the Nenets, Nganassani, Yukaghirs, Chukchis, and so forth – tend to make their shoes and boots from the little piece of roughened skin that lies between the large and the small parts of the hoof of the reindeer. Although an inordinate quantity of such pieces is required for even one pair, the resultant shoes are guaranteed to keep the feet warm and dry.
As means of transport, the people of many regions in Siberia use dogs instead of reindeer to pull their sleds. To each sledge with its ordinary load of up to 450 lbs., twelve or thirteen dogs are as a rule attached. Unlike the Samoyedes and the Greenlanders, who fasten each dog to the sledge by means of a separate leather rope, the natives in the region of the lower Lena use one common trace, made of leather, to which the dogs are attached on each side by means of short thongs, while at the end is harnessed the peredovoi, or leader. This plan has the advantage of preventing the dogs from becoming entangled in a multiplicity of ropes, but, on the other hand, a certain amount of traction-power is lost owing to the trace of each dog forming an angle to the common trace. The dogs are steered, not by reins, but by word of command from their lord and master, which they obey very well as long as they do not scent any game; but if they are hungry and get the scent, for instance, of a reindeer, they will rush away after it until little is left of the sledge behind them but splinters. To check the pace or stop the dogs the driver ordinarily uses an iron-shod pole as a brake.
The importance of a conscious, deliberate lifestyle on the icy tundra cannot be adequately stressed. The indigenous Siberians have mastered the art of balancing their diet and activity in accordance with the climate. A traveller relates his observations of the essential behavior of hunters in the wasteland:
“A man who will eat a hearty supper of dried fish and tallow, dress himself in a Siberian costume, and crawl into a heavy fur bag, may spend a night out-doors in a temperature of -70 degrees without any serious danger; but if he is tired out, with long travel, if his clothes are wet with perspiration, or if he has not enough to eat, he may freeze to death with the thermometer at zero. The most important rules for an arctic traveller are: to eat plenty of fat food; to avoid over-exertion and night journeys; and never to get into a profuse perspiration by violent exercise for the sake of temporary warmth. I have seen Chukchis in a region destitute of wood and in a dangerous temperature, travel all day with aching feet rather than exhaust their strength by trying to warm them in running.”
The traditional lifestyles of the peoples of Siberia, many aspects of which have in recent times changed or indeed been lost altogether, have one other thing in common: the ability to adapt to a hostile environment. Such practical knowledge, vital to these northern ethnic groups, represents a heritage that ought to be precious to all humankind – knowledge of northern environments, of the animals and plantlife, of the climate; knowledge, gained over thousand of years and handed down from generation to generation, that not only enables people to survive in such conditions but also represents an expression of their artistic creativity. The aboriginal people of Siberia are fairly clever handicraftsmen as carpenters and above all as smiths, a craft which has old and high traditions, and is inherited. At the time of their subjugation by the Russians, they knew how to produce iron from the ore, and their traditions show that the metal has been known to them from time immemorial. They are also clever carvers of wood and bone. The Chukchis and Koryaks are talented workers in ivory. They produce animal representations well cut in ivory, and spear-heads of masterful strength and design. Their hunting knives, made from hoop-iron, are well fashioned, and some of the handles are tastefully inlaid with copper, brass, and silver.
Eskimo, Rug, 1909. Seal hide and skin, reindeer underneck hair, 70 x 68.5 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Kamchatka Okrug, Chukchi District.
Many indigenous Siberian tribes are passionately fond of music of any kind, and will accompany themselves upon a three-cornered guitar with three strings, called a ballalaika. Some of them play quite well upon roughly-crafted home made violins. They indulge in amusements such as dancing, playing football on the snow in winter, and racing with dog-teams.
Often, their furniture and tools consist of a large kettle, knife, wooden bowls, platters, spoons or ladles, and an axe, with flint and steel. The Chukchis have a kettle or cooking utensil, in their language called cookie. To these vessels, which are of iron, they are much attached, and the stronger and stouter they are, the better; usually, no consideration will induce them to take or purchase a copper vessel, although lined with tin, as they consider it poisonous. Plain raw iron utensils are preferred, and these they will fearlessly, and with impunity, handle in a temperature of forty degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. Other bowls, dishes and much of the household utensils are made mostly of wood or of birch bark. A bucket made of this bark, for carrying water, a basin formed of the same rude material, a few wooden spoons, and some skins of the reindeer, are all that is required to supply the wants of an Ostyak family.
Chukchi, Small plastic artwork ‘Journey, riding the reindeer’, 1906.
Walrus tusk ivory, 7.5 x 7 cm. Russian Museum of Ethnography,
St. Petersburg. Primorskaya Oblast, Anadyr Krai.
Yakut, Sculpture ‘Reindeer breeder on the sledge’, 1955.
Mammoth bone, 17 x 4.5 x 5.5 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Yakut ASSR.
Aleut, Baskets, 1909-1910. Grass-wrack, woolen yarn,
Diameters of the bottoms: 1) 12.2 cm 2) 21 cm 3) 33 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Aleutian Islands, Umnak Island.
Aleut, Koryak, Baskets, early 20th century. Grass-wrack, seed beads,
woolen yarn, paint, dressed reindeer skin, 1) 25.5 and 17.2 x 12 cm;
2) 22 x 13 cm. Russian Museum of Ethnography,
St. Petersburg. Commander Islands, Kamchatka Peninsular.
Aleut, Small woman’s bag, 1909-1910. Grass-wrack,
woolen yarn, fabric, 27 x 24 cm. Russian Museum of Ethnography,
St. Petersburg. Aleutian Islands, Unalaska Island.
Among all the natives of Siberia the cattle breeding Buryats have best preserved the ancient custom of the community of goods. A poor Buryat, for example, has the right to receive food or shelter from his well-to-do brethren. When a Buryat kills game, his neighbours first receive their share of the meat, and the host gets only what is left. In like manner the Buryat girl simply goes to the village smith and selects metal ornaments for her hair and dress without paying; and the crops on the fields are gathered in by the community, each member of which has the right to take what he needs from the common store. This principle of communism also finds expression in the large communal hunting-parties which at certain periods take place and are accompanied by great festivities.
The town of Kiakhta, in the Selenga valley, near the frontier, was the great international market where the Russians and indigenous groups would meet and trade. A major industry in the area near Lake Baikal was the catching and domesticating the maral, or wild deer, for the sake of its horns, which were once considered a very valuable medicine by the Chinese.The maral sheds its horns once a year, and they were collected and sold at high prices to the Chinese merchants, who shipped them south to China. In a similar manner, the Siberian found ready purchasers among Chinese merchants for the bones, claws, and other parts of the northern tiger, which was once in abundance in Ussuri on the Pacific Coast. These parts, when ground up and administered to a patient, were supposed to have wonderful effects and the Chinese are said to have given this medicine to their soldiers to keep up their courage.
Chukchi, Tusk with coloured engraving (1st side), 1930s. Walrus tusk ivory,
62 x 6 cm. Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Chukchi Peninsular.
The following description of a traditional Yakut wedding demonstrates customs of the northern Yakuts that differ from those of the people in the southern parts of the province. The process of marriage in indigenous Siberia usually goes as follows: When a father wants a wife for his son, he either goes himself or sends some one of his trusted friends to find a suitable girl. When one is found, the price to be paid for her must be settled with her father. When the parties have agreed as to the price, the first instalment is paid. The second instalment is paid at the wedding, and the full payment is concluded when the married couple live together. In spite of the mercantile character of marriage among the tribal cultures, there are, of course, many instances of real and warm affection between man and wife, and still more so between parents and children.
The wedding, which is attended by many guests, both invited and uninvited, takes place both in the home of the bride and that of the bridegroom; the relatives and friends of the bride congregating at her home, and those of the bridegroom at his. The bride and bridegroom do not sit at the table, but in a corner behind the door, with their faces turned towards the wall, the bride on the women’s side, and the bridegroom on the men’s side of the yurta. Both are dressed in their best clothes. Thus they sit for three days, which is as long as the festival continues, without looking at one another. The young people, both girls and boys, are all the time singing, dancing, and playing. Prominent guests and old men sit on the nares along the wall, smoking and drinking tea, koumiss, and vodka. Food is eaten every now and then all the time, but the principal festival meals are the dinner and supper. In front of each guest, on a horse-hide which serves as table-cloth, is placed a large piece of boiled meat with the bones attached. The relatives of the young couple exchange these pieces of meat, and this performance is the principal part of the Yakut marriage ceremony, symbolising the union between the families, which henceforth are to forget all enmity, and for the future be “flesh of one flesh and bone of one bone.” Formerly, when the custom of “robbing the bride” still continued, this ceremony consisted in the exchange of gifts as a token of reconciliation and as compensation for losses sustained during mutual feuds. When the wedding is over and the guests are ready to leave, the following ceremony takes place. Holding a goblet of koumiss in their hands, the guests are conducted by the host and hostess three times around the poles standing outside the yurt, to which horses are tied, and which are considered sacred. Then the guests mount their horses, drink part of the koumiss, and pour the rest on the manes of their steeds.
Chukchi, Tusk with coloured engraving (1st side), 1930s.
Walrus tusk ivory, 57 x 6 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg.
Chukchi, Tusk with coloured engraving (2nd side), detail, 1930s.
Walrus tusk ivory, 57 x 6 cm. Russian Museum of Ethnography,
St. Petersburg. Chukchi Peninsular.
Chukchi, Tusk with coloured engraving (2nd side), 1930s.
Walrus tusk ivory, 57 x 6 cm. Russian Museum of Ethnography,
St. Petersburg. Chukchi Peninsular.
Yakut, Chorons – cups for koumiss (fermented mare’s milk), 1903, end of the 19th
and beginning of the 20th century. Wood, 1) 21 x 13 cm; 2) 56 x 21 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Yakut Oblast.
Yakut, Box for sewing appliances, 1908.
Birch bark, beads, horsehair, wood, leather, 14 x 17 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Yakut Oblast, Vilyuy Okrug.
Yakut, Dish for treating of guests, 1909.
Wood, metal, 23.5 x 65 cm. Russian Museum of Ethnography,
St. Petersburg. Yakut Oblast, Boturuski ulus.
Yakut, Ware for koumiss (fermented mare’s milk),
used during the Ysyakh holiday, 1906. Wood, metal, 22 x 32.5 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Yakut Oblast, Yakut Okrug.
The role of the married woman is undoubtedly a challenging one among these people. Her duties are not only to bear and bring up children, but to make and mend the clothes for the whole family, make tents and pitch them, gather and chop wood, take up ice and melt it into water for family use, prepare food, and help the men in their hunting, fishing, and trapping occupations.
Until the beginning of the 18th century the Buryat people, like all the peoples of northern Asia belonging to the eastern branches of the Ural-Altaic group (i.e. all the Evenki, Mongol, and Turki tribes), were practitioners of a religion that we generally call Shamanism. At the time of the advent of the Dai-Tsin dynasty to the throne of the Chinese Empire, Shamanism was introduced in China under the name of Tjao-Shen, but the new religion did not meet with any success there. The fact, however, deserves to be mentioned, because a description of the ceremonies of Shamanism was published in China in 1747, in the Manchu language, and was for centuries the only printed account existing of the ancient religion of the Mongols.
In 1727 Buddhist missionaries came to Mongolia and converted the Transbaikalian Buryats and the inhabitants of the Tungkin valley to Buddhism, which, however, became very much mixed up with Shamanism. At one time the Buddhist monasteries in the area near Lake Baikal and the southern parts of Irkutsk were counted by hundreds. By the dawn of the twentieth century, their number was much smaller, almost insignificant. These Buddhist missionaries exerted a great civilising influence on the Buryats by introducing the art of writing among them, and by translating several Tibetan religious books into the Mongolian language. The Buddhist monastery at the Goose Lake was the most important, because it was the residence of the chief of the Siberian adherents of the Lama faith. At the same place was a library containing a very valuable collection of books and manuscripts in the Tibetan and Mongolian languages. Great annual religious festivals also took place at this monastery. The Buryat people were fond of making pilgrimages to Urga, where there is a “living Buddha.” So great is this devotion that a Buryat will frequently surrender the whole of his property to some shrine on condition that he receives just enough to live upon.
More recently, on the tops of the hills near the river, native graves are often to be seen, with a simple wooden cross as their headstone, proclaiming the dominance of Russian-imported Christianity. The majority of the natives are nominally Christians, and pagan burials without crosses are now forbidden. Besides, there is the belief spreading among the “Christian” natives, that the Resurrection Angel will not recognise their graves if he does not see the cross over them. But even these “Christian” burial-places attest to the more ancient and traditional religious practices in the children’s toys, the skulls of the reindeer, the sleighs which were used in transporting the dead to their last resting-place, and other belongings of the deceased with which the graves are decked.
Chukchi, Blubber lamp for heating and lighting of the lodge,
early 20th century. Stone, diameter: 16 cm; height: 7 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography,
St. Petersburg. Primorskaya Oblast, Anadyr Krai.
Many Siberian tribes are surprisingly hospitable to strangers, often enthusiastic about the opportunity to exhibit their wealth, whether it is in terms of cattle or furs. In Bulun, the “capital” of the district of Schigansk, an area where the Evenki live, there is a church with a priest, a civil officer and police-court, about 40 yurts with some 200 natives, and in the midst of these towers, the palace of the king, in the shape of a large Russian izba. A stranger to this part of Siberia is courteously invited into the palace, and shown much hospitality in the shape of vodka and dried reindeer-meat, vodka and jukkala (dried fish), vodka and boiled fish, vodka and stroganina (frozen fish), and vodka and ikra (caviar). The walls of the reception-hall in the palace are covered with costly and shining icons, and in the right corner, a lamp is constantly burning in front of the image of St. Nicolas. The treasure vaults of the king contain an immense heap of carved and decorated mammoth tusks, worth many thousand roubles, and a large pile of skins of white foxes, blue foxes, and even black foxes, also worth great amounts of money.
Wandering, nomadic peoples such as the Chukchi developed ways of communicating with one another across the vast, icy expanses. Throughout the tundra were once poles, placed in groups or singly in a certain order, at various distances from each other, some of which had mysterious marks cut on them, others incisions in which splinters were stuck, pointing in different directions. These sticks and poles represented the letters and newspapers of the desolate land, and traveling parties studied them carefully. From them they learnt, for example, that this place had been visited during the summer by Evenki, hunting the wild reindeer; that a fox-trapper from Olenek had passed a few weeks before on his way westward; or that someone who had visited the place had seen polar-bears in the vicinity. The drivers in their turn contributed to these “open letters,” putting up new sticks and poles in order to inform future travellers about their journey.
Yakut, Scoop for pouring koumiss (fermented mare’s milk), early 20th century.
Wood, 103 x 18 cm. Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Yakut ASSR.
Aleut, Spoon, early 20th century. Wood, 28.5 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. North-Western America.
Koryak, Spoon, 1909-1911. Argali horn, 15.9 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Kamchatka.
Nanai, Spiritually protective robe.
Fish scales, fabric. Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg.
Eskimo, Woman’s bag, early 20th century.
Seal hide and skin, reindeer underneck hair, 37 x 49 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Chukchi Peninsular.
Aleut, Woman’s bag, 1909-1910. Eared seal intestines,
bird fluff, woolen yarn, bird skin, 34 x 36 cm.
Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg. Aleutian Islands.
