Yakut religion. Customs and traditions of the Yakuts

The Yakuts, who call themselves Sakha (Sakhalar), are a nation that, according to archaeological and ethnographic studies, was formed as a result of the mixing of Turkic tribes with the population in the region of the middle reaches of the Lena River. The process of formation of the nationality ended approximately in the XIV - XV centuries. Some groups, for example, the Yakut reindeer herders, formed much later as a result of mixing with the Evenks in the north-west of the region.

The Sakha belong to the North Asian type of the Mongoloid race. The life and culture of the Yakuts are closely intertwined with the Central Asian peoples of Turkic origin, however, due to a number of factors, it differs significantly from them.

The Yakuts live in a region with a sharply continental climate, but at the same time they managed to master cattle breeding and even agriculture. Severe weather conditions also affected national clothes. Even as a wedding attire, Yakut brides use fur coats.

Culture and life of the people of Yakutia

The Yakuts are descended from nomadic tribes. That is why they live in yurts. However, in contrast to the Mongolian felt yurts, the round dwelling of the Yakuts is built from the trunks of small trees with a cone-shaped roof. Many windows are arranged in the walls, under which sunbeds are located at different heights. Partitions are installed between them, forming a semblance of rooms, and a smeared hearth is tripled in the center. Temporary birch bark yurts - urases - can be erected for the summer. And since the 20th century, some Yakuts have settled in huts.

Their life is connected with shamanism. The construction of a house, the birth of children and many other aspects of life do not pass without the participation of a shaman. On the other hand, a significant part of the half-million population of Yakuts professes Orthodox Christianity or even adheres to agnostic beliefs.

In connection with this feature, a custom arose, according to which a dying elderly person calls someone from the younger generation to him and tells him about all his social ties - friends, enemies. The Yakuts are distinguished by social activity, even though their settlements are several yurts located at an impressive distance. The main social relations take place during major holidays, the main of which is the holiday of koumiss - Ysyakh.

No less characteristic of the Yakut culture are throat singing and the performance of music on the national instrument khomus, one of the variants of the mouth harp. Yakut knives with an asymmetric blade are worthy of a separate material. Almost every family has a similar knife.

Traditions and customs of the people of Yakutia

It is noteworthy that until recently, Yakut families were polygamous, each wife of one husband had her own household and dwelling. Apparently, under the influence of assimilation with the Russians, the Yakuts nevertheless switched to monogamous cells of society.

Fire has sacred properties at any time of the year. Therefore, every meal in the Yakut house begins with treating the fire - throwing food into the fire and irrigating it with milk. Feeding the fire is one of the key moments of any holiday and business.

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Ministry of Education and Science Russian Federation

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution

Higher professional education

NATIONAL RESEARCH

IRKUTSK STATE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

Institute of Architecture and Construction

Department of Urban Construction and Economy

ESSAY

Yakuts: Tradiation, byt, Toulura

Completed by: student of the EUNbz-12 group P.N. Sveshnikov

Accepted: teacher V.G. Zhitov

Norm control V.G. Zhitov

Irkutsk 2014

Introduction

1.3 Culture

a) religion

b) art

1.4 Traditions

a) crafts

b) housing

c) clothes

d) National cuisine

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

This must always be remembered. Almost four centuries have passed since the entry of Yakutia into the Russian state. The entire path traveled during this time by the Yakuts and other northern peoples, those historical events and the phenomena that occurred in their history during this period, the traditional friendship of the Yakut and Russian peoples irrefutably testify that the entry of Yakutia into Russia was an event of great progressive significance.

The Yakuts are a people whose traditions and culture are little known to other nations. That is why I became interested in this topic.

Friendship of peoples, harmony and peace between peoples is a very fragile and delicate thing. Therefore, in our time, the national question is very acute, interethnic conflicts often arise. Some peoples consider themselves superior in importance and allow themselves to humiliate and destroy other peoples.

Objectives: To study the features of the Yakuts as a people, to learn about their traditions, culture, way of life, language, clothing, national cuisine and faith.

To achieve the goal, I worked with literature in the libraries of the city and school, I used encyclopedias: Big Encyclopedia Cyril and Methodius, Encyclopedia of the peoples of Russia, theoretical materials of textbooks for grades 8 and 9 on the geography of Russia (

I believe that the content of my work can be used in the lessons of geography, history, extracurricular activities and elective courses.

I. Yakuts. Tradition. Gen. culture

1.1 General characteristics of Yakutia

Self-name Sakha Sakhauryanghai. The Yakuts have their own autonomy, the Republic of Yakutia (Sakha). YAKUTIA (Republic of Sakha), a republic in the Russian Federation. The area is 3103.2 thousand km2 (including the New Siberian Islands). Population 973.8 thousand people (2001), urban 66%; Yakuts, Russians, Ukrainians, Evenki, Evens, Chukchi. 33 districts, 13 cities. The capital is Yakutsk. Yakutia (Republic of Sakha) spreads freely in the north-east of the country. This is the largest of the Russian republics: its area is about 3 million km2, i.e. one fifth of the entire territory of the Russian Federation. One can judge how far Yakutia is from the European part of Russia just because the local time is six hours ahead of Moscow.

Yakutia is located in the north of Eastern Siberia and includes the New Siberian Islands. More than 1/3 of the territory is located beyond the Arctic Circle. Most of it is occupied by vast mountain systems, highlands and plateaus. In the west - the Central Siberian plateau, bounded from the east by the Central Yakut lowland. In the east - the Verkhoyansky and Chersky ridges (height up to 3147 m) and the Yano-Oymyakon highlands located between them. In the south - the Aldan Highlands and the border Stanovoy Range. In the northern part - the North Siberian, Yano-Indigirskaya and Kolyma lowlands. In the northeast - the Yukaghir Plateau.

It is washed by the Laptev and East Siberian seas. Large rivers - Lena (with tributaries Olekma, Aldan and Vilyuy), Anabar, Olenyok, Yana, Indigirka, Alazeya, Kolyma. Vilyui reservoir. Over 700 lakes: Mogotoevo, Nerpichye, Nedzheli, etc.

Most of the territory of Yakutia is located in the middle taiga zone, which is replaced by forest-tundra and tundra zones to the north. Soils are predominantly permafrost-taiga, sod-forest, alluvial-meadow, mountain-forest and tundra-gley.

Yakutia - plateau, plateaus and mountains. In the northeast, the Verkhoyansk Range curved in a gigantic arc. Its peaks soared to a height of more than two kilometers. The chains of mountains separating the basins of the Yana, Indigirka and Kolyma rivers are elongated mainly in the northern and northwestern directions. Breaking through to the ocean, some rivers create narrow valleys in the mountain ranges. Most a prime example- the so-called Lena pipe 2 - 4 km wide. Lowlands - North Siberian, Yano-Indigirskaya, Kolyma - stretch in the far north. Most high point edge - Mount Pobeda (3147 m) in the Ulakhan-Chistai ridge. In terms of geological age, Yakutia is an ancient land that has accumulated incalculable wealth in its depths over many millions of years and has survived various events. Even a trace from the impact of a huge meteorite body was found on its territory - the so-called Popigai crater. Only in the 20th century did they begin to discover the treasures of this region; their exploration and development required huge material costs, and above all, the courage and courage of the pioneers.

Most of the plains and plateaus are covered with forests dominated by Dahurian larch (in Yakut "tit-mas"). The wide distribution of this tree is due to its adaptability to harsh conditions. Pine forests are found on the sandy terraces of large rivers - Lena, Aldan, Vilyui, Olekma. The summer landscape in the Yakut taiga is very beautiful: sun glare falls on a carpet of moss and lingonberries. There is almost no undergrowth - only young larch with even more delicate coloring of needles. In autumn the forest turns golden; on cloudy September days, it seems to be illuminated from the inside. Thanks to the calm weather, the taiga stands in a golden dress until the very snowfalls.

Often there are charans - areas where vegetation is combined with bare soils. From trees on such bald spots birches grow, from grasses - feather grass and other representatives of the steppes. It's a paradox, but southern plants come very close to the Arctic Circle. The reason lies in the peculiarities of the climate (in summer it is similar to the steppe in Yakutia), as well as in the nature of the soils, which are well moistened when the upper permafrost layer melts.

As a result of ice melting, alas are formed - shallow (up to 6 - 10 m) depressions of various areas (from hundreds to tens of thousands of square meters). The bottom of the alas is flat, in the center of it one can sometimes see an overgrown lake. Usually alas are treeless, only occasionally birches grow on them - singly or in groups, and mostly dense grass dominates. The soil of the Yakut alas is highly saline, often brackish and water in short-lived lakes. Therefore, before brewing tea - thick in the Yakut way - the traveler should taste the lake water. Alas attract elk, red deer, roe deer, who come to feast on juicy grass and salt.

On the uplands, the taiga gradually thins out, turning into a thin-stemmed forest; then there are swamps with hummocks and thickets of blueberries. Even higher begins the belt of shrubs or cedar elfin, movement along which resembles walking on a trampoline: the creeping branches spring and throw the traveler up. The highest peaks are loaches covered with kurums, tongues of "stone rivers" descending into the forest zone. Under a heap of stones, at a depth of one and a half meters, you can see ice; in such natural freezers, hunters save meat for future use.

In the north of Yakutia, taiga gives way to forest tundra, and on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, lichen tundra extends in a wide border. There is even a strip of arctic tundra (in the northwest). Tiny creeping birch trees grow on flat swampy interfluves. The frozen ground is covered with cracks that fill with water in summer. In the valleys of large rivers, the landscape revives: meadows and low-growing larches, bent by the winds, appear. Perhaps, if you choose the symbol of the Republic of Sakha, then larch would be the most suitable.

Natural conditions also determine the nature of the animal world. In the past, sable was considered the main wealth of Yakutia. Centuries of predatory extermination have led to the fact that this animal is only occasionally found in inaccessible areas. Now the main game animals are squirrel, arctic fox, white hare, fox, ermine, weasels.

Often comes across a small fluffy chipmunk. If, having met him, stop for a while and freeze, he will definitely try to get a better look at the stranger. Another animal lives in the tundra - the lemming. It is covered with thick fur, which saves from the cold. The Yakuts know: a lot of lemmings - the main food of arctic foxes - the hunting season will be successful.

Of the large ungulates, elk is found in the taiga, there are deer, musk deer, and roe deer. In the past, wild deer were hunted, but now this animal is rare; its place was taken by a domestic deer, which is used as a draft animal.

Under protection is a large bighorn sheep, found in the mountains. The Ussuri tiger can occasionally wander into the southeastern regions of Yakutia from the Ussuri forests. A stuffed tiger, killed in 1905, is exhibited in the Yakutsk museum. near the village of Ust-Maya on the Aldan. The predator then killed several herd horses and was discovered by huge footprints.

From the south to the north of the territory of Yakutia, numerous water arteries intersect. Lena, Anabar, Olenyok, Yana, Indigirka, Kolyma and other rivers carry their waters to the Arctic Ocean. The warmest of the rivers “warm up” the bottoms of the valleys, as a result of which the soil areas in the frozen rocks thaw. Lena (over 4400 km) is one of the top ten largest rivers in the world. In total, there are over 700 thousand rivers and streams in Yakutia, and about the same number of lakes. When asked about the number of lakes in the region, local residents answer that there are as many as "there are stars in the sky."

The main transport artery of Yakutia is the Lena River. From the end of May - the beginning of June, ships with equipment, fuel, products and other cargoes move along it in a continuous stream. Navigation is hot; only four months in the center of the republic and two or three in the north are allotted for the crossing of everything necessary by the cheapest waterway. Large ships, carrying two to three thousand tons, scurry up and down the Lena, Aldan and Vilyui, as well as along large tributaries. Even "sailors" - sea vessels with a displacement of 5,000 tons - go for cargo for the whole of Yakutia to the port of Osetrovo.

In the city of Aldan there is a remarkable monument - an old truck is hoisted on a pedestal. Such vehicles delivered cargo from the village of Never, through which the Trans-Siberian Railway passes, to the Aldan gold mines. After the Trans-Siberian was extended to Yakutsk, communications with many settlements improved significantly. A road was laid from the port of Lensk to the city of Mirny (the center of the diamond mining industry).

The Baikal-Amur Mainline connected the Chulmanovskoe coking coal deposits with industrial centers. In the future, it is planned to continue the BAM rails to the cities of Aldan and Tommot, and in the 21st century, perhaps, the turn will reach Yakutsk.

Aircraft appeared in Yakutia in the early 1930s. and immediately gained popularity because they connected the remote corners with the center. The population of Yakutia is the "most flying" in Russia, and maybe in the world. At the airport of a small village, you can meet a Yakut woman rushing to the plane to visit her granddaughter, who lives 500 km away.

The economy of the region is mainly based on the natural wealth of the Yakut subsoil. There are over 40 thousand mineral deposits in the republic. During the existence of the mining industry in Yakutia, only 1.5 thousand tons of gold have been mined. The region has given the country many millions of tons of coal and millions of cubic meters of natural gas. However, according to many scientists, the main wealth is still waiting to be developed. The edge will perhaps declare them for real in the 21st century.

Up to 40 species of fish are found in rivers and lakes: among them are taimen, broad whitefish, perch, pike, omul, nelma, muksun, vendace, peled, and crucian carp. In the Lena, they catch the Siberian king-fish - sturgeon-hatys. A handsome grayling lives in mountain rivers. There could have been much more fish if it had not died due to lack of food and lack of oxygen in freezing waters.

Like a circulatory system, the rivers of Yakutia carry life to all remote parts of the region. the main arteries are the Lena and its branched tributaries. Other large rivers - Olenyok, Yana, Indigirka, Kolyma - do not directly communicate with the Lena and with each other, but they are all united by the Arctic Ocean, where they flow. The Lena collects most of its waters with tributaries south of Yakutia, in the mountains of Southern Siberia. The basin of this river is exceptionally large in area, which also explains its full flow.

Since ancient times, rivers have been the paths along which the migration of peoples took place. In summer they moved by boats, in winter - on ice. Housing was also built along the banks.

The modern name of the republic is formed from the ethnic names of the indigenous population: Sakha is a self-name and Yakut is a Russian name borrowed in the 17th century. the Evens. Yakutsk, founded in 1632, developed from the very beginning as an administrative and commercial center of Eastern Siberia. In the 19th century, it gained notoriety as a place for political criminals.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the city had about 6 thousand inhabitants. Along with houses, there were also yurts; however, there were 16 educational institutions, including a theological seminary, a museum, a printing house, and two libraries.

During the years of Soviet power, the appearance of Yakutsk began to change rapidly. A diversified industry arose in place of workshops and small enterprises. A powerful ship-repair plant operates, the miners of the Kangalassky coal mine extract coal, modern power plants operate - a state district power station and a thermal power station. The population of Yakutsk exceeded 200 thousand people. The capital of the Republic of Sakha is multinational; a significant part of the inhabitants are Yakuts.

The city has a university and an agricultural institute, three theaters, several dozen museums; The Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences unites about 30 research centers. At the entrance to the only Institute of Permafrost Science in Russia, there is a sculpture of a mammoth. Sherginskaya mine - a well 116.6 m deep, dug in the middle of the 19th century - is still used to study permafrost.

1.2 Features of the Yakut language

Yakut language, one of the Turkic languages; forms a Yakut subgroup of the Uyghur-Oguz (according to the classification of N.A. Baskakov) group or belongs to the conditionally distinguished “north-eastern” group Distributed in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where, along with Russian, it is a state language (and, according to the Constitution of the republic, is called in the Sakha language - by the self-name of the Yakuts), in the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug and some other regions of Eastern Siberia and the Far East. The number of speakers is about 390 thousand people, and Yakut is spoken not only by ethnic Yakuts, but also by representatives of a number of other peoples. Previously, the Yakut language served as a regional language of interethnic communication in the North-East of Siberia. 65% of Yakuts are fluent in Russian; Russian-Yakut-Even, Russian-Yakut-Evenk, Russian-Yakut-Yukagir and some other types of multilingualism are also common.

There are three groups of dialects: western (left bank of the Lena: Vilyui and northwestern dialects), eastern (right bank of the Lena: central and northeastern dialects) and Dolgan dialect (Taimyr and Anabar region of the Republic of Sakha), which is spoken by the small Dolgan people and which sometimes considered as a separate language.

Like the Chuvash language, Yakut is located on the geographical periphery of the Turkic-speaking world and differs greatly (by the standards of the Turkic family) from other languages included in it. In phonetics, the Yakut language is characterized by the preservation of primary long vowels and diphthongs, which disappeared in most Turkic languages; in grammar - invariable personal pronouns of the 1st and 2nd person, a rich system of cases (in the absence of common Turkic genitive and local - a unique feature of the Yakut language), a variety of ways to express a direct object and some other features. The syntax remains typically Turkic. The specificity of the Yakut language in the field of vocabulary is very significant, which is associated with the large number of borrowings from the Mongolian, Evenki and Russian languages; the Dolgan dialect was especially influenced by the Evenki. The active vocabulary of the Yakut language contains about 2.5 thousand words of Mongolian origin; as for Russian borrowings, there were already more than 3 thousand of them in the pre-revolutionary period, and in some borrowings there are words that have gone out of active use in the Russian language itself, for example, araspaanny "surname" from Russian nickname or solkuobay "ruble" from Russian rubles. In the language of the press, the share of Russian borrowings reaches 42%.

The literary Yakut language was formed under the influence of the language of folklore in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. based on central dialects; translated missionary literature has been published since the 19th century. (the first book was published in 1812). Several writing systems were used (all on a Cyrillic basis): missionary, in which mainly ecclesiastical literature was published; Bötlingkovskaya, which published scientific publications and the first periodicals; and writing in the Russian civil alphabet. In 1922, the S.A.Novgorodov alphabet was introduced, created on the basis of international phonetic transcription; in 1930-1940 there was a written language based on Latin, since 1940 - based on Russian graphics with some additional letters. Teaching is conducted in the Yakut language, including in higher education (Yakut and Turkic philology and culture), periodicals, various literature are published, and radio and television broadcasting is conducted.

The Yakut language is one of the most well-studied Turkic languages.

yakutia culture life traditions

1.3 Culture

The stage of formation of the culture of the Yakuts is associated with the Baikal Kurykans, which included not only the Turkic base, but also the Mongolian and Tungus components. It is in the environment of the Kurykans that the integration of different ethnic groups takes place. cultural traditions, which laid the foundation for the Yakut semi-sedentary cattle breeding, a number of elements of material culture, and the anthropological features of the Yakuts. In the X-XI centuries. Kurykans experienced a strong influence of their Mongolian-speaking neighbors, which is clearly seen in the vocabulary of the Yakut language. The Mongols also influenced the subsequent resettlement of the ancestors of the Yakuts down the Lena. By the same time, the Kipchak component (ethnonymy, language, ritualism) entered the composition of the ancestors of the Yakuts, which makes it possible to distinguish two Turkic cultural and chronological layers in the culture of the Yakuts; the ancient Turkic, which has correspondences in the culture of the Sagais, Beltyrs, Tuvans, and the Kypchak - separate groups of the West Siberian Tatars, northern Altaians, Kachins and Kyzylians.

Olonkho is the common name for the works of the Yakut heroic epic. The epic works are named after their heroes (“Nyurgunt Bootur”, “Ebekhtey Bergen”, “Muldew the Strong”, etc.). All olonkho works are more or less similar only in style, but also in composition; they are also brought together by images traditional for all Olonkho (heroes-heroes, heroines, ancestors, sage Seerkeen, Sesen, slave Ssimehsin, cannibals "abasasy!", evil dege-baaba, etc.). The main content of the epic reflects the period of decomposition of the ordinary troy among the Yakuts, intertribal and inter-clan relations. Raziers of Olonkho reach 10-15 thousand and more poetic lines. The plots of Olonkho are based on the struggle of the heroes of the Aiyy Aimanga tribe with the mythical monsters of the Abaasy tribe, who kill people, devastate the country, and kidnap women. Heroes of Olonkho protect the peaceful happy life of their tribe from monsters and usually come out victorious. At the same time, predatory goals are alien to them. The affirmation of a peaceful life with fair relations between people is the main idea of Olonkho. The Olonkho style is characterized by the techniques of fairy tale fiction, contrast and hyperbolization of images, complex epithets and comparisons. The extensive descriptions contained in the epic speak in detail about the nature of the country, dwellings, clothing, and tools. These descriptions, often repeated, occupy at least half of the epic as a whole. Olonkho is the most valuable cultural monument of the Yakut people.

Olonkhust is a storyteller, performer of the Yakut heroic epic Olonkho. The performance of Olonkho is not accompanied by musical accompaniment. The speeches of the heroes and other characters of the olonkho are sung, the rest - the narrative - part is affected by recitative. The names of prominent Olonkhusts are popular among the people. This (D.M. Govorov, T.V. Zakharov, etc.)

The subsequent formation of the Yakut culture proper, which was based on semi-sedentary pastoralism at high latitudes, took place in the Middle Lena basin. Here the ancestors of the Yakuts appear at the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th centuries. The archeology of this region illustrates the subsequent evolution of the Yakut culture up to the 17th-18th centuries. It is here that a special model of the Yakut economy is formed, combining cattle breeding and extensive types of crafts (fishing and hunting), material culture adapted to the harsh climate of Eastern Siberia, which distinguish the Yakuts from their southern neighbors pastoralists, while maintaining many substratum features of the common Turkic cultural tradition (worldview, folklore, ornament, language).

a) religion

Orthodoxy spread in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Christian cult was combined with belief in good and evil spirits, the spirits of dead shamans, master spirits, etc. Elements of totemism were preserved: the clan had an animal patron who was forbidden to be killed, called by name, etc. The world consisted of several tiers, the head of the upper was considered Yuryung ayy toyon, lower - Ala buuray toyon, etc. The cult of the female deity of fertility Aiyysyt was important. Horses were sacrificed to the spirits living in the upper world, cows were sacrificed in the lower one. The main holiday is the spring-summer koumiss holiday (Ysyakh), accompanied by libations of koumiss from large wooden cups (choroon), games, sports competitions, etc. Shamanism was developed. Shaman tambourines (dungur) are close to Evenk ones.

b) art

In folklore, the heroic epic (olonkho) was developed, performed in recitative by special storytellers (olonkhosut) with a large gathering of people; historical legends, fairy tales, especially fairy tales about animals, proverbs, songs. Traditional musical instruments- jew's harp (khomus), violin (kyryympa), percussion. Of the dances, the round dance osuokhay, game dances, etc. are common.

1.4 Traditions

a) crafts

The main traditional occupations are horse breeding (in Russian documents of the 17th century, the Yakuts were called ""horse people"") and cattle breeding. The men took care of the horses, the women took care of the cattle. Deer were bred in the north. Cattle were kept in the summer on grazing, in the winter in barns (hotons). Haymaking was known before the arrival of the Russians. The Yakut breeds of cattle were distinguished by endurance, but were unproductive.

Fishing was also developed. They fished mainly in the summer, but also in the winter in the hole; in the fall, a collective seine fishing was organized with the division of prey 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, Ontuly, Kokui, Kirikians, Kyrgydais, Orgots and others.

Hunting was especially widespread in the north, being the main source of food here (arctic fox, hare, reindeer, elk, bird). In the taiga, by the arrival of the Russians, both meat and fur hunting (bear, elk, squirrel, fox, hare, bird, etc.) was known, but later, due to a decrease in the number of animals, its importance fell. Specific hunting techniques are characteristic: with a bull (the hunter sneaks up on the prey, hiding behind the bull), horseback chasing the beast along the trail, sometimes with dogs.

There was gathering - the collection of pine and larch sapwood (the inner layer of the bark), which was harvested for the winter in dried form, roots (saran, chakan, etc.), greens (wild onions, horseradish, sorrel), raspberries, which were considered unclean, were not used from berries.

The processing of wood (artistic carving, coloring with alder broth), birch bark, fur, and leather was developed; dishes were made from leather, rugs were made from horse and cow skins sewn in a checkerboard pattern, blankets were made from hare fur, etc .; Cords were twisted from horse hair with hands, weaved, embroidered. Spinning, weaving and felting of felt were absent. The production of stucco ceramics, which distinguished the Yakuts from other peoples of Siberia, has been preserved. The smelting and forging of iron, which had a commercial value, the smelting and chasing of silver, copper, etc., were developed, from the 19th century - carving on mammoth ivory. They traveled mainly on horseback, transporting goods in packs. There were known skis lined with horse kamus, sledges (silis syarga, later - sledges like Russian wood firewood), usually harnessed to bulls, in the north - straight-dust reindeer sleds; types of boats common with Evenks - birch bark (tyy) or flat-bottomed from boards.

b) housing

Winter settlements (kystyk) were located near mowing fields, consisted of 1-3 yurts, summer ones - near pastures, numbered up to 10 yurts. The winter yurt (booth, diie) had sloping walls made of standing thin logs on a rectangular log frame and a low gable roof. The walls were plastered on the outside with clay and manure, the roof over the log flooring was covered with bark and earth. The house was placed on the cardinal points, the entrance was arranged in the east side, the windows - in the south and west, the roof was oriented from north to south. To the right of the entrance, in the northeast corner, a hearth (ooh) was arranged - 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 southwestern corner. At the western wall there was a master's place. 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 barn (khoton) was attached to the yurt, often under the same roof with housing, the door to it from the yurt was behind the hearth. In front of the entrance to the yurt, a canopy or canopy was arranged. The yurt was surrounded by a low mound, often with a fence. A hitching post was placed 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. Since the end of the 18th century, polygonal log yurts with a pyramidal roof have been known. From the 2nd half of the 18th century, Russian huts spread.

c) clothes

Traditional men's and women's clothing - short leather pants, a fur underbelly, leather legs, a single-breasted caftan (sleep), in winter - fur, in summer - from horse or cow skin with wool inside, for the rich - from fabric. Later, fabric shirts with a turn-down collar (yrbakhs) appeared. Men girded themselves with a leather belt with a knife and flint, the rich - with silver and copper plaques. Characteristic is a women's wedding fur long caftan (sangyah), embroidered with red and green cloth and a gold braid; an elegant women's fur hat made of expensive fur that goes down to the back and shoulders, with a high cloth, velvet or brocade top with a silver plaque (tuosakhta) and other decorations sewn on it. Women's silver and gold jewelry is widespread. Shoes - winter high boots made of deer or horse skins with wool outside (eterbes), summer boots made of soft leather (saary) with a top covered with cloth, for women - with appliqué, long fur stockings.

d) National cuisine

The main food is dairy, especially in summer: from mare's milk - koumiss, from cow's milk - curdled milk (suorat, sora), cream (kuercheh), butter; oil was drunk melted or with koumiss; suorat was prepared for the winter in a frozen form (tar) with the addition of berries, roots, etc.; stew (butugas) was prepared from it with the addition of water, flour, roots, pine sapwood, etc. 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 valued. In the 19th century, barley flour came into use: it was used to make unleavened cakes, pancakes, salamat stew. Vegetables were known in the Olekminsk district.

Conclusion

Using the example of the Yakut people, I wanted to prove that it is necessary to treat other peoples favorably, and I hope I succeeded. Each nation has its pros and cons of their way of life, existing traditions. The Yakut people formed on the Lena as a result of the absorption of local tribes by the southern Turkic-speaking settlers. The economy and material culture of the Yakuts are dominated by features similar to the culture of the pastoralists of Central Asia, but there are also northern taiga elements. The main occupation of the Yakuts from the time of entry into the Russian state (17th century) until the middle of the 19th century. There was semi-nomadic pastoralism. They reared cattle and horses. In the 17th century, individual farms of the Yakuts began to switch to agriculture, but a massive transition took place in the second half of the 19th century. With the exception of certain areas, hunting and fishing played a secondary role, but for the poor, fishing was an important branch of the economy. Of the crafts, blacksmithing received a certain development. The Yakuts knew how to smelt iron from ore. Like many peoples of Russia, the Yakuts have a rich oral folk art: heroic epic olonkho. Bone and wood carving, traditional embroidery on torbasses, mittens, and turtles are common.

I believe that other peoples, including Russian, have a lot to learn from the Yakuts. We must be proud that such peoples as the Yakuts are part of our country. It must be taken into account that Yakutia occupies vast territories of Russia. The Yakut people have their own unique features in everyday life, traditions and culture. In our time, there are many interethnic conflicts and I hope that soon people will come to their senses and they will not be. Russian people should always remember that Russia is a multinational country, this is our strength, diversity of ideas and strength of spirit.

Bibliography

1. Alekseev A.I. and others. Geography of Russia: Economy and geographical areas: Uchebn. for grades 8-9 of a general institution. - M .: Bustard, 2005.- S. 153-160.

2. Great Russian Encyclopedia / Chairman of scientific - ed. advice Yu.S. Osipov. Rep. ed. S.L. Kravets. T..- M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2004.- S. 420-451.

3. Large Soviet Encyclopedia/ Ch. ed. Vvedensky B.A. T. 49 .- M: Great Soviet Encyclopedia.-C 49-60

4. Encyclopedia for children. Countries peoples Civilizations / Chapter. ed. M.D. Aksyonova - M .: Avanta +, 2001 ..- C 457-466

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Distribution area

The distribution of the Yakuts across the territory of the republic is extremely uneven. About nine of them are concentrated in the central regions - in the former Yakut and Vilyui districts. These are the two main groups of the Yakut people: the first of them is somewhat larger in number than the second. "Yakut" (or Amga-Lena) Yakuts occupy the quadrangle between the Lena, the lower Aldan and the Amga, the taiga plateau, as well as the adjacent left bank of the Lena. "Vilyui" Yakuts occupy the Vilyui basin. In these indigenous Yakut regions, the most typical, purely Yakut way of life has developed; here, at the same time, especially on the Amga-Lena plateau, it is best studied. The third, much smaller group of Yakuts settled in the region of Olekminsk. The Yakuts of this group became more Russified, in their way of life (but not in language) they became closer to the Russians. And, finally, the last, smallest, but widely settled group of Yakuts is the population of the northern regions of Yakutia, i.e., the basins of the river. Kolyma, Indigirka, Yana, Olenek, Anabar.

The northern Yakuts are distinguished by a completely unique cultural and everyday way of life: in relation to it, they are more like hunting and fishing small peoples of the North, like the Tungus, Yukagirs, than like their southern tribesmen. These northern Yakuts are sometimes even called "Tungus" (for example, in the upper reaches of the Olenek and Anabar), although they are Yakuts in their language and call themselves Sakha.

History and origins

According to a widespread hypothesis, the ancestors of modern Yakuts are the nomadic tribe of Kurykans, who lived until the 14th century in Transbaikalia. In turn, the Kurykans came to the region of Lake Baikal because of the Yenisei River.

Most scientists believe that in the XII-XIV centuries AD. e. The Yakuts migrated in several waves from the region of Lake Baikal to the Lena, Aldan and Vilyui basins, where they partly assimilated and partly displaced the Evenks (Tungus) and Yukaghirs (Oduls) who lived here earlier. The Yakuts were traditionally engaged in cattle breeding (Yakut cow), having gained a unique experience in breeding cattle in a sharply continental climate in the northern latitudes, horse breeding (Yakut horse), fishing, hunting, developed trade, blacksmithing and military affairs.

According to Yakut legends, the ancestors of the Yakuts floated down the Lena on rafts with livestock, household goods and people until they found the Tuymaada valley - suitable for cattle breeding. Now this place is modern Yakutsk. According to the same legends, the ancestors of the Yakuts were headed by two leaders Elley Bootur and Omogoi Baai.

According to archaeological and ethnographic data, the Yakuts were formed as a result of the absorption of local tribes of the middle reaches of the Lena 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. Racially, the Yakuts belong to the Central Asian anthropological type of the North Asian race. In comparison with other Turkic-speaking peoples of Siberia, they are characterized by the strongest manifestation of the Mongoloid complex, the final formation of which took place in the middle of the second millennium AD already on the Lena.

It is assumed that some groups of Yakuts, for example, reindeer herders of the northwest, arose relatively recently as a result of mixing of individual groups of Evenks with Yakuts, immigrants from the central regions of Yakutia. In the process of resettlement in Eastern Siberia, the Yakuts mastered the basins of the northern rivers Anabar, Olenka, Yana, Indigirka and Kolyma. The Yakuts modified the reindeer husbandry of the Tungus, created the Tungus-Yakut type of draft reindeer husbandry.

The inclusion of the Yakuts into the Russian state in the 1620s–1630s accelerated their socioeconomic and cultural development. In the XVII-XIX centuries, the main occupation of the Yakuts was cattle breeding (breeding of cattle and horses), from the second half of XIX century, a significant part began to engage in agriculture; hunting and fishing played a secondary role. The main type of dwelling was a log booth, in summer - a urasa made of poles. Clothes were made from hides and furs. In the second half of the 18th century, most of the Yakuts were converted to Christianity, but traditional beliefs were also preserved.

Under Russian influence, Christian onomastics spread among the Yakuts, almost completely replacing the pre-Christian Yakut names. At present, the Yakuts bear both names of Greek and Latin origin (Christian) and Yakut names.

Yakuts and Russians

Accurate historical information about the Yakuts is available only from the time of their first contact with the Russians, that is, from the 1620s, and joining the Russian state. The Yakuts did not constitute a single political entity at that time, but were divided into a number of tribes independent of each other. However, tribal relations were already disintegrating, and there was a rather sharp class stratification. The tsarist governors and servicemen used tribal strife to break the resistance of part of the Yakut population; they also used the class contradictions within it, pursuing a policy of systematic support for the ruling aristocratic stratum - the princes (toyons), whom they turned into their agents for managing the Yakut Territory. Since that time, class contradictions among the Yakuts began to become more and more aggravated.

The position of the mass of the Yakut population was difficult. The Yakuts paid yasak with sable and fox furs, carried out a number of other duties, being extorted by the tsarist servants, Russian merchants and their toyons. After unsuccessful attempts at uprisings (1634, 1636-1637, 1639-1640, 1642), after the transition of the toyons to the side of the governors, the Yakut masses could only respond to oppression with scattered, isolated attempts of resistance and flight from the indigenous uluses to the outskirts. By the end of the 18th century, as a result of the predatory management of the tsarist authorities, the depletion of the fur wealth of the Yakutsk region and its partial desolation was discovered. At the same time, the Yakut population, which for various reasons migrated from the Lena-Vilyui region, appeared on the outskirts of Yakutia, where it had not previously been: in Kolyma, Indigirka, Olenek, Anabar, up to the Lower Tunguska basin.

But already in those first decades, contact with the Russian people had beneficial effect on the economy and culture of the Yakuts. The Russians brought with them a higher culture; since the middle of the 17th century. an agricultural economy appears on the Lena; the Russian type of buildings, Russian clothing made of fabrics, new types of crafts, new furnishings and household items gradually began to penetrate into the environment of the Yakut population.

It was extremely important that with the establishment of Russian power in Yakutia, intertribal wars and predatory raids of the Toyons stopped, which used to be a great disaster for the Yakut population. The self-will of the Russian servicemen, who had been at war with each other more than once and drawn the Yakuts into their strife, was also suppressed. The order that had already been established in the Yakut land since the 1640s was better than the previous state of chronic anarchy and constant strife.

In the 18th century, in connection with the further advance of the Russians to the east (the annexation of Kamchatka, Chukotka, the Aleutian Islands, Alaska), Yakutia played the role of a transit route and a base for new campaigns and the development of distant "lands". The influx of the Russian peasant population (especially along the valley of the Lena River, in connection with the arrangement of the postal route in 1773) created the conditions for the cultural mutual influence of the Russian and Yakut elements. As early as the end of the 17th and 18th centuries among the Yakuts, agriculture begins to spread, although at first very slowly, houses of the Russian type appear. However, the number of Russian settlers remained even in the 19th century. relatively small. Along with peasant colonization in the XIX century. sending exiled settlers to Yakutia was of great importance. Together with the criminal exiles, who had a negative influence on the Yakuts, in the second half of the 19th century. political exiles appeared in Yakutia, first populists, and in the 1890s also Marxists, who played a big role in the cultural and political development Yakut masses.

By the beginning of the XX century. in the economic development of Yakutia, at least in its central regions (Yakutsky, Vilyuisky, Olekminsky districts), great successes were observed. An internal market was created. The growth of economic ties accelerated the development of national identity.

During the bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1917, the movement of the Yakut masses for their liberation unfolded deeper and wider. At first it was (especially in the city of Yakutsk) under the predominant leadership of the Bolsheviks. But after the departure (in May 1917) of the majority of the political exiles to Russia in Yakutia, the counter-revolutionary forces of the toionism gained the upper hand, which entered into an alliance with the Socialist-Revolutionary-bourgeois part of the Russian urban population. The struggle for Soviet power in Yakutia dragged on for a long time. Only on June 30, 1918, the power of the Soviets was proclaimed for the first time in Yakutsk, and only in December 1919, after the liquidation of Kolchakism in all of Siberia, was Soviet power finally established in Yakutia.

Religion

This people has its own tradition, before joining the state of Russia, they professed "Aar Aiyy". This religion assumes the belief that the Yakuts are the children of Tanar - God and Relatives of the Twelve White Aiyy. Even from conception, the child is surrounded by spirits, or as the Yakuts call them - “Ichchi”, and there are also celestials who are also surrounded by the still born child. Religion is documented in the administration of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Yakutia. In the 18th century, Yakutia was subjected to universal Christianity, but the people treat this with the hope of certain religions from the state of Russia.

Housing

Winter settlements (kystyk) were located near mowing fields, consisted of 1-3 yurts, summer ones - near pastures, numbered up to 10 yurts. The winter yurt (booth, diie) had sloping walls made of standing thin logs on a rectangular log frame and a low gable roof. The walls were plastered on the outside with clay and manure, the roof over the log flooring was covered with bark and earth. The house was placed on the cardinal points, the entrance was arranged in the east side, the windows - in the south and west, the roof was oriented from north to south. To the right of the entrance, in the northeast corner, a hearth (oosh) was arranged - 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 southwestern corner. At the western wall there was a master's place. 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 barn (khoton) was attached to the yurt, often under the same roof with housing, the door to it from the yurt was behind the hearth. In front of the entrance to the yurt, a canopy or canopy was arranged. The yurt was surrounded by a low mound, often with a fence. A hitching post was placed near the house, often decorated with carvings. Summer yurts differed little from winter ones. Instead of a hoton, a barn for calves (titik), sheds, etc. were set up at a distance. Since the end of the 18th century, polygonal log yurts with a pyramidal roof have been known. From the 2nd half of the 18th century, Russian huts spread.

Cloth

Food

The main food is dairy, especially in summer: from mare's milk - koumiss, from cow's - yogurt (suorat, sora), cream (kuercheh), butter; oil was drunk melted or with koumiss; suorat was prepared for the winter in a frozen form (tar) with the addition of berries, roots, etc.; stew (butugas) was prepared from it with the addition of water, flour, roots, pine sapwood, etc. 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 valued. In the 19th century, barley flour came into use: it was used to make unleavened cakes, pancakes, salamat stew. Vegetables were known in the Olekminsk district.

crafts

The main traditional occupations are horse breeding (in Russian documents of the 17th century, the Yakuts were called “horse people”) and cattle breeding. The men took care of the horses, the women took care of the cattle. Deer were bred in the north. Cattle were kept in the summer on grazing, in the winter in barns (hotons). Haymaking was known before the arrival of the Russians. The Yakut breeds of cattle were distinguished by endurance, but were unproductive.

Fishing was also developed. They fished mainly in the summer, but also in the winter in the hole; in the fall, a collective seine fishing was organized with the division of prey 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"), some tribes also specialized in it - the so-called "foot Yakuts" - osekui, ontuly, kokui , Kirikians, Kyrgydais, Orgoths and others.

There was gathering - the collection of pine and larch sapwood (the inner layer of the bark), which was harvested for the winter in dried form, roots (saran, coinage, etc.), greens (wild onions, 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 Olekminsk district) was facilitated by Russian exiled settlers.

Yakut cuisine

It has some common features with the cuisine of the Buryats, Mongols, northern peoples (Evenks, Evens, Chukchi), as well as Russians. Methods of cooking in the Yakut cuisine are few: it is either boiling (meat, fish), or fermentation (koumiss, suorat), or freezing (meat, fish).

From meat, horse meat, beef, venison, game birds, as well as offal and blood are traditionally used. Dishes from Siberian fish are widespread (sturgeon, broad whitefish, omul, muksun, peled, nelma, taimen, grayling).

A distinctive feature of the Yakut cuisine is the fullest possible use of all components of the original product. A very typical example is the recipe for cooking carp in Yakut. Before cooking, the scales are peeled off, the head is not cut off or thrown away, the fish is practically not gutted, a small lateral incision is made, through which the gallbladder is carefully removed, a part of the large intestine is cut off and the swim bladder is pierced. In this form, the fish is boiled or fried. A similar approach is used in relation to almost all other products: beef, horse meat, and so on. Almost all by-products are actively used. In particular, giblet soups (is miine), blood delicacies (khaan), etc. are very popular. Obviously, such a thrifty attitude to food is the result of people's experience of survival in harsh polar conditions.

Horse or beef ribs in Yakutia are known as oyogos. Stroganina is made from frozen meat and fish, which is eaten with a spicy seasoning from a flask (ramson), spoon (like horseradish) and saranka (onion plant). From beef or horse blood, khaan is obtained - Yakut black pudding.

The national drink is popular with many Eastern peoples koumiss, as well as stronger koonnyoruu kymys(or koiuurgen). Suorat (curdled milk), kuerchekh (whipped cream), kober (butter churned with milk to form a thick cream), chokhoon (or chehon- butter churned with milk and berries), iedegey (cottage cheese), suumeh (cheese). From flour and dairy products, the Yakuts cook a thick mass of salamat.

Interesting traditions and customs of the people of Yakutia

The customs and rituals of the Yakuts are closely connected with folk beliefs. Even many Orthodox or agnostics follow them. The structure of beliefs is very similar to Shintoism - each manifestation of nature has its own spirit, and shamans communicate with them. The laying of a yurt and the birth of a child, marriage and burial are not complete without rites. It is noteworthy that until recently, Yakut families were polygamous, each wife of one husband had her own household and dwelling. Apparently, under the influence of assimilation with the Russians, the Yakuts nevertheless switched to monogamous cells of society.

An important place in the life of every Yakut is occupied by the holiday of koumiss Ysyakh. Various rituals are designed to appease the gods. Hunters glorify Bai-Bayanai, women praise Aiyysyt. The holiday is crowned by the universal dance of the sun - osouhay. All participants join hands and arrange a huge round dance. Fire has sacred properties at any time of the year. Therefore, every meal in a Yakut home begins with treating the fire - throwing food into the fire and irrigating it with milk. Feeding the fire is one of the key moments of any holiday and business.

The most characteristic cultural phenomenon is the olonkho poetic stories, which can have up to 36 thousand rhymed lines. The epic is passed down from generation to generation between master performers, and most recently these stories were included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Good memory and high life expectancy are one of the distinguishing features of the Yakuts. In connection with this feature, a custom arose according to which a dying elderly person calls someone from the younger generation to him and tells him about all his social ties - friends, enemies. The Yakuts are distinguished by social activity, even though their settlements are several yurts located at an impressive distance. The main social relations take place during major holidays, the main of which is the holiday of koumiss - Ysyakh.

The traditional culture is most fully represented by the Amga-Lena and Vilyui Yakuts. The northern Yakuts are close in culture to the Evenks and Yukaghirs, the Olyokma are strongly acculturated by Russians.

12 facts about the Yakuts

It is not so cold in Yakutia as everyone thinks. Almost throughout the territory of Yakutia, the minimum temperature is on average -40-45 degrees, which are not so terrible, since the air is very dry. -20 degrees in St. Petersburg will be worse than -50 in Yakutsk.
The Yakuts eat raw meat - frozen foal meat, sliced \u200b\u200band shavings or cut into cubes. The meat of adult horses is also eaten, but it is not so tasty. Meat is extremely tasty and healthy, rich in vitamins and other useful substances, in particular, antioxidants.
Stroganina is also eaten in Yakutia - the meat of river fish, mainly whitefish and omul, trimmed with thick chips, stroganina from sturgeon and nelma is most valued (all these fish, with the exception of sturgeon, are from the whitefish family). All this splendor can be consumed by dipping the chips in salt and pepper. Some also make different sauces.
Contrary to popular belief, most people in Yakutia have never seen deer. Deer are found mainly in the Far North of Yakutia and, oddly enough, in South Yakutia.
The legend of crowbars becoming brittle like glass in severe frost is true. If, at a temperature below 50-55 degrees, you hit a solid object with a cast-iron crowbar, the crowbar will shatter into pieces.
In Yakutia, almost all grains, vegetables and even some fruits ripen perfectly during the summer. For example, beautiful, tasty, red, sweet watermelons are grown not far from Yakutsk.
The Yakut language belongs to the Turkic group of languages. There are a lot of words in the Yakut language that begin with the letter "Y".
In Yakutia, even in 40-degree frost, children eat ice cream right on the street.
When the Yakuts eat bear meat, they make the sound "Hook" before eating or imitate the cry of a raven, thereby, as it were, disguising themselves from the spirit of the bear - it's not we who eat your meat, but crows.
Yakut horses are a very ancient breed. They graze all year round on their own without any supervision.
Yakuts are very hardworking. In summer, haymaking can easily work 18 hours a day without a break for lunch, and then have a good drink in the evening and after 2 hours of sleep, back to work. They can work 24 hours and then plow 300 km behind the wheel and work there for another 10 hours.
The Yakuts do not like being called Yakuts and prefer to be called "Sakha".

The Yakuts (pronunciation with an emphasis on the last syllable is common among the local population) are the indigenous population of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Self-name: "Sakha", in the plural "Sakhalar".

According to the results of the 2010 census, 478 thousand Yakuts lived in Russia, mainly in Yakutia (466.5 thousand), as well as in the Irkutsk, Magadan regions, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk territories. The Yakuts are the most numerous (almost 50% of the population) people in Yakutia and the largest of the indigenous peoples of Siberia within the borders of Russia.

Anthropological appearance

Purebred Yakuts are more similar in appearance to the Kirghiz than to the Mongols.

They have an oval face, not high, but a wide and smooth forehead with rather large black eyes and slightly sloping eyelids, the cheekbones are moderately pronounced. characteristic feature The Yakut face is a disproportionate development of the middle facial part to the detriment of the forehead and chin. The complexion is swarthy, has a yellow-gray or bronze tint. The nose is straight, often with a hump. The mouth is large, the teeth are large yellowish. The hair is black, straight, coarse, hairy vegetation is completely absent on the face and other parts of the body.

Growth is not high, 160-165 centimeters. Yakuts do not differ in muscle strength. They have long and thin arms, short and crooked legs.

The movements are slow and heavy.

Of the sense organs, the hearing organ is best developed. The Yakuts do not distinguish at all from one another some colors (for example, shades of blue: violet, blue, blue), for which there are not even special designations in their language.

Language

The Yakut language belongs to the Turkic group of the Altai family, which has groups of dialects: central, Vilyui, northwestern, Taimyr. There are many words of Mongolian origin in the Yakut language (about 30% of words), there are also about 10% of words of unknown origin that have no analogues in other languages.

According to its lexical and phonetic features and grammatical construction, the Yakut language can be classified among the ancient Turkic dialects. According to S.E. Malov, the Yakut language is considered pre-written by its construction. Consequently, either the basis of the Yakut language was not originally Türkic, or it separated from the Türkic proper in remote antiquity, when the latter experienced a period of enormous linguistic influence of the Indo-Iranian tribes and further developed separately.

At the same time, the language of the Yakuts unequivocally testifies to its similarity with the languages of the Turkic-Tatar peoples. The Tatars and Bashkirs, exiled to the Yakutsk region, had only a few months to learn the language, while the Russians needed years for this. The main difficulty is the Yakut phonetics, which is completely different from Russian. There are sounds that the European ear begins to distinguish only after a long habituation, and the European larynx is not able to reproduce them quite correctly (for example, the sound "ng").

The study of the Yakut language is difficult due to a large number of synonymous expressions and the indefiniteness of grammatical forms: for example, there are no genders for nouns and adjectives do not agree with them.

Origin

The origin of the Yakuts can be reliably traced only from about the middle of the 2nd millennium AD. It is not possible to establish exactly who the ancestors of the Yakuts were, and it is also impossible to establish the time of their settlement in the country where they are now the predominant race, their place of residence before resettlement. The origin of the Yakuts can be traced only on the basis of linguistic analysis and the similarity of the details of everyday life and cult traditions.

The ethnogenesis of the Yakuts should, apparently, begin with the era of the early nomads, when cultures of the Scythian-Siberian type developed in the west of Central Asia and in southern Siberia. Separate prerequisites for this transformation on the territory of Southern Siberia go back to the 2nd millennium BC. The origins of the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts can be traced most clearly in the Pazyryk culture of the Altai Mountains. Its carriers were close to the Saks of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. This pre-Turkic substrate in the culture of the peoples of the Sayano-Altai and the Yakuts is manifested in their household, in things developed during the period of early nomadism, such as iron adzes, wire earrings, copper and silver hryvnias, leather shoes, wooden choron goblets. These ancient origins can also be traced in the arts and crafts of the Altaians, Tuvans and Yakuts, who retained the influence of the "animal style".

The ancient Altai substrate is also found among the Yakuts in the funeral rite. First of all, this is the personification of a horse with death, the custom of installing a wooden pillar on the grave - a symbol of the "tree of life", as well as the presence of kibes - special people who were engaged in burials, who, like the Zoroastrian "servants of the dead", were kept outside the settlements. This complex includes the cult of the horse and the dualistic concept - the opposition of the deities aiyy, personifying good creative principles and abaahy, evil demons.

These materials are consistent with the data of immunogenetics. Thus, in the blood of 29% of the Yakuts examined by V.V. Fefelova in different regions of the republic, the HLA-AI antigen, found only in Caucasian populations, was found. It is often found in the Yakuts in combination with another HLA-BI7 antigen, which can be traced in the blood of only two peoples - the Yakuts and the Hindi Indians. All this leads to the idea that some ancient Turkic groups took part in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts, perhaps not directly the Pazyryks, but, of course, associated with the Pazyryks of Altai, whose physical type differed from the surrounding Caucasoid population by a more noticeable Mongoloid admixture.

The Scythian-Hunnic origins in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts further developed in two directions. The first can be conditionally called "Western" or South Siberian, it was based on the origins worked out under the influence of the Indo-Iranian ethnoculture. The second is "Eastern" or "Central Asian". It is represented, albeit not numerous, by the Yakut-Xiongnu parallels in culture. This "Central Asian" tradition can be traced in the anthropology of the Yakuts and in religious ideas associated with the koumiss holiday yyakh and the remnants of the cult of the sky - tanara.

The ancient Turkic era, which began in the 6th century, was in no way inferior to the previous period in terms of territorial scope and grandeur of its cultural and political resonance. This period, which gave rise to a generally unified culture, is associated with the formation of the Turkic foundations of the Yakut language and culture. A comparison of the culture of the Yakuts with the ancient Turkic showed that in the Yakut pantheon and mythology, precisely those aspects of the ancient Turkic religion that developed under the influence of the previous Scythian-Siberian era were more consistently preserved. The Yakuts have preserved a lot in their beliefs and funeral rites, in particular, by analogy with the ancient Turkic stones-balbals, the Yakuts set up wooden posts-poles.

But if among the ancient Turks the number of stones on the grave of the deceased depended on the people killed by him in the war, then among the Yakuts the number of columns installed depended on the number of horses buried with the deceased and eaten on his funeral feast. The yurt, where the person died, was torn down to the ground and a quadrangular earthen fence was obtained, similar to the ancient Turkic fences surrounding the grave. In the place where the deceased lay, the Yakuts put an idol-balbal. In the ancient Turkic era, new cultural standards were developed that transformed the traditions of the early nomads. The same regularities characterize the material culture of the Yakuts, which, therefore, can be considered as a whole Turkic.

The Turkic ancestors of the Yakuts can be referred in a broader sense to the number of "Gaogui Dinlins" - Teles tribes, among which one of the main places belonged to the ancient Uighurs. In the Yakut culture, many parallels have been preserved that point to this: cult rites, the use of a horse for conspiracy in marriages, and some terms associated with beliefs. The Teles tribes of the Baikal region also included the tribes of the Kurykan group, which also included the Merkits, who played a certain role in the development of the pastoralists of the Lena. The origin of the Kurykans was attended by local, in all likelihood, Mongolian-speaking pastoralists associated with the culture of slab graves or the Shiweis and, possibly, the ancient Tungus. But still, in this process, the leading role belonged to the newcomer Turkic-speaking tribes, related to the ancient Uighurs and Kyrgyz. The Kurykan culture developed in close contact with the Krasnoyarsk-Minusinsk region. Under the influence of the local Mongol-speaking substratum, the Turkic nomadic economy took shape in semi-sedentary pastoralism. Subsequently, the Yakuts, through their Baikal ancestors, spread cattle breeding in the Middle Lena, some household items, forms of dwellings, clay vessels, and probably inherited their main physical type.

In the X-XI centuries, Mongolian-speaking tribes appeared in the Baikal region, on the Upper Lena. They began to live together with the descendants of the Kurykans. Later, part of this population (the descendants of the Kurykans and other Turkic-speaking groups who experienced a strong linguistic influence of the Mongols) went down the Lena and became the core in the formation of the Yakuts.

In the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts, the participation of the second Turkic-speaking group with the Kipchak heritage is also traced. This is confirmed by the presence in the Yakut language of several hundred Yakut-Kypchak lexical parallels. The Kipchak heritage seems to be manifested through the ethnonyms Khanalas and Sakha. The first of them had a probable connection with the ancient ethnonym Khanly, whose carriers later became part of many medieval Turkic peoples, their role in the origin of the Kazakhs is especially great. This should explain the presence of a number of common Yakut-Kazakh ethnonyms: odai - adai, argin - argyn, meirem suppu - meiram sopy, eras kuel - orazkeldy, tuer tugul - gortuur. The link connecting the Yakuts with the Kipchaks is the ethnonym Saka, with many phonetic variants found among the Turkic peoples: juices, saklar, sakoo, sekler, sakal, saktar, sakha. Initially, this ethnonym, apparently, was part of the circle of Teles tribes. Among them, along with the Uighurs, Kurykans, Chinese sources also place the Seike tribe.

The kinship of the Yakuts with the Kipchaks is determined by the presence of cultural elements common to them - the burial rite with the skeleton of a horse, the manufacture of a stuffed horse, wooden cult anthropomorphic pillars, jewelry items basically associated with the Pazyryk culture (earrings in the form of a question mark, hryvnia), common ornamental motifs . Thus, the ancient South Siberian direction in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts in the Middle Ages was continued by the Kipchaks.

These conclusions were mainly confirmed on the basis of a comparative study of the traditional culture of the Yakuts and the cultures of the Turkic peoples of the Sayano-Altai. In general, these cultural ties fall into two main layers - the ancient Turkic and medieval Kypchak. In a more conventional context, the Yakuts converge along the first layer through the Oguz-Uigur "language component" with the Sagay, Beltir groups of the Khakas, with the Tuvans and some tribes of the North Altaians. All these peoples, except for the main cattle-breeding, also have a mountain-taiga culture, which is associated with fishing and hunting skills and techniques, the construction of stationary dwellings. According to the "Kipchak layer", the Yakuts are moving closer to the southern Altaians, Tobolsk, Baraba and Chulym Tatars, Kumandins, Teleuts, Kachin and Kyzyl groups of Khakasses. Apparently, elements of Samoyedic origin penetrate into the Yakut language along this line, and borrowings from the Finno-Ugric and Samoyed languages into Turkic are quite frequent to designate a number of tree and shrub species. Consequently, these contacts are connected mainly with forest "gathering" culture.

According to available data, the penetration of the first pastoral groups into the basin of the Middle Lena, which became the basis for the formation of the Yakut people, began in the 14th century (possibly at the end of the 13th century). In the general appearance of material culture, some local sources associated with the early Iron Age, with the dominant role of the southern foundations, are traced.

The newcomers, mastering Central Yakutia, made fundamental changes in the economic life of the region - they brought cows and horses with them, organized hay and pasture farming. Materials from archaeological monuments of the 17th-18th centuries recorded a successive connection with the culture of the Kulun-Atakh people. The clothing complex from the Yakut burials and settlements of the 17th-18th centuries finds its closest analogies in Southern Siberia, mainly covering the Altai and Upper Yenisei regions within the 10th-14th centuries. The parallels observed between the Kurykan and Kulun-Atakh cultures seem to be obscured at this time. But the Kypchak-Yakut connections are revealed by the similarity of the features of material culture and the funeral rite.

The influence of the Mongolian-speaking environment in the archaeological monuments of the XIV-XVIII centuries is practically not traced. But it manifests itself in the linguistic material, and in the economy it constitutes an independent powerful layer.

From this point of view, sedentary cattle breeding, combined with fishing and hunting, dwellings and household buildings, clothing, footwear, ornamental art, religious and mythological beliefs of the Yakuts are based on the South Siberian, Turkic platform. And already oral folk art, folk knowledge was finally formed in the Middle Lena basin under the influence of the Mongolian-speaking component.

The historical traditions of the Yakuts, in full agreement with the data of archeology and ethnography, connect the origin of the people with the process of resettlement. According to these data, it was the alien groups, headed by Omogoy, Elley and Uluu-Khoro, that formed the backbone of the Yakut people. In the person of Omogoy, one can see the descendants of the Kurykans, who belonged to the Oguz group in terms of language. But their language, apparently, was influenced by the ancient Baikal and alien medieval Mongol-speaking environment. Elley personified the South Siberian Kipchak group, represented mainly by the Kangalas. Kipchak words in the Yakut language, according to the definition of G.V. Popov, are mainly represented by rarely used words. From this it follows that this group did not have a tangible impact on the phonetic and grammatical structure of the language of the Old Turkic core of the Yakuts. The legends about Uluu-Khoro reflected the arrival of Mongolian groups to the Middle Lena. This is consistent with the assumption of linguists about the residence of the Mongolian-speaking population in the territory of the modern "akaya" regions of Central Yakutia.

According to available data, the formation of the modern physical appearance of the Yakuts was completed no earlier than the middle of the 2nd millennium AD. on the Middle Lena on the basis of a mixture of alien and aboriginal groups. In the anthropological image of the Yakuts, it is possible to distinguish two types - a rather powerful Central Asian, represented by the Baikal core, which was influenced by the Mongolian tribes, and the South Siberian anthropological type with an ancient Caucasoid gene pool. Subsequently, these two types merged into one, forming the southern backbone of modern Yakuts. At the same time, thanks to the participation of the Khori people, the Central Asian type becomes predominant.

Life and economy

The 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 Olekminskys are strongly acculturated by the Russians.

The main traditional occupations are horse breeding (in Russian documents of the 17th century, the Yakuts were called "horse people") and cattle breeding. The men took care of the horses, the women took care of the cattle. Deer were bred in the north. Cattle were kept in the summer on grazing, in the winter in barns (hotons). The Yakut breeds of cattle were distinguished by endurance, but were unproductive. Haymaking was known even before the arrival of the Russians.

Fishing was also developed. They caught fish mainly in summer, in winter they caught fish in the hole, and in autumn they organized a collective seine fishing with a division of prey 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"), some tribes also specialized in it - the so-called "foot Yakuts" - osekui, ontuly, kokui , Kirikians, Kyrgydais, Orgoths and others.

Hunting was especially widespread in the north, being the main source of food here (arctic fox, hare, reindeer, elk, bird). In the taiga, by the arrival of the Russians, both meat and fur hunting (bear, elk, squirrel, fox, hare) was known, later, due to a decrease in the number of animals, its importance fell. Specific hunting techniques are characteristic: with a bull (the hunter sneaks up on the prey, hiding behind the bull), horseback chasing the beast along the trail, sometimes with dogs.

There was also gathering - the collection of pine and larch sapwood (the inner layer of the bark), harvested for the winter in dried form, roots (saran, chakan, etc.), greens (wild onions, horseradish, sorrel), only raspberries were not used from berries, which was considered impure.

Agriculture (barley, to a lesser extent wheat) was borrowed from the Russians at the end of the 17th century and was very poorly developed until the middle of the 19th century. Its spread (especially in the Olekminsky district) was facilitated by Russian exiled settlers.

They traveled mainly on horseback, transporting goods in packs. There were known skis lined with horse kamus, sledges (silis syarga, later - sledges like Russian wood firewood), usually harnessed to bulls, in the north - straight-dust reindeer sleds. The boats, like the Uevenks, were birch bark (tyy) or flat-bottomed from boards; later sailing boats-karbass were borrowed from the Russians.

dwelling

Winter settlements (kystyk) were located near mowing fields, consisted of 1-3 yurts, summer ones - near pastures, numbered up to 10 yurts. The winter yurt (booth, diie) had sloping walls made of standing thin logs on a rectangular log frame and a low gable roof. The walls were plastered on the outside with clay and manure, the roof over the log flooring was covered with bark and earth. The house was placed on the cardinal points, the entrance was arranged in the east side, the windows - in the south and west, the roof was oriented from north to south. To the right of the entrance, in the northeast corner, a hearth (ooh) was arranged - 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 southwestern corner. At the western wall there was a master's place. The bunks to the left of the entrance were intended for male youth, workers, to the right, at the hearth, for women. A table (ostuol) and stools were placed in the front corner. On the north side, a barn (hoton) 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 canopy or canopy was arranged. The yurt was surrounded by a low mound, often with a fence. A hitching post was placed near the house, often decorated with carvings.

Summer yurts differed little from winter ones. Instead of a hoton, a barn for calves (titik), sheds, etc. were placed at a distance. There was a conical building made of poles covered with birch bark (urasa), in the north - with turf (kalyman, holuman). WITH late XVIII centuries, polygonal log yurts with a pyramidal roof are known. From 2nd half of XVIII centuries, Russian huts spread.

Cloth

Traditional men's and women's clothing - short leather pants, a fur underbelly, leather legs, a single-breasted caftan (sleep), in winter - fur, in summer - from horse or cow skin with wool inside, for the rich - from fabric. Later, fabric shirts with a turn-down collar (yrbakhs) appeared. Men girded themselves with a leather belt with a knife and flint, the rich - with silver and copper plaques. Characteristic is the women's wedding fur long caftan (sangyah), embroidered with red and green cloth, and with a gold braid; an elegant women's fur hat made of expensive fur that goes down to the back and shoulders, with a high cloth, velvet or brocade top with a silver plaque (tuosakhta) and other decorations sewn on it. Women's silver and gold jewelry is widespread. Shoes - winter high boots made of deer or horse skins with wool outside (eterbes), summer boots made of soft leather (saary) with a top covered with cloth, for women - with appliqué, long fur stockings.

Food

The main food is dairy, especially in summer: from mare's milk - koumiss, from cow's milk - curdled milk (suorat, sora), cream (kuercheh), butter; oil was drunk melted or with koumiss; suorat was prepared for the winter in a frozen form (tar) with the addition of berries, roots, etc.; stew (butugas) was prepared from it with the addition of water, flour, roots, pine sapwood, etc. 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 valued. In the 19th century, barley flour came into use: it was used to make unleavened cakes, pancakes, salamat soup. Vegetables were known in the Olekminsky district.

Religion

Traditional beliefs were based on shamanism. The world consisted of several tiers, Yuryung ayy toyon was considered the head of the upper one, Ala buurai toyon and others were considered the head of the lower one. The cult of the female deity of fertility Aiyysyt was important. Horses were sacrificed to the spirits living in the upper world, cows were sacrificed in the lower one. The main holiday is the spring-summer koumiss holiday (Ysyakh), accompanied by libations of koumiss from large wooden cups (choroon), games, sports competitions, etc.

Orthodoxy spread in the XVIII-XIX centuries. But the Christian cult was combined with belief in good and evil spirits, the spirits of dead shamans, master spirits. Elements of totemism have also been preserved: the clan had a patron animal, which was forbidden to be killed or called by name.

Yakuts- This is the indigenous population of Yakutia (Republic of Sakha). Statistics according to the last census is as follows
Number - 959689 people.
Language - Turkic group of languages (Yakut)
Religion - Orthodox and traditional faith.
Race - Mongoloid
Related peoples include Dolgans, Tuvans, Kirghiz, Altaians, Khakasses, Shors
Ethnos - Dolgans
Descended from the Turkic-Mongolian people.

History: the origin of the Yakut people.

The first mention of the ancestors of this people was found in the fourteenth century. A nomadic tribe of Kurykans lived in Transbaikalia. Scientists suggest that from the XII-XIV centuries, the Yakuts migrated from Baikal to Lena, Aldan and Vailyuy, where they settled and forced out the Tungus and Odul. The Yakut people from ancient times were considered excellent cattle breeders. Cultivation of cows, horses. Yakuts are hunters by nature. They fished excellently, understood military affairs, and were famous for blacksmithing. Archaeologists believe that the Yakut people appeared as a result of the addition of trick-speaking settlers from the local tribes of the Lena basin to their settlement. In 1620, the Yakut people joined the Russian state- it accelerated the development of the people.

Religion

Traditions of the Yakut people

1. Mandatory traditional rite - Blessing of Aiyy during celebrations, holidays and outdoors. Blessings are prayers.
2. The rite of air burial is the suspension of the body of a dead person in the air. The rite of giving the deceased to air, spirit, light, wood.
3. The holiday "Ysyakh", the day praising the White Aiyy, is the most important holiday.
4. "Bayanai" - the spirit of hunting and good luck. It is cajoled when hunting or catching fish.
5. Marriage is entered from 16 to 25 years. For the bride, bride price is paid. If the family is not rich, then the bride can be stolen, and then work for her by helping the family of the future wife.
6. Singing, which the Yakuts refer to as "olonkho" resembles opera singing since 2005, is considered a UNESCO heritage.
7. All the Yakut people revere the trees as the spirit of the mistress of the land Aan Dar Khan Khotun lives there.
8. When climbing through the mountains, the Yakuts traditionally sacrificed fish and animals to forest spirits.

Yakut national jumps

a sport that is held on the national holiday "Ysyakh". International Games "Children of Asia" are divided into:
"Kylyy" - eleven jumps without stopping, the start of the jump on one leg, and the landing must be on both legs.
"Ystaҥa" - eleven alternate jumps from foot to foot and you need to land on both feet.
"Kuobah" - eleven jumps without stopping, pushing off with two legs at once from a place or landing on two legs from a run.
It is important to know about the rules. Since if the third competition is not performed, the results will be cancelled.

Yakut cuisine

The traditions of the Yakut people are also connected with their cuisine. For example, cooking carp. The fish is not gutted, only the scales are removed, a small incision is made on the side, part of the intestine is cut off, and the gallbladder is removed. In this form, the fish is boiled or fried. Potrashkov soup is popular among the people. This waste-free cooking applies to all dishes. Be it beef or horse meat.

From its very "origin of the Yakut people" traditions have been accumulating. These northern rites are interesting and mysterious, accumulated after centuries of their history. For other peoples, their life is so inaccessible and incomprehensible, but for the Yakuts it is the memory of their ancestors, a small tribute in honor of their existence.

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