The Yakuts are an integral ethnos: the ancient Tungus people of the Tungus and the alien Turkic-Mongol tribes participated in its formation. Despite the fact that the Tungus took part in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts, the relationship between them was unfriendly, and even mutual marriages were prohibited. The religion of the Tungus was much more severe than that of the Yakuts.
What food was considered valuable and what was "unclean"
Local cattle were hardy and cold-resistant, but milked only in summer. This refers to cow's milk and horse milk - kumis. The most valuable product was horse meat. In the north, deer were bred.
From cow's milk, yogurt was made - suorat, it was frozen for the winter, adding berries, roots, meat. In winter, they chopped off and cooked on this basis soup - butugas. The diet included game and fish. One of the methods of hunting was the use of a grazing bull, behind which the hunter was hiding. The same technique was used by the North American Indians. The Yakuts knew how to hunt on horseback, and also trained dogs for hunting.
They were engaged in fishing. On wooden punt boats and birch bark boats, which were called "tyy", they caught with nets or nets. Sometimes they arranged a collective passage with a seine; the booty was divided equally among all participants. In winter, we practiced ice fishing through an ice hole. They ate raw and boiled fish, frozen or fermented in pits in reserve.
The Yakuts also ate the gifts of the forest: sorrel, wild garlic, various roots, and even the inner layer of tree bark. Berries were harvested less, and raspberries were not eaten at all: they were considered unclean.
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Blacksmiths in animal skins
Before the arrival of the Russians, the Yakuts dressed mainly in skins: spinning, weaving and felting did not develop. Fabrics were imported goods and were worn by the wealthiest members of the family.
Horsehair was actively used: cords, ropes, lassos, fishing nets were woven from it, and patterns were embroidered. Clothes, especially for women, were decorated with embroidery and appliqués.
Wood and mammoth carvings were practiced. Bull horns are a characteristic motif in the ornaments. This is a very ancient symbol, it is found throughout Eurasia: in Mesopotamia, Crete, India, Spain, Scandinavia, etc.
The Yakut people were good at blacksmithing. They searched for ore, smelted and minted products from various metals: iron, copper, silver. Earrings, rings, chains, bracelets and all kinds of pendants were made for women. Horse harness, belts, clothing and weapons were decorated with silver, gold and copper embossing (before the arrival of the Russians, these were bows with arrows and spears).
Unlike most Siberian peoples, the Yakuts knew how to make not only metal and leather utensils, but also stucco ceramics.
When preparing hay for livestock for the winter, they mowed the grass with the help of a pink salmon scythe. The Lithuanian braid (which is mowed with a straightened back) appeared among the Yakuts - in the 17th century, with the arrival of Russians in Siberia (in Russia, it came into use in the 14th century).
The unit of measurement of land among the Yakuts was "kyu-ryuyo" - a site that was required to create one haystack.
How to get through the taiga
Horseback riding is best in summer. Local horses are small, very hardy and unpretentious, accustomed to rough terrain. In winter, the Yakuts used skis similar to the Russians. The difference was that in Russia they were knocked out with the skin from the shin of an elk, and in Yakutia - with the skin of a deer or horse.
Bulls were used as beasts of burden and draft animals. In winter, they were harnessed to a special sled - silis syarga - with runners made of crooked tree trunks. But reindeer were harnessed to sledges with straight runners.
Yakut house: what do the Yakuts have in common with the Normans
The Yakut house - the yurt - had a complex internal structure. It was not a nomadic dwelling, the frame of which was made of poles. The summer yurt was covered with sewn birch bark, the winter - with a log flooring. Turf was laid on top of the building, which grew together and gave additional protection from cold and moisture. The outer part of the walls was built of turf and filled with clay. Living quarters, warehouse, workshops and barn were united under one roof. The entrance and the hearth of the dwelling were arranged with a reference point to the cardinal points. The entrance has always been in the east. In the far right corner, a hearth was made - dry. In winter, he was constantly drowned. Long benches - oron were located along the walls. The shop to the left of the entrance was for young men and workers. Women and children were housed near the hearth. The most honorable was the shop running along the left (south wall). Where this wall endedthere was a sacred corner where there were objects related to religion.
Similar houses have survived in Greenland since the Norman colonization. Another reason to recall the sources confirming that the Scandinavians came from Asia.
Brides from other lands
Until the 19th century, polygamy was adopted. Each wife had her own yurt and household. It was customary to choose a bride in a different way and preferably even in another ulus. For the bride, kalym was brought in, consisting mainly of cattle, some of which were slaughtered for the wedding feast. The groom received a dowry, including utensils, furs and household items. A fur coat for women was a particularly expensive item and was inherited.
Legends about ancestors, love-lyric songs, fairy tales (including about animals), comic songs like Russian ditties were performed at the wedding. Individual storytellers - olonkhosut specialized in performing heroic legends: they sang in the technique of throat falsetto polyphony - with the effect of two voices. Among the musical instruments were the jew's harp, strings and percussion instruments. The dances were both round dance and personal.
How slavery looked like among the Yakuts
A prisoner of war, a poor relative, or a child sold into slavery could become a slave. All of these options were very common. The aristocratic slaveholders were called toyons. Slaves made up their military detachment, grazed cattle, did housework. The slave had the right to a family and a separate yurt.
Multi-tiered world and souls of dead shamans
According to the faith of the Yakuts, the world has nine tiers, in which creatures live, invisible in the human world, but having a great influence on it. Horses were sacrificed to the spirits of the upper levels, and cows were sacrificed to the spirits of the lower levels.
The Yakuts believed in the spirits of their ancestors, who were divided into the dead righteously and unrighteously and behaved in accordance with this after death. It was believed that the souls of dead shamans possessed great power. The existence of spirits - the masters of various natural objects was recognized. One of the most important cults was the cult of the female fertility goddess.
Shamans were in charge of religious issues: both men and women. They could transform into animals - their counterparts. In rituals, shamans used tambourines: not round, but oval - dungur.
Elements of totemism among the Yakuts have been preserved to this day: each genus has a patron animal, which is forbidden to kill and call by name.
The Yakuts began to accept Orthodoxy in the 18th century. A large cross was added to the usual silver jewelry. In the sacred corner of the yurt, in addition to the protective symbols of good spirits, icons appeared.
Galina Pogodina