Yakut songs. Yakut wedding. Yakut costume. Traditions and customs of the Yakuts. Culture and life of the peoples of Yakutia

According to archaeological data, the Yakut nationality arose as a result of the combination of local tribes living near the middle reaches of the Lena River with southern Turkic-speaking settlers. Over time, the created new nationality was divided into several groups. For example, reindeer herders in the northwest, etc.

Yakuts, description of the nationality

The Yakuts are considered one of the most numerous Siberian peoples. Their number reaches over 380 thousand people. Yakuts live in Irkutsk, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, but mainly in the Republic of Sakha. The Yakut language belongs to the Turkic dialects that are part of the Altai family. The main occupations of the Yakuts are horse and cattle breeding, fishing and hunting. IN modern times the main wealth of the Yakuts is diamonds. The extractive industry is very developed. The Yakut dwelling is yurts, which can be small and vice versa, different in height. Yurts are built of wood.

Whom did the Yakuts worship since ancient times?

Among the Yakuts, reverence for nature still occupies an important place in their beliefs. All the traditions and customs of the Yakuts are closely related to her. They believe that nature is alive, and all earthly objects have their own spirits and inner strength... The owner of the road was considered one of the main ones for a long time. Previously, they even made sacrificial offerings to him, leaving horse hair, scraps of cloth, buttons and copper coins at the crossroads. Similar actions were performed for the owners of reservoirs, mountains, etc.

Thunder and lightning, in the Yakuts' representation, pursue evil spirits. If a tree splits during a thunderstorm, it is believed to have healing powers. The wind, in the minds of the Yakuts, has four spirits that guard the earthly peace. The Earth has a female deity - Aan. She monitors the growth and fertility of all living things (plants, animals, people). In the spring, special offerings are made for Aan.

Water has its own master. Gifts are brought to him in autumn and spring in the form of a birch-bark boat with an image of a person carved on it and attached pieces of cloth. Dropping sharp objects into water is considered a sin.

The owner of the fire is a gray-haired old man who drives out evil spirits. This element has always been treated very respectfully. The fire was never extinguished and in the old days they carried it with them in pots. It is believed that he is the patron saint of the family and home.

The Yakuts call the spirit of the forest Baai Bayanai. He helps in fishing and hunting. In ancient times, it was chosen which could not be killed and eaten. For example, goose, swan, ermine and some others. The eagle was considered the head of all birds. The bear has always been the most revered among all groups of Yakuts. His claws and other attributes are still used as amulets.

Holidays

Yakut holidays are closely related to traditions and rituals. The most important is Ysyakh. It takes place once a year and reflects the worldview and picture of the world. It is celebrated at the very beginning of summer. According to ancient traditions, a hitching post is set up in a clearing surrounded by young birches, which symbolizes the World Tree and the axis of the Universe. In modern times, she has also become the personification of the friendship of the peoples living in Yakutia. This holiday is considered a family one.

Ysyakh always begins with sprinkling kumis of fire and four cardinal points. This is followed by a request to the Deities for the bestowal of grace. Put on the celebration National clothes and traditional dishes and koumiss are prepared. The meal is always held at the same table with all relatives. Then they begin to dance in circles, sports competitions, wrestling, archery and tug of a stick are arranged.

Traditions and customs of the Yakuts: families

Yakuts live small until the 19th century, polygamy was widespread. But they all lived separately, and each had its own household. Yakuts enter marriage between 16 and 25 years of age. In case of matchmaking, kalym is paid. If then the bride can be kidnapped with subsequent detention.

Rites and traditions

The Yakut people have many traditions and rituals, from the description of which even a separate book can come out. They are often associated with magical actions. For example, to protect housing and livestock from evil spirits, the Yakuts use a number of conspiracies. Important components in this case are the ornament on clothes, jewelry and utensils. There are also ceremonies for a good harvest, offspring of livestock, the birth of children, etc.

Until now, the Yakuts have preserved many traditions and customs. For example, the Sat stone is considered magical, and if a woman looks at it, then it loses its power. It is found in the stomachs or liver of animals and birds. After extraction, it is wrapped in birch bark and wrapped in horsehair. It is believed that through certain spells with the help of Sat, you can cause rain, wind or snow.

Many traditions and customs of the Yakuts have been preserved since ancient times. For example, they have it, but in modern times it has been replaced by a ransom. The Yakuts are very hospitable, they love to exchange gifts. Birth rites are associated with the goddess Aiyy-syt, who is considered the patroness of children.

Hitching posts

The Yakuts have a lot of different tethering posts. And this is not accidental, since since ancient times they have been one of the main components of the culture of the people. Beliefs, many rituals, traditions and customs are associated with them. All hitching posts have a different ornament, decoration, height, shape.

There are three groups of such pillars in total. The first (courtyard) includes those that are installed at the dwelling. Horses are tied to them. The second group includes pillars used for various religious rituals. And in the third - hitching posts, which are installed on the main Yakut holiday Ysyakh.

Yurts of the Yakuts

Yakut settlements consist of several houses (yurts) located at a great distance from each other. The Yakut dwelling is created from round standing logs. But only small trees are used in construction, since cutting large ones is considered a sin. The doors are located on the east side towards the sun. Inside the yurt there is a fireplace covered with clay. The dwelling has many small windows. There are wide sun loungers of different heights along the walls. At the entrance - the lowest. Only the owner of the yurt sleeps on the high one. The sun beds are separated from each other by partitions.

For the construction of a yurt, a low place is chosen, protected from the winds. In addition, the Yakuts are looking for a “happy place”. Therefore, they do not settle among the mighty trees, since they have already taken all the power of the earth. There are many more such moments, as in Chinese geomancy. When choosing a place to build a yurt, they turn to a shaman. Often, yurts are collapsible so that they can be transported in a nomadic way of life.

National clothes

Consists of a single-breasted caftan. Previously, for winter, it was sewn from fur, and for summer - from the skin of a horse or cow. The caftan has 4 additional wedges and a wide belt. The sleeves are wide. Fur socks are also worn on the feet. In modern times, the Yakuts use fabric for sewing clothes. They began to wear shirts with collars, belted with a belt.

Wedding fur coats for women are sewn long, up to the heels. They expand towards the bottom. The sleeves and collar are decorated with brocade, red and green cloth, silver jewelry, and lace. The hem is lined with sable fur. These bridal coats are inherited. On the head, instead of a veil, fur hats with a high top made of black or red decorated cloth are worn.

Folklore

Talking about the Yakuts, one cannot fail to mention their folklore. The main thing in it is the epic olonkho, which is considered a kind of poetry, and is performed like an opera. This art has been preserved since antiquity. Olonkho includes many traditional legends. And in 2005 this art was recognized as a UNESCO heritage.

Poems from 10 to 15 thousand lines long are performed by folk storytellers. Not everyone can become one. Storytellers must have an oratorical gift, be able to improvise, and have an acting talent. Speech should be of a different tone. Olonkho, which are large in volume, can be performed for seven nights. The largest and famous work consists of 36 thousand lines of poetry.

RESEARCHERS OF THE XIX CENTURY ABOUT THE YAKUTSK CHARACTER

National character ... Everybody understands it, like football. So I will call the Caucasians quick-tempered, the Germans pedantic, the Ukrainians calculating ... Of course, other options are also possible. In reality, their self-esteem may be different. After all, any nation sees itself as kind, sympathetic, patient, spiritual.

In Yakutia, the national character began to be studied in the century before last. The Siberian merchant and gold miner Innokenty Sibiryakov allocated 20 thousand rubles to organize a scientific expedition to Yakutia. In those days, it was a solid amount. In the 90s of the XIX century in Yakutsk, a bottle of vodka cost a ruble.

"IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW ..."

The composition of the expedition, consisting mainly of political exiles, looks impressive: Vaclav Seroshevsky, Eduard Pekarsky, Vladimir Iokhelson, Vladimir Bogoraz, Nikolai Vitashevsky, Sergey Yastremsky, Dmitry Klements, Lev Leventhal, Ivan Mainov ... They wrote fundamental works. What are the "Yakuts" by Vaclav Seroshevsky, the capital dictionary of the Yakut language by Eduard Pekarsky ...

It is not known to a wide audience that the members of this expedition made up a unique Toolkit for the study of national character. This work is called: "A program for collecting information about the customs and national character of the Yakuts." 110 years ago (1894) this first comprehensive expedition to study the peoples who inhabited the territory of our republic began work. The sincere desire of the Siberian merchant and gold miner Innokenty Sibiryakov to learn more about Yakutia evokes respect. "It is important for me," he said, "that the expedition, as far as possible, clarify the historical course of the foreigners. For the clarification of the character of the people, fairy tales, beliefs, the study of customary law are important ..."

A-LA MASYUK

And in the XIX century in Yakutia there were enough strangers who were tempted by "fried" facts. Vladimir Troshchansky gave downright murderous characteristics of the Yakuts: "They lack any concepts that really could be attributed to the category of moral concepts that regulate human behavior", "They do not even know what virtue is, in their language there are absolutely no words to express moral concepts ". Even in the book of the Siberian writer Nikolai Shchukin "A Trip to Yakutsk" there is such a description of the Yakut disposition: "The Yakuts are cunning, crafty and cunning people, vindictive and vindictive ... Malice and complaints are so common among the Yakuts ... Their laziness is extreme ... The passion for theft and gambling is rampant ... The rogue and the swindler are considered an intelligent person ... They know neither shame nor politeness. " And in the official collection "Peoples of Russia" in the section "Yakuts" you can read: "The main features of the Yakut character: vindictiveness, litigation, necessity and secrecy."

ABOUT TALKERS AND ANIMALS, THAT IS ABOUT THE YAKUT-SANGUINS

Researcher Richard Maack, by the type of temperament, defined the Yakuts as sanguine, that is, people distinguished by liveliness, quick excitability, and a bright manifestation of emotions. So, a characterization from Richard Maack: "The hardships of life made the Yakut little susceptible to the effects of cold and heat ... They are able to endure hunger, but with an abundance of food they are able to destroy incredible quantities of it. feature Yakut - to adapt to the conditions of the peoples who visit it or in the vicinity of living peoples ... I rarely met silent Yakuts ... I, at least, did not meet silent Yakuts among healthy Yakuts ... None of the indigenous tribes of Eastern Siberia is developed so talkative, like the Yakuts. "

"EVERYONE WILL ADD SPICIOUS ..."

Those researchers who tried to "plow deeply" understood that they could not cover everything and everyone in the life of the Yakuts. Not all were "masyuk" of the XIX century. This is how Richard Maack, widely quoted by all our scientists, admitted in his work: "I can only report superficial and, of course, far from complete information about the mental and moral abilities and lifestyle of the population."

Nikolai Vitashevsky, a member of the Siberian expedition, who studied the legal life of the Yakuts, also admitted imperfection scientific approach: "Of course, the time is far away when a sociologist will be able to restore all this life in all its details based on one fact from the life of this or that people." Such scientists of "deep plowing", getting acquainted with all the previous descriptions of the life of the Yakuts, quickly figured out what's what. Thus, Eduard Pekarsky, who compiled the most fundamental dictionary of the Yakut language, expressed the following opinion: "Despite the comparative wealth of literature about the Yakuts, correct information about them is not widespread among the ordinary reading public, which in most cases is forced to be content with so-called popular scientific publications filled with unknown based on fabrications addressed to this interesting tribe. "

I will conclude this selection with the phrase of the author of essays on the legal life of the Yakuts D. Kochnev: "Every visitor to the Yakut region considers it his duty to write something about the Yakuts and, not knowing either the life or the language of the Yakuts, uses previous writings and repeats everything that was written earlier, and even he himself will add something piquant, not understanding the meaning of the observed phenomenon. "

EVERY YAKUT IS TALEIRAN

But still, there was a lot of positive, because in most cases, thinking people who knew what true human civilization was, got down to business. The same Alexander Middendorf, who "called" the Yakuts Siberian Jews, considered them a developed people because of their pastoralism and did not agree with those who put them on a par with the natives of North America.

And the Siberian citizen Vladimir Yokhelson "called" the Yakuts "talleyrans", referring to their ability to quickly converge with people. He also concluded: “The Yakuts have all the makings for progress, both in their natural abilities and in their lack of a spirit of inertia and conservatism to some extent ... In the Yakut mass we find many virtues and virtues that we will not find in the lower classes of many cultural peoples ".

And Vatslav Seroshevsky noted that in general, "the Yakuts should be considered a healthy, tempered, easily adaptable tribe and with better nutrition, with improved sanitary and hygienic conditions, promising to quickly turn into a strong, tall, hard-working people." The famous ethnographer of Siberia Dmitry Klements also had a high opinion of the Yakuts, saying that they were an intelligent, staunch and courageous people.

In conclusion, I will quote the words of the author of the popular science book "Yakuts" A. Golikova: "Education will teach the Yakuts to spend their energy more economically in the fight against nature, it will teach them to beware of diseases and to be treated with useful medicines, it will teach them many useful inventions that are already known us, Russians, and who will help the Yakuts better arrange their lives. "

BROKGAUZ AND EFRON ENCYCLOPEDIC DICTIONARY (189O-1907)

YAKUTY. Their commercial inclinations make it easier for them to exploit the frivolous and careless neighboring alien tribes, and often even the Russians. As artisans, the Yakuts quickly excel in all skills, showing considerable dexterity in manual work. Yakuts are reluctant to go to work and, at the slightest opportunity, get a job on their own. According to Yakut concepts, every visitor has the right to enter any house at any time of the day or night and sit there to drink tea, cook food or spend the night. Robbery and theft within the clan did not exist due to the community of property. Murder was exceptional; for murder outside the clan, the perpetrators endured ancestral revenge or paid the virus. The clan enmity, which had previously stirred up clan wars, is now expressed in intrigues, denunciations, gossip, and fate. Yakut children are diligent and understanding with sciences; in the Yakut gymnasium, especially in the lower grades, they are ahead of the Russians. The spoken Yakut language of marks is sonorous and picturesque. Ya love witty turns of phrase, puns, catchphrases, jokes and comparisons. Eloquence is in great reverence for them.

Yakutia, Republic of Sakha - a small, remote and rather cold region Russian Federation... That's all that, as a rule, the vast majority of the population of our country knows about this area. Meanwhile, the Yakuts are amazing people.

Briefly about the region

A few centuries ago, the Yakutsk district, the predecessor of the modern region, was located on the territory of modern Yakutia. The current Republic of Sakha was formed in April 1922 - at first as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic... In 1990, it was reorganized into the Yakutsk-Sakha SSR, and it received its current name a year later.

Yakutia is part of the Far Eastern Federal District and covers an area of ​​more than three million square kilometers. At the same time, the population of the entire district barely reaches a million. The main city of Yakutia is Yakutsk, which grew out of the Yakutsk prison on the right bank of the Lena. One of the features of the region is that two official languages ​​- Russian and Sakha - officially coexist on its territory.

Where did the Yakuts come from

There are legends about the origin of the Yakuts. One of them, for example, claims that this people is the fundamental principle of all mankind, since Adam and Eve, from whom all people on Earth descended, were northerners. Another version says about the existence of a certain Tygyn in antiquity, from which the Yakuts allegedly originate. There is also an opinion that the Yakuts are Tatar tribes from the time of the Horde, that they are descendants of ancient Europeans, that the Evenks and many, many others are genetically close to them. Nevertheless, the research of archaeologists revealed that people began to live on the territory of the future Yakutia already during the Paleolithic period. In the first millennium of our era, the ancestors of the Evenks and Evens came here, the Turkic-speaking tribes continued to populate the area of ​​the region until the fifteenth century. According to historians, the Yakuts were formed as a result of a mixture of Turkic-speaking and local tribes. Also in the blood of the Yakuts there may be genes of the alien Tungus.

Features of the Yakuts

By appearance Yakut is easy to recognize. They usually have an oval face with a wide forehead, slightly sloping eyelids, and large, black eyes. The mouth is also large, the enamel of the teeth is yellowish, the nose is usually humped, but sometimes straight. Skin color is greyish-yellow or dark-skinned. Hair is black, coarse, not frizzy. Growth is usually small. The Yakuts have a rather high life expectancy.

This nation has a well-developed hearing, vision, on the contrary, is not very good. They do not differ in speed of movement, they do everything leisurely. Super-strong athletes among the Yakuts are also not to be found. The nation is highly efficient. For a long time, horse breeding, cattle breeding, fishing, hunting for fur-bearing animals were considered their main occupations. The Yakuts also processed wood, dressed skins, sewed carpets, clothes, blankets.

Religion takes a huge place in the life of the Yakuts. Now they are Orthodox, but since ancient times their life has been closely associated with shamanism (in some places it has remained to this day).

Yakut dwelling

Since the ancestors of the Yakuts were nomadic people, the current Sakhalars (this is their self-name) live in yurts (of course, not all of them, this does not apply to city dwellers). Their settlements are a collection of several houses. The Yakut dwelling differs from Mongolian yurts in that it is erected from round logs, and not from felt. In this case, only small trees are used. Chopping tall, big ones is a sin for them - this is one of the traditions and customs of the Yakuts.

The roof is made conical, and the door is placed from the east. In addition, Yakut yurts have many small windows, along which there are a variety of sun loungers - low and high, wide and narrow, fenced off from each other so that you get small rooms. The highest sunbed is intended for the owner, the lowest is located near the entrance to the house.

As a rule, yurts are placed in the lowlands so that they are not blown by the wind. Often houses are made collapsible - if the tribe leads a nomadic lifestyle. The choice of a place to build a dwelling is very important for the Yakuts - it should bring happiness.

the National costume

The Yakut costume directly depends on the temperature conditions - the climate in the Sakha Republic is not hot, which is why clothes are often sewn using horse or cow hide (and not just fabric). Fur is taken for winter clothing.

The costume itself is a caftan with wide sleeves and a belt combined with leather pants and fur socks. In addition, Yakuts also wear fabric shirts belted with a strap. In addition to fur and leather, the most diverse materials are used - silk, cloth, and rovduga. In ancient times, a suede suit was often sewn. The festive costume is more flared at the bottom, with puff sleeves and turn-down collars.

Yakut wedding

The Yakut wedding is a special phenomenon. There is an ancient sacred tradition, according to which the parents of a baby, almost from the very moment of birth, must find her a future life partner. They choose a boy and for many years observe his life, character, habits, demeanor - after all, it is very important not to make a mistake in the game for their daughter. As a rule, first of all, they pay attention to those boys whose fathers are in good health, strong, hardy, know how to work with their hands - make yurts, get food, and so on. This means that such a man will pass on all his skills and abilities to his son. Otherwise, the boys are not considered as a potential "groom". Some parents of daughters manage to choose a future husband for their baby quickly, for some this process takes quite a long time.

Matchmaking also refers to the traditions and customs of the Yakuts and proceeds as follows. The girl is forbidden to leave the house that day, and the parents go to the house of the candidate for her hand and heart. They talk not with the guy himself, but with his parents, describing to them all the dignity of their daughter in paints - here it is very important to try to make the future daughter-in-law like them in absentia. If the boy's parents do not mind, they call the size of the kalym - before, the kalym was given by deer (this is still here and there), now - money. When the parents shake hands, the ceremonial preparations for the wedding begin. The mother prepares the girl for the ceremony. She must give her daughter a dowry, which will certainly include richly decorated outfits - this shows that the bride is not one of the poor.

The wedding dress of the Yakuts used to be sewn only from natural materials, now it is not so necessary. Only one thing is important: dazzling White color, it means purity and integrity. Also in the outfit there is certainly a tight belt.

The time of the wedding is chosen by the girl. At first, the bride and groom are in different yurts. The shaman (instead of him there may be the father of the bride or the mother of the groom) fumigates them with birch bark smoke - it is believed that this cleans the newlyweds of various slander and all that is bad. Only after this ceremony are they allowed to see each other and make a traditional circle around their future home (important: until this moment the bride and groom do not meet eye to eye, someone must always be with them). Then they are declared legitimate husband and wife and a meal begins, during which the girl must have amulets - they protect the newly-made family from evil and disease. Traditional dishes at the Yakut wedding are venison, beef, fish, foal. Drinks include kumis and wine.

Before the wedding, Yakut girls can walk bareheaded; after getting married, a young spouse must henceforth hide her hair from everyone except her husband.

Yakut art

Yakut songs are also special. First of all, it comes about olonkho - local epic folklore, which is considered in this type of poetry. It is performed like an opera. This is the oldest type of Yakut art, which is now considered a UNESCO heritage.

Olonkho can be of any size - the maximum reached thirty-six thousand (!) Lines. They include all the traditional legends and legends of the Yakuts. Not everyone can perform Yakut songs - for this you need to have an oratorical gift and the ability to improvise, as well as be able to give your voice various intonations and colors. Olonkho is told without a break - up to seven nights in a row, so the performer must also have a good memory (however, this is a distinctive feature of all Yakuts).

The Yakuts also have their own national musical instrument. It looks like a jew's harp, some consider it to be a kind of jew's harp. This instrument is called khomus. Also, throat singing belongs to the art of the Yakuts, for which they are very famous.

Traditions and customs

Some traditions and customs of the Yakuts have long remained unchanged. So, to this day, they greatly revere nature, believing that it is alive. They believe in the existence of good and evil spirits and that nature helps to fight the latter. So, for example, lightning, thunder, thunderstorm, according to their convictions, persecute evil spirits. The wind also has its own spirits - they guard peace on earth. The Yakuts and water are especially revered, they bring offerings to her - boats made of birch bark. Do not immerse anything sharp in the water - this may injure her. Fire among the Yakuts is considered the patron saint of the hearth, before it was not extinguished, but moving from place to place, they took it with them in special pots. The Yakuts pay special respect to the spirit of the forest, which helps them in their fishing. The sacred animal for this people is a bear, whose claws they wear as amulets and talismans.

Their numerous holidays are closely connected with the traditions and customs of the Yakuts. For example, Ysyakh, which takes place at the beginning of summer. This is family holiday, symbolizing the friendship of peoples, it is considered the most important among the Yakuts. Its other name is “Kumys Festival”. At its conclusion, it is imperative to perform a special round dance in honor of the sun - in this way the luminary is thanked for the warmth.

Blood feud also belongs to the traditions and customs of the Yakuts. There are also many childbirth rites. And at death, you need to call someone from the youth and leave him all your connections - to tell both about friends and enemies.

1. Yakutia is the only region in our country where there are three time zones at once (the difference with Moscow is 6, 7 and 8 hours).
2. Almost half of the territory of Yakutia is located beyond the Arctic Circle.
3. Yakutia has the first place in the RF in terms of the total amount of reserves of all natural resources.
4. In addition to the two state languages, Evenk, Even, Dolgan and Yukagir dialects are widespread in the Republic of Sakha.
5. Yakuts do not grow body hair.
6. Almost every Yakut family has special national knives with an asymmetric blade.
7. The Yakut legend says that the Sat stone, which is taken from the stomachs of birds and animals, is considered magical, but it will lose its power if a woman looks at it.
8. Sakhalar is the self-name of the Yakuts, and Sakhalar is a person born of the marriage of a Yakut and a European.

These are far from all the features and customs of the Yakuts. Such interesting nation you need to study for a long time and carefully in order to fully imbued with their spirit - however, like any other nationality on Earth.

You belong to one of the most mysterious peoples. Even scientists do not know exactly where the Yakuts come from and why they ended up so far in the north.

2. You speak an ancient language, from which all Turkic languages ​​are derived. And let someone try to convince you.

3. Yakut is stubborn, his child is even more stubborn. Otherwise, you will not survive here.

4. Yakuts are the best hunters. Greenpeace would be shocked if someone had read there at least Isai Nikiforov's stories for children about how to hunt.

5. Yakuts are the best snipers. Squirrel - in the eye, so as not to spoil the skin.

6. You are rich creative thinking and an ornate train of thought. Language obliges.

7. Olonkho is the coolest folk epic recognized at the UNESCO level. Even "Avatar" is a rip-off from the olonkho.

8. You can easily endure cold up to -50 and heat up to +40.

9. The Yakuts have the richest horse decorations. Indeed, the Yakut horse is a gift from the gods, it even has a separate patron deity in the pantheon of Yakut gods.

10. Tygyn and Elley, the coolest Yakut men, are definitely mentioned in your pedigree.

11. You have a lot of relatives in any region of Yakutia, in any Yakut village, as well as in places of mass residence of immigrants from Yakutia.

12. Yakuts are the Jews of Siberia.

13. You love meat so much that you can eat it without any special culinary delights, just boiled with salt. Or even raw. And frozen.

14. You love fish so much that you can eat it without any special culinary delights, just boiled with salt. Or even raw. And frozen.

15. The Yakut language is so rich and colorful that one Yakut word into another language can be translated using a dozen or even more words.

16. Some Yakut words cannot be accurately translated at all, then they pass into other languages ​​and even turn into scientific terms, for example: tukulan, bulgunnyakh, etc.

17. Many Yakuts had shamans and Udagans in their family. There were the most powerful shamans and udagan women in your family. Why, you yourself are a shaman or an udagan!

18. The Yakuts have their own Robin Hood - the national hero of Manchaara. We are loved and respected by the people not only for protecting the poor and giving them money taken from the rich - he loved his homeland so much that he escaped from any prison, just to be closer to his native places.

19. You have black eyes and coarse black hair, you are a real Sakha.

20. You have brown hair and green eyes, you are a real Sakha.

21. In general, it doesn't matter what you look like, if you consider yourself Sakha, you are a real Sakha.

22. You are proud of the Sakha theater, famous all over the world, even if you have not been to a single performance.

23. You are proud of the phenomenon of Yakut cinema, which film critics write about, even if you have not seen a single Yakut film.

24. Yakuts are the best virtuoso khomus players in the world. Many peoples have a jew's harp, but only the Yakuts perform solo and ensemble compositions on it.

25. Yakuts are the most fanatical fanatics. Only people convinced to fanaticism can single-handedly revive the Yakut khomus (Ivan Alekseev – Khomus Uybaan), promote the Yakut cuisine (Innokenty Tarbakhov), the Yakut costume (Augustina Filippova), Yakut ornaments (Mandar Uus), Yakut music.

26. The Siberian Crane, a bird of happiness, nests only in Yakutia.

27. The genre of mystical thriller and horror originated among the Yakuts long before Hollywood. Any Yakut knows a bunch of stories about ichchi spirits, chilling Lovecraft is resting.

28. You can distinguish dozens of shades of white.

29. Many consider the Yakuts to be tough warriors since the time of the Horde. Let them count.

30. Yakut women have the richest original silver jewelry.

31. Yakuts are good blacksmiths and fine jewelers, see p. 30.

32. American Indians descended from the Yakuts. Yes, in general, many people descended from us, only they may not know about it.

33. Nobody likes news more than Yakuts. Even the old greeting means literally "tell me!" - "kepsee!"

34. Nobody uses Vatsap more than Yakuts, see paragraph 33.

35. Yakutia has its own northern Shambhala - the Kisilyakh mountains.

36. Yakutia has its own Loch Ness monster - in the Labynkyr lake.

37. Life without internet, water and light? Easily! Many people still live like this. But in unity in nature.

38. You can be Orthodox and pagan at the same time.

39. Yakutia is so huge that few of its inhabitants have visited all regions of the republic.

40. All Yakuts sing well. As soon as you sit on a bull, a horse, an iron horse, you immediately begin to sing.

41. Yakuts are excellent improvisers. Singers osuokhaya can sing for hours, chanting what they see and what they think at the moment.

42. You seem mysterious to many, simply because you are silent.

43. Yakuts love to set Guinness records - the most populous osuokhai, the largest ensemble of khomusists, the most massive kumis drinking, the largest frozen milk, etc.

44. Only a real Sakha can go to Buluus, the largest ice, in the heat of the summer, to feel nostalgic for the winter.

46. ​​The best summer, according to Yakut ideas: haymaking, vegetable garden, picking mushrooms and berries, in general, rest in the works of the righteous.

47. Yakut is unhappy when it is not cold enough in winter: " old days reached -60, and now only -40! "

48. Since childhood, a true Sakha has been adapted to survive in the taiga alone.

49. You may have European name, but you will alter it in the Yakut way anyway.

50. Yakutia is a paradise for paleontologists and archaeologists. The permafrost preserves all artifacts from ancient times.

51. If you do not like vegetables, you have a weighty argument for all occasions: "Yakut does not eat grass."

52. The Yakuts willingly support stereotypes about themselves: they ride dogs to work, and deer to go home, white and brown bears walk the streets, diamonds and gold are lying on the road.

53. The Yakuts have a peculiar sense of humor: "Hello, is this a bathhouse? - No, this is Bolodya!"

54. The Yakuts managed to mislead the science fiction writer Glukhovsky, he is now convinced that Yakutia has excellent roads of sand and ice in winter.

55. Although, perhaps, this is not a delusion, almost all roads in Yakutia are made from this (see item 54).

56. Quarry "Mir" for diamond mining is visible from space.

57. As a child, you were not at all afraid of a hut on chicken legs - all houses in Yakutia are built on stilts because of the perpetual mezlota.

58. The Yakut alphabet is based on the Cyrillic alphabet, but there are more letters in it.

59. The Yakut horse is so severe that it grazes itself in winter at -50, digging food from under the deep snow.

60. The Yakut cow is so harsh that she goes to the watering hole in winter at -50.

61. Yakut cows in cold weather put on fur bras on the udder.

62. It is so cold in Yakutia that there are as many as 2 poles of cold here - in Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk.

63. Only in Yakutia one can hear the "whisper of the stars" - the noise from the breath freezing in the frost.

64. There are river rocks in many places, but only the Yakuts have achieved the inclusion of the Lena Pillars in the UNESCO heritage list.

65. Yakut is laconic to such an extent that green and blue colors, as well as their shades, are denoted by one word "kүөkh".

66. The Yakut knife, made in semi-handicraft conditions by a self-taught blacksmith, surpasses knives of well-known popular brands in its qualities.

67. The best Yakut delicacy is raw frozen foal's liver, cut into cubes with a Yakut knife and sprinkled with salt. What could be more brutal?

68. The Yakut stage is the most lyrical in the world. All songs are about love.

69. You can live in an elite house, but secretly dream of a wooden house on the outskirts of everyone. This is called alas patriotism.

70. You know a capacious word for all occasions - "che". It can be translated as you like, depending on the situation: let's go, come on, start, have a drink, have a snack, hit, that's enough, etc.

71. Yakutia has a very strong freestyle wrestling school, created by the efforts of one enthusiast - a modest teacher Dmitry Petrovich Korkin.

72. All Yakuts draw well. The works of Yakut artists are in private and museum collections around the world.

73. The Yakuts love to talk on abstract topics, this is reflected even in the language, they distinguish between balygyraahyn, kuola, kuraanakh kuola, doyokh, etc.

74. The coolest mechanics, versed in cars "uaz-nurse", live in Yakutia.

75. Any Yakut knows how to feed the fire.

76. The Yakuts have their own system of national all-around, including archery, horse racing, running, jumping, hapsagai wrestling, stick pulling, weight lifting, etc.

77. If you win the national all-around competition in Ysyakh, you will become a legend in your lifetime. And they will also give you a UAZ car.

78. Only a real Sakha can whole year prepare for the national holiday Ysyakh, sew costumes, stand in a traffic jam for three hours, get wet in the rain or fry under the scorching sun, endure the gnaw just to meet the sun on tulge.

79. The largest section of Wikipedia on national language written in Yakut.

80. Director Alexei Balabanov was obsessed with the Yakuts, made films about them.

81. The actor of the Sakha theater Fedot Lvov, who played a talented role in the film "Horde", was nicknamed the Yakut Jean Gabin - for the most eloquent silence in the frame.

82. The most exquisite dessert of the Yakut cuisine would do honor to any French restaurant - delicate cream whipped with strawberries.

83. Only in Yakutsk can you start digging a well and make your name in history - the Shergin mine, 140 m deep, for the first time confirmed the presence of permafrost.

84. Only in Yakutsk is there an institute for permafrost studies.

85. If one ever succeeds in cloning a mammoth, it will be a Yakut mammoth - most mammoths are found in permafrost in Yakutia.

86. If a Yakut lives far from his homeland, he dreams of a Yakut winter - a real one, like in a fairy tale, with deep snowdrifts, trees wrapped in frost, swirling steam from breath.

87. In Yakutia, the most delicious air is frosty in winter, mutukcha sated (the aroma of new larch needles) in spring, the spirit of freshly cut grass in summer.

88. The Yakuts never chased wealth at any cost. The rich was not the one who had a lot of money, but the one who had a lot of cattle.

89. Only Yakuts prefer silver to gold.

90. Passing through a cloud of mosquitoes and gnats, the Yakut thanks fate and native nature because they are just mosquitoes and midges, not tsetse flies.

91. Yakuts like to invent brands - the Pole of Cold, the "Winter begins in Yakutia" holiday, northern Shambhala, etc.

92. Yakutia has a rich culture of original patchwork sewing from pieces of fur, leather and fabric. Many products created using this technique are kept in museums.

93. Horsehair is used to create not only mosquito repellents, but also hats, rugs, panels, paintings, ropes, and also salama - a ritual thread for Ysyakh, for decoration, consecration and purification of space.

94. The Yakuts have their own school of bone carving with rich traditions.

95. Only in Yakutsk there is a permanent exhibition of Gokhran, where you can see diamonds, nuggets of gold and platinum found in Yakutia, as well as works by bone and stone carvers and jewelers.

96. In the Kingdom of Permafrost in Yakutsk, snow and ice never melt even in summer, you can lie on an ice bed, drink from ice glasses, see an analogue of Madame Tussauds, where all the figures are made of ice.

97. The best sculptors of ice figures live, of course, in Yakutia. They make sculptures not only from snow, ice, sand, wood and stone, but also from balbach - horse dung.

98. Of course, the Yakuts also have disadvantages. Any Yakut will say that it is the Yakuts who are the most drinking drunkards, the most pugnacious brawlers, the most borogoose beetles and the most mafia mafiosi. Especially Nyurba. Or not, Upper Vilyui. No, suntar.

99. Only the Yakuts have a developed division into uluses (districts), see p. 98. All Yakuts speak the same language, but only a fellow countryman from his native ulus is considered a real Yakut.

100. Yakuts are very modest. Now they will deny everything listed in this list, saying "naһaa diy!" - "it too!"

Yakuts (self-name Sakha; pl. h Sakhalar) - a Turkic-speaking people, the indigenous population of Yakutia. The Yakut language belongs to the Turkic language group. According to the results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census, 478.1 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 (49.9% of the population) people in Yakutia and the largest of the indigenous peoples of Siberia within the borders of the Russian Federation.

Distribution area

The settlement 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 Yakutsk and Vilyui districts. These are 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 a quadrangle between Lena, the lower Aldan and Amga, the taiga plateau, as well as the adjacent left bank of the Lena. The "Vilyui" Yakuts occupy the Vilyui basin. In these indigenous Yakut regions, the most typical, purely Yakut way of life has developed; here it is at the same time, especially on the Amginsko-Lena plateau, the best studied. The third, much smaller group of Yakuts is settled in the Olekminsk region. 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, the smallest, but widely settled group of Yakuts is the population of the northern regions of Yakutia, that is, the basins of the rr. Kolyma, Indigirka, Yana, Oleneka, Anabara.

The northern Yakuts are distinguished by a completely original cultural and everyday life: in relation to it, they are more like hunting and fishing small peoples of the North, like the Tungus, Yukaghirs, than their southern tribesmen. In some places these northern Yakuts are even called "tungus" (for example, in the upper reaches of the Olenek and Anabara), although according to their language they are Yakuts and call themselves Sakha.

History and origins

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

Most scholars believe that in the XII-XIV centuries A.D. NS. The Yakuts migrated in several waves from the area of ​​Lake Baikal to the basin of the Lena, Aldan and Vilyui, where they partially assimilated and partially displaced the Evenks (Tungus) and Yukagirs (Oduls) who lived here earlier. The Yakuts have traditionally been 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 cattle, household belongings and people, until they discovered the Tuymaada valley, suitable for breeding cattle. Nowadays modern Yakutsk is located in this place. According to the same legends, the progenitors of the Yakuts were headed by two leaders, Ellei Botur and Omogoy 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. Compared with other Turkic-speaking peoples of Siberia, they are characterized by the strongest manifestation of the Mongoloid complex, the final form 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, the reindeer herders of the northwest, arose relatively recently as a result of the mixing of separate groups of Evenks with Yakuts, who came from the central regions of Yakutia. In the process of resettlement to Eastern Siberia, the Yakuts mastered the basins northern rivers Anabara, Olenka, Yana, Indigirka and Kolyma. The Yakuts modified the Tungus reindeer husbandry, created the Tungus-Yakut type of harness reindeer husbandry.

The incorporation of the Yakuts into the Russian state in the 1620s – 1630s accelerated their socio-economic and cultural development. In the 17th-19th centuries, the main occupation of the Yakuts was cattle breeding (breeding of cattle and horses), from the second half of the XIX a significant part of the century began to engage in agriculture; hunting and fishing played an auxiliary role. The main type of dwelling was a log booth, in summer it was made of uras poles. Clothes were sewn from skins and fur. 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 displacing pre-Christian Yakut names. Currently, the Yakuts carry 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 from each other. However, tribal relations were already decaying, and there was a rather sharp class division. Tsarist governors and servicemen used tribal strife to break the resistance of a 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 governing the Yakutsk Territory. Since that time, class contradictions among the Yakuts began to intensify more and more.

The situation of the mass of the Yakut population was difficult. The Yakuts paid yasak in sable and fox furs, bore a number of other duties, being subjected to extortion from the tsarist servants, Russian merchants and their toyons. After unsuccessful attempts at uprisings (1634, 1636–1637, 1639–1640, 1642), after the Toyons went over to the side of the governors, the Yakut mass could react to the oppression only with scattered, isolated attempts of resistance and flight from the indigenous uluses to the outskirts. TO late XVIII century, as a result of the predatory management of the tsarist authorities, the depletion of the fur wealth of the Yakutsk Territory and its partial desolation were discovered. At the same time, the Yakut population, for various reasons, migrated from the Lensko-Vilyuisky Territory, appeared on the outskirts of Yakutia, where it had not previously existed: in the Kolyma, Indigirka, Olenek, Anabar, up to the basin of the Lower Tunguska.

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

It was extremely important that with the establishment of Russian power in Yakutia, inter-tribal wars and predatory raids by Toyons stopped, which used to be a great disaster for the Yakut population. The self-will of the Russian servicemen, who more than once were at enmity with each other and drew the Yakuts into their quarrels, was also suppressed. The order that had already been established in the Yakutsk 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 base for new campaigns and the development of distant lands. The influx of the Russian peasant population (especially along the Lena river valley, in connection with the construction of the post road in 1773) created conditions for the cultural interaction of the Russian and Yakut elements. Already at the end of the 17th and 18th centuries. among the Yakuts, agriculture begins to spread, although at first very slowly, and houses of the Russian type appear. However, the number of Russian settlers remained even in the 19th century. relatively small. Along with the peasant colonization in the 19th century. great importance had the dispatch of exiled settlers to Yakutia. Together with criminal exiles who had bad influence on the Yakuts, in the second half of the XIX century. in Yakutia, political exiles appeared, first the populists, and in the 1890s and the Marxists, who played a large role in the cultural and political development of the Yakut masses.

By the beginning of the XX century. in economic development Yakutia, at least in its central regions (Yakutsk, Vilyuisky, Olekminsky districts), saw great success. 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 developed deeper and wider. It was initially (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 Toyonism, which entered into an alliance with the Socialist-Revolutionary-bourgeois part of the Russian urban population, gained the upper hand. Struggle for Soviet power in Yakutia dragged on long time... Only on June 30, 1918, the power of the soviets was first proclaimed in Yakutsk, and only in December 1919, after the liquidation of the Kolchak region throughout Siberia, Soviet power was finally established in Yakutia.

Religion

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 the Yakuts professes Orthodox Christianity or even agnostic.

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 Tanara - 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 department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in 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.

Lodging

The Yakuts are descended from nomadic tribes. Therefore, they live in yurts. However, unlike the Mongolian felt yurts, the round dwelling of the Yakuts is built from the trunks of small trees with a cone-shaped paneled roof. Many windows are arranged in the walls, under which sun loungers are located at different heights. Partitions are installed between them, forming a semblance of rooms, and a smeared hearth triples in the center. For the summer, temporary birch bark yurts - urasy - can be erected. And since the 20th century, some Yakuts have been settling in huts.

Winter settlements (kystyk) were located near mows, consisted of 1-3 yurts, summer settlements - near pastures, numbered up to 10 yurts. The winter yurt (booth, dye) had inclined walls of standing thin logs on a rectangular log frame and a low gable roof. The walls were covered with clay and manure on the outside, the roof over the log flooring was covered with bark and earth. The house was placed on the cardinal points, the entrance was on the east side, the windows were on the south and west, the roof was oriented from north to south. To the right of the entrance, in the northeastern corner, there was a hearth (sediment) - a pipe made of poles coated with clay, which went out through the roof. Plank bunks (oron) were arranged along the walls. The most honorable was the southwest corner. The master's place was located at the western wall. The bunks to the left of the entrance were intended for male youth, workers, on the right, at the hearth, for women. A table (ostuol) and stools were placed in the front corner. On the north side, a stable (khoton) was attached to the yurt, often under the same roof as the dwelling; the door to it from the yurt was located behind the hearth. In front of the entrance to the yurt, a shed or canopy was arranged. The yurt was surrounded by a low embankment, often with a fence. There was a hitching post near the house, often decorated with carvings. Summer yurts differed little from winter ones. Instead of a khoton, a barn for calves (titik), sheds, etc. were placed at a distance. There was a conical structure of poles covered with birch bark (urasa), in the north - turf (kalyman, holuman). Since the end of the 18th century, polygonal log yurts with a pyramidal roof have been known. From the second half of the 18th century, Russian huts spread.

clothing

Traditional male and women's clothing- short leather trousers, fur belly, leather leggings, single-breasted caftan (sleep), in winter - fur, in summer - from horse or cow hide with wool inside, for the rich - from fabric. Later, fabric shirts with a turn-down collar (yrbakhs) appeared. Men girded with a leather belt with a knife and flint, while the rich - with silver and copper plaques. Women's wedding fur long caftan (sangyyakh) embroidered with red and green cloth and gold lace is typical; an elegant women's fur hat made of expensive fur, descending to the back and shoulders, with a high cloth, velvet or brocade top with a silver plaque (tuosakhta) and other adornments sewn onto it. Women's silver and gold jewelry is widespread. Shoes - winter high boots made of reindeer or horse skins with the wool facing out (eterbes), summer boots made of soft leather (saar) with a top covered with cloth, for women - with applique, long fur stockings.

Food

The main food is dairy, especially in summer: from mare's milk - kumis, from cow's - yogurt (suorat, sora), cream (kyuerchekh), butter; they drank butter melted or with kumis; Suorat was harvested for the winter frozen (tar) with the addition of berries, roots, etc .; a 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 appreciated. In the 19th century, barley flour came into use: unleavened cakes, pancakes, salamat stew were made from it. Vegetables were known in the Olekminsky district.

Crafts

The main traditional occupations are horse breeding (in Russian documents of the 17th century the Yakuts were called "equestrian people") and cattle breeding. The horses were looked after by men, the cattle by women. In the north, reindeer were bred. The cattle were kept on pasture in summer and in barns (khotons) in winter. Haymaking was known before the arrival of the Russians. Yakut cattle breeds were distinguished by their endurance, but were unproductive.

Fishing was also developed. They fished mainly in the summer, but also in the winter in the ice-hole; in the fall, a collective non-water game was organized with the division of production between all participants. For the poor, who did not have livestock, fishing was the main occupation (in the documents of the 17th century, the term "fisherman" - balyksyt - is used in the meaning of "poor man"), some tribes also specialized in it - the so-called "foot Yakuts" - Osekui, Ontuls, Kokui , Kirikians, Kyrgyz, Orgots and others.

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

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

Agriculture (barley, in lesser degree wheat) was borrowed from the Russians at the end of the 17th century, until the middle of the 19th century it was very poorly developed; its spread (especially in the Olekminsky district) was facilitated by Russian exiled settlers.

Processing of wood (artistic carving, coloring with alder broth), birch bark, fur, leather was developed; crockery was made of leather, rugs were made of horse and cow skins, sewn in a checkerboard pattern, blankets were made of hare fur, etc .; from horsehair they twisted the cords with their hands, weaved, embroidered. Spinning, weaving and felting were absent. The production of molded ceramics, which distinguished the Yakuts from other peoples of Siberia, has survived. Smelting and forging of iron, which had a commercial value, smelting and chasing of silver, copper, etc., were developed, from the 19th century - carving on mammoth bones.

Yakut cuisine

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

From meat, horse meat, beef, venison, game birds, as well as offal and blood are traditionally consumed. Dishes from Siberian fish are widespread (sturgeon, broadleaf, 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 Yakut crucian carp. Before cooking, the scales are peeled off, the head is not cut off or thrown out, 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, etc. Almost all by-products are actively used. In particular, giblets soups (ismiine), blood delicacies (khaan), etc. are very popular. Obviously, such a thrifty attitude to food is the result of the people's experience of survival in the harsh polar conditions.

Horse or beef ribs in Yakutia are known as oyogos. Frozen meat and fish are used to make stroganin, which is eaten with a spicy seasoning from a flask (wild garlic), a spoon (a kind of horseradish) and a saranka (an onion plant). Khaan - Yakut blood sausage is obtained from beef or horse blood.

The national drink is kumis, popular among many eastern peoples, as well as stronger konnyoru kymys(or koyuurgen). Suorat (curdled milk), kyuerchekh (whipped cream), cober (butter whipped with milk to form a thick cream), chokhoon (or chechon- butter whipped with milk and berries), idyegey (cottage cheese), suumeh (cheese). The Yakuts cook a thick mass of salamat from flour and dairy products.

Interesting traditions and customs of the people of Yakutia

The customs and rituals of the Yakuts are closely related to folk beliefs. Even many Orthodox or agnostics follow them. The structure of beliefs is very similar to Shinto - 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 rituals. It is noteworthy that until recently Yakut families were polygamous, each wife of one husband had her own household and home. 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 the Ysyakh kumis holiday. Various rituals are designed to appease the gods. Hunters praise Bay-Bayan, women - Aiyysyt. The holiday is crowned by the universal dance of the sun - osohay. All participants join hands and arrange a huge round dance. Fire has sacred properties at any time of the year. Therefore, each meal in a Yakut house begins with a fire treat - throwing food into the fire and sprinkling it with milk. Feeding the fire is one of the key moments of any holiday and business.

The most characteristic cultural phenomenon is olonkho's poetic stories, which can number up to 36 thousand rhymed lines. The epic is passed down from generation to generation between the master performers, and more recently these narratives were included in the list of intangible cultural heritage UNESCO. Good memory and high life expectancy are some of the distinctive features 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 connections - friends, foes. The Yakuts are distinguished by their social activity, even though their settlements are several yurts located at an impressive distance. The main social relations take place during big holidays, the main of which is the holiday of koumiss - Ysyakh.

Traditional culture is most fully represented by the Amga-Lena and Vilyui Yakuts. The Northern Yakuts are close in culture to the Evenks and Yukagirs, the Olyokminskys are strongly acculturated by the Russians.

12 facts about the Yakuts

1. It's not so cold in Yakutia as everyone thinks. Almost throughout the entire 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.
2. Yakuts eat raw meat - foal frozen, shaved or cut into cubes. Adult horse meat is also eaten, but it is not so tasty. This meat is extremely tasty and healthy, rich in vitamins and other useful substances, in particular - antioxidants.
3. In Yakutia, they also eat sliced ​​meat - meat cut with thick shavings river fish sturgeon and nelma (all of these fish, with the exception of sturgeon - from the whitefish family) are most valued. All this splendor can be consumed by dipping shavings in salt and pepper. Some also make different sauces.
4. Contrary to popular belief, in Yakutia, the majority of the population have never seen deer. Deer are found mainly in the Far North of Yakutia and, oddly enough, in South Yakutia.
5. The legend about crowbars becoming fragile like glass in severe frost is true. If, at temperatures below 50-55 degrees, you hit a hard object with a cast-iron crowbar, the scrap will fly to pieces.
6. In Yakutia, almost all grains, vegetables and even some fruits ripen perfectly over the summer. For example, not far from Yakutsk, beautiful, tasty, red, sweet watermelons are grown.
7. The Yakut language belongs to the Turkic group of languages. In the Yakut language, there are a lot of words starting with the letter "Y".
8. In Yakutia, children, even in 40-degree frost, eat ice cream right on the street.
9. When the Yakuts eat bear meat, before eating, they emit the sound "Hook" or imitate the cry of a raven, thereby, as if disguising themselves from the spirit of the bear - it is not we who eat your meat, but the crows.
10. Yakut horses are a very ancient breed. They graze on their own all year round without any supervision.
11. The Yakuts are very hard-working. In the summer, in haymaking, they can easily work 18 hours a day without a lunch break, and after that they still 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.
12. The Yakuts do not like being called Yakuts and prefer to be called “Sakha”.