The peoples of siberia. Breathing exercise "Owl"

For many centuries the peoples of Siberia lived in small settlements. Each individual settlement had its own clan. The inhabitants of Siberia were friends with each other, led a joint household, were often relatives to each other and led an active lifestyle. But due to the vast territory of the Siberian Territory, these villages were far from each other. So, for example, the inhabitants of one village already led their own way of life and spoke an incomprehensible language for their neighbors. Over time, some settlements disappeared, while others became larger and actively developed.

Population history in Siberia.

The Samoyed tribes are considered to be the first indigenous inhabitants of Siberia. They inhabited the northern part. Their main occupation is reindeer husbandry and fishing. To the south lived the Mansi tribes who lived off hunting. Their main business was the extraction of furs, with which they paid for their future wives and bought the goods necessary for life.

The upper reaches of the Ob were inhabited by the Turkic tribes. Their main occupation was nomadic pastoralism and blacksmithing. To the west of Lake Baikal lived Buryats who became famous for their iron-making craft.

The largest territory from the Yenisei to Sea of ​​Okhotsk inhabited by the Tungus tribes. Among them were many hunters, fishermen, reindeer herders, some were engaged in handicrafts.

Eskimos (about 4 thousand people) are located along the coast of the Chukchi Sea. Compared to other peoples of that time, the Eskimos had the slowest social development... The tool was made of stone or wood. The main economic activity is gathering and hunting.

The main way of survival for the first settlers of the Siberian Territory was hunting, reindeer herding and fur hunting, which was the currency of that time.

By the end of the 17th century, the Buryats and Yakuts were the most developed peoples of Siberia. Tatars were the only people, who, before the arrival of the Russians, managed to organize state power.

The largest peoples before Russian colonization include the following peoples: Itelmens (indigenous people of Kamchatka), Yukaghirs (inhabited the main territory of the tundra), Nivkhs (residents of Sakhalin), Tuvinians (indigenous population of the Republic of Tuva), Siberian Tatars (located on the territory of Southern Siberia from Urals to the Yenisei) and Selkups (residents Western Siberia).

Indigenous peoples of Siberia in the modern world.

According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, every people of Russia received the right to national self-determination and identification. Since the collapse of the USSR, Russia has officially turned into a multinational state and the preservation of the culture of small and disappearing peoples has become one of the state priorities. Siberian indigenous peoples were also not ignored here: some of them received the right to self-government in the autonomous okrugs, while others formed their own republics within the new Russia. The very small and disappearing nationalities enjoy the comprehensive support of the state, and the efforts of many people are aimed at preserving their culture and traditions.

As part of this review, we will give brief description every Siberian people, the number of which is more or close to 7 thousand people. Smaller peoples are difficult to characterize, so we will restrict ourselves to their name and number. So, let's begin.

1. Yakuts- the most numerous of the Siberian peoples. According to the latest data, the number of Yakuts is 478,100 people. V modern Russia Yakuts are one of the few nationalities that have their own republic, and its area is comparable to the area of ​​an average European state. The Republic of Yakutia (Sakha) is geographically located in the Far Eastern Federal District, but the ethnic group "Yakuts" has always been considered an indigenous Siberian people. The Yakuts have an interesting culture and traditions. This is one of the few peoples of Siberia that has its own epic.
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3. Buryats is another Siberian people with their own republic. The capital of Buryatia is the city of Ulan-Ude, located to the east of Lake Baikal. The number of Buryats is 461,389 people. In Siberia, Buryat cuisine is widely known, which is rightfully considered one of the best among ethnic ones. The history of this people, its legends and traditions are quite interesting. By the way, the Republic of Buryatia is one of the main centers of Buddhism in Russia.
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5. Tuvans. According to the latest census, 263,934 identified themselves as representatives of the Tuvan people. The Tuva Republic is one of the four ethnic republics of the Siberian Federal District. Its capital is the city of Kyzyl with a population of 110 thousand people. The total population of the republic is approaching 300 thousand. Buddhism also flourishes here, and the traditions of Tuvans also speak of shamanism.
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7. Khakass- one of the indigenous peoples of Siberia, numbering 72 959 people. Today they have their own republic as part of the Siberian Federal District and with the capital in the city of Abakan. This ancient people have long lived on the lands to the west of the Great Lake (Baikal). He was never numerous, which did not prevent him from carrying his identity, culture and traditions through the centuries.
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9. Altaians. Their place of residence is quite compact - this is Altai mountain system... Today Altai people live in two regions Russian Federation- Republic of Altai and Altai Territory. The population of the ethnos "Altaians" is about 71 thousand people, which allows us to speak of them as a fairly large people. Religion - Shamanism and Buddhism. The Altaians have their own epos and a pronounced national identity, which does not allow them to be confused with other Siberian peoples. This mountain people has a long history and interesting legends.
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11. Nenets- one of the small Siberian peoples, compactly living in the region of the Kola Peninsula. Its population of 44,640 people makes it possible to classify it as a small nation, the traditions and culture of which are protected by the state. The Nenets are nomadic reindeer herders. They belong to the so-called Samoyed folk group. Over the years of the XX century, the number of Nenets has approximately doubled, which indicates the effectiveness public policy in the field of preservation of small peoples of the North. The Nenets have their own language and oral epic.
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13. Evenki- people, predominantly living on the territory of the Republic of Sakha. The number of this people in Russia is 38,396 people, some of whom live in the regions adjacent to Yakutia. It should be said that this is about half of the total population of the ethnic group - about the same number of Evenks live in China and Mongolia. The Evenks are a people of the Manchu group that do not have their own language and epic. Tungus is considered the native language of the Evenks. Evenks are born hunters and trackers.
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15. Khanty- the indigenous people of Siberia, belonging to Ugric group... Most of the Khanty live in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, which is part of the Ural Federal Okrug of Russia. The total number of Khanty is 30,943 people. On the territory of the Siberian Federal District about 35% of the Khanty live, and the lion's share is in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. The traditional occupations of the Khanty are fishing, hunting and reindeer herding. Ancestral religion - shamanism, however, in recent times more and more Khanty consider themselves Orthodox Christians.
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17. Evens- a people related to the Evenks. According to one version, they represent the Evenk group, which was cut off from the main aureole of residence by the Yakuts advancing to the south. A long time away from the main ethnos made the Evens a separate people. Today their number is 21 830 people. The language is Tungus. Place of residence - Kamchatka, Magadan region, Republic of Sakha.
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19. Chukchi- a nomadic Siberian people who are mainly engaged in reindeer husbandry and live on the territory of the Chukotka Peninsula. Their number is about 16 thousand people. Chukchi belong to Mongoloid race and are considered by many anthropologists to be indigenous Far north... The main religion is animism. The indigenous trades are hunting and reindeer husbandry.
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21. Shors- a Turkic-speaking people living in the southeastern part of Western Siberia, mainly in the south of the Kemerovo region (in Tashtagolsky, Novokuznetsk, Mezhdurechensky, Myskovsky, Osinnikovsky and other districts). Their number is about 13 thousand people. The main religion is shamanism. The Shor epic is of scientific interest primarily for its originality and antiquity. The history of the people dates back to the 6th century. Today, the traditions of the Shors have survived only in Sheregesh, as most of ethnic group moved to cities and largely assimilated.
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23. Muncie. This nation has been known to Russians since the beginning of the founding of Siberia. Even Ivan the Terrible sent a host against the Mansi, which suggests that they were quite numerous and strong. The self-name of this people is Voguls. They have their own language, a fairly developed epic. Today their place of residence is the territory of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. According to the latest census, 12,269 people identified themselves as belonging to the Mansi ethnic group.
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25. Nanai- a small people living along the banks of the Amur River in the Far East of Russia. Belonging to the Baikal ethnotype, the Nanais are rightfully considered one of the most ancient indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Far East. Today the number of Nanai in Russia is 12,160 people. The Nanai have their own language, which is rooted in Tungus. The writing system exists only among the Russian Nanais and is based on the Cyrillic alphabet.
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27. Koryaks- the indigenous people of the Kamchatka Territory. There are coastal and tundra Koryaks. Koryaks are mainly reindeer breeders and fishermen. The religion of this ethnos is shamanism. Population - 8 743 people.
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29. Dolgans- a nationality living in the Dolgan-Nenets municipal district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Population - 7,885 people.
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31. Siberian Tatars- perhaps the most famous, but today a small number of Siberian people. According to the latest census, as Siberian Tatars 6,779 people identified themselves. However, scientists say that in fact their number is much higher - according to some estimates, up to 100,000 people.
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33. Soyots- the indigenous people of Siberia, a descendant of the Sayan Samoyeds. Lives compactly on the territory of modern Buryatia. The number of Soyots is 5,579.
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35. Nivkhi- the indigenous people of Sakhalin Island. Now they also live on the continental part at the mouth of the Amur River. In 2010, the number of Nivkhs is 5,162 people.
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37. Selkups live in the northern parts of the Tyumen and Tomsk regions and on the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The population of this ethnic group is about 4 thousand people.
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39. Itelmens is another indigenous people of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Today, almost all representatives of the ethnic group live in the west of Kamchatka and in the Magadan Region. The number of Itelmens is 3,180 people.
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41. Teleuts- a Turkic-speaking small Siberian people living in the south of the Kemerovo Region. Ethnicity is very closely related to the Altaians. Its number is approaching 2 and a half thousand.
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43. Among other small-numbered peoples of Siberia, such ethnic groups as "Kets", "Chuvans", "Nganasans", "Tofalgars", "Orochi", "Negidal", "Aleuts", "Chulyms", "Oroks", "Tazy" "Enets", "Alyutors" and "Kereks". It is worth saying that the number of each of them is less than 1 thousand people, so their culture and traditions have practically disappeared.

The numerous peoples of Siberia were poorly developed economically and were the object of a cruel national-colonial policy. Buryats and Yakuts belonged to the peoples of Siberia, the most advanced in socio-economic terms, the peoples of the North - among the most backward. The most significant phenomenon in the life of the Buryats in the first half of the 19th century. there was a gradual transition from a nomadic to a semi-sedentary life, a decrease in the role of livestock raising and a relative increase in agriculture. This applies to both the Eastern, Trans-Baikal, Buryats, back in the 18th century. wholly preserving the nomadic, cattle-breeding way of life, and to the western, Irkutsk, in which agriculture and a semi-sedentary way of life existed before. The transition to settled life and agriculture took place under the influence of the neighboring Russian population and was accompanied by the growth of commodity relations and further class differentiation.

The Trans-Baikal Buryats especially suffered at this time from the oppression of their powerful and sovereign aristocracy, which enjoyed the support of the tsarist administration. So, among the Khorin Buryats since early XVIII v. power belonged to the noble Taishian family of the descendants of Za-san Shodoi Boltorikov, who in 1729 was the first to receive a "patent" for the title of Taishi from the government. Of the representatives of this family, Taisha Dymbyl Galsanov was especially distinguished, who ruled from 1815 and, with his cruel actions and shameless embezzlement of public money, repeatedly provoked the indignation of the masses.

The economy and way of life of the Yakuts largely retained the old way of life. The Yakut economy remained almost entirely cattle-breeding. Most of the cattle belonged to toyons; for the latter, the main form of farming was the distribution of cattle for use by their poor odnulus people - the so-called "khasaas", with the help of which the toyons kept the ulus population in hopeless bondage. At the same time, in the hands of the Toyons was captured by them in the 18th century. communal land, in particular grassland. The Toyons stubbornly resisted any attempts to make at least a partial redistribution of land. They managed to defend the seized land even when the government, in order to stop the threatening drop in yasak fees, demanded that the toyons redistribute the land (the activity of the "2nd yasak commission" in 1828-1835). It was in this era that the Yakut Toyonism got its hands on a new instrument for its policy: it was the Yakut Steppe Duma, opened at the special request of the Toyons in 1827 and made up of the "finest" representatives of the Toyon nobility. This Duma marked its short-term activity with such scandalous deeds (a trade and speculative expedition to the Okhotsk Tungus in 1828, embezzlement of 20 thousand rubles of public money, etc.) that it compromised itself even in the eyes of the government. In 1838, the Yakutsk Steppe Duma was abolished "due to its uselessness."

The position of the Yakut masses was difficult, but they could not yet rise to fight for their interests. In those years, the movement of the famous "robber" Vasily Manchara was an indirect reflection of the spontaneous protest of the Yakut poor. He became famous in the 30s and 40s for his bold attacks on Toyon farms and multiple escapes from arrest. Later Yakut legends portray Manchars as a folk hero - a fighter for truth. Exiled to the Vilyui district, Manchary died there in 1870.

Most of the rest of the peoples of Siberia were at a lower level social development: they were hunters - Evenki (Tungus), Kets, Voguls; fishermen - Khanty and Kamchadals; reindeer herders - Nenets, Chukchi and Koryaks. The clan nobility of these peoples turned into an independent class of exploiters with the energetic participation of the tsarist administration, which in every possible way patronized the local "princelings" and "elders". Hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders experienced cruel oppression from the Russian merchants-usurers, who shamelessly robbed the population of the North, leading to impoverishment, constant hunger strikes, and extinction.Local peoples who reached despair sometimes tried to regain their freedom and get rid of oppression by force, but these attempts ended in failure. The most famous is the uprising of the Nenets under the leadership of Vaul Piettomin in the 30s and 40s. At the head of a small armed squad, made up of the Nenets poor, Vaul attacked the rich, took their reindeer from them and distributed them to the poor inhabitants of the tundra. In January 1841, Vaul, with a whole detachment of 4 hundred armed vigilantes, even approached Obdorsk, intending to overthrow the power of the Nenets prince Taishin and free the tundra from the tsarist oppression. The local regions managed to capture Vaul and his closest associates only with the help of deception. The participants in the uprising were whipped and sent to hard labor. Later, in 1856, Vaul's former associates tried to resume the struggle for the liberation of the Nenets people, but to no avail. In the XVIII century. In Siberia, colonial slavery acquired especially wide dimensions, the seizure, sale and exploitation of slaves, especially from the Kazakhs and Altai tribes. But the growth of slavery meant at the same time a decrease in the yasak population, therefore the tsarist government with early XIX v. began to take measures to restrict the slave trade: by decrees of 1808, 1825, 1826. the gradual emancipation of slaves was prescribed and their purchase was prohibited.

Management of the Siberian "foreigners" was part of the activities of the Siberian governor-generals, whose omnipotence and arbitrariness were entrusted to the tsarist government of Siberia. The situation was somewhat streamlined, but did not fundamentally change in the governorship general of M.M.Speransky (1819-1822), who had been in disgrace since 1812.

The most significant monument of Speransky's legislative activity in Siberia was the "Statute on the Administration of Foreigners" (1822), which remained in effect until the October Revolution of 1917. Tsarism formalized in this law its policy of relying on the local feudal and semi-feudal aristocracy - Toyons, Taisha, zaisangov, murz. The feudal and semi-feudal elite of Siberia were the lower agents of tsarism; to this end, he supported and strengthened her privileged position and attracted her to participate in the very drafting of the charter.

The charter of 1822 introduced the division of the peoples of Siberia into three "categories": sedentary, nomadic and wandering. The first included the Tatars and some of the Altai tribes, the second - the Buryats, Yakuts, Tungus, Ostyaks, Voguls and some others, and the wandering - hunting and reindeer-breeding tribes of the Far North: “Samoyeds”, “foreign Turukhanks”, Yukagirs, Koryaks, Lamuts. “Settled foreigners” were equalized in rights and duties with the Russian peasants (except for the recruitment duty, which they did not carry), and for nomadic and wandering tribes were introduced special forms socio-political system, which legalized the power of the local aristocracy. For them, the so-called "foreign councils" (corresponding to the Russian volost administrations) and clan administrations subordinate to these administrations were established; among the "wandering foreigners", only tribal administrations were introduced. For some nomadic peoples who had broader tribal ties, a third, higher administrative authority was established - the steppe duma. Steppe Dumas were introduced among the Buryats and Khakass, and later for a short time (1827-1838) - among the Yakuts. Representatives of the national exploitative elite - elders with assistants, heads and electives, and in the steppe councils - the main ancestor and assessors, who all belonged to the "honorable and best relatives", sat in the tribal administrations, as well as in foreign councils and in the steppe councils. These governing bodies were at the same time judicial bodies; legal proceedings in them were based on local customary law and, therefore, also served the interests of the local nobility. Only large criminal cases did not fall within the competence of these courts and were subordinate to the general judicial institutions. This entire system of "alien government" was subordinate to the general district administration and was a completely finished form of cooperation between the tsarist bureaucracy and the local feudal-clan aristocracy for the joint exploitation of the working masses.

Speransky's reforms, destroying trade monopolies, gave impetus to the general economic revival of Siberia, but this revival was limited only to the sphere of trade. Siberian industry developed extremely slowly. From Russia to Siberia were imported not only fabrics, iron, glass goods, but even wooden products - arcs, spoons and other simple products. Siberia produced almost nothing of industrial goods. The only industry that experienced in the first half of the 19th century. rapid, albeit short-term, growth was the gold mining (gold was discovered in the Altai mountains in 1828, in the Yenisei province - around 1830, a little later - along the Vitim and Olekma rivers).

And for the peoples of Siberia, their inclusion in Russia was of great progressive importance. Of course, the colonial-feudal oppression of tsarism was very difficult for them and delayed their development, however, communication with the Russian people strengthened the forward movement: slavery was outlived, agriculture was strengthened, economic ties were strengthened, a commodity economy developed; cultural communication has led to the acquisition of many valuable economic and cultural skills.

His latest project"Indigenous Peoples of Siberia" is not just a series of photographic portraits, but an attempt to capture and preserve, at least in photographs, the life, traditions and culture of indigenous peoples, many of which are on the brink of extinction.

Travel to native Siberia Alexander Khimushin devoted the last six months. He travels alone, at his own expense, in his own car, in which he sleeps.

- Did you have to find yourself in any extreme situations while working on a project?

- Last year, in cold weather, I went to photograph the Evenks, and on the way my car fell through the ice while crossing the river. I thought that I would drown there, they miraculously saved me. Local residents were warned by radio that a photographer was coming. They began to worry why I didn’t show up and went to meet me. When they picked me up, we drove on in their old UAZ. They dived on it into such fords that I’m scared to describe. In the middle of one river, the engine stopped, my escorts jumped out of the car and crushed the ice with stones. All this time I was afraid that cold water would rush into the car and I would ditch all my equipment. Fortunately, we managed to leave. Then I had to wade through part of the river, but my boots did not fit and the locals carried me in their arms. So I managed to get to the Evenks in the camp.

© Alexander Khimushin / The world In faces

In Siberia, it happens that the only transport that can get somewhere is a helicopter. Sometimes you have to drive a car 500 km through the taiga in order to get into some locality... For example, to get to a small Negidal village ( small people in the Amur region. - Wed), it was necessary to travel the entire Khabarovsk Territory by car. Move through the taiga, then another along the river to get to the only village in the country where the representatives of this indigenous people remained.

In the Irkutsk region there is a people called Tofalars. They live in only three villages, which are cut off from the whole world and are located in the Sayan Mountains, they have no roads. Only two months a year can be reached by winter road (temporal winter road... - RS). The rest of the time - only by air. And these villages are not connected with each other: they are located at a distance of 50–70 km from each other, and between them there is an impassable taiga. The helicopter lands first in one village, then flies to another - they get there only in this way. And the Tofalars do not have mobile communications, it still does not work for them.

​- What regions have you visited within the framework of the Siberia project and how many indigenous peoples have already been removed?

- In general, I have been traveling the world for 10 years with short interruptions, in total I have traveled 85 countries. Traveling in Siberia is only a part of my large project, which is called " Peace in faces"(The World In Faces), on which I have been working for the last 3 years. I spent the last six months in Siberia, drove 25 thousand kilometers from Buryatia to Sakhalin by car: I visited the Republic of Sakha, Khabarovsk Territory, Primorye and Sakhalin Island.

© Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

All these peoples are different. For example, the Evenks are settled on a very large territory: some live in Buryatia, some - in Yakutia, Amur region, Krasnoyarsk Territory. Although now many of them have changed their lifestyle, there are still places where the Evenks have preserved their traditional reindeer husbandry. I visited the Adyghe in Primorye, who live compactly in only two villages. Their main way of earning money is still gathering: at that time of the year when there is no snow, they look for the roots of ginseng in the taiga. Then they sell this expensive plant to the Chinese, and with this money they exist. The peoples of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Orochi, for example, live off fishing. The state allocates certain quotas to them as indigenous peoples. This allows them to engage in their traditional trade - fishing.

I would like to show people the diversity and beauty of the people living in this region

- You were born in Siberia. What new things have you learned about this region while working on the project?

- Yes, I was born in Siberia, in Yakutia, and lived a significant part of my life in Yakutsk. I left there at a fairly mature age and I would like to show the diversity and beauty of the people living in this region. Recently in Buryatia, I opened a travel agency booklet, and there are colorful pictures of Baikal and Kamchatka, but there is not a word about the people who inhabit these territories.

Once during my trip, I saw the reference book "Encyclopedia of Indigenous and Small-Numbered Peoples of Russia", specially published by the Academy of Sciences. I drew attention to the fact that the last photographs there are dated 40-60 years. Some peoples are absent in the encyclopedia at all, in many chapters there is not a single photograph at all. I wanted to fix it.

© Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

​- Is this the goal of your project?

- With my project "Siberia" I would like to draw attention to the cultures of the indigenous peoples of Russia. They have always been under the threat of extinction - from the moment Russia explored Siberia, many peoples have already disappeared. Those who remained have gone through difficult times in the last century, when during the years of collectivization they were forcibly collected into collective farms and forced to do what they had never done. When the collective farms collapsed, the indigenous population had already forgotten the trades that their ancestors used to do. The situation was influenced by active assimilation and the fact that the study of the native language was not encouraged. As a result, today one or three grandmothers speak their native language, and no one else knows it. Some nations are represented by the last hundred people.

For some reason, information about the disappearance of rare animals - leopard, polar bear - causes a greater resonance in society. Animals are important, I do not argue, but when whole nations disappear, this is also a tragedy. For some reason, much less attention is paid to this.

Only one grandfather speaks Tofalar, and even that Ukrainian

- What peoples of Siberia are now on the verge of extinction?

- For example, among the Tofalars ( small people in Eastern Siberia. - RS) only one grandfather speaks the Tofalar language, and even that one is Ukrainian by nationality. Such an irony of fate. I asked him why this happened. He said that in the 1930s, as a small child, he ended up in Siberia with the parents exiled here, grew up with the Tofalar children and learned their language perfectly. It so happened that his peers have already passed away, and he remained one of that generation. For some reason, representatives of indigenous small peoples all over the world have a short life expectancy. They are more susceptible to diseases to which there is no immunity, apparently, it is not at the genetic level. Now linguists come to this grandfather, create a textbook of the Tofalar language, try to restore it.

Among the Negidals, only one woman speaks the national language. She only waved her hand in conversation with me - she thinks that this language can no longer be restored. This summer I was on Sakhalin with the Uilta people. There were about two hundred of them left. One hundred live in one part, and another hundred live 500 km to the north. Of all of them, too, today there is only one woman left who speaks her native language. The situation could not be worse.

- How do the locals accept you, how do they feel about the fact that you are photographing them?

- Many respond to my requests and are warmly welcomed. They appreciate the fact that I came to them thousands of kilometers away on my own initiative. Local residents try to help me find costumes, organize shooting, tell, show. As a rule, they put me in either a school or in the houses of local residents.

Was on Sakhalin with the Uilta people, there are about two hundred of them left

I explain to them the purpose of the project, tell them that it is non-commercial, that I just want to tell the world about this people. There are activists who help me a lot on the ground, for example, representatives of the Association of Indigenous and Minority Peoples. They are proud of their culture and want to know as much as possible about their culture.

- What heroes of the photos do you remember most?

- I remember well all the heroes of my photographs, and there is a story associated with each of them. For example, somehow I had to meet with one grandfather in Buryatia. He was told that I would come to his village and take a picture, but they didn’t say when. I was delayed on the way and came to this grandfather in the evening. It turned out that the 92-year-old man had been waiting for me in the morning and all this time was sitting at the parade - in the traditional folk costume, with orders. I was very uncomfortable in front of him. When I photographed him and we sat down to drink tea, he took out a thousand rubles from his wallet and wanted to give me for taking it off. Of course, I did not take the money and apologized to him for being late.

Among the Evenks, I remember that reindeer breeders have their winter national dress stored in the taiga. These are such colorful fur jackets and long high boots, like waders. In the spring, the Evenki take them to the taiga, because they are less well stored in the house, they can eat a moth. They dig in branches in the forest like pillars, make a canopy and put things wrapped in bales on it so that the animals do not climb. There the clothes lie until the next winter. I was also shocked that the Evenks live in tents in winter. In the most severe frosts, they spend in a dwelling from an ordinary tarpaulin with holes, spruce branches are laid on the floor, and a potbelly stove stands. Their funerals are also unusually held, they do not bury the coffins in the ground, but put them in the taiga on a platform of trees.

Reindeer breeders keep their winter national clothes in the taiga

- Why are you dressing people up in these national ancient costumes, and not taking them off as they really are in everyday life? Isn't it more interesting to take them off in their real life?

- I try to find authentic, old costumes from "grandma's chests". I photograph what I can find in order to preserve for history, for posterity, because these peoples, if nothing changes, will not remain in the next ten to twenty years. There will be no traditional clothing, nothing at all. But the real ones, preserved to our times National costumes it can be very difficult to find. Of course, I want to take pictures of the most beautiful things. Every nation has some kind of craftswomen who sew national clothes, are engaged in handicrafts, but there are very few of them. It often happens that recently made costumes, for example, for some ensemble are completely uninteresting: cheap lurex, Chinese embroidery. Authentic costumes are a very valuable find. I remember that women once brought me the family silver - heavy, large jewelry that had been kept since the 18th century and passed on by inheritance.

(To view the gallery of photographs by Alexander Khimushin from the cycle "Indigenous peoples of Siberia", click on the next image)

"Siberia in faces"

​- What will the second stage of your trip to Siberia include?

- Now I started moving to the west: I plan to visit the Republic of Tuva, Altai, to go around the European North. There are a lot of interesting territories that cannot be reached by car. For example, I am invited to fly by helicopter with scientists to the Taimyr Peninsula. There are four indigenous people small people about whose life I would like to know more. I am going to go there in February, when there is still a polar winter, the temperature will be around minus 40 degrees. I don’t know yet how I’ll take pictures in such conditions.

Alexander Khimushin

There will still be a polar night. And I have a specificity: I love natural light in photography. Before the polar series, in principle, I did not use any flashes. Now, for the sake of these filming, I had to purchase lighting equipment, because it will be dark all the time. This will be just a small episode of a big trip. I am going to travel in Siberia until November next year.

After that I am going to settle down for a year at home in Australia and start processing the footage. A colossal number of photographs have already been collected, which will be enough for more than one book.

The growth of national identity observed in last years, encourages people in search of their national roots to turn to the age-old folk traditions and national values ​​embodied in folk culture... The culture of every nation, including the indigenous inhabitants of the North, Siberia and the Far East, is a combination of material and spiritual values ​​created by the hands and minds of many generations. Mastering the achievements of culture is an imperative for every person. Mastering the achievements of culture enriches a person, first of all, spiritually, and expands his knowledge.

Life in the extreme conditions of the northern latitudes has largely determined the specificity of the material and spiritual culture of the peoples of the North. Material culture northern peoples characterized by high adaptability to harsh natural conditions... People showed exceptional ingenuity in organizing their lives, in the skillful use of natural resources. The objects of material culture met their purpose as much as possible for the prey of an animal or fish, the preservation of heat, etc. When we consider the question of the culture of a people, we include here the totality of people's achievements in production, social and mental terms. In this regard, it should be shown which main factors had the most effective influence on the development of the culture of the indigenous population of the North and Siberia.

The needs and requirements of the northern peoples determined their traditional occupations and cultural and economic type. The economy of the northern peoples was dictated by their needs and interests. The main types of economy were reindeer herding, hunting, fishing and sea trade (animal hunting). Some have experienced mixed type farms (fishing and sea fishing, reindeer husbandry and hunting).

Types of cultural economic activity formed among the peoples of the North under the influence of natural-geographical and socio-historical factors. The low level of production forces, the dependence of people on fishing facilities as the main sources of livelihood determined the form of their economy, either sedentary or nomadic. The peoples for whom fish resources were the main life resource (Khanty, Mansi, Ulchi, Koryak, Itelmen, Chukchi and Eskimo), led mainly a sedentary lifestyle. Those for whom the main source of livelihood was domesticated deer, which were kept all year round on pasture, which means they constantly demanded best places grazing, fattening and calving, led a nomadic lifestyle (Nenets, partly Chukchi, Koryaks, Chuvans, Evens, Evenks). The same nomadic way of life is characteristic of the population, for which the main means of life is hunting, this is more typical for the inhabitants of the taiga (Evenks, Evens, Tofalars, Yukaghirs, partly Kets and Udege). Some peoples of the North were fishing and hunting (Khanty, Mansi, Selkups, Oroch, Yegidal) and hunting and fishing economy (Nivkhs and Evens), they belonged to the settled, and the hunting reindeer breeders (Dolgans, Nganasans, Eastern Enets) and fishermen (Western Enets) - to nomadic peoples.

The main types of traditional activities of the peoples of the North were crafts: the extraction of wild animals, fish, plants, etc. But the technical armament of people for this purpose was low, it consisted of firearms, which were considered the most effective, various traps, traps, tackle (nets, loops, snares), the simplest tools (spear, pit, stick, etc.) food in different regions of the North were different. The work of people was more often of a collective nature, which was caused by the low level of technology and high labor intensity of production in the harsh North. Another traditional activity of the peoples of the North was reindeer herding, since the breeding of domesticated reindeer provided them comprehensively, the reindeer satisfied all the basic needs of a person: in food (meat, lard), in a home (skins for yarangas), in lighting (fat for fat people, in clothes , footwear, etc. In addition, for the northern peoples, the deer was an indispensable form of transport, comparing favorably with sled dogs, which constantly need food, while the deer obtains food for itself at any time of the year.

Specificity climatic conditions and traditional activities determined the type and design of the dwelling of the northern peoples. There was practically no ceiling in the dwellings; the floor was usually earthen. Instead of glass, the windows had fish skin, deer bubbles, bear intestines. Underground and semi-underground dwellings were widespread, the walls were either from rough logs or from blocks (logs split in half), poles, turf. The dwellings of the Yaranga and Chum nomads were adapted for the conditions of nomadic life; a wooden (made of long poles) cone-shaped frame, covered with reindeer skins, and very rarely with cloth.

The main food for reindeer herders was meat (Nenets, reindeer Chukchi, Koryaks, Yukaghirs, Chuvans, Enets). Fish food was widespread (practically among the entire northern population). V summer time they ate plant foods (berries, herbs, roots, nuts). All northerners, without exception, had a widespread raw food diet of meat and fish. For the future they cooked yukola - fish dried in the open air in the sun and wind; smoking of fish over a fire was also used (Nenets, Selkups, Evenks, etc.). When preparing food, salt was almost never used. Tea drinking was important, especially among the nomads; they bought tea with a large supply, or made themselves from wild plants.

The clothes and footwear of the northerners were well adapted to the local conditions. They were made from the skins of deer and wild artiodactyls (elk and deer) with or without fur, the skins of fur-bearing animals (polar fox, otter, etc.) were used little. The most common clothing was a malitsa, such as a long shirt with a hood (Nenets, Enets, Nganasans, etc.) or a kukhlyanka (Chukchi, Koryak, Itelmen, etc.), also long, closed and open clothing. Often such fur clothes were covered with matter on top. Winter shoes were high, up to the knee and above, boots made of reindeer skin, with fur outside - pima or torbasy.

The northern peoples had well-developed various branches of home production. The dressing of animal skins for fur and leather products was carried out everywhere; women sewed clothes and shoes, tires for housing, lassos, rugs, which required complex, laborious and lengthy processing. The processing of horn, bone and fang was widespread (this work was often accompanied by artistic carving among the Nenets, Nganasans, debts, Tofalars, Nanais, Chukchi, Koryaks, Eskimos), as well as wood processing (more often among taiga residents). An important place among the northerners in home production occupied the dressing of birch bark (among the Khanty, Mansi, Selkups, Kets, Evenks, units, Nanai, Oroch, Udege, Yukaghir). They made boats from it, but more often various utensils and dishes. Widespread, especially on the Ob, the Amur and Kamchatka, weaving from wild plants (nettles, reeds, willow twigs, etc.) of fishing tackle, baskets, mats, sacks, etc.

Labor in economic activity was clearly divided: men worked wood, bone, iron; women dressed animal skins, fish skin, sewed clothes and shoes, cooked dishes, etc. All the work was carried out by hand, was extremely laborious, since the production was carried out with stone, bone, wooden tools. However, the products were distinguished by high artistic merit.

The population was extremely resourceful both in the preparation of fishing equipment (hunting, fishing, hunting, etc.), and in domestic life (in the construction of a dwelling, in the comforts of shoes and clothes, in various household items). So, the dwellings of the northerners of the yaranga, the plague were easily assembled and disassembled, had a low weight, which facilitated transportation over long distances; they were streamlined (cone-shaped) and retained heat well. Clothes (malitsa, kuhlyanka) and shoes (high fur boots, torbasa) are indispensable to this day - they are warm, light,

Communicating with nature for millennia, the peoples of the North have accumulated a certain experience, concepts, ideas about the life around them. By combining their efforts, their thoughts and desires, their distant ancestors began to take care of urgent needs together, about how to survive in the constant struggle against hunger, cold, disease and dangers that lay in wait for them at every step; together they hunted, gathered fruit, fished, raised livestock and worked the land.

Labor activity was an important condition for the successful life of the northerner. For a northerner, work has always been and remains the most effective means of interacting with the people around him and with nature. It was in the process of labor activity that he cognized the world around him. A hard struggle with the forces of nature for existence contributed to the development of uniform general rules, customs and traditions, carefully passed down from generation to generation, which helped to survive. Over the centuries, moral and aesthetic ideals have developed, traditions and customs have crystallized, ways, methods and means have developed. moral education... The basics of labor, moral, physical and religious education were passed on through traditions, rituals and customs.