RU | EN
Submenu

Syrtypova S.-Kh. D., Narantsetseg D. Reindeer Herders of the Darkhatskaya Basin, or How a Small-Numbered Nation of the Tsaatans in Mongolia Live

S.-Kh. D. Syrtypova
Institute of Oriental Studies RAS,
Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS,
Moscow, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0003-3201-3722
E-mail: ssyrtypova@ivran.ru

 

D. Narantsetseg
Institute of Language and Literature of the MAS
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
ORCID: 0000-0003-1299-317Х
E-mail: narantsetseg_d@mas.ac.mn

 

 Download  |  Go to Issue #2. 2023

 

ABSTRACT. The article draws on field materials from the expedition conducted in 2019 and uses a comparative analysis of the field data with historiographic sources. The Tsagaannuur reindeer herding district in the Khubsugul aimak of Mongolia is one of the most difficult to reach in the country. Because of the geographical conditions thwarting access of outsiders to the territory, the identity of the local population, recognized as a small-numbered ethnic group in Mongolia, remained intact. The flora and fauna of this highland region are very peculiar; it is a habitat of many rare endemic plants and animals in need of special protection. The region has been part of the Khubsugul National Park since 1992. However, the nomadic tradition of creating reservations, i.e., establishing protected areas at key natural territories, has been recorded here since the Middle Ages. The history of the emergence of the Darkhat Mongolian clans and Tuvan Todzhians is noteworthy. Historical Mongolian legends and peculiar features of local animal husbandry, particularly a large number of white horses and the features of the national Darhats costume, testify to the special ethnocultural regime in the region. The high mountain tracts of Baruun Taiga and Zuun Taiga are the only place in Mongolia where reindeer herding farms still operate. Mongolians call the small-numbered people engaged in reindeer herding the tsaatans. Globalization is experienced acutely in regions with nature’s harsh and fragile beauty and no less fragile indigenous culture of reindeer herders. The authors share the results of their short observation of the life and the current problems of this small nation residing in high-mountain taiga. Not pretending to offer an exhaustive analysis, they provide the readers with a snapshot of these people’s life and the prospects for further study.

 

KEYWORDS: Tsaatans, Darkhats, Todzhins, Dukhalar, Khubsgul, traditional culture, reindeer herding, nomads of the high mountain taiga

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2023-2(20)-163-188
УДК 397.4 (517.3)

 

REFERENCES

  • Badamkhatan S. [Life of the Khubsugul Tsaatans]. Khövsgöliin tsaatan ardyn aj baidlyn toim. Ulaanbaatar, 1962. (In Mongolian).
  • Bakayeva E. P. [Kalmyk-Tsaatans: on the problem of the origin of the ethnic group and the etymology of the ethnonym]. Vestnik Kalmytskogo instituta gumanitarnykh issledovaniy RAN [Bulletin of the Kalmyk Institute for Humanitarian Research RAS], 2011, no. 2, pp. 68–74. (In Russian).
  • Chuluun S., Ayyzhy Ye.V. [State policy of Russia and Mongolia towards Tuva reindeer herders at the present stage]. Vestnik Kalmytskogo universiteta [Bulletin of the Kalmyk University], 2016, no. 4 (32), pp. 40–48. (In Russian).
  • Diószegi, Vilmos. The Problem of the Ethnic Homogeneity of Tofa (Karagas) Shamanism. Popular Beliefs and folklore Tradition in Siberia, ed. Vilmos Diószegt. Bloomington, Indiana Univetsity Publications, 1968, pp. 239–330. (In English).
  • Nanzatov B. Z. [Ethnic composition and resettlement of the peoples of the Mongolian Altai and the Khubsugul region at the beginning of the 20th century]. Izvestiya Irkutskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Geoarkheologiya. Etnologiya. Antropologiya [News of the Irkutsk State University. Series: Geoarchaeology. Ethnology. Anthropology], 2013, no. 2, pp. 138–151. (In Russian).
  • Orus-ool, Svetlana. [Folklore of the Tuvan-Todzhans. Field research materials]. Mongol soyol urlag sudlal. Bot’ 28. Devter 1-63. 2018. Kh. 250-261 [Mongolian cultural studies and art research. Mongolian state university of arts and culture. Reseаrch Institute of Culture and Arts]. Vol. 28, Book 1-63, pp. 250-261. (In Russian).
  • Ragagnin E. Dukhan, a Turkic Variety of Northern Mongolia Description and Analysis. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2011. (In English).
  • Rassadin V. I. Morfologiya tofalarskogo yazyka v sravnitel’nom osveshchenii [Morphology of the Tofalar language in comparative light. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1978. (In Russian).
  • Syrtypova S.-Kh. [Shrines of nomads of Transbaikalia (Traditional religious objects as monuments of history and culture]. Svyatyni kochevnikov Transbaykal’ya (Traditsionnyye kul’tovyye ob”yekty kak pamyatniki istorii i kul’tury). Ulan-Ude; Izd-vo Buryatskogo Gosuniversiteta Publ., 2007. (In Russian).
  • Wheeler, Alan W. LORDS OF THE MONGOLIAN TAIGA: An Ethnohistory of the Dukha Reindeer Herders. Indiana University, 2000. (In English).