The Buryats are the oldest people of Lake Baikal. Cultural traditions of the Buryat people Cultural and religious traditions of the Buryats
Galina Prokopchuk
Summary of GCD for preparatory group“Customs and traditions of the Buryat people”
State budgetary preschool educational institution
child development center – kindergarten №23
Krasnoselsky district of St. Petersburg
GCD summary for the preparatory group.
Subject: «»
Technologies used:
1. Electronic educational resources (EOR).
2. Health-saving (physical education minute)
Made up:
Teacher Prokopchuk G. N.
Saint Petersburg
Lesson notes« Customs and traditions of the Buryat people»
Subject: « Customs and traditions of the Buryat people»
Target: introducing children to customs and traditions of the Buryat people.
Tasks:
1. Enrich and expand children’s knowledge about customs and traditions of the Buryat people.
2. Develop figurative speech with the help of lexical and grammatical exercises.
3. Enrich children's vocabulary with small forms folklore: proverbs, sayings, sayings, riddles.
4. To develop children’s collective play skills and interest in culture Buryat people
5. Foster respect for people of indigenous nationality, interest, love and respect for customs and traditions.
Equipment: felt yurt, Buryat hat, dolls, bag of bones - ankles, cards for the game "Yurt". The lesson was accompanied by a multimedia slide show.
Preliminary work:
1. Design of the development environment "My native land"
2. Looking at illustrations: animals, birds, national clothes, dishes, illustrations of everyday life Buryat. (
3. Conversations by topic: "Buryat yurt", "Who are they Buryats?", "Family tree", "Ornament", "Clothing Buryat", "Food Buryat", "Craft".
4. Reading fiction literature: “Bear”, “Omul Barrel”, “Legend of the Swan Girl”, “Legend of Baikal and Angara”, “Geser”.
5. Getting to know Buryat folklore - riddles, proverbs, sayings, proverbs, fairy tales.
6. Educational games: “Find a pair”, “Pick a similar ornament”, “Find Buryat costume", "Dress the boy, girl", "Collect items of clothing."
7. Movable Buryat games: “Mitten”, “Camel and baby camel”, “Hat, thread, knot”.
8. Visit to the history museum Buryatia.
Progress of the lesson
Educate Hello, dear guests, friends! We greet you with wishes of happiness and goodness, to remember and revive our good traditions.
Children come into Buryat costumes.
Educate Today in class we will get into culture and life Buryat people. What you learn about, tell it yourself, you must remember in order to remember and continue customs and traditions of our ancestors.
Who are the ancestors? (These are our grandfathers, grandmothers, great-grandfathers, great-grandmothers - this is who gave birth to us)
- Guess my riddle: House without roof and windows,
And people live in it together (yurt)
Look at this yurt, people lived in yurts like these Buryats. By Buryat custom boys sit on the right side, and girls on the left. The children are seated.
Educate Let's remember how we were visiting the museum. stories Buryatia. What did you see in the yurt? (hearth, shrine, where the sacred books were placed, Buryat items; beds, tools)
What was the name of the settlement where they lived? Buryats? (ulus)^Each ulus consisted of several yurts. In one ulus there lived only one relatives, one clan. Everyone did the housework together and lived together. In the uluses Buryats They lived only in winter and that’s why their yurts were called winter roads.
What was the yurt built from? (wooden base, wooden slats, and felt was attached on top). The best pieces covered the northern side from the cold wind.
In the summer they often moved from place to place, and therefore the yurts were made of wood and were easily disassembled and assembled.
I suggest playing a very interesting game.
Game "Yurt".
Children stand on a red ribbon, each child has their own path, the path is made of colored rectangles. Whoever answers the question moves to the next rectangle.
Focus on the screen (on the screen - yurt)
1. - What is this? (yurt)
2. - What is she like? (round, white, beautiful, etc.)
3. - What do they do in the yurt? (live, relax, play, etc.)
4. - Who lives in the yurt? (Buryats, People)
Let's make a beautiful sentence from your words - answers.
They live in a beautiful round yurt Buryats.
What is another name for a yurt? (Dwelling, house, dwelling)
Guys, a yurt is the best housing invented by a man - a nomad. It is lightweight, heats up quickly, and can easily withstand frost and cold. (Children sit down)
What animals were bred Buryats? (goats, sheep, cows, horses and camels) Didactic a game: "Baby Animals"
The goat has a baby. (kid, and if there is a lot. (kids)
At the cow's.
At the horse.
At the camel's.
Well done, you know baby animals very well. Buryats often wandered from place to place following the herd.
Problem situation
Educate Why did they wander? (we were looking for good pastures where the grass grew thick and lush)
What are good pastures for? (the animals ate grass and gave a lot of meat and milk, wool, and fattened their cubs)
And now you and I will move to the summer pasture. Examination and storytelling of the "summer pasture"
Write a story about the animals we see in the pasture, (children sit down in their seats).
Name the main food products Buryat?
Didactic game "Dairy products and meat dishes"
Showing dairy products on screen products: sour cream, milk, cheese, foam-urma, butter, etc. Meat dishes-buuza, sharbin, khushuur, blood sausage, meat sausage, etc.
Budamshuu comes in to the music of Bud. - Sain bayna, uhibuud! Sagaan bharaar! Sagaalganaar!
Now the White Month holiday continues and I congratulate you all. People come to visit with gifts. As the mistress of your house, I present Polina Bulgatovta with a hatak.
Do you recognize me? I am a cheerful Budamshuu, I love to play and have fun. Let's play! I'll teach you pure sayings in Buryat and Russian. Repeat after me
Buryat Russians
1. Sa - sa - sa - Sa - sa - sa - Sanzha sasali sasaa Beyasit the cunning fox
2. Sa - sa - sa - Sy - sy - sy- Saba sasan sagalhyaa The fox has a mustache
3. Sa - sa - sa - Su - su - su - Saryun daya sagarna Have you seen the fox?
Bud. Well done! Now I will test your intelligence and ingenuity - I will wish for you Buryat riddles:
1. Where the nose goes, there goes the tail, (needle and thread)
2. Silk circle - seven holes around, (head)
3. Two brothers live next to each other, but don’t see each other (eyes)
Educate - And our children know Buryat proverbs
1 child Rather than disgrace your name, it is better to break your bones.
2 reb. I gave my word - I have to keep it, I started working - I have to finish it.
3 reb. Looking at your shadow - you become beautiful by looking at your peers
You become smart.
4 children Anger torments the body, and grief torments the horse.
Bud. How good your children are, they know such clever proverbs. For this I want to give you one more gift. (Pulls out a hat - malakhai) from the box.. I will give it to you if you play the game with me - “Budamshuu Hat” Outdoor game “Budamshuu Hat”
Bud. What kind of children do you have - fast, dexterous, I couldn’t catch up with them. I give you this hat - malachai, you will play group. (Gives it to the teacher)
And what other items of national clothing Buryat you know? (Children's answers)
Educate Now we will show festive clothes Buryat. (Slide show)
I offer you didactic game"Dress Buryat dolls"children dress dolls and talk about their dolls (What is your name, what are you wearing, etc.). Bud. Did you know that the most favorite game in family circle Since ancient times, a dice game called “Shagai” has been considered. Game "Step" - ankles, dice - it's an old one Buryat game, both adults and children loved to play it. Varieties games: “Let’s collect a big pile”, “Guess how many bones are in your hand”, “Tossing”, Now sit back, let’s play. Game "Walk"
good wishes:
1 child So that the herds become fat.
2 reb. So that comfort reigns in your home.
3 reb. May everyone be healthy.
4 children May good luck and success live in the family.
Bud. Oh, thank you children, very much for good wishes. Well, it’s time for me to go to other children. Bayartay!
Children: Bayartay!
Educate Thank you all for your attention!
Family and tribal customs and traditions.
The division into clan communities has been preserved.
The Buryats invited their closest neighbors to a meal when they slaughtered an ox, ram, or horse. If a neighbor could not come, a piece of meat was sent to him.
Hospitality is very widely developed. They will always help travelers and foreigners. They always give guests a gift within their own means.
Buryats have revered the color white since ancient times; it was associated with something pure, noble, and sacred. Guests were seated on white felt. The shamans rode a white horse and wore white clothes.
Family and marriage customs and traditions.
The dominant form of family was the individual monogamous family, which consisted of the head of the family, his wife, children and parents. Polygamy was allowed, but only wealthy Buryats could afford it.
At the wedding, men showed their skills in wrestling, archery, competition of trotters and pacers, knowledge of mythology, singing songs, genealogies, traditions and legends.
Buryats could not form a family from members of the same clan. The parents of the bride and groom drank milk wine and exchanged belts during matchmaking, and the bride price was also discussed there.
The husband had no right to a dowry; it was only the property of the wife. In some places the bride was kidnapped.
The wedding ceremony included several stages: preliminary agreement, matchmaking, setting the wedding date, payment of the bride price by the groom, bachelorette party, searching for the bride and departure of the wedding procession, waiting in the groom’s house, the wedding itself, the ceremony of consecrating the new yurt.
During matchmaking, all relatives and matchmakers prayed to the patron spirits. The role of the Lama in the ritual was very important.
All relatives gave gifts to the bride, and the parents of the newlyweds thanked those who gave them with valuable gifts after the wedding.
At weddings, yurools (instructions) were always pronounced.
A woman could not call her father-in-law and her husband’s older relatives by name, dress up and have her head uncovered, or sit if her husband’s relatives were standing. After her husband's death, she married his brother or close relatives. After giving birth, for some time I could not cook food, touch the fire or hold tongs. Some time after the birth of the child, a purification ceremony was performed on her - Aryuulga.
Customs and traditions associated with the birth and upbringing of children.
Buryats love children very much and often adopt children, especially boys.
A week after the birth, the ritual of placing the child in the cradle - “ulgeede oruulkha” - took place. Many people gathered for this celebration with gifts for the newborn.
The eldest guest gave the child's name.
In order to distract the attention of evil spirits from the child, he was called a dissonant name, often denoting animals (Shono - Wolf, Bukha - Bull) or offensive nicknames (Teneg-Stupid, Khazagai-Crooked).
The Buryats were very afraid of losing their children, so in front of the entrance to the house they placed a birch tree, from which they stretched a rope to the wall with a piece of net or scraps of cloth tied to it. This is to prevent strangers from entering the house. Charms (whip, knife, owl skin and wings, shin bone, rosehip branches) placed under the child’s crib.
Children's games reflected the work of their parents. The surrounding nature, a herd of horses, a flock of sheep, public holidays - this is the world where the child’s horizons developed. There was a whole system of moral, mental and physical education of children.
Ideal man must have 9 abilities: be able to fight, be a hunter, be able to craft, know blacksmithing, be able to break a cattle vertebra with your hand, be able to weave a whip from 8 straps, be able to weave a tripod for a horse, be able to use a bow and be a rider.
Funeral - funeral customs and traditions.
Buryat ethnic groups had different forms of burial. The saddle of a slaughtered favorite horse was left at the burial site. Buryat cemeteries were located near Taman groves. Sometimes they were buried just somewhere. The coffin was not made everywhere and not always. It was not uncommon for the deceased to be left directly on the ground, slightly covered with branches.
Another form of burial was the burning of corpses.
People killed by lightning were buried as a shaman, so it was believed that heaven had chosen him. Wine and food were placed next to the arang.
With the appearance of the lama, the rituals changed somewhat. They made the deceased look like he was asleep, put his right hand to his ear and bent his knees.
The grave was dug shallow, but with the spread of Christianity in the Baikal region, changes were made: the grave was dug deep, and a wake was held on the 40th day.
In former, distant times, there lived a brave hunter, a sharp shooter. He always hit without missing a beat and never came home empty-handed.
But one day he walked through the forest all day and until the evening he did not meet either an animal or a bird. Tired, exhausted, he went to bed. He sleeps and sees a strange dream: a yellow fog fell on him, and then a motley fog approached. The hunter wakes up and sees a yellow fog approaching him. He got scared, grabbed his bow, put in an arrow, but a human voice came from the fog:
- Don't shoot at me, brave hunter, I won't harm you. The fog became even thicker, denser and turned into a yellow snake with motley, thundering wings. The motley-winged serpent said:
- Let's be friends, brave hunter, sharp shooter. I need your help. For many years I have been waging war with the yellow-winged snake and cannot defeat it. Together we will defeat him.
“I’m ready to help you,” said the hunter.
“Then let’s go to the valley where the battle will be,” said the motley-winged serpent.
They came to a wide valley.
“Our battle will be long,” said the motley-winged snake. - We will rise to the sky three times and descend to the ground three times. When we rise for the fourth time, my enemy will overcome me, will gain the upper hand; when we go down, he'll be on top and I'll be on the bottom. At this time, do not yawn: I will turn his yellow head towards you, and you shoot at his only eye. This eye is in his forehead, in the very middle of his forehead. Now hide in this hole, soon the yellow-winged snake will rush from the sky right at me.
The hunter hid in a hole.
Soon a yellow-winged serpent rushed from the sky. The battle has begun. The snakes, grappling, rose to the sky three times and sank to the ground three times. The forces were equal. But then they rose to the sky for the fourth time, and the yellow-winged serpent defeated the motley-winged one. When they descended, the Yellowwing was on top and the Spottedwing was below. But the mottled wing quickly turned the head of his enemy towards the hunter. The sharp shooter was just waiting for it. The string of his bow was drawn. A moment was enough for him to shoot an arrow and pierce the yellow eye of the yellow-winged serpent. And then a yellow poisonous fog fell to the ground, from which all the trees in the forest withered and all the animals died. The hunter was saved by a motley-winged snake. He covered his friend with mighty dense wings and kept him under them for three days and three nights until the yellow poisonous fog dissipated.
And when the sun shone again, the motley-winged serpent said:
- We defeated a formidable enemy. Thank you, hunter. The yellow-winged snake caused a lot of harm. Every day he swallowed three beasts and devoured the fiery serpents, my subjects. If it weren't for you, he would have killed me and eaten all the fire snakes. Let's go visit me. You will see my palace, my subjects, my old parents.
The hunter agreed, and he and the snake descended into a deep hole, and from there along underground passage They found themselves in a palace sparkling with gold and precious stones. On the floor lay fiery snakes curled into rings. One hall was followed by another, even richer one. And so they came to the largest hall. In it, two old motley-winged snakes sat near the hearth.
“These are my parents,” said the snake. The hunter greeted them.
“This hunter saved me and my entire khanate,” said the snake. - He killed our old enemy.
“Thank you,” said the old snake’s parents. - For this you will receive a reward. If you want, we will give you as much gold and precious stones as you can carry. If you want, we will teach you seventy languages, so that you can understand the conversations of birds, animals and fish. Choose!
“Teach me seventy languages,” said the hunter.
“Better take gold and jewelry,” said the snake’s old parents. - Life is not easy for someone who knows seventy languages.
“No, I don’t want gold, teach me languages,” the hunter asked.
“Well, have it your way,” said the old motley-winged snake. - From now on you know seventy languages, from now on you hear the conversations of birds, fish and animals. But this is a secret. You must keep it from people. If you let it slip, you will die that same day.
The hunter left the khanate of the motley-winged serpent and went home. He walks through the forest and rejoices: after all, he understands everything that animals and birds say among themselves. A hunter came out of the forest. Here is the yurt. “I’ll go into it,” he thinks. And the dog barks:
- Don't come here. Although this is a rich yurt, our owner is stingy. Here you won’t only get meat, they won’t give you milk.
The hunter moved on. Near another yurt a dog barks:
- Come here, traveler. Even though this is a poor man’s yurt, our host is kind and will treat you. We have only one cow, but the owner will give you milk, we have only one black ram, but the owner will kill the last ram for the guest.
The hunter entered the poor man's yurt. The owner greeted him politely and seated him in a place of honor. The host's wife served the guest a bowl of milk. The poor man invited the hunter to spend the night, and in the evening he slaughtered a black sheep for him. As they ate, the dog whined:
- Good guest, drop the lamb shoulder, I’ll grab it and run out, the owner won’t be angry with you.
The hunter dropped his spatula. The dog grabbed her and ran away. And then she barked:
- A kind guest treated me to a delicious spatula. I won’t sleep all night, I’ll guard the yurt.
The wolves came at night. They stopped near the poor man’s yurt and howled:
- Now we will rein in the horse!
- My master has only one horse, he cannot be eaten. If you come any closer, I'll bark loudly. The owner will wake up, his guest-hunter will wake up, and then you will be in trouble. Better go there to the rich man, pick up his fat gray mare, he has a lot of horses, and his dogs are hungry, they won’t want to bark at you.
Description of the presentation by individual slides:
1 slide
Slide description:
Traditions and customs of the Buryat people Performed by: Lantsova Natalya, Banina Kristina, 8th grade students of the municipal educational institution "Kalenovskaya" secondary school Supervisor: Vasilevskaya O.I. 2018
3 slide
Slide description:
Traditions and customs of the Buryat people Many beliefs and prohibitions have common roots of Central Asian origin, therefore they are the same among the Mongols and Buryats. These include the developed cult of obo, the cult of mountains, and the worship of the Eternal Blue Sky (Huhe Munhe Tengri). You must stop near the obo and respectfully present gifts to the spirits. If you don’t stop at the obo and make a sacrifice, there will be no luck.
4 slide
Slide description:
According to the belief of the Evenks and Buryats, every mountain, valley, river, lake has its own spirit. A person without spirits is nothing. It is necessary to appease the spirits that are everywhere so that they do not harm and provide assistance. The Buryats have a custom of “sprinkling” milk or alcoholic drinks to the spirits of the area. “Splash” with the ring finger of the left hand: lightly touch the alcohol and sprinkle in the four cardinal directions, sky and earth.
5 slide
Slide description:
One of the main traditions is the sacred veneration of nature. You can't harm nature. Catching or killing young birds. Cutting down young trees. You cannot throw garbage or spit into the sacred waters of Lake Baikal. You cannot wash dirty clothes at the Arshana water source. You cannot break, dig up, touch the serge - hitching post, or light a fire nearby. One should not desecrate a sacred place with bad actions, thoughts or words. Traditions and customs of the Buryat people
6 slide
Slide description:
Fire is credited with a magical cleansing effect. Purification by fire was considered a necessary ritual so that guests would not create or bring any harm. There is a known case from history when the Mongols mercilessly executed Russian ambassadors only for refusing to pass between two fires in front of the khan’s headquarters. Purification by fire is still widely used today in shamanic practices Traditions, customs and the Buryat people
7 slide
Slide description:
When entering a Buryat yurt, you must not step on the threshold of the yurt; this is considered impolite. In the old days, a guest who deliberately stepped on the threshold was considered an enemy, announcing his evil intentions to the owner. You cannot enter the yurt with any burden. It is believed that the person who did this has the bad inclinations of a thief, a robber.
8 slide
Slide description:
There is a belief that certain objects, especially those associated with magic, carry a certain amount of power. Strictly prohibited to the common man for fun, say shamanic prayers (durdalga) out loud. Traditions and customs of the Buryat people
Slide 9
Slide description:
Life Traditions, customs of the Buryat people Traditional dishes were made of leather, wood and iron. Furniture - low tables, benches, cabinets for dishes, chests for storing clothes, low wooden beds with a felt mattress and pillows stuffed with wool. For sitting, felt mattresses were prepared, covered with fabric on top, which were piled on top of each other.
10 slide
Slide description:
Food. Traditions and customs of the Buryat people The food of the Buryats was determined by their nomadic life. It consisted mainly of meat and dairy products. In summer, fatty lamb, in winter, beef, meat was consumed only boiled, and cooked in lightly salted or not at all salted water. Mostly boiled milk was consumed. Varenets (tarag), cheese curds (khuruud, bisla and hezge), artsy (aarsa), dried cottage cheese (ayruul), foam (urme), buttermilk (airak) were prepared from milk. The butter was obtained from sour cream. Kumys was made from mare's milk, and milk vodka (archi) was made from cow's milk. They drank brick tea, adding salt, milk and lard to it.
11 slide
Slide description:
The Buryats attached special importance to certain parts of the carcass and, accordingly, the distribution of the head, shoulder blade, femur, etc., especially when receiving guests, was carried out according to established rules of etiquette. For residents of the Baikal coast, fish was as important as meat. The Buryats widely consumed plants and roots as food and stored them for the winter. Field onions, wild garlic, and saran were considered the most important. Strawberries and lingonberries were collected from the berries.
12 slide
Slide description:
Buryat settlements - uluses - appeared on the shores of Lake Baikal in the 17th century. Family life based on the patriarchal clan system. Groups of Mongols-Dzhugars and Sartols, who fled Mongolia due to tribal strife, settled together with the Buryats. When a Buryat is asked to name his clan affiliation, he begins to list his ancestors in the male line up to the seventh generation.
The Buryats survived in the harsh Siberian conditions only thanks to their experience of mutual assistance; with common help, yurts were erected, women made felt, and family rituals (weddings, funerals) were performed. Even with such a strong tradition of mutual assistance, social inequality existed among the clans. The top of the clan was richer, while ordinary members of the clan fell into servitude to the rich, who found a way to use the poor cattle breeders in their own interests.
Among the Buryats, the following centuries-old traditions were strictly observed:
- If a cattle breeder slaughtered livestock, then all the closest neighbors were invited to the fresh meat;
- Hunters had their own tradition, according to which they took part of their catch to a neighbor if he could not come to the hunter for a treat.
- The Buryats are famous for their hospitality and revere the poor, to whom they generously distribute alms. They do not deprive both visiting guests and travelers of their hospitality, providing them, if necessary, with a table and a house.
Hosting is one of the ancient traditions when guests gather and go around the nearby uluses. Typically, such visiting occurs in the summer during a religious holiday - tailagan.
Why do Buryats especially value the color white?
The white color is highly revered by the Buryats, who personify this color with purity and nobility. Seat the guest on the felt white- means to honor him. The Buryats, who considered themselves to be among the nobility, considered themselves white-boned: sagan yasu, and the poor were accordingly called hara yasu, that is, black-boned.
Important!!!
Traditionally, as a sign of classifying himself as a Sagan Yasu, a noble Buryat settled in a yurt made of white felt. Shamans, who also considered themselves white-boned, wore only white clothes and preferred white horses for riding.
The life of a Buryat herder was not monotonous. They entertained themselves by dancing, games and choral singing. The games were mainly an expression of hunting traditions:
- "Hurain naadan" (grouse dance);
- "Baabgain naadan" (Bear game).
Advice
In all games and dances, the performers tried to reproduce as accurately as possible the movements, habits and voices of the animals depicted. For children's games, they rolled a ball out of wool. From an early age, children were taught to shoot a bow, ride a horse, and engage in wrestling.
Party
Special ongon-naadans were invited to youth parties, where they entertained the assembled youth. Some games and dances were of a ritual nature. The mass game “Zemkhen” was organized so that young people from neighboring uluses could get to know each other. During the game, couples could form and, if mutual understanding was reached between the parents of the bride and groom, then the bride’s parents would throw a bachelorette party.
The basis of the spiritual culture of the Buryats is a complex of spiritual values that generally relate to the culture of the Mongolian ethnic group. In conditions when, for many centuries, the population of the Baikal region experienced the influence of many peoples of Central Asia, and later with their stay as part of Russia, due to the fact that Buryatia found itself at the junction of two cultural systems - Western Christian and Eastern Buddhist - culture the Buryats seemed to be transformed, remaining in appearance the same.
Family and household customs of the Buryats
The large patriarchal family constituted the main social and economic unit of Buryat society. The Buryat society at that time was tribal, that is, there was a division into clans, clan groups, and then tribes. Each clan traced its lineage back to one ancestor - the ancestor (udha uzuur), the people of the clan were connected by close blood ties. Strict exogamy was observed, i.e. Buryats could not marry a girl of their own kind, even if the relationship between them was very conditional, lasting several generations. A large family usually lived as follows - each ulus consisted of several villages. In the village there were one, two, three or more yurts with different outbuildings. In one of them, she usually stood in the center, lived the elder of the family, an old man with an old woman, sometimes with some orphans - relatives. Some Buryats, like the Mongols, had the family of their youngest son, odkhon, living with their parents, who was supposed to take care of his parents. The eldest sons and their families lived in other yurts. The entire village had common arable land, mowing areas, and livestock. Further in the ulus lived their relatives - uncles (nagasa), cousins.
At the head of the clan was a leader - noyon. When the clan grew greatly and generations grew up, due to the interests of its branches, they resorted to dividing it - a rite of departure from kinship was carried out, when the separated family formed a separate clan - obok. All the elders of the clan came to the ceremony. Everyone prayed to the spirits and ancestors. At the boundary—the border of the families’ lands—they broke a cauldron and a bow in two and said:
“Just as the two halves of a cauldron and an onion do not form a single whole, so the two branches of the family will no longer be united.”
So one clan was divided into clan divisions, an example is the Batlaev seven among the Bulagats. Several clans, in turn, made up a tribe; among the Buryats, a tribe is called by the name of its ancestor. Either a tribe was simply a community of people united by tribal ties, like the Bulagats and Ekhirits, or the tribe had a head - as a rule, the head of the oldest clan, like the Khoris - the Buryats. Separate groups of clans, in turn, could also be separated into a tribal formation, like the Ikinats or Ashaabgats. In Buryat communities there was a custom of mutual assistance during migrations, building yurts, rolling felt, organizing weddings and funerals. Later, in connection with the development of land ownership and haymaking, assistance was provided in harvesting grain and storing hay. Mutual assistance was especially developed among women in tanning leather, shearing sheep, and rolling felt. This custom was useful in that labor-intensive work was completed quickly and easily through common efforts, and an atmosphere of friendship and collectivism was created.
The dominant form of family was the individual monogamous family, which included the head of the family, his wife, children and parents. The custom allowed polygamy, but it was found mainly among wealthy people, since a ransom (kalym) had to be paid for a wife.
All aspects of family and marriage relations were regulated by customs and traditions. Exogamy, which survived until the beginning of the 20th century, did not allow persons belonging to the same clan to marry. For example, the Buryats of the Gotol clan took wives from the Irkhideevsky, Sharaldaevsky and Yangutsky clans. There was a custom of conspiring with children in infancy, even when they were still in the cradle. As a sign of the conclusion of the marriage contract - khuda orolsolgo - the parents of the bride and groom exchanged a belt and drank milk wine. From that moment on, the girl became a bride, and her father had no right to marry her off to someone else.
To avoid expenses for bride price, they sometimes resorted to the custom of “andalyat” - an exchange that consisted of two families, each having sons and daughters, exchanging girls. According to customary law, the dowry - enzhe - was the complete property of the wife, and the husband had no right to it. In some places, in particular among the Kudarino Buryats, kidnapping was practiced - kidnapping the bride.
The wedding ceremony usually consisted of the following stages: preliminary agreement, matchmaking, setting the wedding, the groom and his relatives traveling to the bride and paying the bride price, a bachelorette party (basaganai naadan - a girl’s game), searching for the bride and departure of the wedding train, waiting in the groom’s house, marriage, consecration new yurt. Wedding customs and traditions in different ethnic groups had their own characteristics. According to existing traditions, all the bride's relatives had to give her gifts during the wedding. The parents of the newlyweds remembered well those who presented gifts, so that they could later repay them with an equal gift.
Children occupy a significant place in the life of the Buryats. The most common and kind wish among the Buryats was: “Have sons to continue your family, have daughters to marry.” The most terrible oath consisted of the words: “Let my hearth go out!” The desire to have children, the awareness of the need to procreate was so great that it gave rise to the custom: in the absence of one’s own children, to adopt strangers, mainly the children of one’s relatives, most often boys. According to customary law, a man could take a second wife into his home if he had no children from his first marriage.
The child’s father and mother were not called by their proper names: the child’s name was added to the words “father” or “mother” (for example, Batyn aba - Batu’s father).
Six or seven days after the birth, the ritual of putting the baby in the cradle was performed. This ritual was essentially a family celebration, where relatives and neighbors gathered to give gifts to the newborn.
The name of the child was given by one of the older guests. In families where children often died, the child was given a dissonant name in order to distract the attention of evil spirits from him. Therefore, there were often names denoting animals (Bukha - Bull, Shono - Wolf), offensive nicknames (Khazagai - Crooked, Teneg - Stupid) and names such as Shuluun (Stone), Balta (Hammer), Tumer (Iron).
Children from an early age were taught knowledge native land, customs and traditions of fathers and grandfathers. They tried to instill labor skills in them, to introduce them to the productive activities of adults: boys were taught to ride a horse, shoot a bow, and harness horses, and girls were taught to crumple belts and sheepskins, carry water, light a fire, and babysit children. Children with early years became shepherds, learned to endure the cold, sleep in the open air, stay with the herd for days, and go hunting. In the Buryat family there were no strict measures for offenses.
Settlement and dwellings. Life of the Buryats
The nomadic way of life has long determined the type of hermetically sealed compact dwelling - a prefabricated structure made of a lattice frame and felt covering, round at the base and with a hemispherical top. Under certain conditions, a yurt is a perfect structure both practically and aesthetically.
The dimensions of the yurt correspond to the scale of a person. The internal layout takes into account the interests and tastes of its inhabitants and ensures household activities. The Buryat name for a felt yurt is heeey ger, and for a wooden one – modon ger. A yurt is a lightweight, prefabricated structure, adapted for transportation by pack animals.
In the 19th century a significant part of the Buryat population lived in settlements - uluses, scattered along river valleys and highlands. Each ulus consisted of several families - ayls or khotons, united according to their clan. The population spent the cold season in the uluses, which is why they were also called winter roads. The number of courtyards in them varied - from 10 - 12 courtyards to 80 dozen. On the winter roads there were multi-walled wooden yurts, Russian-style huts, and outbuildings. In the summer, the Buryats of the Cis-Baikal region migrated to summer camps, which were located near pastures. They usually lived there in felt or wooden yurts. In the Baikal region, felt yurts began to disappear even before the arrival of the Russians, and in Transbaikalia they were widespread until the revolution.
Wooden yurts, common in the Cis-Baikal region, had a sloping roof and were most often built with eight walls of round larch or half logs laid in 12–14 rows. The diameter of the yurt reached 10 meters. In the center, to support the ceiling, pillars with a beam were installed. The ceiling of the yurt was covered with soaked bark, turf and planks. Inside, the yurt was divided into two halves. In the western part - baruun tala - there were harnesses, tools and weapons, ongons - images of spirits - hung on the wall, and in the eastern part - zuun tala - there was a kitchen and pantry. According to custom, a married woman was forbidden to enter the western half. The northern part of the yurt – hoimor – was located opposite the door. Here, under the protection of fire, they placed a shaky corner (corners) with infant, the guests were seated. In the middle of the yurt there was a fireplace and togoon- large cast iron boiler. Smoke rose up and came out through a hole in the ceiling. The hearth was considered sacred, and numerous rules and rituals were associated with it. A wooden bed was installed in the northwestern side, and shelves for utensils were built into the wall of the northeastern side or simply placed. Sometimes a porch was built outside, and a hitching post - serge - was dug in, the top of which was decorated with carved ornaments. Serge served as an object of special veneration and was an indicator of the family’s wealth, since its absence meant horselessness and poverty.
Cattle breeding and agriculture
The traditional economy belongs to the economic and cultural type of pastoral nomads of the dry steppes of Eurasia, which existed in this area for three millennia. Cattle breeding, the main occupation of the Buryats in the 17th–20th centuries, determined the way of life of the people and the specifics of their material and spiritual culture. On the Buryat farm in the 17th century. The dominant role was played by nomadic (Transbaikalia) and semi-nomadic (Baikal region) cattle breeding. Hunting and farming were of secondary importance, and the degree of their development depended on cattle breeding. The annexation of Buryatia to Russia gave a new impetus to the further development of the Buryat economy: the natural economic structure was being destroyed, commodity-money relations were deepening, and more progressive forms of farming were being formed. Sheep were of particular importance. Meat was used for food, felt was made from wool, and clothing was made from sheepskin.
Along with cattle breeding, the Buryats had arable farming. Before the arrival of the Russians, it was predominantly a hoe, that is, in the same form in which it was inherited from the Kurykans. Later, mainly under the influence of the Russians, the Buryat farmers acquired wooden harrows and plows, into which a horse was harnessed. Bread was harvested with pink salmon scythes, and later with Lithuanian scythes.
They threshed bread with flails and winnowed with wooden shovels and sieves. In the 19th century Alar, Udi, and Balagan Buryats, who lived in fertile river valleys, were widely engaged in agriculture. In the open steppe regions, the fields were located close to housing and did not require much effort to cultivate, but the yield was low due to frost and winds. Preference was given to mountainous and wooded areas, although uprooting forests and plowing land required great effort and was accessible only to wealthy people.
The Buryats sowed rye and, in smaller quantities, wheat, oats and barley. Among the large crops, millet and buckwheat were sown in some places. Agricultural work usually fit into traditional deadlines, which were very short, for example, sowing of spring crops began on May 1 and ended on the 9th.
Hunting
The Buryats have long had two types of hunting: collective hunting (aba) and individual hunting (atuuri). In the taiga and forest-steppe zones, the Buryats hunted such large animals as elk, wapiti, and bear. They also hunted wild boar, roe deer, musk deer, and hunted squirrel, sable, ermine, ferret, otter, lynx, and badger. A seal was caught on Lake Baikal.
Individual hunting, widespread throughout the ethnic territory of the Buryats, in the forest-steppe zone was represented by active and passive forms, various methods and techniques: tracking, pursuit, luring, ambush, catching a bear “in a den.” The passive form of hunting known to the Buryats was for the production of wild meat and fur animals.
In the taiga zone, the Buryats installed various traps on animal trails and in other narrow places: they dug trapping holes, adjusted crossbows, hung loops, built mouths, stationary traps, sacks and sacks, and built ambushes. In the steppe zone, wolves and foxes were caught using poisoned baits and traps. The hunting equipment of the Buryats consisted of the following production tools: bow, arrows, spear, whip, stick, knife, gun, crossbows, loops, bag, bag, mouth, die, decoy for wapiti, roe deer and musk deer.
Traditional food
Nomadic farming also determined the nature of food. Meat and various dairy products were the basis of the Buryat diet. It should be emphasized that meat and especially dairy foods had ancient origins and were very diverse.
Dairy products were consumed by the Buryats in liquid and solid form. Tarag (yogurt), huruud, ayruul (dry cottage cheese), urme (foam), airig (buttermilk), bislag and heege (varieties of cheese) were prepared from milk. Butter obtained from whole milk, sometimes sour cream. Kumis was prepared from mare's milk, and arkhi (tarasun) from cow's milk. The abundance of dairy food among the Buryats began in early spring, when cows began to calve.
Meat food occupied an extremely important place in the diet of the Buryats. The value and quantity of its consumption increased in winter time. Horse meat was considered the most satisfying and best-tasting meat, followed by lamb. For variety, they consumed animal meat - goat meat, sokhatina, hare and squirrel meat. Sometimes they ate bear meat, hog meat and wild waterfowl. There was also a custom of storing uuse - horse meat - for the winter.
The distribution of boiled meat at the table took place depending on the degree of honor and social status guests. The head (toolei) was served to the most honored guest, to other guests: shoulder blade (dala), femur (possibly semgen), two lower large ribs (under khabhan), humerus (adhaal). The closest guest was treated to the aorta (golto zurkhen) along with the heart. Expensive treats for visiting relatives included: lamb brisket (ubsuun), lamb sacrum, dorsal spine (heer), large intestine (khoshkhonog). When slaughtering an animal and treating guests, blood sausage was always prepared in different variations. In winter, raw liver (elgen), kidneys (boore), and lard (arban) of a horse were especially tasty.
