The Dukha, Dukhans
[Elisabetta Ragagnin (2011)]
Dukhan, a Turkic Variety of Northern Mongolia, Description and Analysis
Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden or Duhalar ( mn, Цаатан, Tsaatan) are a small
Tuvan (
Tozhu Tuvans
The Tozhu Tuvans, Tozhu Tuvinians, Todzhan Tuvans or Todzhinians (own name: Тугалар ''Tugalar'' or Тухалар ''Tukhalar''; Russian Тувинцы-тоджинцы ''Tuvincy-todžincy'', Тоджинцы ''Todžincy'') are a Turkic subg ...
)
Turkic community of
semi-nomadic
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
herders
[Régis Defurnaux]
On the Move With Mongolia’s Nomadic Reindeer Herders
''New York Times'' (August 23, 2021). living in
Khövsgöl, the northernmost province of
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
.
The name Tsaatan, which means ‘those who have reindeer’ in the Mongolian language, were originally Tuvinian reindeer herders.
Language
The Dukhan language (
SIL International
SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is an evangelical Christian non-profit organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to ex ...
dkh) is an endangered Turkic variety spoken by approximately five hundred people in the Tsagaan-Nuur county of the Khövsgöl region of northern Mongolia. Dukhan belongs to the Taiga subgroup of Sayan Turkic (
Tuvan,
Tofa).
History
Origin
Originally from across the border in what is now
Tuva Republic of Russia, the Dukha are one of the last groups of nomadic reindeer herders in the world. As the reindeer populations shrink, only about 40 families continue the tradition in the year 1998.
Settlement in northern Mongolia
Tuva
Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...
became independent in 1921, when Mongolia gained its independence. At that time, the reindeer herders were able to cross the border freely between Tuva and Mongolia. However, when Tuva was annexed to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
in 1944, the border was closed. In 1944, Russia was involved in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
So the Dukha people fled from Tuva to settle in Mongolia mainly for the following reasons:
* Since the border zone was their original territory, they had good trade relationships with the Mongolian herders in the Mongolian
steppes
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
.
* There were
food shortages in the Soviet Union due to World War II.
* Domestic animals were requisitioned by the
Soviet government
The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...
during the war.
* Many schoolchildren died from the spread of diseases they had little resistance to.
* People were afraid of losing their domestic animals due to collectivization.
At first, the Mongolian government repeatedly deported them back to Tuva. In 1956 the government finally gave them Mongolian
citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
and resettled them at
Tsagaan Nuur Lake on the
Shishigt River.
Daily life
Reindeer use and management
The Dukha's
sense of community
Sense of community (or psychological sense of community) is a concept in community psychology, social psychology, and community social work, as well as in several other research disciplines, such as urban sociology, which focuses on the ''experie ...
is structured around the reindeer. The reindeer and the Dukha are dependent on one another. Some Dukha say that if the reindeer disappear, so too will their culture. The reindeer are domesticated and belong to the household. In many ways they are treated like family members and shown respect. The community's chores and activities center on the care and feeding of their reindeer.
Dukha communities on the
taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...
are usually a group of tents of two to seven households that move camp to find optimum
grazing
In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...
for the reindeer.
Herding
Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in ...
tasks are shared amongst the camp with children at a young age learning to care for the reindeer and keeping them safe. The girls and younger women do the
milking
Milking is the act of removing milk from the mammary glands of cattle, water buffalo, humans, goats, sheep, and, more rarely, camels, horses and donkeys. Milking may be done by hand or by machine, and requires the animal to be currently or rec ...
and make yogurt, cheese, and milk tea. Young men and women and elders help with herding. A few of the men stay with the reindeer in the winter months, living in the open air with their herds to protect them from
wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...
and other predators. The men also make and repair their hunting tools and reindeer
saddle
The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...
s and carts. Since they rarely kill a reindeer, they supplement their diet of reindeer milk products by hunting wild animals from the forest.
Dukha raise their reindeer primarily for milk. Reindeer milk, reindeer yoghurt and
reindeer cheese Cheese made from the milk of the reindeer has been historically found in Scandinavia. Modern Finnish cheeses like leipäjuusto were also made with reindeer milk in the past.
Reindeer milk is among the richest and most nutritious of milks, at 22% bu ...
are the staples of the Dukha diet. The reindeer also provide
transportation. Because the
taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...
area is typically hilly and covered with forest, reindeer are not used for pulling sledges, but for riding and as pack animals. They take the Dukha for daily grazing, hunting, the collection of firewood, seasonal migrations, visiting relatives and friends, and traveling to the
sum for shopping and trade.
A 1.5 m long thin stick in the right hand is used as a
whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
. A rider gets on a
tree stump
After a tree has been cut and felled, the stump or tree stump is usually a small remaining portion of the trunk with the roots still in the ground. Stumps may show the age-defining rings of a tree. The study of these rings is known as dendrochrono ...
and jumps onto the reindeer from the left side with the stick in the left hand, then transfers the stick to the right hand once the rider is mounted.
The Dukha begin training reindeer for riding when the reindeer (called at this age) are two years old. Adults are too heavy for , so it is usually the children’s job to train them. Adults ride on (three-year-old reindeer) or older ones. They regularly ride on (castrated males). Special training is not necessary to train the reindeer as pack animals. The male reindeer usually carry loads weighing about 40 kg (88 lbs.), while females carry up to 30 kg (66.1387 lbs.).
Reindeer pelts are used for making winter coats. Bags, mats for traveling, and shoes are also made from the skin. Material for shoes is taken from the skin on the reindeer's shin.
Reindeer
antlers
Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on male ...
are ingredients in
traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...
and have been supplied to China since 1975.
During the summer, the antlers are cut off. The reindeer’s two front legs are tied to one hind leg to make the animal fall. The Dukha cut the antlers with a small saw. Because reindeer cannot properly regulate their body temperature when they lose their antlers and easily become exhausted, pregnant female reindeer never have their antlers removed.
Only a few reindeer are slaughtered during the year for meat and pelts.
[
]Climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
has adversely effected the taiga inhabited by the Dukha and led to a decline in reindeer herds; lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.[yurt
A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger ( Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia. ...]
s that resemble Native-Americans tepee
A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...
s.[ A large yurt may take ]birch bark
Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''.
The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, crafti ...
from up to 32 trees to make; a medium-sized yurt is made from the bark of 23-25 trees.
Clothing
Dukha dress is characterized by hats like those of the Khalkh people, and wide deels (traditional Mongolian overcoats). They wear strong, warm boots fashioned from the hides and sinew
A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...
of their reindeer.
Seasonal migration and residential groups
The Dukha are semi-nomadic
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
.[ They move from one place to another without establishing any permanent settlements during the year. A residential group consisting of several families is called olal-lal (meaning ’them’ in the Tuva language). They usually refer to a specific group by the name of a representative member. Families of the same olal-lal set up tents close to one another (within a few kilometers) and collaborate in ]livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...
herding.
*Summer: Dukha move to their summer camp in the middle of June. Its altitude
Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
is around 2300 m, and there are fresh breezes. Because of the cold climate throughout the year, open grasslands spread across the high steppe. Reindeer cannot handle heat well, so they must be pastured in high plains in the summer.
*Fall: The beginning of August is the time for Dukha families to move down to different camp sites to spend the fall season. When it begins to snow in mid-September, since there are no insects, the reindeer regain their vigor; and the young males are castrated. From the end of September to early October is mating season
Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and cha ...
for reindeer. The gestation period
In mammals, pregnancy is the period of reproduction during which a female carries one or more live offspring from implantation in the uterus through gestation. It begins when a fertilized zygote implants in the female's uterus, and ends once it ...
for a reindeer is about seven months.
*Winter: Dukha usually settle down in the deep forest at an altitude
Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
of about 1800 m where they can avoid the frigid winds. During winter camp, people remain in one area for a month at the longest, and then move on to another place, especially when there are wolves nearby. Snow is not an obstacle for reindeer to find and eat moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
because they can dig in the snow with their hooves and find moss easily. Several residential groups band together and set out for "otor" (the herding of livestock by young men in distant areas). During otor, the reindeer are free to move about and can find moss and grass easily. It is common in winter for men to remain with reindeer herds and for women to remain in villages to oversee the education of children.[
*Spring: Groups cannot move as quickly to spring camps because they must accompany the pregnant female reindeer. This is the time when weather tends to be harsh, with strong winds, so they settle in a place that shelters them from severe winds. Reindeer give birth between late April and mid-May.]
Belief and religion
According to a 2004 National Geographic report, the Dukha believe that their ancestors’ ghosts live on in the forest as animals that give guidance to the living, Dukha people practise Shamanism
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
, a religion based on nature worship. The Shamanistic practices among Dukha people differ from those of other Shamanistic religions in the region. Shaman worship among the Tsaatan people is thought to represent the oldest variant of Shamanism practiced by Mongolian nomads. Not only do they worship their Shaman, whom they call 'Boo', but they have many mystical holy books as well, and use many different treatises in their daily lives, including those for hunting and for calling or banishing the rain.
References
External links
National Geographic News
''"Reindeer People" Resort to Eating Their Herds"'', 2004
Mongolia: Reindeer Culture Hangs On In The Far North
By Pearly Jacob, September 22, 2011
National Geographic News
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...
Photos of Dukha family and their lifestyle
By Hamid Sardar
Brief Photo Introduction about Dukha/ Tsaatan Tribe in Northern Mongolia
Short video about Tsaatan way of life
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
Reindeer Portal, Source of Information about Reindeer Husbandry Worldwide
''"Tsaatan/Dukha"''
Meet Mongolian Reindeer Herders Fighting to Save Their Way of Life
By Harrison Jacobs, Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
, May 23, 2014.
''“Reindeer People” to receive monthly allocation''
The UB Post
''The UB Post'' is an English-language tri-weekly newspaper published in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Founded in 1996, the newspaper has both print (in English) and online editions (in English, Italian and Spanish).
The UB in the pa ...
, May 14, 2013.
A precarious life in Mongolia’s north
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Travel story by Anna Kaminski, June 10, 2014.