Nganasan life with Aksyonova Lydia

Aksyonova Lydia Kundyleevna from the Nganasan Ngamtusuo clan is a senior researcher at the Taimyr Local History Museum. In the video, Lidia talks about traditional Nganasan clothing, interesting details about a baby cradle, and the structure of a chum.

Video decoding:

In order to get red color for clothes, the Nganasans searched for red stones in the Byrranga Mountains. White, black and red colors of the plumage of the loon - a revered bird of the Nganasans. Besides, by various ornaments and inlays in Nganasan clothes one could recognize the social status of a person: What kind of family was the man from? Was he married? How many children did he have? When did the man get the first prey?

Men's clothes were blind, the parka was worn over the head, and women's clothes were unzipped. The zippers were doeskin straps. Also in the women's set included a cap in the form of a bonnet and necessarily in front sewed on the fur of a black dog. According to one of the Nganasan beliefs, this fur drove away evil spirits from her. Well-treated deerskin is durable, it does not rot, though some small part of the clothes may rot, but women sew a new part or a piece of leather to it. In general, the main part of the clothes does not rot and is passed on to the next generation.

An important element in women's clothing was the neck ornament “simi”.

The ornament too as a garment contains three colors. “Simi” has the property of an amulet for a woman from evil spirits. A shiny metal button was sewn in the middle of the “simi”, which meant that at the death of a woman and in her departure to the other world, this shiny element showed the way to the ancestors by its glow in the dark world. A pocket was sewn on the back of the “simi” where a woman put ashes or charcoal from the hearth, which confirmed her role as a keeper of the hearth. In some cases, the charcoal was used to make fire.

Nganasan footwear is unique. The shoes are shaped like a sack without notches. Such shoes are very convenient for walking in the snow, it is easy to pull out of a snowdrift, and also in these shoes there is good air circulation, so feet, toes did not freeze. These are very comfortable shoes for hunting wild deer. 

 

The rim of the cradle was made of larch. Larch absorbs moisture well and does not rot. The rim was painted with black and red stripes, according to beliefs, such a drawing protected the child from evil. In such a cradle the child lay on his first steps. The child was swaddled in a bag sewn from processed deerskin. A special mixture of rotten wood and reindeer moss or moss was used as a diaper. Thus this hydroscopic material was grown under the child and changed every time the child had to go to the bathroom. Metal shackles served as a frame for covering with cloth. The shackles were also not left without ornaments, patterns and notches, which were applied by embossing. In addition to protective and aesthetic functions, these images were a means of lullaby song. When you hold another metal object on this wishbone, you get lullaby music. And to these sounds the child would fall asleep.

Tundra children know their labor duties in the chum without reminders. It is not allowed to sleep in the chum for a long time, because for a day the sleeping place turned into a workshop of adults. Free space in the chum was necessary because during the day it was necessary to have time to fulfill all the cares. The inhabitants of the dwelling usually woke up early in the morning, about 5-6 am. The mother had to get up before everyone else and light the hearth. The sleeping places were located on both sides of the chum, they were mobile, they were rolled up to make room and left at the foot of the poles. I already knew when I got up in the morning what I had to do. I would take a kettle and go to the river to draw water, also with a bucket to fill a flask or a barrel. The boys would go to the herd for guard duty in the morning. The daily routine of a tundra Nganasan family depended on the reindeer. We had meals in a small low table, telling each other what happened in the herd, on the hunt, in the dwelling, etc. The place opposite the entrance was considered a clean place. There sacred objects such as icons, household idols, clean dishes, clean things are kept there. And for Nganasans this place was also a place for shamanistic ritual. A woman could not cross this place, she had to cross through the space of the entrance. Above the hearth there were sticks in the form of a triangle, metal hooks and other objects were hung on it. Adults were placed on the right side of the entrance, children on the left. If several families lived in the chum, the warmest place was allotted to the owners. At night or during rain the smoke holes were plugged with a special nyuk (winter tires from deerskin on the chum) for this purpose. Nyuks for the chum were not one whole material, they were fragmentary. On average, four nyuks were enough for one chum.

When assembling the chum, the first part of the nyuk was lifted with the help of poles; special pockets for poles were sewn into the nyuk. To connect all parts, straps made of reindeer skin were used, which were sewn to the nyuks and tied to the poles. In general, properly processed reindeer veins, threads, kamuses are very strong and reliable, they do not rot unlike purchased materials.

Contributor: Asya Konstantinova, Leading Specialist of the UNESCO Chair at M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University

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