Ket farming is complex
The Ket folk calendar reflected the main activities of the annual cycle: hunting for moose and moulting waterfowl, and mass fishing.
Ket bows and arrows for hunting animals and birds were famous in the Yenisei North and were exchanged. Snares and trapping pits were used to catch large animals and game birds. Stationary nets (fixed in the river, as opposed to smooth nets, with which one travelled in a boat on the river) and kottsy (fences with a wicker trap) were used in fishing and when hunting moulting game.
A bait net was used for sable, a cherkan (a pinch trap similar to a bow) and a jaws for other fur-bearing animals. Reindeer were used for long-distance travelling in some households. However, a significant part of the Kets, and the Podkamennaya Tunguska group entirely were always deerless.
Seasonal migrations from summer fishing grounds were carried out on large covered (with cabins) board boats-ilimki at the beginning of the month of ‘land freezing’ (October). Before the formation of a thick layer of ice, fish were caught with small kottsy.
Men would go hunting in fine snow with one or two overnight stays (in the calendar, this time coincides roughly with November and is called ‘small walking’). Hunting stopped with the onset of the period of ‘short days’ - the darkest and coldest time (December, January). In the following month (‘long days’) men went on ‘big walk’ - hunting in remote areas. They could be accompanied by their wives; children and elders stayed at the camp.
At a distance of a day's crossing they put up chums (tents from reindeer skins) and lived for three or four days, so that hunters had time to explore the surrounding lands and women - to drag the load from the previous camp. For overnight stays on winter hunting they dug a hole in the snow and made a wind barrier out of branches and vise (sewn birch bark cloths). In February, the month of ‘sokhatiy’ (an eland) - ungulates were hunted. With its completion the family passed most of the winter way and made a stop in the month of ‘eagle’ (at this time eagles returned to their nesting places). Hunters in search of ungulates and fur-bearing animals went on a ‘little walk’, as in autumn. Women and old men checked traps set for hares and grouse. Successful catching of ungulates was celebrated with rest and a special rite of thanksgiving. They started their way back to the dugouts in March (the ‘chipmunk’ month), stopping only for overnight stays. Having returned to the camp, they waited for the appearance of passing birds and set nets. The ‘forest’ period of life ended and the ‘coastal’ period began (once this time was considered the beginning of the new year). The names of its stages from May to August - ‘kottsovy’, two ‘moulting ducks’ (of different breeds) and ‘nelma’ - reflect the main economic activities at this time. Families lived on the shore until the beginning of the ‘leaf fall’ period, harvesting fish and upland game. Single-tree boats ('dolblenki') were widely used in the fisheries. Men repaired sledges and skis, women and teenagers gathered berries and nuts, made preparations of medicinal herbs, roots and berries. The time of ‘freezing of the earth’ approached, and people went to their dugouts. Deerless Kets made their multi-kilometre treks and pursued their prey on wide skis made of spruce and lined with camus underneath. On spring ice they travelled on narrow sliding skis. Cargo was transported on a hand-sled sledge (sul') - light, mobile, with a front arch - “ram”, protecting it from bushes and deadwood. A dog helped to pull the sledge. Men's three-hoofed and women's four-hoofed sleds were distinguished. When migrating, men with a light sledge ploughed a road in the snow. Women transported property, food, and carried children and the sick. A woman's hand sledge was more massive and had a backrest for carrying young children or a cradle with an infant. The outer side of the back of the sledge was decorated with carvings with the traditional image of the universe. For short journeys, a dragger was used - a device made of poles (or skis) and skins, in which prey or belongings were wrapped and dragged along the ground.
The cargo was wrapped in moose skin, tied with straps and pulled by a strap ('dapta') made of birch bark, bear or reindeer skin boiled and quilted in several layers, or strong burbot skin. Argish (a caravan of several reindeer sledges) of a family consisted of three to five sledges of the same design with high, obliquely placed hooves on the skids. Large boats-ilimki (as'el) with living quarters and a mast ending in a weather vane were another means of transport for the Ket people. In spring they rafted in ilimki along the tributaries to the Yenisei, sailing under canvas sails when the wind was favourable. In difficult places, at whirlpools and rapids they stopped to perform a ritual - they threw food, tobacco, beads into the water to propitiate the owner of the rapids. With the beginning of the hunting season, the ilimki were used to go up to the places of autumn camps. The boats with cargo were dragged against the current by a cord. In winter they were pulled ashore on rollers.
On shallow tributaries and lakes they swam on ‘branches’ ('dylti') hollowed out of aspen.
The men's domestic occupations were wood, bone, horn and blacksmithing. Ket bows and tools (knives, scrapers, etc.) were famous in the Yenisei North, and were an object of exchange. Women dressed skins (of animals, birds and fish) and birch bark and made clothes and utensils from them.
