Dolgan traditional clothing
Dolgans have single-layer outerwear. It was usually sewn during the onset of the polar day. This is hard, exhausting work that requires time and patience, diligence and skill. You need to masterfully wield a scraper. The most commonly used Dolgan scraper (baka), which is known by the same name to the Nganasans and the Enets. Another scraper (kykhyan) is known among the Nganasans as 'morotensa', among the Enets as 'nagio', and is considered by them to be Dolgan.
Dolgan has traditional cut clothes. It is characterized by a slightly elongated back hem. This is explained by Dolgans as follows: when they sit on the cold ground, this elongated hem replaces their additional bedding. Clothes and shoes were sewn with vein threads. The clothes were given importance by the ornaments embroidered on them, which represented special and sacred meanings. An ornamental complex can be a story about the life of a tribe, a fairy tale, or a song.
There are 18–20 varieties of Dolgan clothes of different cut, but the general appearance is almost the same. Patterns, in today's concept, were not practiced, and the sizes were verified with the help of your fingers. First, the craftswomen selected the same skins with a short nap and proceeded to cut using a special knife. They cut out three curly details of the back, then shelves, sleeves, which form a straight line from the shoulder. Women's clothing is fitted, elongated at the back. The front hem converges end-to-end, buttoned or tied in suede stitches. The lower part of the hem is flared, wedges are sewn on the sides.
Outerwear
The traditional Dolgan clothing differed in purpose: 'tyataagy tanas' (fishing and hunting, 'olunnyuk tanas' (funeral), 'tangara tanaha' (festive and weekend).
A special category of fancy clothes is associated with the holiday weekend, which is inextricably linked with nomadism and the road. This attitude towards weekend wear can be observed in our time. Ornate, embroidered items, which are quite rare in the daily life of villages, are more often seen among reindeer herders and their families traveling from the tundra or visiting them. On such days, life is noticeably transformed, the gray everyday picture comes to life with bright colors
of reindeer herders' fancy clothes. Seasonal migrations have always been associated with joyful events, it was at this time that inter-family contacts and meetings took place, reindeer herders often arranged circular dances, various games, and competitions. Marriage acquaintances were usually made among young people. Therefore, during summer migrations, people tried to dress up in everything elegant, women and men wore embroidered caftans, hats, and shoes. This feature of the nomadic life of the Northerners has been repeatedly noted by many ethnographers of the North.
The main feature of Dolgan fishing gear is its camouflage. In winter, clothes were made from white skins, and in summer, gray was considered the best color. The Nizhnekatangsky (Taymyr Dolgano-Nenetsky district, Krasnoyarsk Krai) Yakuts and Dolgans also dressed in all white during wild deer hunting: a dokha, a hat and shoes.
There were special types of commercial clothing. During the hunt, in order to creep silently through the snow to a wild deer, they wore a fur apron made of camus “dilbeenki" or “kyylga uomer tuhuluk". Sometimes a breastplate was sewn from dog skin for this purpose. Deaf clothing with a hood was considered the most practical for hunting. The northern Yakuts also used an apron called a “dalys”, and it was worn during summer hunting in the tundra. By wearing such an apron, the hunter not only protected himself from dirt and moisture, but also made it easier for himself to slip when he crawled up to a herd of wild deer. It was sewn from deer camus, directing the wool downwards.
The men's 'horboomyy' (harmomy) hat made of white hides was considered commercial, since men wore it while hunting wild deer. In summer, hunters wore rainbow hoods, with pockets sewn on the inside at the end of the ears, where bullets were placed.
In the funeral and ceremonial practice of Dolgans, clothing played a special symbolic role. Rovduga was preferred as a material for funeral clothes, suede shoes were sewn. The main requirement of funeral clothing is compliance with traditions (it must be ritually clean, preferably new and at the same time familiar). This characteristic feature of the deceased's clothing is known in the funeral traditions of many nations. Signification is an important property of funeral clothes. Dolgan funeral clothes (olunnyuk tanas), according to custom, were prepared in advance. Kamensk Evenks also participated in the manufacture of the deceased's clothes (buhiktetiges). It should be noted that the early preparation of funeral clothes is a very characteristic custom among many Siberian peoples (and not only). This was largely due to the peculiarities of the traditional worldview. It was believed that after death, when a person entered the world of the dead, he found his relatives and relatives there, so it was very important to dress him in traditional clothes so that he would be recognized by it and accepted into the "world of ancestors".
It was considered a special prohibition to bury the deceased in beaded clothing, since beads have holes through which an evil spirit will look (gini uutteek, onon koro hytya dien). It was also forbidden to receive such clothes from the patient, since the spirit of the disease can take a person through the holes (oguruo uutun ustun yly diiller). It was strictly forbidden to sew funeral clothes from the skins of "fanged" predators (ahylaaktar): wolves, arctic foxes, foxes, and wolverines, so the fur trim and beaded trim were always pre-stripped from the clothes of the deceased.
Headdress
The hats were festive and casual. It has a hood-shaped shape and consists mainly of four parts: two lateral, longitudinal and anterior, insulated inside with arctic fox or hare fur.
The hat fits snugly around the head, protecting the ears and the back of the head, and is tied in front with narrow suede knits. The huge variety of hats is amazing, each of which had its own purpose.
The festive beaded men's hat was sewn from black cloth, with a fur lining. The young craftsmen carefully embroidered such a hat. There was a custom: if a girl wears such a hat to her chosen one, it is considered that they are engaged. The hood was decorated with beads and appliques, and there was an embroidered stripe along the head and face. A bright red cloth insert was sewn on the back of the head, which was decorated with an ornament of colored beads in the form of four petal rosettes. On the sides of the strip, there were diagonally beaded figures in the form of sharp corners with the tip facing down. The whole composition ended with a fur fringe.
Footwear
Shoes made from deer kamus (deerskin) are very diverse. It is divided into household – short and long, shoes for the street, for holidays. Men's and women's unty (deerskin boots) have vertical inserts embroidered with colored beads. The upper part of the boots is sewn from red cloth with a width of 12-13 cm, and is beaded with a rosette pattern, which alternates with vertical patterned stripes. Usually these shoes are made of very dark or white camus. Chizhi (stockings) are sewn from the well-tanned skin of an adult deer into untaiki (deerskin boots) intended for the street. A special feature of children's shoes, the so-called "shoulder blades", is that the edge of its nose has a rounded shape, like a shoulder blade. Children can walk comfortably in these snowshoes and easily put them on their feet. The soles of all types of shoes are made of tanned deerskin with fur inside. In the autumn and spring days, insoles made of dry grass are inserted to absorb moisture.
Women's Dolgan shoes “Uuntik”/ The shoes are short, knee-high, made of dark camus. The upper front stripe is richly decorated with multicolored beads on red cloth. The side details are also embroidered with beaded ornaments. There is a small beaded patch on the wedge. The upper ornamental insert is called “boguska”, the side ornamental details of the shoe are “hoto”, and the ornamental insert on the wedge is “karak". According to Yanna Alfredovna Falkova, a resident of the village of Kheta, the red cloth on the Boguska means that the woman is married.
Men's Dolgan shoes “Oguruolaak atak gurumii”
Shoes with high tops made of dark camus. On the sides of the front camus there are inserts in the form of a "Tanalay"ornament on black cloth, as well as in the form of a narrow strip with a straight top and a rounded bottom end. A horizontal red stripe with an ornament “Tyrak” slightly below the knee connects the ornamental details of the “hoto".
In men's shoes, the “hoto” detail is much longer than in women's shoes. This "gurumii" is worn on holidays, mostly these shoes are common in the southern villages of the rural settlement of Khatanga (villages of Kheta, Katyryk, Kresty, Zhdanikha).
"Uuntik" men's Dolgan shoes
It differs from the “gurumii” by short boots reaching to the knees. It is also sheathed with dark deer camus, the upper edges are edged with a straight arc and they can be pulled together with a strap. The upper rim is decorated with colored beads, from which narrow strips embroidered with beads fall along the edges of the middle band of the boot. The beaded stitching of men's shoes differs from women's by the lower ornament, which consists of alternating colored stripes that end at the ankles with rounded edges.
Women's Dolgan shoes “Oguruolaak atak gurumii". Women's winter shoes made of white camus deer and wolf. Long boots made of wolf camus. It should be noted that such shoes made of white camus have never been sewn for women before, as there is an idea that white deer are a “pure” animal.
In the sides of the front camus you can see the “Tanalay” ornament on black cloth, in the form of a narrow strip with a straight top and a rounded bottom end. A horizontal red stripe with an ornament “Tynyrak” slightly below the knee connects the ornamental details of the “hoto".
The boot is sewn from wolf camus. Among the wolf camus, a thin strip of white deer camus is inserted in the shin area. Dolgans have a belief that it is considered a sin not to sew all shoes from only one material. The shoes sewn in this way comply with the canons and rules of ancient sewing.
Sources:
- Ornament is a language of the ancestors / V.I. Batagai [et al.]; ed. by V.G. Zavarzina [et al.]. Dudinka: [B.I.], 2020. 156 p. URL: https://www.tdnt.org/pdf_poli.php?id=41&t=publ
- Savvinov, A. I. Traditional clothing in Dolgan rituals and performances / A. I. Savvinov // Proceedings of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen. – 2011. – No. 140. – pp. 7-20. – EDN NWGRUB.
- The informant is Batagai Vasily Ivanovich, a connoisseur of Dolgan culture.
- The informant is Stolypina Lyubov Alexandrovna, the guardian of the Dolgan culture and language.
Contributor: Asya Konstantinova, Leading Specialist of the UNESCO Chair at M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University