Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Yakuts
Yakuts are a Turkic people that mostly live in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) as well as in the Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk territories and in the Irkutsk and Magadan regions. More than half of them call themselves Yakuts, and the others call themselves Sakha.
Language
Their language belongs to the Northeastern branch of the Turkic group of Altai languages. The polymorphism of the Yakut language is evident in the fact that it uses Oghuz grammar, Oghuz-Uighur and Kypchak vocabulary, multiple borrowings from the Mongolian language and elements of the Tungus origin.
Society
The main cell of the Yakut society was traditionally the kinship group (djon). Currently the Yakuts are also divided into ulus regions and nasleg settlements. Many uluses and naslegs are based on former kinship unions. The main role at the kinship gatherings was played by the elders. Kalym was usually paid for wives. A typical trait of a Yakut community was reallotment and equalization of land plots.
Settlements and dwellings
The Yakut settlements were divided according to seasonal use, into winter ones and summer ones. The summer ones were placed at the locations convenient for animal pasture and were larger than the winter ones.
The Yakut homestead consisted of a residential structure (balagan) and several support structures. Within the homestead, enclosures for horses were built. An indispensable attribute of a Yakut homestead were the serghe tethering posts. The traditional stationary dwelling of the Yakuts is the balagan – a pyramid-shaped frame building with walls covered with bark and turf. The roof of the balagan is flat. The traditional summer dwelling of the Yakuts in the past was urasa, which looks like a chum tent but is more complicated and bigger in size.
Food
The main food staple of the Yakuts was dairy, sometimes adding berries, roots, flour, etc. Fish played the main role as a food source in the northern regions. It was prepared in different ways, eaten raw as well as frozen and pickled in pits for winter. Meat was mostly eaten by well-to-do Yakuts. Horse meat was valued.
Occupations
The special model of economy of the Yakuts combines cattle breeding and extensive industries (fishing and hunting). Under the conditions of the polar area, a particular group of reindeer breeding Yakuts had formed, which adapted the northern aboriginal culture. The Yakuts modified the Tungus reindeer husbandry in transition from its transport function to the food and raw stock one. They created a Tungus-Yakut type of harness reindeer husbandry. Smithing is traditionally well-developed among the Yakuts. From the second half of the 19th century, agriculture has been developing step by step.
