Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Karakalpaks
Karakalpaks are a Turkic people (Kipchak subgroup), the main native population of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, which constitutes a part of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Language
They speak the Karakalpak language (the Turkic branch of the Altai family). The writing system is based on the Russian script.
Traditional occupations
Among the traditional Karakalpak crafts, weaving, carpetmaking, feltmaking, rugweaving, making clothes are notable.
Dwellings
From ancient times the Karakalpaks had two types of dwellings: the yurt and the wattle and daub or adobe house – tam. The Karakalpak yurt had some differences from the yurts of the neighboring nomadic people, this was reflected in some details of its construction, in the internal and external decorations. Tam was a large rectangular house with a flat roof. It consisted of one or two living rooms. The hearth, the storage rooms, the sheds and the uyzhay covered yard in which the yurt was placed were hollowed out in the walls. The entrance into it was closed by a massive wooden gate. The tam was mostly a winter dwelling, in summer people preferred to live in a yurt outside of the house.
Clothes
The clothes of the Karakalpak men do not differ much from the Uzbek clothes. They wore a white tunic-style shirt, trousers which were wide in the crotch and were worn tucked into boots, a loose robe of dark fabric with thin stripes, and in winter, a sheepskin coat with fur on the inside. The only difference in the Karakalpak clothes is the quilted beshpent jacket which was worn under the robe. The headgear used was a flattened round hat from dark sheepskin – kurash. In the past the Karakalpaks used tall conical felt hats – kalpak-takyya – after which they received their ethnic name Karakalpak, that is Black Hat. The female costume also consisted of a shirt, trousers and a robe, but instead of a jacket they often wore a vest. The Karakalpak women like to wear colorful clothes with red and blue color prevailing, with a lot of embroidery and metallic decorations. They did not wear a purdah, using instead a robe-like zhegde cape which did not cover their face. The usual headcover of the women was a long headscarf worn over a scullcap like a turban.
Food
Any food is traditionally eaten sitting on the floor around the tablecloth. They usually eat solid food with their hands, the broth is served separately, in a bowl or a cup. They usually eat 3 times a day. The dishes are very diverse and include dairy, plant and meat food. Before eating you should pour water onto your hands and then let water flow off them. You should not shake water off your hands after washing them, since the splashes can get into food. The person most senior by age or position is the one to begin eating. In the past the Karakalpaks did not usually drink tea; if there was a visitor in the house, he or she was always offered sour milk or ayran, or the katybylamyk soup was made.
