Ethnic Tuvans in Tsagaan-Nuur sumon, Mongolia: Research issues

Authors

  • Nadezhda D. Suvandii Tuvan State University
  • Elena M. Kuular Tuvan State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2017.1.4

Keywords:

Tuvans in Mongolia; Mongoliaя; Tsaatans; sub-ethnic group; Tukhalars; deer herders; Tuvan language

Abstract

The article provides a historical and ethnographic overview of a sub-ethnic group of Tuvans living in sumon Tsagaan Nuur, Khövsgöl aimag, Mongolia. They are known locally as Tsaatans and by self-appellation of Tukha or Tukhalar. Our study is based to the body of existing research and on the field data collected by the authors during expeditions to the Tsaatan area in 2010-11 and 2015-16. A comparative analysis and a summary of existing information call for further research into a number of specific issues.

While ethnographic and philological studies of the Tsaatans had begun in mid-20th century, the new stage, spearheaded by scholars from Mongolia and Russia (Tuva), began in the 2000s. ‘Tsaatan’ (i.e. deer owner) is a term applied to the Tukhalars in Mongolia to mark their deer herding-based households. Other issues under discussion include specific details of the Tsaatans’ ethnic history, population size, etc.

Mongol acts as the official and interethnic communication language in the sumon. The native Tuvan language is used by the elderly and middle-aged Tukhalars in everyday speech. Youngsters study in Mongol schools where Tuvan language is not an official discipline, which both makes the prospects of language survival dire and threatens the very foundation of the Tsaatans’ ethnic self-identification.

Herding the taiga deer still remains the most important economic practice of Tsaatan Tuvans. According to their residence area, Tsaatans are subdivided into deer herders of the taiga of the West and South. Alongside with deer herding, hunting is one of Tsaatan’s main pursuits, which brings them food, clothing and habitation. Domestic utensils are suited for nomadic life, and the staples of Tsaatans’ diet are venison and doe milk. Thus traditional Tsaatan lifestyles are very close to that of deer herders of Tuvans in Tojin rayon, Republic of Tuva.

Tsaatans still largely follow their long-time economic practices, which allows them to keep many of their traditions quite recognizable. However, living in close proximity to the Mongols under the domination of Mongol language and culture, as well as the generic process of modernization of local cultures, cannot but affect their self-identification and the language command by the younger generations.

The photographs published in the article were taken by the authors during the expedition to sumon Tsagaan-Nuur, Khövsgöl aimag, Mongolia  in September 2011.

References

Lattimore, O. (1965) Rev. In: Mongolia: Unknown Land, by Jorgen Bisch by Reginald Spink. Allen & Unwin. 160 p. Pp. 455–456.

Ragagnin, E. (2011) Dukhan, a Turkic Variety of Northern Mongolia Description and Analysis. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag. 304 p.

Ragagnin, E. (2013) Archaic linguistic features in Khӧvsgӧl aymagʹs sayan varieties. In: Tiurkskaia runika: iazyk, istoriia, kul'tura. Materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii. Abakan, Khakasskoe knizhnoe izdatel'stvo. Vol. 1, pp. 99–105.

Aiyzhy, E. V. (2009) Tuvintsy Mongolii: traditsii i sovremennost' (konets XIX–XX vv.) : Diss. … Candidate of History. Moscow. 250 p. (In Russ.)

Badamkhatan, S. (1959) K voprosu o proiskhozhdenii tsaatan. In: Shinzhlekh ukhaan, Ulanbaatar, no. 2, pp. 30–35. (In Russ.)

Badamkhatan, S. (1996) Tuva tsaatan. In: Mongol Ulsyn Ugsaatnii tsui. Ulaanbaatar, no. 2, pp. 300–329. (In Mong.)

Baiarsaikhan, B. (2009) Leksika zhivotnovodstva v tsengel'skom dialekte tuvinskogo iazyka : Thesis of Diss. … Candidate of Philology. Novosibirsk. 25 p. (In Russ.)

Baiarsaikhan, B. (2015) Nekotorye osobennosti rechi tuvintsev sumona Tsagaanuur Khubsugul'skogo aimaka Mongolii. In: Gumanitarnye nauki v XXI veke: chelovek, obshchestvo, global'nyi mir. Materialy mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii, posviashchennoi 70-letiiu TNIIIaLI – TIGI – TIGPI, ed. K. A. Bicheldei. Kyzyl, Izd-vo TIGI. 663 p. Pp. 244–255. (In Russ.)

Buraev, D. I. and Dadar-ool D. M. Tuvintsy Mongolii. Vestnik Buriatskogo nauchnogo tsentra Sibirskogo otdeleniia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, no. 3, pp. 14–19. (In Russ.)

Vainshtein, S. I. (1961) Tuvintsy-todzhintsy. Moscow, Nauka. 217 p. (In Russ.).

Vainshtein, S. I. (1974) Istoricheskaia etnografiia tuvintsev (Problemy kochevogo khoziaistva). Moscow, Nauka. 143 p. (In Russ.)

Vainshtein, S. I. (2009) Zagadochnaia Tuva. Moscow, Izd-vo «Domashniaia gazeta». 415 p. (In Russ.)

Kachan, I. (2014) Tsaatany — «Narod severnogo olenia». PliusInform, 30 August [online] Available at: http://plusinform.ru/culture/5865-caatany-narod-severnogo-olenya.html (access date: 12.12.2016). (In Russ.)

Gansukh, Khiis (2009). Osobennosti tuvinskoi rechi zhitelei Tsengela : Thesis of Diss. … Candidate of Pholology. Novosibirsk. 20 p. (In Russ.)

Zhukovskaia, N. L. (1994) Tsaatany — imeiushchie olenei. Vokrug sveta. 1 January [online] Available at: http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/1314/ (access date: 12.12.2016). (In Russ.)

Darzha, V. K. (2009) Traditsionnye muzhskie zaniatiia tuvintsev. Kyzyl, Tuvinskoe knizhnoe izdatel'stvo. Vol. 1. Khoziaistvo, okhota, rybalka. 590 p. (In Russ.)

Kozlov, V. I. (1994) Etnicheskaia gruppa. In: Narody Rossii : entsiklopediia, ed. V. A. Tishkov. Moscow, Bol'shaia rossiiskaia entsiklopediia. 479 p. Pp. 466. (In Russ.)

Kuular, E. M. (2012) Tsagaan-Nur tyvalarynyӊ chugaazynyӊ onzagaiy. In: Ertem bizhikteri: TKU-nuң tyva bolgash niiti dyl ertemneriniң kafedrazynyң chyl chyyndyzy. V-ki үndүrүlgezi. Kyzyl, TyvKU. Pp. 12–17. (In Tuv.)

Kuular, E. M. (2015) Osobennosti rechi tsaatanov Khubsugul'skogo aimaka Mongolii. Filologicheskie nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki, no. 3 (45), pp. 127–130. (In Russ.)

Kuular, E. M. and Suvandii, N. D. (2015) Okhotnich'ia leksika v tuvinskom iazyke i ego dialektakh. Kazanskaia nauka, no. 10, pp. 190–193. (In Russ.)

Mannai-ool, M. Kh. (1995) Tuvintsy Mongolii: traditsii i sovremennost'. In: Uchenye zapiski TNIIIaLI, vol. XVIII. Kyzyl, Tuvinskoe knizhnoe izd-vo. Pp. 56–61. (In Russ.)

Mongush, M. V. (2007) Vdali ot svoikh, Svoi sredi chuzhikh. Zametki o tuvintsakh Mongolii i Kitaia. In: Problemy obshchei i regional'noi etnografii: (k 75-letiiu A.M. Reshetova): sbornik statei, ed. E. V. Ivanova et al. St. Petersburg, RIO MAE RAN. 436 p. Pp. 341–352. (In Russ.)

Mongush, M. V. (2010) Odin narod: tri sud'by. Tuvintsy Rossii, Mongolii i Kitaia v sravnitel'nom kontekste. Osaka, Natsional'nyi muzei etnologii. 360 p. (In Russ.)

Mongush, M. V. (2013) At Tuvans of Tsengel. Novye issledovaniia Tuvy, no. 2 [online] Available at: https://nit.tuva.asia/nit/article/view/239 (access date: 20.12.2016). (In Russ.)

Nanzatov, B. Z. and Sodnompilova, M. M. (2008) Mongol'skie olenevody: kul'tura zhizneobespecheniia v sovremennykh usloviiakh. In: AUS SIBIRIEN – 2008. IV Mezhdunarodnaia nauchno-prakticheskaia konferentsiia, nauchno-informatsionnyi sbornik, ed. A. P. Iarkov. Tiumen', KoLeSo. Pp. 136–140. (In Russ.)

Potapov, L. P. (1969) Ocherki narodnogo byta tuvintsev. Moscow, Nauka. 402 p. (In Russ.)

Radish ad-Din (1946). Sbornik letopisei, ed. V. V. Struve. Moscow, Leningrad, Izd-vo Akademii nauk SSSR. Vol. 1. (In Russ.)

Salchak, V. S., Mongush, B. B. and Baiarsaikhan, B. (2010) Tyvalarnyң aңnyyr azhyl-agyiynyң dugaiynda chamdyk medeeler [Nekotorye svedeniia ob okhotnich'em khoziaistve tuvintsev]. Kyzyl, Izd-vo TIGI. 82 p. (In Tuv.).

Seren, P. S. (2014) Moolda Tsagaan-Nuur tyvalaranynyn ezu-chanchyldary. Kyzyl, Tuvinskoe knizhnoe izdatel'stvo. 192 s. (In Tuv.).

Suvandii, N. D. (2010) Tsagaan-Nur tyvalarynyӊ chugaazynda ivi leksikazynyӊ azhyglaly. In: Ertem bizhikteri: TKU-nuң tyva bolgash niiti dyl ertemneriniң kafedrazynyң chyl chyyndyzy. IV-kү үndүrүlgezi. Kyzyl, TyvKU. Pp. 31–39. (In Tuv.).

Suvandii, N. D. (2015) Leksemy, otrazhaiushchie natsional'no-bytovye osobennosti zhitelei sumona Tsagaan-Nur Mongolii. In: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii, posviashchennoi 20-letnemu iubileiu TuvGU. Kyzyl, RIO TuvGU. Pp. 139–140.

Soian, A. M. (2015a) Obriadovaia poeziia etnicheskikh tuvintsev Tsagaan-Nuura. Kazanskaia nauka, no. 10, pp. 206–209. (In Russ.).

Soian, A. M. (2015b) Narodnye pesni i chastushki etnicheskikh tuvintsev Tsagaan-Nuura. Mir nauki, kul'tury, obrazovaniia, no. 6, pp. 333–335. (In Russ.).

Tsetsegdar', U. (2013) Osobennosti tuvinskoi rechi zhitelei Kobdo: Thesis of Diss. … Candidate of Philology. Moscow. 18 p. (In Russ.).

Chuluun, S. (2014) Tuvintsy-tsaatany Mongolii i gosudarstvennaia politika. In: Edinaia Tuva v edinoi Rossii: istoriia, sovremennost', perspektivy. Materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii, posviashchennoi 100-letiiu edineniia Rossii i Tuvy. Kyzyl, Izd-vo TuvGU. Vol. 1. Pp. 47–51. (In Russ.)

Published

05.03.2017

How to Cite

Suvandii, N. D. and Kuular, E. M. (2017) “Ethnic Tuvans in Tsagaan-Nuur sumon, Mongolia: Research issues”, The New Research of Tuva, 1. doi: https://www.doi.org/10.25178/nit.2017.1.4.

Issue

Section

Ethnicity and society

Author Biographies

Nadezhda D. Suvandii, Tuvan State University

Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor, Department of Tuvan Philology and General Linguistics, Tuvan State University.

Postal address: Office 118, 5 Studencheskii Kvartal St., 667004, Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva, Russian Federation.

Tel.: +7 (394-22) 5-22-50; +7 (923) 268-93-69.

E-mail: suvandiin@mail.ru

Elena M. Kuular, Tuvan State University

Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor, Department of Tuvan Philology and General Linguistics of the Tuvan State University.

Postal address: Office 213, 5 Studencheskii Kvartal St., 667004, Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva, Russian Federation.

Tel.: +7 (394-22) 5-22-50; +7 (923) 263-46-85.

E-mail: kuular-e-m@mail.ru

Most read articles by the same author(s)

<< < 1 2 3