Story, photography and videos by Ray Waddington.
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Warning: contains graphic images that some may find disturbing.
Our documentary, Peoples of the World: The Altai Kazakh is now available.
The topography and climate of the whole region is dominated by the Altai Mountain range,
At first they would migrate seasonally back to Kazakhstan. Later they settled here. Now numbering over a hundred thousand, they are the largest ethnic minority in Mongolia. They are culturally different from the Mongol people. Their language, customs, dress and religion collectively distinguish them. I recently spent a month in Mongolia's Bayan-Olgii Province (Aimag) living and traveling among them, spanning mid-autumn to the onset of winter.
By mid-autumn the night time temperature is hovering around freezing point. Precipitation is already falling as snow on some peaks. But the Kazakh know what will follow and they regard this as mild rather than cold. Grazing is still good on the valley floors and making sure the livestock take full advantage is paramount. So they continue to live in the gers (yurts) that have housed them since the spring. Kazakh gers are usually much larger than those of their Mongol neighbors and can house extended families.
A few hours south of the provincial capital, Olgii, lives a Kazakh eagle hunter named Erbol. He was my host and guide for a few days as I lived with him and his extended family in a guest ger. His seven-year-old grandson was having his hair cut on the day I arrived. That may not seem like a topic for inclusion in a cultural travel story, but this was no ordinary haircut.
Mongolia's Altail Kazakh have adopted a piece of Mongolian culture. Traditionally, children do not have their hair cut in the first few years of life. Then, the first haircut is a ceremonial coming-of-age event. For Erbol's family this was a two-day ceremony. Whereas only extended family and close friends were present on the first day, hundreds of guests had been invited for the second. I was also asked to cut the boy's hair — a great honor for an outsider. Below is a short video of some of the haircutting.
After lunch the ceremonies began. It was difficult to follow everything that was happening, but most of the activity was centered on the boy himself. Many speeches were made during which he was lavished with gifts that included at least two horses, seven sheep and money that must have totaled around US $1,000. Not bad for a seven year old in a relatively poor part of the world.
During ceremonies like these the Kazakh celebrate their heritage and a large part of the celebration featured horsemanship skill. There was a horse racing competition that gave an opportunity to other young boys from the surrounding communities to demonstrate how far they had progressed. From what I saw they had progressed far even by their mid-teens. The event that I found the most fascinating though was another one with a Mongolian influence — wrestling. Below is a short video of some of that event.
The most popular celebration of Kazakh culture in the area are the golden eagle festivals. The first (often called the small eagle festival) took place over a weekend outside the small village (soum) of Sagsai, about 45 minutes from Olgii. Here again most of the events focused in some way on horsemanship skill. But the main event is the eagle competition itself. I'd seen documentary footage of eagle hunters
The scale of this festival was much smaller than the other two. Also, it hadn't been widely publicized and I was one of only a handful of outsiders present.
Bayan-Olgii has about a dozen small soums in addition to Olgii itself. These modern, permanent settlements now have 24-hour electricity (in theory — the power often goes out for hours at a time). Urbanization of the population has been happening in Mongolia at a staggering
After maybe an hour the spotter shouted "fox!" The eagle hunters descended the ridge but were unable to see it.
We returned home where, on this occasion, the fox was awarded to the spotter. He had it skinned in a matter of minutes. The fur will provide clothing for his family and the meat was the eagle's reward. It was a fitting end to my Kazakh tours.
Our documentary, Peoples of the World: The Altai Kazakh is now available. Watch the trailer below.
Inaugural Alma Kuk Golden Eagle Festival (short film on YouTube).
Halal Horse Ritually Slaughtered and Butchered (short film on YouTube).
Eagle Hunting: A Day with Mongolia's Eagle Hunters (short film on YouTube).
Erecting a Kazakh Ger (short film on YouTube).
Travel review, advisory and warning: Blue Wolf Travel, Olgii, Mongolia.
Photography and videography copyright © 1999 -
2022,
Ray Waddington. All rights reserved.
Text copyright © 1999 -
2022,
The Peoples of the World Foundation. All rights reserved.
Waddington, R., (2017) Kazakh Tours. The Peoples of the World Foundation. Retrieved
May 24, 2022,
from The Peoples of the World Foundation.
<https://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/travelStory.jsp?travelStory=kazakhtours>
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