Culture of the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Folk costume

In studying the cultural history of their country's past, people, first of all, learn to understand and respect each other. The peoples of Sakhalin are especially interesting in this regard. Understanding a different mentality unites peoples and nations. And this is not surprising, because a nation without cultural heritage- it’s like an orphan without family and tribe, who has nothing to rely on.

general information

Before the period when explorers and travelers from Europe appeared on Sakhalin, the indigenous population consisted of four tribes: the Ainu (in the south of the island), the Nivkhs (lived mainly in the northern part), the Oroks (Uilts) and the Evenks (nomads with reindeer herds).

An in-depth study of the peculiarities of life and everyday life of the peoples of Sakhalin was carried out on exhibits of the local history museum. There is a whole collection of ethnographic exhibits here, which are the pride of the museum’s collection. There are authentic objects dating from the 18th to 20th centuries, which indicates the existence of distinctive cultural traditions among the aborigines Kuril Islands and Sakhalin.

Ainu people

Representatives of this nation are among the oldest descendants of the population of the Japanese, Kuril Islands and Southern Sakhalin. Historically, the lands of this tribe were divided into the possessions of Japan and the possessions of Russia in the Far East. This is due to the fact that Russian researchers studied and developed the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin simultaneously with Japanese explorers who carried out similar work on the Pacific coast (Hokkaido Island). Towards the middle of the 19th century, the Ainu people from the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin fell under the jurisdiction of Russia, and their fellow tribesmen became subjects of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Features of culture

The Ainu are the people of Sakhalin, one of the most mysterious and ancient nations on the planet. Representatives of the nationality were radically different from their Mongoloid neighbors in their physical appearance, unique spoken language, and many areas of spiritual and material culture. Light-skinned men wore beards, and women had tattoos around their mouths and on their arms. Drawing was very painful and unpleasant. First, an incision was made above the lip with a special knife, then the wound was treated with a decoction of wormwood. After this, the soot was rubbed in, and the procedure could last more than one day. The result was something like a man's mustache.

Translated, ain is a “noble person” who belongs to the people. The Chinese called representatives of this nationality Mozhen (hairy people). This is due to the dense vegetation on the body of the aborigines.

The warlike tribe used swords with belts made of plants, weighted war clubs with sharp spikes, and a bow and arrow as their main weapons. The Sakhalin Museum houses a unique exhibit - military armor, which is made by weaving strips of bearded seal skin. This rarity reliably protected the warrior’s body. The surviving armor was found in the family of an elder on Lake Nevskoe (Taraika) in the thirties of the last century. Additionally, the adaptation of the islanders to living conditions is evidenced by various fishing gear and tools for sea and land fishing.

Life of the Ainu

Representatives of this people of Sakhalin used arrowheads smeared with aconite poison when hunting animals. The dishes were mainly made of wood. In everyday life, men used the original item ikunisi. It served to raise the mustache while drinking alcoholic drinks. This device belongs to ritual artifacts. The Ainu believed that ikunis was an intermediary between spirits and people. The sticks were decorated with all sorts of patterns and ornaments symbolizing daily life tribe, including hunting or holidays.

Shoes and clothes were made by women from the skins of land and sea animals. Fish skin capes were decorated with colored fabric appliqués along the collar and sleeve cuffs. This was done not only for beauty, but also for protection from evil spirits. Women's winter clothing was a robe made of seal fur, decorated with mosaics and fabric patterns. Men wore robes made of elm bast as everyday clothes, and on holidays they wore woven suits made of nettles.

Migration

Now only museum exhibits remind us of the small people - the Ainu. Here visitors can see a unique loom, clothes sewn by representatives of the nation many decades ago, and other cultural and everyday items of this tribe. Historically, after 1945, a group of 1,200 Ainu moved to Hokkaido as Japanese citizens.

Nivkhi: people of Sakhalin

The culture of this tribe is focused on catching fish from the salmon family, marine mammals, as well as collecting plants and roots growing in the taiga. In everyday life, fishing tools were used (needles for weaving nets, sinkers, special hooks for hunting animals with the help of wooden beaters and spears).

Representatives of the nationality moved on the water in boats of various modifications. The most popular model was the dugout. To prepare a ritual dish called mos, ladles, troughs and spoons made of wood, decorated with figured carvings, were used. The basis of the dish was that it was stored in the dried stomachs of sea lions.

Nivkhs are the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin who made beautiful and unique things from birch bark. This material was used for the production of buckets, boxes, and baskets. The products were decorated with a unique embossed spiral design.

Clothes and shoes

The wardrobe of the Nivkhs was different from the clothes of the Ainu. The dressing gowns, as a rule, had a folded hem (usually on the left). In the exhibition of the museum on Sakhalin you can see original capes made from fabric at the beginning of the 20th century. A skirt made of seal fur was considered standard fishing clothing for men. Women's robes were decorated with patterned embroidery in the Amur style. Metal decorations were sewn along the lower hem.

A winter headdress made of lynx fur was trimmed with Manchu silk, which testified to the wealth and wealth of the owner of the hat. Shoes were made from the skins of sea lions and seals. It was highly durable and did not get wet. In addition, women skillfully processed fish skin, after which they made it into various elements clothes and accessories.

Many items characteristic of the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin, which are in the local museum, were collected by B. O. Pilsudski (an ethnographer from Poland). For your Political Views, he was exiled to Sakhalin hard labor in 1887. The collection contains models of traditional Nivkh dwellings. It is worth noting that above-ground winter dwellings were built in the taiga, and summer houses were built on stilts at the mouths of spawning rivers.

Each Nivkh family kept at least ten dogs. They served as a means of transportation, and were also used for exchange and payment of fines for violating religious order. One of the measures of the owner’s wealth was the sled dogs.

The main spirits of the Sakhalin tribes are: Master of the Mountains, Lord of the Sea, Lord of Fire.

Oroks

The Uilta people (Oroks) represent the Tungus-Manchu linguistic group. The main economic direction of the tribe is reindeer husbandry. were the main means of transport used for packs, saddles and sledges. In winter, nomadic routes ran through the taiga of the northern part of Sakhalin, and in summer - along the coast of the Sea of ​​​​Okhotsk and in the lowlands of Terpeniya Bay.

The deer spent most of their time grazing freely. This did not require special preparation of food; the place of settlement simply changed as the pasture plants and crops were eaten. From one female deer they received up to 0.5 liters of milk, which they drank in its pure form or made into butter and sour cream.

The pack deer was additionally equipped with various bags, a saddle, boxes and other elements. All of them were decorated with colored patterns and embroidery. In the Sakhalin museum you can see a real sled, used for transporting goods during nomadism. In addition, the collection contains hunting attributes (spearheads, crossbows, carving knives, homemade skis). For the Uilts, winter hunting was one of the main sources of income.

Housekeeping part

Orok women skillfully tanned deer skins, obtaining blanks for future clothing. The pattern was carried out using special knives on boards. Things were decorated with ornamental embroidery in the Amur and floral styles. Characteristic for patterns - chain stitch. Winter wardrobe items were made from reindeer fur. Fur coats, mittens, and hats were decorated with mosaics and fur ornaments.

In the summer, the Uilts, like other small peoples of Sakhalin, were engaged in fishing, stockpiling fish from the salmon family. Representatives of the tribe lived in portable dwellings (chums), which were covered with deer skins. In summer, frame buildings covered with larch bark acted as houses.

Evenks and Nanais

Evenks (Tungus) belong to the Siberian small nationalities. They are the closest relatives of the Manchus, they call themselves “evenkil”. This tribe, closely related to the Uilts, was actively involved in reindeer herding. Currently, the people live mainly in Aleksandrovsk and the Okha district of Sakhalin.

Nanai (from the word "nanai" - "local people") are a small group who speak own language. The tribe, like the Evenks, belongs to a branch of their mainland relatives. They also engage in fishing and reindeer breeding. After World War II, the resettlement of the Nanai people on Sakhalin from the mainland to the island was massive. Now the majority of representatives of this ethnic group live in the Poronaisky urban district.

Religion

The culture of the peoples of Sakhalin is closely connected with various religious rituals. The ideas about higher powers among the peoples of Sakhalin Island were based on magical, totemic and animistic views on the world, including animals and plants. For most of the peoples of Sakhalin, the cult of the bear was held in the highest regard. A special holiday was even held in honor of this beast.

The bear cub was raised in a special cage until the age of three, fed only with the help of special ritual ladles. The products were decorated with carvings with elements of pictographic signs. The killing of the bear took place on a special sacred site.

In the ideas of the peoples of the island of Sakhalin, the beast symbolized the mountain spirit, so most amulets contained an image of this particular animal. The amulets had enormous magical power and were kept in families for centuries, passed on from one generation to another. Amulets were divided into medicinal and commercial variants. They were made by shamans or people suffering from serious illnesses.

The sorcerer's paraphernalia included a tambourine, a belt with massive metal pendants, a special headdress, a sacred wand and a bear skin mask. According to legend, these items allowed the shaman to communicate with spirits, heal people and help fellow tribesmen overcome life's difficulties. Objects and remains of settlements found by researchers indicate that the peoples of the Sakhalin coast buried their dead in different ways. For example, the Ainu buried their dead in the ground. The Nivkhs practiced burning corpses, erecting a memorial wooden building at the cremation site. A figurine was placed in it, identifying the soul of a deceased person. At the same time, a regular ritual of feeding the idol was carried out.

Economy

For the peoples living on Sakhalin, trade between Japan and China played a huge role. The natives of Sakhalin and Amur were actively involved in it. In the seventeenth century, a trade route was formed from the northern part of China along the Lower Amur through the territories of the Ulchi, Nanai, Nivkhs and other indigenous peoples, including the Ainu in Hokkaido. The objects of exchange became hardware, jewelry, silks and other fabrics, as well as other trade items. Among the museum exhibitions of those times you can see Japanese lacquerware, silk decorations on clothes and hats, and many other items of this trend.

Present tense

If we take into account the terminology of the United Nations, then indigenous peoples are nations living in a certain territory before the establishment of modern state boundaries there. In Russia this issue is regulated federal law“On guarantees of the rights of indigenous and small peoples of the Russian Federation who live on the territory of their ancestors.” This takes into account the traditional way of life, types of economic and fishing activities. This category includes groups of people of less than 50 thousand people who perceive themselves as an independent organized community.

The main ethnic groups of Sakhalin now include a little more than four thousand representatives of the Nivkh, Evenki, Uilt, and Nanai tribes. There are 56 tribal settlements and communities recorded on the island, located in places of traditional residence, engaged in typical economic and fishing activities.

It is worth noting that there are no purebred Ainu left on the territory of Russian Sakhalin. A population census conducted in 2010 showed that there are three people of this ethnicity living in the region, but they also grew up in marriage between the Ainu and representatives of other nations.

In conclusion

Honoring your own people is an indicator of a high level of self-awareness and a tribute to your ancestors. Small nationalities have every right to do this. Among the 47 indigenous nations in Russia, representatives of Sakhalin stand out prominently. They have similar traditions, conduct parallel economic activity, worship the same spirits and higher powers. However, the Nanai, Ainu, Uilts and Nivkhs have certain differences among themselves. Thanks to the support of small nations at the legislative level, they did not go into oblivion, but continue to develop the traditions of their ancestors, instilling values ​​and customs in younger generations.

Section "Artistic culture" 6th grade. Lesson No. 4. Lesson topic:

Folk costume.

Lesson plan:

1. First, threads and needles.

2. Nivkh costume.

3. Uilta costume.

4. Ainu costume.

5. Why did men wear skirts?

6. Holiday clothes

7. Decorations.

The craftswomen invested all their imagination, brilliant talent and patience, first of all, into decorating national clothing. Folk costume– this is not just clothing that protects the body, a household item. A folk costume, through its design features, shape, material, color, and decor, demonstrates that people belong to a particular nation.

Traditional clothing Nivkhs were made from fish and seal skin, dog skins, and imported fabrics. The Nivkh costume consisted of a robe with a belt, pants, Nogovitz , headdress, shoes. Important additions to clothing were oversleeves , headphones, bibs that were worn for warmth, mittens, various pendants to the belt of the robe. Women's, men's, and children's robes did not differ in cut. Robes were both home clothing and outerwear. Women's robes, also winter ones, were longer.

To prevent snow from getting into the sleeves of a fur coat, they were wrapped in sleeves at the wrists. Leggings were worn in both warm and cold seasons. Inset Leggings are clothing that fits the legs. A mandatory element of men's and women's underwear. Worn separately on each leg. For the warm season they were sewn from fabric. For winter - from dog, seal fur, from rovduga. The bottom of the leggings was tucked into the shoes.

Inset Sleeve ruffles - a strip of leather, a wide braid or an ornamented ribbon, which was used to tie the ends of the sleeves. In winter, oversleeves protected hands from wind and snow and insulated clothes. In the summer they protected their hands from midges and midges. Mittens were tied to the sleeves of the fur coat. They were made from seal skins. The Nivkh winter costume was complemented by headphones, a fur hat and a scarf made of squirrel tails. Traditional headdresses were made from fox, river otter, seal, and cotton fur. The hats were richly and colorfully decorated with squirrel, sable, and dog fur, Chinese silk, buttons, and beads. Summer conical men's hats were made from birch bark. Everyday women's hats made of fabric resembled a helmet.

Researcher L.Ya. Sternberg vividly and colorfully described the Nivkh winter men's suit: “The winter suit is very impressive. Tightened at the waist in a black dog fur coat, against the dark background of which a soft gray skirt made from the skins of young seals stands out softly, in boots with narrow toes, elegantly sewn, in a hat made of fox paws with earmuffs, in fur gloves covering the sleeves - the Gilyak produces an elegant, dashing impression.”

leggings

Using colored pencils, draw drawings of leggings (on the left) and a waist bag (on the right) in accordance with the indicated colors (capital letters (for example - C - blue, G - blue, Z - green, etc.)

Uilta shoes were very diverse - high and short, winter and summer, thin and with double fur. The Uilta believed that diseases entered through the feet and tried to keep their feet warm. Thin socks made of reindeer skin were put on the feet, and insoles were inserted from grass, which was specially prepared. Shoes were made mainly from rovduga and kamus. Inset Rovduga is a finely dressed reindeer skin.

Inset Kamus is the skin from the legs of a deer. Used for padding skis, making and decorating fur shoes, mittens and clothing among many peoples of the North and Siberia. Despite the ordinariness of such a thing as everyday shoes, they were certainly decorated. Consider children's bags made from kamus. Two narrow light stripes set off the different tones of deer fur. The top is decorated with black material. It is embroidered with a curvilinear pattern using deer tendon threads in bright yellow, green and red colors. The black ribbon is edged with gold thread and tiny white beads. It was a pleasure to wear these not only warm, comfortable, but also beautiful shoes.

People in the Russian Federation. The indigenous population of the lower reaches of the Amur River (Khabarovsk Territory) and about. Sakhalin. The Nivkh language belongs to the Paleo-Asian languages. Number of people: 4631 people.

Nivkhi - people in Russian Federation. Settled in the northern part of Sakhalin Island and in the Tym River basins (more than 2 thousand people), as well as on the Lower Amur (2386 people).

The total number is 4631 people. They belong to the Central Asian type of the North Asian race of the large Mongoloid race. Together with the Chukchi, Koryaks and other peoples of the Northeast, they belong to the group of Paleo-Asians. Self-name - nivkhgu (person). The old name is Gilyak. This ethnonym was widely used until the 30s of the 20th century. Some of the old Nivkhs still call themselves Gilyaks. In addition to the Nivkhs, the Russians also called the Ulchi, the Negidals, and some of the Evenks Gilyaks.

They speak the Nivkh language, which has two dialects: Amur and East Sakhalin. The Nivkh language, together with Ket, belongs to isolated languages. The Russian language is widely spoken. In 1989, only 23.3% of Nivkhs called the Nivkh language their native language. The writing was created in 1932 on the basis of the Latin alphabet, and in 1953 it was translated into Russian graphics.

Nivkhs are direct descendants of the ancient population of Sakhalin and the lower reaches of the Amur. In the past they settled over a much wider area. The settlement area of ​​the Nivkhs extended to the Uda basin, as evidenced by toponymy data, archaeological materials and historical documents. There is a point of view that the ancestors of modern Nivkhs, northeastern Paleo-Asians, Eskimos and American Indians are links of one ethnic chain that in the distant past covered the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean. On the modern ethnic appearance of the Nivkhs big influence were influenced by their ethnocultural contacts with the Tungus-Manchu peoples, the Ainu and the Japanese.

The first Russian explorers (I. Moskvitin and others) first met the Nivkhs in the first half of the 17th century. During his Amur voyage, V. Poyarkov imposed tribute on the Amur Nivkhs. The number of Nivkhs in the 17th century. the Russians estimated 5,700 people. In the second half of the 17th century. Direct contacts between the Russians and the Nivkhs were interrupted and were resumed only in the mid-19th century, when the Amur expedition of G. Nevelsky annexed Sakhalin to Russia. In the mid-19th century, the Nivkhs retained remnants of the primitive communal system and clan division. They had an Iroquoian type of kinship system. Members of each genus had a common generic name. The clan performed the functions of self-government and consisted of large-family communities and individual families. The clan was exogamous. The classic form of marriage is marrying the mother's brother's daughter. Each clan had its own territory. And now all Nivkh families well remember their clan names and territories that belonged to their clans. Russian colonization of Sakhalin and the lower reaches of the Amur had a serious impact on the socio-economic and cultural life of the Nivkhs. An intensive disintegration of the clan organization begins. Some of the Nivkhs are drawn into commodity-money relations, new types of economic activities appear - livestock breeding, agriculture, commercial fishing, and latrine trades. Many elements of Russian material culture became widespread. Russian missionaries were active Orthodox Church. By the end of the 19th century. All Amur Nivkhs were baptized, but the ideas of Christianity did not have a significant impact on their consciousness.

The main branches of the Nivkh economy are fishing and marine fishing. Land hunting and gathering were of secondary importance. A particularly important role in the life of the Nivkhs was the fishing for anadromous salmon - pink salmon and chum salmon, which were caught in large quantities and from which yukola was prepared for the winter. They caught fish with seines, nets, hooks and various traps.

Sea animals (nerpa, seals, beluga whales) were caught with nets made of leather straps, traps and a special tool - a long, smooth harpoon. They were engaged in fishing for fish and sea animals all year round. In winter, fish were caught under the ice with fixed nets and fishing rods in holes. Near villages, sea animals were hunted individually; collective hunting was associated with going to sea, traveling to distant islands and rookeries. It is known that for this purpose the Nivkhs made long expeditions to the Shantar Islands. Hunting for fur and meat taiga animals was individual. In some cases, especially when hunting a bear in a den, several hunters went out. Forest animals were caught using various traps and snares. Crossbows were used on otters, foxes, ungulates and bears. The bear was also caught with a spear.

The sable was caught with a net. Bird hunting was widespread - ducks, geese, upland game. During the molting period, birds were caught with a net in small bays and bays. On the sea coast, seagulls were caught using a special hook. Gathering was done by women, children and teenagers. In addition to berries, nuts, and edible plants, seaweed was collected, especially seaweed, and shellfish. For the winter, wild garlic, acorns, saran roots, nuts, and some types of berries were usually prepared. Mollusks and crustaceans were not only collected on the tidal strip, but also from the bottom. To do this, they used a long pole with a bunch of pointed sticks at the end.

Dog breeding was widely developed among the Nivkhs, keeping animals in cages was practiced, and valuable plants were grown on family plots - saran, etc. Currently, only a part of the Nivkhs are employed in traditional sectors of the economy. The majority, especially young people, work in industry, various organizations and institutions. All Nivkh families in rural areas are engaged in livestock farming and gardening.

The Nivkhs led a sedentary lifestyle. Their villages were located on the high wooded banks of the Amur, at the mouths of spawning rivers, on the sea coast, close to fishing grounds. In April they moved to summer villages, where they lived until late autumn. The villages were small - from 2 to 10 houses. By the beginning of the twentieth century. separate summer settlements disappeared; they began to be placed together with winter dwellings. The traditional dwelling is a half-dugout toryv in the shape of a simple or truncated pyramid. The hearth-fire was in the center, along the walls there were bunks. Another type of dwelling buried in the ground (earthen house) was a log house or a frame-and-pillar pitched structure. An above-ground building of the same design (lochurladyv) was heated with an iron stove. From the middle of the 19th century. They began to build veiled winter houses. This is a rectangular above-ground house of frame-and-post construction, built using mortise-and-mortise technology, with a gently sloping gable roof. The summer dwelling is a building on stilts with a gable roof covered with birch bark. In the field, gable and spherical frame buildings were built as temporary housing.

Traditional outer clothing for men and women was made from fish skin, the skins of sea animals, deer and elk and consisted of pants and a robe. In cold weather, they wore insulated robes, which were tied with sashes. Winter clothing was a fur coat made of dog fur and seal skin without a collar or hood. A seal skin skirt was worn over the fur coat. Headdress - fur hat, headphones, in summer - birch bark or fabric hat. Shoes were made from sealskin and camus. An indispensable attribute of clothing is arm sleeves and knee pads. Currently, most Nivkhs wear European clothes, which some craftswomen decorate with national ornaments.

Nivkhs are classic ichthyophages. Their main food is raw, boiled and dried fish.

The meat of marine animals, which has become a delicacy in recent decades, played an equally important role in nutrition. Stroganina and mos (fish skin jelly with berries and seal fat) were considered tasty dishes. They remain a favorite food today. Tea was brewed from chaga, lingonberry leaves, wild rosemary shoots and berries.

The means of transportation in winter were skis - golts and covered with kamus or sealskin, as well as dog sleds. They traveled on the water in boats. There were two types of boats - planks and dugouts. The large plank boat in the past could accommodate up to 40 people. Sled dog breeding of the Nivkhs of the Gilyak-Amur type. The characteristic features of the Nivkh sled are straight spears, runners curved on both sides and two horizontal arcs - front and back. The Nivkhs also used dog teams to tow boats through the water.

In their worldview, the Nivkhs were animists. In every object they saw a living principle and human traits. The cult of nature - water, taiga, earth - was widespread. To save a good relationship with their “masters”-spirits, the Nivkhs organized sacrifices - “feeding”. All rituals associated with fire were strictly observed; there were complex rituals associated with eating beluga whale meat, hunting bears and other animals. The dog played an important role in the spiritual life of the Nivkhs and in their worldview. The beloved dog was killed after the death of the owner. Existed special kind taboo dogs that were sacrificed. Two major folk holidays are associated with the religious views of the Nivkhs - “feeding the water” and the bear holiday, associated with the slaughter of a bear raised in a cage. It was accompanied by sports competitions, games, and playing musical instruments. The main idea of ​​the holiday is to honor nature and its inhabitants. Currently, attempts are being made to revive the bear holiday as the basis of national artistic creativity. In Nivkh folklore, 12 independent genres are distinguished: fairy tales, legends, lyrical songs, etc. The folklore hero of the Nivkhs is nameless, he fights evil spirits, defends the offended as a champion of goodness and justice. Decorative art is represented by ornaments, sculptures, and carved objects. A special place is occupied by a sculpture depicting twins, an image of a bear on ladles and other objects. Spoons with carved ornaments, dishes and ladles for bear festivals have a complex plot.

Wooden images of birds, figurines of the “masters” of water, fire and other guardians occupy a worthy place in sculptural art. Nivkhs decorated clothes, hats, shoes, wooden and birch bark utensils with ornaments. The most ancient way of decorating birch bark products is embossing.

Among the motifs in the ornament there are often tree leaves, stylized images of birds, paired spirals and leaf-shaped patterns with symmetrically arranged curls. Currently, great efforts are being made to revive the entire complex of traditional spiritual culture. Regularly held folk holidays, folklore ensembles were created,

in which young people participate.

Sakhalin, where small peoples - Nivkhs, Uilta (Oroks), Evenks and Nanais - have lived since ancient times, is the cradle of the culture of the region's aborigines, who created original decorative and applied arts. Like all folk art, it was born from the need to make everyday things and the desire to combine functionality and beauty in them. The peoples of Sakhalin, hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders, creating clothes, utensils, and tools, reflected their worldview in decorative language and informed them about life and economy.

In the 60s and 70s, due to the resettlement of the Sakhalin aborigines to large settlements and their separation from traditional fishing grounds, the custom that made folk art obligatory gradually became a thing of the past. The spread of Russian-style clothing leads to the gradual extinction of traditional folk costume. Active labor and social activities are replacing labor-intensive handicrafts. It seemed to be on the verge of extinction. However, the craving for traditional art continued to persist, acquiring new forms of modern life. Regularly held traditional holidays of the peoples of the North, accompanied by exhibitions of decorative and applied arts, contributed to the restoration of interest in national art. Products from these years to a greater extent They lose their purpose of serving everyday household needs and are perceived as artistic values ​​that satisfy aesthetic needs.

In the 70s, state-owned specialized enterprises for the production of artistic products and souvenirs were created in the cities and towns of Sakhalin. Folk craftsmen from the city of Poronaysk, the villages of Nogliki, Nekrasovka, Viakhtu and the village of Val were involved in this activity. The range of artistic products and souvenirs produced by these enterprises includes products made from deer skins, kamus, seal skins, rovduga and other natural materials.

The beginning of the collapse of the economy associated with perestroika Soviet Union, also affected these enterprises. Transformed into national specialized enterprises in 1989, they suffered losses due to exorbitant taxes and lack of markets and gradually ceased to exist. At present, the modern applied art of the peoples of the North of Sakhalin is largely amateur in nature, although it tends to develop into national professional decorative and applied art. Now only a few masters are trying to preserve traditional art. Among them, Uiltka Ogawa Hatsuko (1926 - 1998), Nanayk Nina Dokimbuvna Beldy (1925 - 2002), Nivkhki Olga Anatolyevna Nyavan (born 1915), Lidia Demyanovna Kimova (born 1939), Uiltka Veronica Vladimirovna Osipova (born 1966) stand out. , Nivkhs Valery Yakovlevich Yalin (born 1943), Fedor Sergeevich Mygun (born 1962) and others.

The Nanai craftswoman N.D. Beldy was gifted with all the talents, she was fluent in playing traditional instruments: a harp, a tambourine, a shaman's belt, she kept in her memory many original Nanai songs, mastered the art of improvisation, and herself composed works in the national spirit. Her singing style was so original that recordings of songs performed by her were used by other Nanai groups. For example, the Nanai ensemble “Givana” from the Khabarovsk Territory used songs performed by her in the fairy tale play “Ayoga”. The first laureate of the Governor's Prize (1999), she immediately declared herself as a great artist with an innate sense of color, compositional flair, as a master who masters not only national technical and artistic techniques, but also an expert in national artistic and aesthetic traditions. Nivkh master L. D. Kimova began to engage in national art already in adulthood. Studying the originals and copying them, Lidia Demyanovna gradually mastered almost all materials and traditional types of Nivkh women’s artistic creativity.

V. Ya. Yalin stands out among Sakhalin woodcarvers with his special talent, high artistic taste, steady hand and natural intuitive sense. The spoons carved by V. Yalin for the exhibition in 2000 are distinguished by their rich ornamentation and complexity of handle profiles. Variations in the shapes of handles and ornaments - the individual creativity of the master was manifested here with great completeness.

The collection of the Sakhalin Regional Art Museum, numbering more than 100 items, was created over the last decade. Collected thanks to targeted funding by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation for the project “To the Origins. Aborigines of Sakhalin" and supported by the company "Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, Ltd", it characterizes the state of modern decorative and applied art of the peoples of the North of Sakhalin. The museum's collection well represents the festive clothing of the peoples of Sakhalin, the decor of which seems to close the clothing, creating a special microcosm, which is usually what any national costume is.

The national costume occupies a significant place in the work of the Nivkh master L. D. Kimova. In it she reached special heights, becoming a recognized master of folk costume. It was in this capacity that she was invited to work on the film “The Piebald Dog Running by the Edge of the Sea.” Festive women's robes, Men's shirts and other products made by her are in museums around the country and abroad. What is most striking in her works is the color harmony, exquisite selection of fabrics, thoughtfulness of color and shape of additional details. Among the festive robes of Lydia Demyanovny Kimova, of particular interest is a robe made on Nivkh motifs from fish skin with an ornamented back, dressed in which a Nivkh woman dances to the sounds of a musical log at a bear festival. The craftswoman sewed a robe from white wool and embroidered an ornament on the back, the image of which is based on an attempt to artistically comprehend the nature of her native land. Lidia Demyanovna realized her long-standing dream of creating a series of traditional Nivkh clothes by making a collection of dolls in Nivkh clothes.

Among them, the hunter-archer in a seal skirt stands out with the exotic beauty of his outfit. Everything here is ethnographically accurate, from skis lined with seal fur, short seal high boots tied at the ankle, to a seal skirt with a belt and a sheath and a flint bag suspended from it.

The ornaments of the Nanai robe of N.D. Belda are bright, the arrangement of patterns is dense. The scaly ornament on the back of the robe, the cut-out appliqué, braid and piping along the edges of the robe emphasize its festive purpose.

Each Far Eastern craftswoman had a supply of various preparations for decorating clothes. It took a lot of time to decorate a thing with an ornament, embroidered or applique, so they prepared for sewing festive and wedding robes in advance. In the museum’s collection there are such blanks for a robe by the oldest Nivkh craftswoman O. A. Nyavan with exquisite graphic patterns. In addition to robes, the museum collections also include another type of clothing - a dress for Uilta women, complete with an elegant bib, headdress and handbag for needlework. This costume was recreated by a group of Uilta women from the North of Sakhalin in 1994 and made by a young craftswoman Veronica Osipova from the village of Nogliki.

The only item of the Sakhalin Evenki in the museum’s collection is the “Avsa” handbag, sewn from deer kamus and suede. The main decoration of the bag is a semi-oval suede plate at the top of the bag, embroidered with deer hair and decorated with white round plates with red beads in the center. Tassels of white and dark fur are inlaid into the semicircular edge of the plate, giving it a festive, elegant look.

No less beautiful is the ulta pouch made of light seal fur by Ogawa Hatsuko. Its shape is traditional - a pouch, slightly tapering towards the top. Nivkh pouch - author Kimova L.D. - is sewn from alternating light and dark strips of fish skin. On the golden and dark gray surface of the pouch, red inserts and preserved traces of scales look very decorative.

In the manufacture of footwear among the peoples of Sakhalin, in addition to other materials, rovduga was widely used, obtained by soaking reindeer skin in water, then removing the wool from it and smoking it. On the children's chests made by Ogawa Hatsuko from this material, the embroidered pattern of their two paired spirals and images reminiscent of a jumping frog attracts attention.

The carpets of the peoples of the North of Sakhalin are distinguished by a wide variety of materials and techniques used. Uilta craftsmen sew them from deer skins and inlay them with white (protective) deer fur. Ogawa Hatsuko's rug (ulta) is sewn from pieces of golden seal skin.

The Nivkhs have long been famous for the art of wood carving. A custom that has lost popularity artistic carving wooden products are preserved on Sakhalin by individual craftsmen, who from time to time turn to it to make a traditional gift, still valued among the Nivkhs, to participate in exhibitions or to perform a ritual ceremony. The main part of the museum collection consists of carved wooden utensils: ritual ladles and spoons. The shapes of the buckets are predominantly trough-shaped. Most of them traditionally have opposing handles of different configurations. The carved designs decorating them are different on each handle. The predominant element of the rich ornamentation on the ladles is a curved ribbon, intricately intertwined, in places turning into spirals and curls, or illusorily going deeper. F. Mygun complements the ribbon ornament with simple cuts or fills the background space between the intertwining ribbons with small carved figures. It is interesting that Fyodor Mygun came to Nivkh carving through Russian culture. Graduated from the Abramtsevo Art and Industrial School, wood carving department. In Nivkh carving he uses a special Bogorodsk knife, which has long been used by Russian folk craftsmen.

Other ladles are decorated with spirals, and there is also a carved chain ornament, sometimes turning into a twisted rope. Most ladles, dishes and spoons are traditionally soaked in seal oil, which gives them a beautiful yellow color.

Currently, only a few Nivkh craftsmen carve sculptures from wood. Marina Kavozg is a hereditary woodcarver. This author is represented in the museum’s collection by five sculptures made of wood of a cult nature, in which, according to the ideas of the peoples of the Far East, “spirits” lived. In the plastic characteristics of the images of the “mistress of the mountain and water”, as well as in the amulets, their semantics seems to be confirmed: on the chest of the “mistress of the water” there is a relief image of a fish, the “mistress of the mountain” has a protrusion on her head resembling a hill (hill), and on her head figurines depicting a spirit causing headache, - a relief growth-protrusion. There is even more in amulets against heart disease: there is an image of the diseased organ - the heart.

The museum's collection also includes wooden toys. A. Voksin’s very expressive “Ducks” are shaped like the traditional “Dog” toy. After removing the bark, he painted them with spiral patterns, which were traditionally carved into the bark. These conventional figures, where only the most characteristic features are sparingly revealed, resemble iconic sculptures.

In the past, birch bark was also widely used in the economy of the peoples of the Amur region and Sakhalin. Sakhalin craftswoman Ogawa Hatsuko demonstrates a basket traditional form birch bark products made from one piece of birch bark. The Nivkh birch bark ladle (Sakhalin, 1980s) amazes with its sophistication and unusual design of clearly ethnic origin. We admire the thoughtfulness and variety of decorative details in the design of the birch bark body of the musical instrument - tynryn - Nivkh violin (property of the regional museum of local lore). Here, not only different shades of birch bark are used as decorative means, not only figured stripes along the edge of the cylinder, but even the height of the stitch that sews them and echoes the wavy edge of these strips. Everything is complemented by an embossed ornament on the body and an original selection of the color of fish skin, which covers the upper part of the body (from the belly of a sea goby). Only L.D. Kimova makes functioning tynryns on Sakhalin. The exquisite seam along the edge of a small tueska of her own work resembles a sprouting twig, vibrantly and naturally entering and exiting the holes on the strip holding the top of the tueska together.

In the work of folk craftsmen in the last decade, embroidery has begun to stand out as an independent art form (L. D. Kimova. Triptych panel “Swan Girl” - the property of SOKM; Ogawa Hatsuko. Panel “Deer”), which previously played an auxiliary role: sew on an applique ornament or traditionally decorate with a festive ornament national clothes around the edges. When creating an embroidered picture, the craftsmen used national decorative stitches. Acquaintance with Russian culture, with the achievements in the art of other nationalities of Sakhalin (in particular, with the art of the Evenki master Semyon Nadein), and the passion of a creative person led Ogawa Hatsuko to create a story-based work. Using traditional techniques and patterns, she embroidered the “Deer” panel rug. With naive spontaneity, the rug depicts a gray deer with a block around its neck, a green outline of Sakhalin at its feet, reminiscent of a thick-lipped fish (Semyon Nadein has the image of a deer-island), and two brown-green trees on the sides. There are many deviations from the rules of professional art, in particular, the image of the deer as the most important thing in the plot is given in much larger sizes than the trees, and this does not bother the artist at all. Naivety figurative language and the immediacy of the content attract the viewer.

In modern decorative and applied art of the peoples of Sakhalin, there is the emergence of separate trends in the artistic processing of fish skin, based on folk basis and therefore having local originality. Young Nivkh artist Natalia Pulus constantly turns to fish skin, making small narrative or ornamental panels using the appliqué technique. Veronika Osipova has a unique technique of painting with ink on fish skin, who creates decorative paintings-panels with it. A bearer of the Sakhalin Uilta culture, she introduces ethnographic details into the drawing, giving the product a national identity. Nivkh master L. D. Kimova, combining various natural shades of fish skin color, enriching them with new content, creates unique things: beads, handbags, collages. When making the collage “Keraf - the summer home of the Nivkhs,” Lidia Demyanovna not only uses different shades of skin color of different breeds of fish, but also smokes it, cuts it into pieces, crumbles it, and then makes images from them.

Considering the products of modern folk craftsmen, it can be noted that the ancient cultural tradition is not static. It is constantly evolving in the interrelationship of old and new. Increasingly, craftsmen are decorating modern things with traditional patterns: cosmetic bags, newspaper cases, covers for banquettes and pillowcases, etc.

And yet, a review of the products of Sakhalin craftsmen of the last decade shows a not entirely favorable situation with the art of indigenous and small peoples on the island. The museum's collection practically does not represent the DPI of the Sakhalin Evenks. Average age folk craftsmen - 55 - 60 years old. Old masters who know and remember the cultural traditions of their people are leaving. Along with the preservation of traditional types of decorative and applied art and the emergence of new ones, losses are also noted in Sakhalin folk art. Wicker weaving has disappeared, and the production of birch bark products has begun to disappear, although some older representatives of these nationalities still possess the skills of birch bark art.

At present, when folk art is no longer vital, it is very difficult to work on its revival and preservation. Studying various artistic crafts is one of the most effective forms of familiarization with traditional national culture. In order for the art, which was and is owned by representatives of the older and middle generations of Sakhalin masters, to be studied and assimilated by young people, it was necessary to organize the transfer of ancient skills to future generations.

But despite the fact that from the 60-70s, Nivkh and Uilt children began to be introduced to national arts and crafts in labor lessons in secondary schools, where they were fully supported by the state, only a few mastered traditional wood carving techniques and learned embroidery, processing of seal and fish skin. The departments of decorative and applied arts of the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin, organized in the 90s in children's art schools located in areas where artistic crafts are especially developed, and the technological lyceum in the city of Poronaisk, were of little help. Since 2002, a department has been operating at the Institute for Advanced Training of Teachers of the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk additional education under the program “DPI and folk crafts of the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin”.

And although we understand that the loss of any element of the traditional heritage of indigenous peoples is a tragedy for the entire world culture, we are probably no longer able to prevent its leveling. But there is no doubt that the best ethnic traditions, if they are truly significant and valuable in a spiritual and aesthetic sense, can and should enrich modern folk arts and crafts and professional art.

Alexandra MARAMZINA

Maramzina Alexandra Mikhailovna, head of the decorative and applied arts sector of the Sakhalin Regional Art Museum, where she has worked since 1985. Interests: decorative and applied arts and folk art.

Nivkhs (Nivkh. Nivakh, Nivukh, Nivkhgu, Nyigvngun; obsolete - Gilyaks (paraphrased in Russian from Ulchi gilemi - “people on oars”, (gile - oar)) are a small ethnic group on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Self-names: nivkh - “man”, nivkhgu - “people”. They live near the mouth of the Amur River (Khabarovsk Territory) and on the northern part of Sakhalin Island.

They speak the Nivkh language, which has two dialects: Amur and East Sakhalin. Writing was created in 1932 (based on the Latin alphabet), and since 1955 - based on the Russian alphabet and graphics. Number - 4652 people (2010).

The number of Nivkhs in populated areas in 2002:

Khabarovsk region:

• Nikolaevsk-on-Amur city 408
• Innokentyevka village 130
• Takhta village 124
• Khabarovsk city 122
• Lazarev village 113

Sakhalin region:

• Nogliki village 646
• Nekrasovka village 572
• Okha city 298
• village Chir-Unvd 204
• Poronaysk city 110

The Nivkhs are direct descendants of the ancient population of Sakhalin and Lower Amur, who were settled in the past much more widely than at present. There is a point of view that the ancestors of modern Nivkhs, northeastern Paleo-Asians, Eskimos and American Indians are links of one ethnic chain that in the distant past covered the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean. For a long time, the Nivkhs had close ethno-cultural contacts with the Tungus-Manchu peoples, with the Ainu and Japanese, and possibly with some representatives of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples.

The Nivkhs settled Sakhalin during the late Pleistocene, when the island was connected to the Asian mainland. But with the end of the Ice Age, the ocean rose, and the Nivkhs found themselves divided into 2 groups by the Strait of Tatar.

It is believed that the earliest mention of the Nivkhs in history is Chinese chronicles of the 12th century. They speak of the Gilami people who were in contact with the rulers of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China. Contacts between Russians and Nivkhs began in the 17th century, when Cossack explorers visited here. The first Russian to write about the Nivkhs in 1643 was Vasily Poyarkov, who called them Gilyaks. This name stuck with the Nivkhs for a long time. In 1849-1854. The expedition of G.I. Nevelsky, who founded the city of Nikolaevsk, worked on the Lower Amur. A year later, Russian peasants began to settle here. The Russian Empire gained full control over the Nivkh lands after the Treaty of Aigun in 1856 and the Treaty of Beijing in 1860.

Crafts and crafts

The main traditional occupations of the people are fishing (chum salmon, pink salmon, etc.) and marine fishing (seal, beluga whale, etc.). They fished with seines, nets, hooks, and set traps. The sea beast was beaten with a spear and clubs. Yukola was made from fish, fat was rendered from the entrails, and shoes and clothes were made from leather. Hunting for bear, deer, and fur-bearing animals was of less importance. The beast was caught using nooses, crossbows, spears, and with late XIX V. - guns. A secondary occupation is gathering (berries, saran roots, wild garlic, nettles, shellfish, seaweed, shells).

The main means of transportation were dog sleds and skis; by water - different types boats: plank boat "mu", dugout boat - "mla-mu" with extensive use of rowing oars and a quadrangular sail made of fish skin.

Traditional home

The traditional dwelling of the Nivkhs was divided into summer (a hut in the shape of a dissected cylinder; a gable hut covered with grass; a rectangular hut with a gable roof, covered with bark; a summer dwelling on stilts (and a winter one); an Amur winter road with a gable roof; a winter underground dwelling).

Traditional clothing

The winter outer clothing of the Nivkhs for men and women was an “okkh” fur coat made of dog fur, double, wide, knee-length. The left floor was folded over the right and fastened on the side with three small metal ball-shaped buttons. For the top of the fur coat, black or dark brown fur was preferred; for the lining, thinner and softer fur of young dogs or puppies was used. Everyone wore fur coats made of dog skins, only women, in addition to these fur coats, could sometimes find fur coats made of fox fur. The skins of fur-bearing animals - foxes, river otters, sables, squirrels - were used only as edges on clothes. The summer outerwear for men was the “larkh” robe; it was made of cloth and fabrics in white, blue and gray colors. Robes were sewn to knee length. The gate was made round. The left floor at the top had a semicircular cutout and was fastened at the neck, at the right shoulder and on the right side with three buttons. Summer women's clothing were robes made of fish skins or fabric of the same cut as men's kimonos. On the hem, along the border, one or two rows of copper plates or Chinese copper coins with a hole in the center were usually sewn on straps.

The Nivkh men's winter clothing was also characterized by the "koske" apron skirt, which held the hem of the fur coat. It was sewn from seal skins and tied at the waist. When riding dogs, when you had to sit astride a low sled, such a skirt provided excellent protection from rain, snow, and wind.

Conical birch bark hats were used to protect from rain and sun. They were decorated with an applique of openwork patterns cut from painted birch bark. The hat was held on the head with ties and a splint rim sewn inside the hat. Winter headdress - double hood. The top was made of sealskin, sometimes in combination with fabric or other skins. The lining was always made of fox fur; in front it protruded in the form of an edge, framing the face. In summer, women did not wear headdresses. Women's winter headdress is a deep helmet-shaped hat, on the top of which is sewn a cone of twisted red cord. Such a hat was made of black or blue fabric, lined with fox fur, with a trim of river otter fur along the edges of the hat. This hat was surprisingly similar to the Mongolian ones, which also had a red bump on the top. It was probably brought to the Amur by tribes of Mongolian origin.

Shoes were made from seal and fish skin, as well as from deer and elk camus.

Folklore

In Nivkh folklore, 12 independent genres are distinguished: fairy tales, legends, lyrical songs, ritual songs, lament songs, shamanic songs. Tales about animals occupy a special place: in them artistic images The Nivkhs reflected their observations of animals, viewing them as a society of people with all their vices.

Folk decorative art is represented by women's art (artwork made of leather, fur, cloth, fabrics and birch bark); in men's art, a significant place was occupied by sculptural images, carved objects (ladles for the “bear festival”, spoons, sheaths, knife handles, objects from bones decorated with ornaments).

The Nivkhs were animists - in every object they saw a living principle, human traits. According to traditional ideas, the surrounding nature was full of intelligent inhabitants, and therefore sacrifices were made to them. Some elderly Nivkhs remember places of worship well and continue to observe this ritual. Currently, only a few Nivkhs engage in ritual rituals for themselves and their families; they also preserve folk recipes medicinal herbs and plants.

During the Soviet period, the life of the Nivkhs changed radically: they began to work in fishing collective farms, on industrial enterprises, in the service sector. About 50% of all Nivkhs became city residents. Nivkhs have their own writing in two dialects. But many negative phenomena and processes affected the health and well-being of this people. The departure from traditional methods of fishing and hunting, a sharp change in the diet, the separation of children in boarding schools from their families, and the deteriorating environmental situation in the places where the Nivkhs live often lead to disappointment in life, drunkenness, and mass illnesses of the younger generation. And yet, beneficial processes are gaining strength: the period of Nivkhs returning to their former places of settlement and the revival of old abandoned villages, increasing national self-awareness has begun.