Yakut

The Yakut people live in Siberia in the basin of the Middle Lena River
and the Aldan and Vilyuy rivers. Some Yakut people also lived farther
north. It is an area of primarily taiga vegetation. The country is
partly mountainous and partly lowland. The northern area is a tundra
region. The climate is dry, with long and severe winters. The vegetation
consists predominantly of larch, with some birch and pine. The animal
life includes squirrel, Siberian ferret, ermine, hare, fox, bear,
wolverine, elk, blue fox, wild reindeer, and musk deer. Fish are also
abundant.

In a number of ways, the Yakut people were different from the neighboring
Siberian peoples. Their language belongs to the Northern Turkic group
of the Turkic branch of the Altaic language stock (Voegelin 1977:
340). Furthermore, the Yakut were primarily pastoralists, whereas
their neighbors were hunters and fishers. For these reasons, the traditional
theory of the origin of the Yakut is that they migrated from the Lake
Baikal region in either the tenth or the thirteenth century. Recent
Russian theorists, such as Okladnikov and Tokarev, feel, however,
that although the southern elements are undeniable, racial and linguistic
evidence indicates that the Yakut are indigenous to the area of the
middle Lena (Tokarev and Gurvich 1964: 245).

In the seventeenth century, Yakutia was contacted and annexed by Russia,
and during the eighteenth century, the area served as a transit camp
and highway for freight to newly-annexed Siberian lands. Russian settlers
moved into the area in the late eighteenth century, but it should
be noted that Russians have never constituted a very large proportion
of the population. In the nineteenth century, Russia established convict
settlements, and political exiles came to the Yakut area. With the
establishment of the Soviet regime in 1919 the area became known as
the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

The population in 1926 was 235,000, and it was very unevenly distributed.
Nine-tenths of the population lived in the central regions, in the
former Okrugs of Yakutskiy and Vilyuyskiy, and these people were the
"typical" Yakuts. A third group in the region of Olekminsk was considerably
Russianized, while the northern groups, e.g., the Dolgan, were reindeer
herders and in general resembled the Tungus and Yukagirs.

The feature that most clearly distinguished the Yakut from their neighbors
was the fact that their dominant economic activity was the herding
of horses and cattle. Pastoralism preserved a semi-nomadic way of
life. The Yakut moved twice a year between winter and summer camps,
and their settlements were very widely scattered. The winter camps
consisted of two or three dwellings with a total population of less
than 20. The summer camps were usually somewhat larger. The yurt,
the predominant type of dwelling, was a square structure with a pyramidal
roof. Fire was religiously important--it was considered the protector
of the family--and consequently the hearth was the most important
area of the dwelling.

Fishing was the second most important economic activity. Hunting was
done primarily for furs. Agriculture was introduced by the Russians
in the mid-nineteenth century, but it was never widely practiced.
The diet consisted primarily of dairy products, secondarily of fish,
thirdly of vegetable products, and lastly of meat.

At the time of Russian contact, the Yakut were divided into a number
of subgroups, called d'on or aymakh, which were engaged in constant
warfare with each other. The aymakh were exogamic, and fellow members
were considered "clansmen." The aymakh were further subdivided into
smaller clans. The clans were headed by an aristocracy, the toyons,
who were also military leaders. The toyons were wealthy and had large
herds, and they employed the labor of slaves and their dependent clansmen.

The primary social unit was the nuclear family. Marriages were usually
monogamous, but in the early nineteenth century, polygyny was practiced
among the wealthy. This situation gave rise to the erroneous notion
of maternal clans. Yakut clans were definitely patrilineal. They were,
however, subdivided. These subdivisions were all descended from the
same progenitor but by different wives.

The clans were maintained up to the time of the Revolution in the
form of administrative units. Each clan constituted a community, called
an aga-usa. The community elected elders and formed a council. The
next level of organization was a naslegi, and the level after that
was an ulus. Each level had a council of elected elders.

Siberian peoples are known for shamanism. The shaman among the Yakut
was considered to be an attendant to the spirits. Men or women could
be shamans, but women were considered to be more powerful. The appearance
of a nervous ailment was a sign that a person was chosen by the spirits.
The main duties of a shaman were to cure sick people and prevent catastrophes.
The shaman also acted as a diviner. Smiths were thought to be related
to shamans, and smiths could also treat illnesses and give prophecies
and advice. The smith was believed to have power over the spirits,
because the spirits were afraid of the sound of iron.

For an extended summary of Yakut culture, the researcher is advised
to consult Tokarev and Gurvich (1964).

Jochelson (1933) is another standard ethnography with detailed information
on origin traditions, kinship terminology, the shaman's coat and drum,
the Yakut blacksmith, and the kumiss festival. Jochelson spent from
1884 to 1902 among the Yakut.