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The Sakha(Yukuts) Culture By: Austin Heidelbaugh and Andrew Starr

Language: The Sakha people spoke the Sakha Language, which is also known as the Sakha-Tyla. It is spoken in northeastern Siberia. Also, the Sakha were isolated from the Turkish languages, they got some significant features, which is very similar to the Turkish language. Just about all 360,000 Sakha people speak Sakha-Tyla as their primary language, but some people speak Russian as well. The Sakha tell their stories as an epic poetry called Olonkho. These stories tell of superhuman hero's through long poems.

Beliefs: The Sakha have a polytheism religion.The Yakut sagas start with an endless space and three tribes of gods. The Ayyy; the kind creators, Evil spirits; cloud deities, and the Abaasy; Demons. The Upper World has nine levels - and all have their own different colours and properties.White is symbolic of the Upper Gods. The Sun is white - hence the national flag shows a white sun on a blue sky. They believe a black tunnel circles the Earth and you can see it when you are short of oxygen. By the 1820s almost all the Sakhahad been forcefully converted to the Russian Orthodox church although they retained, and still retain, a number of Shamanist practices. This was because of the discovery of gold in the region, and the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Values: The Sakha have horse posts that they post in front of their house. This posts are carved and reach out to one of the three gods. Also, the Sakha people own cows and ponies. These ponies aren’t like our horses, these ponies are a special ancient breed that is able to survive the long, cold winters. The Sakha valued their horses so much that they made the shape of their pot, table, and some wooden cup legs in the shape of a horseshoe.

Behaviors: The northern Sakha were largely hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders, while the southern Sakha raised cattle and horses. They were mostly cavalry men typically fighting on horse back rather then foot. In some caves around the Sakha, they would carve drawings into the cave walls. The carvings tell the tales of superheroes in the form of poems. A lot of the Sakha written language was lost after they traveled to the Lena Valley. The Sakha have arranged marriages with payment of bride money and were characterized by complicated and diversified customs and rituals. N.P. Lobacheva says “ The secret trysts of the bride and groom are a survival of dislocal-matrilocal residence of the married couple, governed by matriachal law.”

__Cultural Change:__ The Tsardom of Russia began its conquest of the region in the 17th century, moving east after the defeat of the Khanate of Sibir. Tygyn, a king of the Khangalassky Yakuts, granted territory for Russian settlement in return for a military pact that included war against indigenous rebels of all North Eastern Asia .Kull, a king of the Megino-Khangalassky Yakuts, began a Sakha conspiracy by allowing the first stockade construction.In an administrative reform of 1782, Irkutsk Governorate was created. In 1805, Yakutsk Oblast was split from Irkutsk Governorate. On April 27, 1922, former Yakutsk Oblast was proclaimed the Yakut ASSR. In 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Yakutia was recognized in Moscow as the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.

Technology: The Sakha used to live in just a traditional winter house, but now they live with outdoor toilets with water and electricity running through above ground pipes. As for transportation instead of horses, they now use boats as a main means of transport for goods and people. This is because there are six river ports and 2 sea ports within the area. The Sakha still have traditional healers, but are also starting to use Western medicine that was given to them from hospitals and clinics. Some of the people allow workers to build more modern homes with indoor plumbing.

Travel:  Pictures of lions and camels as well as the words in their language, show that they had lived farther south a long time ago. The Sakha originally lived aroundOlkhon and the region ofLake Baikal. But beginning in the 13th century they migrated to the basins of the Middle Lena, theAldan andVilyuy rivers under the pressure of the rising <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[| Mongols] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, where they mixed with other <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[| northern indigenous people of Russia] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> such as the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[| Evens] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[| Evenks] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Air transport is the most important for transporting people. Airlines connect the republic with most regions of Russia. There aren’t that many roads so cars are not as important.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Commercialization: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> After launching of Scheme of Complex Development of Productive Forces, Transport and Power Industry till 2020 Russian and international investors interest for Yakutia increased dramatically. Much of the Sokhas relations with other countries is through Russia itself. They mainly focus on steel work in the area of Yakutia. Most of their economic success is dependent on they’re country.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Works Cited:__

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Primary:__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Balzer, Marjorie M. "Culture Incarnate: Native Anthropology from Russia - Marjorie <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mandelstam Balzer." Google Books. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=T6iqnD-NX5EC>. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Print:__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Sakha.” Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. Ed. Timothy L. Gall and Jeneed Hobby. 2nd ed. Vol.5: Europe. Detroit: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gale, 2009. 424-430. Gale Power Search. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Other:__

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hobden, Heather. "Origins of the Sakha(Yakut)." Yakutia-16th century and the origins of the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sakha. The Cosmic Elk, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. <www.cosmicelk.net/Yakutia16c.htm >.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Sakha language -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." Encyclopedia - Britannica Online <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/651342/Sakha-language>.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Yakut." Wikipedia. N.p., 9 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakha_people >.