The Tuvinian People

The Tuvinian people embrace two groups: farmers from steppes and mountains of Western Tuva and hunters from the taiga of eastern Tuva. The western steppes and mountains are dry and desert-like where the pastorallist farmers live in wool yurts and make their clothes from domestic animal skins, felt and cloth. The hunter / reindeer herders of the taiga region hunt both for meat to eat and for furs that have been traded with the Russians since 19^th century. These hunters live in “wigwam-style” hunts covered with animal skins or birch bark. In the region of where the taiga meets the steppe farmers / hunters live who move short distances corresponding to season changes and who also build wigwam-like structures and occasional timber houses. Leaving bows and arrows in 18^th century Tuvinians learned to make their own gunpowder and the rifle has become a major part of Tuvinian hunting life-style. Common food sources are the roe deer, the musk deer, hares, reindeer, and elks, but for a poorer herdsman or less skilled hunter fishing has always been an alternative. Fish have historically been caught in two ways: either horsehair loops were lowered into water and used to pull fish from the water, or they were caught with bare hands. To do this the fisherman would lie down at the riverbank with his hand in the water while one assistant went upstream to push the fish toward the fisher and one went downstream to keep the fish from swimming by. As soon as the fish brushed against the fisherman’s hand, he would close his fist and throw the fish on to the bank. This was apparently a successful way of feeding the family.
Please be patient, our clients use more modern means of fishing