Fur Animal Hunting of the Indigenous People in the Russian Far East: History, Technology, and Economic Effects
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FUR ANIMAL HUNTING OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST: HISTORY, TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC EFFECTS Shirou Sasaki 1 1. Who are the Indigenous People of the Russian Far East? A general definition of “indigenous people” does not exist. Therefore, I focused on “the indigenous people of Far East Russia” in this report. “Far East Russia” is defined by the administration of the present Russian Federation as the region consisting of the Republic of Sakha, Amur region, Magadan region, Kamchatka region, Sakahlin region, Chukchi autonomous district, Koryak autonomous district, Khabarovsk region, and the Primor’e region. “The indigenous people” in these regions are the inhabitants who have lived there since before the 17th century when the Russians invaded Siberia and the Far East. When referring to the Primor’e and Sakhalin regions and the southern part of the Khabarovsk region, we are speaking of the inhabitants who have lived there since before the Beijing Treaty of 1860. Their descendants are divided into the administrative categories of Natsiya and Narodnost’. The authorized Natsiya and Narodnost’ are Yakut (Sakha), Dolgan, Evenki, Even, Chukchi, Koryak, Itel'men, Yukagir, Nivkh, Nanai, Ul'chi, Orochi, Udehe, Orok (Uilta). Interestingly, most of them speak Russian as their mother tongue, even the people who are authorized as Narodnost’ on their family registration. Mixed marriages among them or with Russians has prevented the preservation of their unique genetic heritage. Because it is very difficult to describe the many kinds of people living in such a vast area at once, I will first introduce the ancestors of the Udehe and the Nanai who live the closest to Japan. 2. Fur Animal Hunting of Inhabitants of the Primor'e Region For a long time, the inhabitants of the Russian Far East have hunted wild animals for their beautiful fur as well as for nutritional sustenance. We can find evidence in Chinese historical documents that some groups of people who were engaged in the hunting of animals for fur have been sending pelts to China since the ancient times (ex. Sushen, Yilou, Wuji, Mohe, Jurchen, Gilemi). The Chinese recognized sable as the most beautiful fur animal. Bobcat and silver fox have also been hunted for their luxurious fur. The hunting of these animals still plays a significant role in the economy, society, and culture of their descendants. According to information about the hunting traditions collected through interviews with old hunters and restorations of the traps, the indigenous people of the Primor'e region adapted the traps using available material such as logs, willow branches, and vines while on the hunt for animals. For example, the Udehe on the Bikin river basin used many kinds of traps such as the Dui ( hang a log and drop it), Kafari (support a log with sticks and drop it), Langi (the same as Kafari but set at a stump), Hanada (set a log vertically and drop it), Huka (snare trap using fine string, Nyo ajiri (net traps), and Sengmi (automatic bows). The trap chosen would vary according to the animal species, seasons, land shapes, and other conditions. These traps were not unique to the Bikin River as we can see the same types of trap in the vast area ranging from northeast China to Sakhalin through the Amur River basin. They can be found in the history of other ethnic groups in Primor’e and the Amur basin. For example snare trap and automatic bows were mentioned in "Hokui-bunkai-yowa (Discription of the Island of Northern Yezo)" with figures authored by Rinzo Mamiya in the early 19th century in Japan. The net traps for sable can also be found in the description in "Liu bian ji lue" written by Yang Bin in the end of the 17th century in China. The names of the traps are common among the inhabitants who speak the language of Manchu- Tungus. The historical record shows the names of traps such as "Huka" (snare traps) and "Langi"(log drop traps) are common from the Manchu language in the south to the Evenki and the Even language in the north. 3. Trap Techniques of the Inhabitants in Primor'e The traps used before the spread of steel traps (so called jow traps) can be categorized into four types based on the way the animals were captured. The prey were either crushed and beaten to death using a heavy object such as a log, hung around the neck with a fine string, wrapped by a net or felled by automatic bows. 1 National Musium of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan. E-mail: [email protected] 495 The traps such as Dui, Kafari, Langi and Hanada belong to the first category mentioned above. Based on the way of holding an animal body, Dui and Langi are the traps that hang a log parallel with the direction of the approach of the animal. Dui holds the whole body of the animal. On the other hand, Kahfari is set against the direction of approach or vertical direction of the body and will hold or strike the neck or a part of the chest. On the Hanada, a log is stood vertically and is intended to drop and push the neck muscle of the animal. The Dui is usually used in the autumn when the leaves of trees start falling and the creeks are not yet frozen. This trap would capture sable who habitually cross creeks using fallen trees. When a suitable natural fallen tree is not available, the hunter might cut down a tree nearby to where the trap is set. However, once creeks are frozen in winter, the trap cannot be used because the animal will not cross the bridge. Langi is fixed at a nest of sable in a stump. The Kafari which is usually set near a village is intended to protect the village against the animal's attack on a crop. The Hanada is fixed on the pits of tree that is difficult to know the size and drive the animal out by smoke (See Figure 1-4). The snare trap belonging to the second category is set differently depending on the specific animal target and condition of usage. For example, its location and shape are different when trapping sables and musk deer. Huka for a sable is set on a log fallen over a creek like a bridge like that of the Dui, but for a musk deer the hunter blocks the animal tracks by fences and makes a hole in the fence that allows the animal to pass through. Then he sets a trap above the hole. When creeks are not frozen, the snare trap for a sable is tied to a stone. Thus, the trapped animal is dropped into the creek and drowned. Once creeks are frozen, the trap is set to hang up the sable by the spring of a willow branch. These two methods of trapping sable were confirmed by Rinzo Mamiya in the beginning of the 19th century and were used effectively by the Ainus in the Sakhalin (Hokui-bunkai- yawa). This fact suggests that these traps had spread widely from Primor'e region to Sakhalin through the Amur river basin. The sable net belonging to category three is an old type trap that can be seen in 17th century documents such as the "Liu bian ji lue". This method is employed when a sable has run into the pit of a tree. The hunter will first affix a big net around the tree to cover the hole. Then he checks the condition of the tree, and will set to work covering the pit with twigs or mud excluding two pathways. Nyo Ajiri is put at one of the pathway and he smokes another pathway using smoke producing tree leaves such as fir. Consequently, the sable is not able to endure the smoke, comes out from the pathway and is caught. When a pit is too large to set the net, Udehe hunters usually use Hanada. The widespread application of the automatic bow technique as mentioned in category four is far reaching. It is common in Eastern Siberia regardless of the way of cultural exchange. However, the shape of the trigger and the way of setting it up are different according to the regions. The common feature of the automatic bow in the Primor'e, the Amur region, and Sakhalin is that the trigger holding the bowstring is strongly curved. However, some of the Nanais on the Amur used a straight trigger usually found among the Yakuts in the Republic of Sakha. Among the Udehes on the Bikin River, the names of the trap differ according to the size and they had specific arrows for various animals such as lapin and bear. There are three ways of setting the trap. The first is to put the trap parallel to the ground, to slant a trap to the ground, or to stand a trap vertical to the ground. Several factors, such as the size of the bow, intended animal target, and the geographical features around animal tracks, influenced the way the trap was set. The automatic bow has been prohibited since the beginning of the 20th century when the number of immigrants increased greatly because this kind of trap was quite dangerous for passers-by. However, the hunters might have used it in secret in violation of the laws. This hypothesis is likely true considering that this particular trapping technique has been handed down over time among the hunters in the region. The difference between the old type traps mentioned above and the modern jaw traps is that the former was developed and set up under the principle of avoiding damage to the animal's body as much as possible.