Cultural heritage in the food traditions of the Sakha people

Abstract

The paper emphasizes the importance of studying the traditional Yakut/Sakha food as a historical, sociological, psychological and economic factor in the life of the ethnos. The Sakha are one of the most ancient Turkic peoples. Throughout many centuries, the Sakha managed to preserve their food traditions. Life in severe conditions and sharp continental climate affected the specific features of the Sakha nutrition. The Turkic dishes of the nomadic peoples were adapted to the conditions of the North under the influence of the local inhabitants. This special feature is characterized by the use of northern fish and berries as part of nutrition, while the traditional northern meal mainly consisted of horse meat and dairy products. Like many other Turkic-Mongolian peoples, the Sakha subdivide all food into white/үрүңас[urung as] (dairy food) and black/хара [khara] (meat food). In their cultural tradition, the Sakha would only begin eating the “black” food in winter after butchering cattle/идэhэ [ideghe]. In summer, after the national holiday Ыһыах [Ykhyakh] and during the haymaking season, the Sakha would eat “white” food and fish. Vegetables and flour were introduced to them later with the coming of the first Russians to the territory.

Keywords: food traditions, cultural heritage, Turkic culture, white (dairy) food/urung as, black (meat) food/khara