Pelts in the Ger

Explanation: This week we are visiting a most welcoming Kazakh couple in their ger home, just outside Gorkhi Terelj National Park in northern Mongolia, northeast of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

The focus this week is on the array of animal skins -- pelts -- they have adorning their ger (yurt) walls. We've previously explored the intensely symbolic aspects of the wolf (Canis lupus chanco) in this region of Mongolia. But other animals also play important roles in the lives and culture of people of the area.

First, meet our hosts:

Her name is Silow, his is Abraham. She's a tailor, weaver, embroiderer,
and he's a retired (1992) miner who repaired mining equipment.
They have 6 daughters and 1 son.
They are indeed Kazakhs, from Kazakhstan.

They, and other native Mongolians, of the region use animal pelts for a variety of practical and symbolic purposes.

Here, Abraham is displaying a goat pelt that
is used as a container.

Here is a variety of pelts
with various uses --
sacks, containers,
shoes, more.

As in the main photo
above, this is a red fox
pelt, possibly hung
as ornamentation
to complement the
Kazakh musical
instruments.

Hung here is a wolf pelt.

Wolves have a special
place in the Mongolian
and Kazakh mythology.

This is a tuft of feathers from an
Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo).

I asked what role the owl plays
in their mythology or beliefs.

Abraham recounted that in the Koran,
the Islamic sacred book, owls provide
protection.

He said that this is a common
Kazakh tradition, and that he bought
this tuft for the equivalent of
twelve to thirteen U.S. dollars.

And, finally, our gracious couple modeling for us their
traditional robes -- Abraham's hat and robe edged
with various mammal pelts of the region:

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week