The use of cryogenic resources in the traditional economic activities of the Yakuts

Alekseev Anatolii Nikolaevich ORCID: 0000-0002-9488-573X Doctor of History Chief Researcher, Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North of Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 677027, Russia, Sakha (Yakutia) region, Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1 alekan46@mail.ru

Suleymanov Aleksandr Albertovich ORCID: 0000-0001-8746-258X PhD in History Senior Researcher, Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North of Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 677027, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1, room 403 alexas1306@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Introduction. The Yakuts (Sakha) are one of the few northern peoples of the Russian Federation whose number is increasing rhythmically in the XXI century. At the same time, representatives of the ethnic group are mostly concentrated in one subject of our country – the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The natural and geographical features of the region are well known: vast and sparsely populated areas, which almost completely fall on the zone of continuous distribution of permafrost rocks - "permafrost"; long and severe winters, reaching 8 months a year, during which the thermometer regularly drops below -50 ° C, and, for example, in Verkhoyansk and Oymyakone, approaching -70°C. The most important characteristic of the geographical conditions in which the Yakuts and the population of Yakutia as a whole live, therefore, is the dominance of cold and the natural phenomena that owe their appearance to it.

Life in such realities, of course, involves significant risks and costs for people, and therefore the presence of natural cold in the life support system not only of the population of Yakutia, but also of other Arctic and subarctic territories of Russia for a long time, if considered, then almost exclusively through the prism of its limiting role. To a large extent, the situation has been reversed by the development in recent years in Tyumen under the leadership of academician V.P. Melnikov of a new philosophical direction in ontology – cryosophy. In accordance with its basic principles, the cold matter of the Earth is considered as an active element of the universe, a source of benefits and opportunities for humanity ^{[16, 17, 18, etc.]}. In this regard, in a number of articles by the representative of the cryosophical school, R.Y. Fedorov, the practices of exploitation of cryogenic resources by the population of Western and Eastern Siberia, as well as Chukotka, were investigated (snow, ice, "permafrost", in general – cold), some features of their representation in the languages of the indigenous peoples of the North are traced ^{[19, 32, 33, etc.]}. Based on the materials of Yakutia, a pioneering historical and anthropological analysis of the experience of using cold, snow, ice and ice by the population of the region in their economic and household practices "permafrost" was presented in a number of works by one of the authors of this article ^{[29, 30, 31, etc.]}.

Considering that the issues of activation and optimization of the process of development of the Russian Arctic are currently on the agenda, the study of the traditional experience of harmonious coexistence of man with nature in a "cold" environment is one of the important tasks that historical science can and should contribute to solving. In this regard, the purpose of this article is the historical and anthropological reconstruction of the traditional economic practices of the Yakuts, in which the most important place was occupied by the exploitation of cryogenic resources. Chronologically, the period from the XIX century to the 1930s was primarily in our field of view, when the traditional economic practices of the Yakuts began to experience the active, including the substitutive impact of the policy of Soviet modernization of rural areas, which in Yakutia, along with collectivization, also assumed settlement.

Materials and methods. The work is based mainly on the analysis of observations by researchers of the second half of the XIX – first half of the XX centuries, who recorded in the course of their expedition surveys a number of stories concerning the practices of the use of cryogenic resources by the Yakuts in economic activities. Unfortunately, a significant part of the results of these fieldwork remains unpublished. In this regard, at the expense of grants from the Russian Science Foundation No. 17-78-10097 and No. 19-78-10088, search work was carried out in the funds of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and its St. Petersburg branch, the State Archive of the Irkutsk Region (Irkutsk), the Scientific Archive of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk), the Scientific Archive of the Russian Geographical Society (St. Petersburg) and the Manuscript Fund of the Archive of the Yakut Scientific Center SB RAS (Yakutsk). In connection with the latter circumstance, the authors express their gratitude to the Central Research Center of the YANTC SB RAS for the opportunity to conduct research on the scientific equipment of the Center.

Methodologically, the article is based on the principles of cryosophy outlined above, as well as the historical and anthropological approach. This approach, as is known, implies an increased interest in the ordinary person, the routine of his economic activity and everyday life, filling "socio-economic reality with human content" ^{[10, 13, 27]}.

Results and discussion. By the middle of the XIX century . The Yakuts spread cattle breeding and horse breeding in the territory from the former Suntarsky ulus in the west, the Olekminsky district in the south and to Verkhoyansky in the north ^{[3, p. 9]}. By this time, the Yakuts had thus become the northernmost cattle breeders in the world. This was done, first of all, due to the breeding of the Yakut breed of cattle, extremely adapted to the conditions of the region. These animals are distinguished by the highest level of adaptation to frost, relatively small in height and weight, give less milk than the main breeds common in Russia, but the resulting product has a significantly higher concentration of fats, which are so necessary in the conditions of the North. There was a similar situation in horse breeding. The main advantage of the Yakut horse is the ability to year–round pasture maintenance and tebenevka - shoveling snow with hooves and independent forage extraction ^{[9, pp. 165-189]}. As a result, by 1917, there were about 460 thousand heads of cattle and more than 121 thousand horses in Yakut farms ^{[3, p. 23]}. In total, by this time there were almost 482 thousand cows and over 128 thousand horses in Yakutia ^{[2, pp. 39-40]}.

In this regard, it seems necessary to briefly dwell on the characteristic of dwellings that were used by representatives of the ethnic group during long–distance migrations for the foot grazing of horses - holomo, which is very indicative in terms of the issues under consideration. We can judge their design thanks to the preserved manuscript of the article "Ancient Yakut buildings (Holomo and balagan)" 1958-1959 by the famous Yakut artist and local historian M.M. Nosov. According to the data obtained by this researcher, "the holomo was built of thin poles placed obliquely so that the upper ends of the thin ends formed a small round hole for smoke, and the lower, thicker ones closed a round or square floor area, measuring two or more square fathoms, depending on the number of inhabitants of the dugout" ^[12]. The use of the latter definition is not accidental, since these structures were half buried in the ground and the entrance to them was carried out "through a special hole like a mole hole" ^[12]. Such a design was largely due to the peculiarity of the geographical conditions of Yakutia and the presence of "permafrost" here. If in summer this natural phenomenon gives off coolness, then in winter, on the contrary, it turns out to be a warmer object compared to the temperature of the outside air. This state of affairs made it possible to spend less effort and resources when heating holomo.

The original "method of cold upbringing of young animals" described by S.I. Nikolaev is also interesting. This cattle–breeding practice of the Yakuts was called sylgytytyy (oloshadivanie - yak.). In accordance with it, the young grazed in the meadows until the appearance of a stable snow cover, and in some cases even longer – then the herd was attached to the herd of horses and cattle had the opportunity to feed at the expense of the plots dug up during tebenevok. At the same time, the "educated" cattle were given additional top dressing from nearby hay stocks. The upbringing continued even after the introduction of the young into the haughton. Here he could use the cattle station only at night. As a result of such cryogenic effects, Yakut cattle grew long and fluffy hair and became more docile. By the 1940s, the use of silgytytys in Yakutia ceased due to the introduction of the Kholmogorsky and Simmental breeds less adapted to the cold, as well as problems with forage harvesting - cattle eat more hay in the cold than in the heat ^{[23, p. 116]}.

In certain cases, the moisture entering the soil due to the seasonal thawing of the "permafrost" was a necessary condition for the Yakuts to carry out agricultural fires in order to create meadow lands. There was such a need in the places where peat bogs spread. In such situations, the Yakuts were very careful before using pala and waited for a rainy summer. At the same time, the fall was carried out the following spring after, when "the remnants of winter permafrost were also added to the moisture" ^{[23, p. 10-11]}.

In the course of the study, we were able to record examples of the conscious influence of Yakuts on cryogenic processes when creating mowing grounds by lowering the lake. In the first case, in place of the planned drainage channel, with the onset of warm weather, all vegetation was cut down and turf was cut off. The Sun was "responsible" for the further deepening of the channel. Under its warming influence, the silty soils melted and settled. Another way to force the degradation of the "permafrost" to create a bridge between the descending lake and the river was to implement a forest fall arranged in the area of interest to the "vodoznattsev". Finally, in the third case, a "grandiose forest fire" was deliberately arranged on the territory located above the lakes that needed to be lowered. According to S.I. Nikolaev, the water that was formed as a result of the thawing of the permafrost, which occurred under the influence of high temperatures, overflowed the bowl of the upper lake. After that, "the water that came into motion destroyed the shores of all the lakes located below. So several lakes were released at one time. This method was called "lake descent by lake" or "water–by-water" (uunu -uunan)" ^{[23, p. 10]}.

The cold also played an important role in the descent of lakes in cases where it could have a danger to the lives of those digging the canal. In order to mitigate the risks due to a possible sharp flow of water, some channels were dug in the summer, but small bridges were left untouched. They were removed already with the onset of winter, preheating the frozen soils with bonfires ^{[23, p. 10]}.

The Yakuts also used cryogenic resources when organizing irrigation of their meadows. So, small dams on rivers were built in winter from improvised materials: clay and manure. The foundation of the dam was made of clay. The second material was applied fresh to all sides of the base, and also allowed to increase the height of the structure every day. At the same time, "frozen over the winter, it was considered the most reliable" ^{[23, p. 12]}.

Considering the fact that there are more than 700 thousand rivers and rivers in Yakutia, as well as more than 800 thousand lakes in the region, fishing could not fail to develop. This direction of economic activity, according to S.I. Boyakova, occupied a special place in the life support system of the Vilyui and northern Yakuts ^{[7, p. 153]}.

The appearance of an ice cover capable of withstanding the weight of an adult by November made possible the most famous method of collective winter fishing of Yakuts, which gained popularity under the name munkha (seine – yak.) ^{[5, p. 353]} (I.P. Soikkonen is referred to as kyttygas ^{[25, l. 206]} (companion, accomplice, partner – yak. ^{[4, p. 398]}), and at S.I. Nikolaev – kureh ^{[23, p. 232-233]} (paddock, race – yak. ^{[4, p. 103]})) and is now one of the ethnocultural brands of Yakutia. Along with its commercial significance, munkha was also a great winter holiday, a confirmation of "local corporatism on the eve of great cold weather, which excludes active interpersonal communication for a long time" ^{[8, p. 69]}. During the munha, the process of which was described in sufficient detail by R.K. Maak, lake fish were driven by fishing participants, whose number could reach several dozen people, into the seine. At the same time, the surface ice of the reservoir served not only as a kind of platform for the production of the necessary manipulations, but also was an organic element of the direct fishing process – with the help of blows with birch sticks on it, the fish was given the necessary direction of movement ^{[15, pp. 175-177]}. It is noteworthy that, comparing the methods of munkhi with those presented by R.K. Maak at the sunset of the Soviet era, F.M. Zykov noted "the amazing conservatism of objects and actions of this type of ice fishing" ^{[24, l. 202]}. It has undergone minimal changes in comparison with the modern era.

The work of S.I. Nikolaev also presents a description of the spring ice netting – tuona (tonya – yak.). The seine in it, according to the figurative comparison of the named researcher, played the same role as a sieve during the fishing of floating debris from a liquid. Hibernating crucians fell into the seine when it was dragged under the ice. To do this, two large polynyas were made: one for entering the seine, the other for pulling it out, as well as two lines of ice holes in the direction of movement of the fishing gear in order to drag it under the ice ^{[6, p. 128, 23, p. 234-235]}.

Another way of winter fishing was recorded by the priest A.I. Argentov, who served in Yakutia in the middle of the XIX century: "when the fish ... has already settled into winter quarters in the pits, they lower a bagulnik with a stone into the lake under the ice ... the Bagulnik wakes up the fish, which then rises from the pits to the people" ^{[21, l. 13 vol.]}.

Of course, considering the economic activity of the Yakuts, it is impossible to ignore hunting. According to the 1917 census, only in the Olekminsky, Yakutsky and Vilyuysky districts, 10547 people were engaged in the extraction of wild animals and birds, who had at their disposal more than 180 thousand different hunting devices and 15 thousand guns ^{[28, p. LI–LIII]}. Hunting also occupied an important place in the activities of the population of the Kolyma and Verkhoyansk districts, for which, unfortunately, there are no comparable data. However, the fact that at about the same time arctic fox skins were harvested in these districts, the cost of which was 30.2% of the total cost of furs purchased in Yakutia, gives a certain idea of the role of hunting in the life support system of the northern regions of the region ^[20].

In this regard, we note that an interesting and original way of hunting existed for the arctic fox. Rotten fish, the smell of which lured the animal, were buried in shallow pits, leaving vents. This was done so that the fish had time to freeze to the ground. There was also another option, in which the bait was placed on the ice of the reservoir and filled with water from an ice hole with an admixture of snow. Both described manipulations were carried out with one goal – to prevent the arctic fox from eating the fish too quickly. As a result, the animal did not leave the hunting area until it had eaten all the bait. Since several such grafts were made and, in addition to fish, animal giblets and game were also used in them, an increase in the concentration of arctic foxes was achieved in this way, which naturally facilitated their extraction by a hunter ^{[22, L. 574-575]}.

Another representative example of the importance of cryogenic resources for the population of Yakutia are the Kempendyai and Baginskoye salt deposits. Thus, P.L. Dravert, who conducted research on the Campsite at the beginning of the twentieth century, wrote about this: "with the establishment of the toboggan way, it (salt) in the amount of several thousand pounds was sent to salt shops in some points of the region" ^{[11, p. 23]}. 

It is the cold that plays a key role in the extraction of salt at these deposits. In this regard, another researcher who visited these places, R.K. Maak, gave a rather colorful allegory, comparing the conditions for obtaining this product in the Baginsky key with a factory frying pan on which salt is evaporated. Only in the case of the named deposit "frost acts instead of heat" ^{[14, p. 321]}. The participants of the Kempendyai exploration party of the Yakut complex expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences 1925-1930 G.E. Frishenfeld and I.S. Sharapov noted the following: "the industrial operation of the Kempendyai spring is carried out annually in May after the "salt scale" formed in the open pool at the spring under the influence of cold with spring heat is freed from ice, leaving salt in place which is then collected by shovels into barns as a completely finished product" ^{[26, l. 100]}.

The fact is that the Kempendyai and Bagin salt is not boiled, but self-seeding. In the process of obtaining a product from brine coming from salt springs in winter, under the influence of low temperatures, it crystallizes and settles by 25-40 centimeters. With the onset of heat, the crystals "turn into piles of ordinary table salt" ^{[14, p. 23]}.

In this regard, it seems curious that at the end of the 30s of the twentieth century, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR S.I. Volfkovich proposed using cold for industrial purposes to crystallize salts and thereby intensify the process of their production ^{[1, l. 1-26]}.

The scale of salt production at the Kempendyai deposit in the period considered in the chapter and, most importantly, the role of cold in it can be judged by the information given by the same G.E. Frishenfeld and I.S. Sharat: "In 1861-1870, the figures of salt production at the Kempendyai ranged from 4000-13000 pounds. In 1919-1928, they were already 27,000-74,000 pounds" ^{[26, l. 100 vol.-101]}. At the same time, this circumstance, in their opinion, was associated with an increase in the productivity of the source itself, due to colder winters in the last decade before the survey ^{[26, l. 101]}.  

Conclusion. Thus, the data presented above, it seems, convincingly testifies to the active and versatile nature of the use of cryogenic resources by the Yakuts in their traditional economic activities. Cold, snow, ice and "permafrost", as it was shown, have found application in cattle breeding and horse breeding, fishing and hunting, as well as in the organization of salt production. It is obvious that cryogenic resources were one of the important adaptation mechanisms of the Yakuts to the natural and geographical realities of the region.