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Mongolia

Mongolia Establishes Support Program for Reindeer Herders

After four years of lobbying the Mongolian government to recognize the threats facing the indigenous nomadic Dukha reindeer herders, Cultural Survival’s Totem Project has achieved a significant victory. Project director Dan Plumley reports that in November the government established a Program to Improve the Life Standards of the Reindeer Herding Citizens and Reindeer Farming, a three-year, $300,000 commitment that will address most of the Dukha’s essential demands for support and services.

Protecting Archaeological Sites for Mongolian Nomads

Climbing to the top of Baga Gazrin Uul you look out over an expanse of land uninterrupted as far as the eye can see. The only breaks in these plains are the small tent structures or gers used by the nomads of Mongolia. In a country where the population density is one of the lowest in the world, the ger will appear as a white speck on the open landscape.

Dukha Meet With Mongolian Government—Totem Peoples’ Preservation Project

A delegation of six Dukha (Tuvan) reindeer herders met in June with Mongolian government officials in Ulan Bator to speak about their culture and the challenges their people face for survival. It was the first time a group of Dukha had ever met with the Mongolian government.

Siberians Visit The Six Nations Indian Museum

On Friday, October 8, 1999, the Six Nations Museum in upstate New York had the unique pleasure of being visited by fourteen Mongolian people from the Republic of Buryatia in Russian Siberia.

Buryatia is located in central Asia and is about the size of Germany. On the north west edge of the republic is Lake Baikal, the largest lake in the world, holding about one-fifth of the world's fresh water supply.

Culture on the Line

In the mountainous region around the border between Siberia and Mongolia, time, politics, and boundaries have mixed to give indigenous peoples a new lease on life and new threats to their traditions.

Come Together: Dukha Participate in World Reindeer Herding Conference with Totem Project Support

Diverse reindeer herder cultures span nearly a dozen countries in the northern-most regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. For the last three years, they have come together in Yakutia, Russia, for the International Reindeer Herders Congress to exchange information and increase cooperation on initiatives that effect their livelihoods. In March, Cultural Survival’s Totem Peoples Preservation Project sponsored the congress’ first delegation of Dukha from Mongolia.

Totem Project Research and Vitamin Program Work Toward Improving Dukha Nutrition

It may be easy to see the gaps in the Western health care needs of rural indigenous communities, but finding ways to address health concerns with traditional practices that have been lost is much more challenging. A new health program operated by Cultural Survival’s Totem Peoples Preservation Project seeks to help the Dukha reindeer herders of Mongolia meet their nutrition needs with both old ways and new.

Totem Project Summer Expedition Gains International Attention for Dukha

This summer Dan Plumley, coordinator of Cultural Survival’s Totem Peoples Preservation Project in Mongolia and Siberia, led a 14-member field expedition team to northern Mongolia, where the group delivered veterinary medical supplies to the Dukja (Tsaatan) reindeer herders.

Coming Together:Buryat and Mongolian Healers Meet in Post-Soviet Reality

In late afternoon in June 1996, Lake Baikal was blue-gray and wavy, still too cool for swimming. Men, women, and young boys were unloading a boatload of fish onto shore in a huge net, and then tossing them into a truck. Buryat and Mongolian shamans, as well as academics from around the world, had gathered in the Baikal region for a conference on Central Asian shamanism. It had been a good day for fishing and a good day for purification ceremonies to the spirits of nature—the air was warm and the sun had shone all day.

White Banner of Hope: Collaboration Needed to Promote Peace, Sustainability and Cultural Survival

People across the transborder region of the western and eastern Sayan Mountains recognize the sacred white banner (called tsagan hadag in Buryat-Mongolian) as a symbol of welcome, sincerity, purity, friendship, and hospitality. Perhaps a sacred white banner, held high by the antlers of a proud reindeer or the branches of the sacred fir tree, can therefore symbolize the friendship and commitment of Russia and Mongolia as they partner with the international community to ensure the sustainability of the last nomadic reindeer-herding peoples in the Sayan Cross.

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