Koryak national costume

From time immemorial, the Koryaks have lived on the territory of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Nomadic tundra tribes were engaged in large-scale reindeer herding, sedentary coastal settlers hunted and fished, collected berries and roots, and went out to sea to hunt animals.

For the Koryaks, deer and wild fur-bearing animals caught in hunting were not only food, but also served as covering material for yarangs, for sewing clothes and shoes. Women did sewing and embroidery, and men made walrus jewelry, carved figures from bone, and worked with metal, wood, and stone.. It is these elements that serve as the idea for the Koryak folk costume.

Types of traditional Koryak costumes

To live in harsh conditions, the Koryaks had winter and summer clothing. The cut of all the suits was closed; they were worn over the head. In the cold season, reindeer herders and hunters were warmed by a double layer, and in the warm season by a single layer. The starting material for sewing was deer skin. All details were made of fur or rovduga (suede made from deerskin). Sedentary coastal residents used, in addition to reindeer skins, also the skins of sea creatures.

The male costume of a chavchuven (Koryak reindeer herder) consisted of the following parts:

• kukhlyanka - a long-brimmed shirt (coat) with a bib and hood;
• konaity—pants;
• malakhai – headdress;
• torbasa – fur or fur shoes;
• Kamleika – a wide shirt made of rovduga or fabric;
• lilith - mittens.

Women's attire is similar to men's:

• overalls;
• kukhlyanka or eiderdown (long shirt with an inner layer of fur);
• torso;
• Lilith.

What does the national costume look like?

Winter and summer national costumes are similar in cut and decorative elements, but there are differences. For the cold season, clothing was made from deer skin, complemented by details from the skins of fur-bearing animals. The summer outfit was made mainly from fabrics; fringe, bead embroidery and beads were traditionally used in decoration.

The national costume consisted of a kamleika (deer fur shirt), a kukhlyanka, and torbas. Men wore trousers, and women wore overalls with knee-length trousers.

Cloth

The men's kamleika was worn over the kukhlyanka; it protected from precipitation and bad weather. Kamleika could be not only fur, but also woven or woven. The latter was worn in the summer. Outerwear, which was previously smoked and treated with urine, protected well from the rain.

Reindeer skin or kamus (fur from the shin of an animal) was used for sewing outer trousers, and rovduga or leather from the old covering of the yaranga was suitable for lower or summer ones. For the coastal Koryaks, the material for trousers was seal skins. Hunters went hunting in them.In winter, men and women hid their hands in mittens (lilit), consisting of one or two layers of fur or reindeer kamus.

Important! The men did not wear anything under their fur clothes, only some coastal residents wore fabric shirts bought from Russian settlers.

Women in difficult weather conditions of Kamchatka wore overalls. They were sewn to knee length from thin skins of young animals. The summer version was made of skin or rovduga, well smoked to protect against precipitation and insects. On top of the overalls they put on a kukhlyanka - from one or two layers - like a man's one. The rest of the time they wore a long eiderdown with the fur turned inward.

Koryak shoes

National shoes of the Koryaks - torbasa. Options for men's shoes for winter and summer were made the same way, differing only in length - knee-length or ankle-length - and the material for sewing. Features of the manufacture of the torso:

• for warm torsos, they used an inverted camus;
• Summer shoes were made from the skin of seal, seal, dog, rovduga or waterproof smoked deer skin, on which the lint was removed;
• the sole was cut from bearded seal skin, walrus skin, deer brushes (long-haired deer skin over the animal's hooves);
• women's shoes were made from the same materials, had the same cut, but were additionally decorated with appliqués made of white dog skin.

Hats

Koryak men wore fur malakhai at any time of the year, sewn like a bonnet with earmuffs. A fringe of otter or dog was sewn in front. The cut of the malakhai suggested, if necessary, deaf closing of the forehead and ears.

Women usually left their heads uncovered if the weather permitted.In cold weather, the hood was used as a headdress, and the wives of nomads in the tundra used men's malakhai when driving cattle. Settled women borrowed a scarf from the Russian population for their wardrobe.

What do children wear?

The small child was dressed in overalls with a hood. Until he could walk, the sleeves and legs remained sewn up, and a layer of one of the types of moss was placed in the overalls, which served as a diaper and had an antiseptic effect. The grown child walked in shoes sewn to the legs of the overalls.

Children's clothing, similar to adult clothing, was single or double at different times of the year. By the age of 5–6, the child began to dress according to gender: boys in men's suits, girls in women's suits.

Folk costume decorations

The Koryaks sewed the fur of a dog, fox, wolverine, or wolf onto a kukhlyanka or kamleika as an edge, which not only significantly insulated it, but, above all, served as a decorative frame for the outfit.

Important! The Koryak winter suit has a characteristic feature - a patterned border on the hem - opuvan, which was made from darker shades of deer fur and decorated with ornaments made of beads and beads.

The front and back parts of the kukhlyanka, gagagli and kamleika were also embroidered with patterns and complemented with thin fringed straps, beads, and dyed pieces of dog hair and seal fur. For the holiday, the outfit was always complemented with bracelets, earrings, pendants, pendants made of old silver and copper. Both men and women wore decorations in the form of a bandage or ribbon around their heads.

Funeral clothing

Of particular note is the Koryak clothing in which he went to the other world.This outfit was sewn over several Kamchatka winters and still had to remain unfinished so that the death of the owner would not be premature.

The hem of the kukhlyanka and the hood remained without edges as long as the owner was alive. The shoes were also not finished: the sole was missing. All this had to be completed while the deceased was in the home. Sleeping before the burial was not allowed, but to hastily sew everything together with large crooked stitches - as was customary - this was the right time.

White tones predominated in funeral clothing; it could only be sewn from white deer. Black color was used only on the widow's scarf. Men were usually sent to the funeral pyre wearing a kukhlyanka, trousers, a headdress, mittens and shoes. Women were dressed the same way, except for pants.

The decor of such shirts is very interesting and complex. A stripe embroidered with a geometric pattern and wolverine fur decorated the hem of the jacket, the hood, the headdress, and the sleeves. They decorated clothes with various tassels, fringes, and pieces of dog fur. The inner layer of the kukhlyanka was painted red.

When dressing the deceased on his last journey, parts of the costume were put on in an unusual way, for example, the headdress could sit crookedly on the head, and the mittens - right and left - were swapped in places and put on different hands. In this form, the deceased was sent to the funeral pyre, which was built from dwarf cedar.

Clothes for national dances

On holidays, the Koryaks always wore the best clothes they had.. For dancing, women dressed in kamleika with national ornaments, a headdress in the form of a bandage, embroidered with beads, with long tassels, bright earrings made of beads, sometimes up to the shoulders, and shoes made of deer kamus. The men's attire was identical, only the head decorations were more laconic, in the form of a beaded ribbon.