Preserving the Khanty Way of Life

Dec 13, 2017 - 04:54 pm

The Kazamkiny family lives in the Varyogan village in the Nizhnevartovsk region. There are only five Khanty families in this area. They own two homes in the village, and the children attend the local school. But the family spends most of its time in campsites across the taiga. Vitaly, the 46-year-old head of the family, runs a small business providing accommodation for travelers. Fyodor Telkov

The Khanty know the laws of the taiga well. This is where they’ve spent their entire lives, and their ancestors before them. They can easily predict the weather by looking at the night sky, read animal tracks and have a sixth sense for interpreting the behavior of animals and fish. Fyodor Telkov

To the Khanty, the bear is a sacred animal. If a hunter kills a bear, they throw a party in the animal’s honor to reconcile its soul with the hunter. The bear’s bones are stored in a special small hut, which also has a sacred status. Fyodor Telkov

Yekaterina Konstantinovna Kazamkina, Khanty, born in 1955, Elk Clan. Educating children, cooking, harvesting firewood and sewing clothes are among the many activities women are tasked with. Fyodor Telkov

For the Khanty, hunting is not a form of amusement or relaxation. It is their sole way of acquiring food, and they never leave their home without a rifle. Although they’re always on the hunt, the Khanty are careful to make sure that the game population stays constant. Otherwise, tomorrow there may be nothing to eat. Fyodor Telkov

The Khanty have preserved all the religious beliefs of their ancestors but are reluctant to speak about them — it is considered a deeply personal realm. Many are still haunted by the horrors of the Soviet era when many shamans were punished for their “heresy.” Fyodor Telkov

Maxim Vitalyevich Kazamkin, Khanty, born in 1996, Bear Clan. Most Khanty who follow a traditional way of life assume the roles of ecologists and forest rangers out of necessity. They protect the forest and clean up after careless tourists, workers and amateur hunters. The labaz is a small hut that stands on tall stilts in order to prevent wild animals from getting in. This is where the Khanty keep their clothes, utensils, meat and other goods. The space surrounding the labaz is considered sacred and nobody is allowed near it after sunset. You might recognize it from Russian folklore: The hut on chicken legs where the Baba Yaga witch lives. Fyodor Telkov

A typical Khanty hut is made out of logs and has a low doorway, a common room, storage room, two windows and bunks. Before, the roofs of such huts were covered in moss. Nomads would live in chums (tents), which would be covered with deerskins in the winter, and birch bark in the summer. Now accommodating such a lifestyle is too laborious and expensive. Fyodor Telkov

The Khanty-Mansiisk autonomous district has existed since 1931.

The bulk of the indigenous population currently lives in villages built by the authorities with the intention of replacing Soviet-era settlement camps. Many younger members of the community have turned their backs on their native culture in order to try to gain a foothold in the modern world.

But some people have stuck to their roots, adjusting their traditional way of life to modernity by incorporating activities such as ethno-tourism.

Fyodor Telkov, a photographer from Yekaterinburg, documented the everyday life of a Khanty family. You can follow Fyodor on Instagram here.