Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-04-15
SIBERIA HOME
OF MANY TRIBES
Descendants of Mongolian In
vaderS of the Thirteenth
Century

| Correspondence of The Associated Press
Omsk, Siberia. Feb. 12.-Siberia,
which has forced the world atten-
ton, by reason of the important
political events there, includes all the
Asiatic possessions of Russia with
the exception of the trans-Caspian
and trans-Caucasian regions and the
government general of Turkestan
whose capital, Tashkent, was cap
tured by the Bolsheviki and whose
American vice-consul. Roger {.
Tredwell. was arrested and left to!
languish in prison.
Since (the Mongolian invasion III
the thirteenth century,, Siberia mas
been the home of many tribes, de-
scended from that race. To the Tor
eiCner the Tartars are perhaps the
most interesting. Their great center
is Kazan though the national Tartar
council. which like Ukraine and
other regions of Russia, seeks the
developments of its national asplra-
tions." is now located at PetropaV-
lovsk. not far from Omsk. This is on
account of Bolsheviki terrorism.
Many TaTtars
The Tartars are true followers OF
Mahomet and their mosques are
found in almost every city. They
are estimated to number 100000 III
the districts of Kazdn and Crlmea'
They are keen seekers after educa-
tion and many Tartar boys and girls
receive lessons in French, English
and German from foreign instructors
in places like Kazan, Samara ana
Ufa. The last two OF these places
were occupied several months ago
by the Bolshevikt armies. The Tar
tars have an oval face, black eyes
placed obliquely, and their skin is
brown. Their costume is unusual, the
DISTINGUISHING feature being their
coiffure over which Is worn tight
fitting calotte, or skull cap.
A considerable number of Tartars
live in the Altai mountains on the
frontier of China. They are still
nomads and given over to idolatry.
Many of them worship the sun.
The people of the Mongolian race
inhabiting Russia, either European
or Siberian, should be generally di-
vided into groups. The Finnish group
includes Firms, Esthonians, MordVa
and Cheremises. The Tartar group is
composed of Tartars, and smaller
tribal peoples.
The Kirghis Tribe
An important nomadic Monaghan
! tribe is the Kirghis who live in the
steppe regions of Akmolinsk and
Semipalatinsk. They aggregate more
than a million of both sexes, speak
Turkish dialect and are devout
| Mussulmans. They are chiefly cattle
raisers.
| The Iakouts inhabit the region of
| Irkutsk, near Lake Baikal. and speak
a language principally Turkish but
partly Mongolian. They are idola-
| trous and live by the hunt and by the
raising of cattle.
In the province of Tobolsk, and
generally in the north. even up to
the Arctic ocean, are found the Vo-
guls and the Ostiacks. They descend
| from ancient Finnish branch. AL
though in principle converted to
Christianity, they have no real idea
| of the Christian religion and, as in
ancient times, practice Chamanism,
! the religion of their ancestors. Still
other tribes are the Teleouts on the
plateaus of the Altais, the Buriats in
| the transit -Baikal district, the Man
chue in the Amur, and the Samoyedes
| on the Arctic borders where they
engage in the raising of reindeer.
| In the large cities like Harbin,
! Irkutsk and Omsk, Americans are
struck by the large number of Bu-
riats and Tartars who are drivers of
public droskies. They seem to speak
| the Russian language indifferently
and apparently hardly know the
the street sand different quarters of
| the city. They are distinctly Mongo-
liam in type and have fiat noses.
The present population of Siberia
! is estimated at ten million, as against
total Russian population of per-
hans 1S0 900 900 Despite the numer-
| Gus races and tribes mentioned above
the population of Siberia is mainly
: Russian, formed of peasants who
migrated from European Russia
when Siberia was reconquered and to
some extent of the descendants of
the unhappy people who were exiled
to the frigid zone for political con-
spiracies and crimes.