New Britain herald., 1927-10-21
OSTYAK RACE IS
 PECULIAR TYPE
Different From Other People
 Living in Siberia

washington. D. C., Oct. 21-Far north radio operators report recep- uon of Station Aurora Borealis. And according to the Listeners in" at
 l'eresov, Tobolsll Province, Siberia, station A. B.'s program is melo- dlous. even if the less imagaative might merely call it Interference"
 Bereosv is an isolated town of wooden huts, native dugouts, and g. 900 inha plants on the Sosva river about 1o0 miles east of the ural mountains and about as far south Of the arctic circle as the southern coast Of Iceland. says a bulletin from the Washington, D. c. head quarters of the National Geographic Society. Tobolsk. the nearest size able town, and Saitkova, the nearest station of the trans Siberian rail- way, are about 400 miles south of the village.
 Land of the Ostyaks.
 While many Russians inhabt l Beresov it is in the land of the | Ostyaks, q race Of people whose 1 long heads, thick lips. round faces, protruding check bones. dark mar i row eyes, smooth black hair, and | yallowsray skin, are in sharp con l 'rast to the features of their Euro l poan neighbors just across the Urol | range.
 The Ostyaks are divided into l small clans, each clan usually repre- senting q family. In the winter they l remain in and near the villages but l summer time finds them in the fields in their tents of birch bark ! and dearSkin.
 Few of the clansmon can read or write and figures are almost uu- known to them. The notChos on a stick are to tho NStyall what the beads on q cou'irg board are "a 'hinaman. X fathom is measured | by the distance between the finger tips Of outstrntched arms. Timo is measured hy the interval it takes for 3 pot of q certain size to boil
 Children Forced to smoke
 N"dicin" men and pagan priests held sway oNcr the pStyaks hf for" the Russians conquered them. Now many arc Christians CRuSsian or lholov) and Moslems However. the clansm"n still retain some of their old custon In many of the huts clan images carved out of wood and raily painted. ar" still to hn seen. Bleeding the sick is still favorite cure--all and some clans insist that their children smoke tobacco 10 prevent sore throa's and lung in fections
 The bear has always been held sacred by the Ostyaks. When they kill one. the clansmon apologize 10 the carcass for several days. They insist the blame for taking inc bears life is not theirs. but the Russians who sold them the guns, To swear by the paNhons Of bear Is as sacred as swearing on the Bible in a Christian country. For three years after the death of 8 clansmen an image of the deceased is dressed and undressed. set up to the table, and put to bed as if living thing. Then 1t Is buried with the remains Were Once Well Organized Race.
 Good Ostyak wives are luXuries and the clansmen often have more than one. An ardent swain might for the girl Of his choice. If he is not matrimonial diplomat. he hires q professional go-betw>en 10 bargain with the prospective brides parents After the ceremony. the hrij' settles down to her job of talk ing crre of the home. and the rein d".r '"rl too. if her husband is for :tn enough 10 have one. In hor spare time she makes fin" em- hrolrry on liner. made of flax and hemp which she raises. some of the men arc skilled in wood and bone carving.
 ostyaks seldom grow taller than 5 feet inches. In the winter inc numerous layers of deerskiu cloth- ing make them nearly as broad as they are tall The reindeer is not only the chief source of clothing but also the chief means of Osyak tr1nsnortation. And raw reindeer meat is ont of their principal foods. Corn meal boiled with fish bones, and entrais of fish. soaked in oil, | are OStyak delicacics.
 ola forts in the Beresov region recall the days when the OStyaks were q well organized races that for many years stavcd off Russian az grCSSiOn in western Siberia. Since thcy were cou01Ierrd the race has disintcrgratci and through trade and int"rmarriaG with the Russians their language is rapidly disappear ing.
 
 some eXperimcntcrs Of the Near