Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-05
FINEST REPUBLIC
REVEALED IN ASIA
Customs of Tannu-Tuva, Be-
tween Mongolia and Siberia,
Told for First Time.

Somewhere between the deep ST.
beran forests and the vast Monaghan
desert" the Russian government is re-
ported to have created the worlds
tiniest epublc-TannuTuv
'Tannu-Tuva lies in the valley just
north of the Tannu Mountains and
southwest of 1rkutsk, where the
Uriankhai Tor forest dWellerS) have
long roamed in splendid isolation,
seldom seen by any one except few
traders and agents of the Russian
government" says bulletin from the
National Geographic Society.
Reindeer Is Food.
"The Jrriankhai resemble the round
faced slant eyed Mongolians to the
south and east of them, but lack the
aggressiveness of their Oriental neigh
hors. Hidden away in their valley
domain. they exc out a lazy today
existence with their deer herds The
animals are tame and require little
attention. AS a result, the Uriankhai
spends most of his time lounging
about hi tepee. Often as many as
500 deer will be seen around a tribal
camp of 20 to 80 tepees. They Craze
all day and at nightfall not only re-
turn to the camp. but to the tepee of
their individual owners. Only the off
spring has to be given special care
and the women do that.
Deer milk, deer meat and tender
roots are the principal foods of the
Urankhai and for clothing they wear
deer skins. When they go hunting
they use the deer for transportation
and the fieet-footed animal is even
charged with responsibility for Uri-
ankhai intoxicating liquors. Spirits
are crudely distilled from fermented
deer milk.
when the women are not busy
with the herd. they dress hides With
the aid of deer milk and a wooden
comb, they work the skins until they
become as soft and fine as if tanned
by modern methods. The tepees are
usually full of skins ready to he made
into clothing, and other skins for
mats, harness and for trading.
Modern 'flappers' would envy the
Uriankhai Winter dress, when the
tribesmen and women are entirely
clothed in furs. Sable, lynx and roe
deer cover the Uriankhai's body, while
their boots are usually of roe deer or
musk deer. The cone-shaped hats of
the natives are made of black astra.
khan turned inside out and covered
with colored cloth. a leather belt
from which hang a Russian knife and
a Chinese pipe complete the Uriank.
hal outfit. The young girls dress like
the men. but the married women wear
longer and looser garments In the
Summer they don loose-fitting gar
ments of blue cloth acquired from
Chinese traders.
Trade Furs for Luxuries.
Perhaps few nomad tribes move as
little as the Uriankhai. Only twice
year they roll up the bark tepee
covers and seek new camping
grounds. Their wanderings are al
the convenience of their reindeer
! herds In the Summer the valley
| forests become too hot. so the tribes
men seek higher ground.
Unlike most nomad peoples. the
| Uriankhai have no enemies because
| the natural difficulties of their valley
have kept them almost untouched by
| outside influence
In the Autumn, while the women
break camp and move back into the
valley, the men hunt for hides for the
Winter trading season. From the
Russians and Chinese they get tea
| sugar, wheat flour, tobacco. snuff and
| other Injuries. Sometimes a few
weeks of hunting will net enough mar
ten, fox, roe deer. glutton and snow
leopard hides to buy years supply