The Role of Hunting in the Subsistence System of the Kazakh (ХІХth – early ХХ th Centuries)

Abstract

Man uses the resources of the environment for life support. Adapting to climatic conditions, it forms its own types of economy and corresponding culture. The Kazakh people, along with the main economy – cattle breeding, was able to establish in the subsistence system the oldest type of craft – hunting. Thus, in harmony with nature, hunting with hunting birds and tazy (тазы) effectively used the ecosystem. This article examines the role of hunting in the traditional establish system of Kazakhs and its place in the material (clothing, food, utensils) and spiritual (folk knowledge, folk medicine, oral art) culture of the XIX- beginning XX century. The source base of the research was made up of archival documents, periodicals, works of Russian researchers and materials of field expeditions. Methodologically it is based on the theories and concepts of foreign and domestic researchers. An attempt is made to identify the role of hunting as an auxiliary economy, to analyze the impact of the colonial policy of the tsarist empire on the culture of the livelihood of the Kazakhs and on the development of hunting. The author characterizes the loss of the essence of traditional hunting, the reasons for the transformation of hunting, its transformation by impoverished people into wild hunting and a source of trade. The article defines the place of traditional hunting of the Kazakhs, which, as an integral part of the subsistence system of the people, satisfied the needs of the population in the period under review. Key words: subsistence system, hunting, environment, Kazakh society, nomadic economy, products, material and spiritual culture.