Краеведческий музей г. Комсомольска-на-Амуре (отдел этнографии). Виртуальная экскурсия

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! I invite you to visit the Komsomolsky local lore museum, which is only some years younger than our city. The beginning of the museum’s establishment was in the middle of the 30s. In 1939 it was given a status of the National Establishment of the ministry of culture.

Here you’ll get acquainted with the exposition, which was reconstructed in 2002. Only a part of collection is exhibited in the museum halls. The whole fund of the museum contains more than 50 thousand exhibits. Our excursion is an overview one. The goal of the excursion is to introduce you the history of Priamuriye.

The first period of history of human society in Lower Priamuriye is the ancient past. Ancient man is provided have been to existing on the Priamuriye land about 300,000 years ago. The evolution of Priamuriye human being in Priamuriye repeats the general evolutionary process. Look at the exposition. The ancient hunter lived in the caves, built of mammoth bones and tusks and animals skins. The center of the living was the hearth. In the showcase there are instruments, such as pointers, scrapers. Here are exhibited teeth and fragments of tusks of mammoth. The hunting and fishing farm became widespread in the epoch of Neolit. At that time a man invented a bow and arrows, domesticated a dog, improved the instruments of hunting and labor, the Far Eastern ceramic appeared. Look, its ornaments are different, there are spirals, cells, nets, snakes. It’s interesting to admit that the findings are small clay figurines.

In this slide you can see the exhibits connected with fishing. Fishing had been a big farm importance. In Priamuriye the developing of new metals, raw materials began. In the showcase you can see the exhibits of early iron period, when fishing and breeding on the Amur were developing. It’s an iron-farming instrument. In the showcase the things of the early middle age are exhibited. At that time the martial tribes moved on the Amur. The blend of coming tribes and aboriginals reduced to influence the appearance of contemporary native peoples such as Nanais, Ulchis, Nivhis, and Negidals.

The ancient Amur cultures became worldwide known in the 30s of the 20th century. The famous scientist Okladnikov and his followers were occupied the excavating in Priamuriye and cliff paintings of Sikachy-Aliena. Students of the history faculty conducted the archeological excavating. Nowadays it is continueing with participation of museum workers.

Nanai’s culture is similar to the culture of the other Priamuriye peoples. It is connected with the hunting and fishing. The name “Nanai” means the man of soil, they settled in the camp of nomads on the banks of the rivers and lakes. In the slide there is a panel depicting the Nanai’s habitation. It was like a dugout made of poles and clay and roofing grass and rind. This habitation was warmed by the hearth. Under the hearth there was a cadron, the smoke went through the chimney under the stove-couch and warmed the habitation. There are different household articles made of rind. The walls of the habitation were decorated with carpets. There was a cradle in the warmest part of the habitation. Each habitation was protected by the unique mascots. The life of the Nanais was closely connected with beliefs and rituals. For example, the spirit of fire was “Podya”, he was the first one to be fed. A nanai threw some gruel a bit of fish and vodka to the fire and said “Podya, please, eat”, then a nanai began eating himself. The Nanai’s religion was related with the spirits but only shamans could communicate with them. On the panel the moment of shaman’s witchcraft is depicted. Shaman was the main person in the camp of nomand. He cured, and decided important problems. Besides, he was the chief person in traditional rituals and his primary obligation was to see off the dead.

At the exposition the attributes of shaman are displayed. These are a tumbrel and a slap, shaman’s belt with pendants and the savans – shaman’s weepers. There are the things for burring with the deceased. This is the ritual doll “Panian”, the last receptacle of the soul.

The death, the birth and the wedding are very important rites in the life of every tribe. In the showcase there is the woman’s bridal dress. It consists of a dressing gown, a cap, an apron and a collar. The shape of clothing and ornaments also were the component parts of the traditional costume. The back of a wedding dressing gown was decorated with seals of a dragon and tribal trees. The apron was embroidered with tinkling pendants for frightening the evil spirit. The form of a wedding cap resembled a bird.

Everyday clothes of a nanai woman was colorfully decorated with ornaments and embroidery. Here you can see various women’s needlework, such as the purveyance for needlework, decorations of shells and beads. The threads are made of sinew of deer.

The man’s occupation was hunting and fishing. You can see the part of a man’s national costume and the instruments for hunting: a bow, a quiver with arrows, a spear and an arbalest.

When winter came, all hunters went to the taiga for a long time. They took a sledge, some dogs, ropes, and spears. The most valuable prey was the sable’s skins, it was valued both by Russian and Chinese merchants. The most widespread transport of Nanai was a canoe and a sledge.

But the main part of Nanai’s farming was fishing. The fish was used without scrapes. The meat was used for eating. The bones and internal organs were given to dogs. The skin was used for doing clothes and footwear. Here is a traditional dressing gown made of fish’s skin. It is decorated with symbolic ornament. You can also see the knives for treatment of the fish skins, the nets and the amulets.

Fishing was so popular among the Nanai that Chinese called them “the fishmen”.

Our excursion in the ethnographical section has come to the end. In other sections you can learn a lot of interesting things about flora, fauna and about the present day of our city and region. Thank you for attention. I hope you’d like to see all the expositions of our museum with your own eyes. You are always welcome to the museum!