Башкиры близки к природе ( на английском языке)

Муниципальное общеобразовательное бюджетное учреждение средняя общеобразовательная школа д. Кужанак муниципального района Зианчуринский район Республики Башкортостан.

Творческая работа

Янчуриной Наили, ученицы 7б класса  предоставляется для участия в научно-исследовательской конференции «Шаг в будущее».

Тема изучаемой проблемы:

«Bashkort people are close to the Nature».

Вид работы – информационно-проектно-исследовательский.

Руководитель: Тукумбетова

Фания Гаязовна

Contents

1. Why did I choose this problem?
2. Bashkorts and Nature.
3. Cattle – breading. Hunting and fishing.
4. Bashkort horses.
5. Festivities in the Nature.
6. The bashkort honey.
7. The National costumes.
8. Legends.
9. Songs.
10. Ecological experience of the past.

The theme of my research is “The Bashkort people are close to the Nature”  In this my work I tried to research that our people throughout the centuries live in the wild life, loved it, protected  it. And in other words, they were one of the parts of the environment. Everything around us makes up our environment. Air, water, land, soil, plants, animals and weather are our environment. We can’t exist without them. And, of course, the Bashkorts were one with nature. What things show that the  Bashkort are close to the Nature.

The bases of world comprehension as an indissoluble unity of Nature and man’s world are laid down in an old epic story about Ural – batyr. Ural – batyr is sprinkling water of life from Immortal Spring over Nature: “let the forest be green in a colour of Immortality, let birds sing clearly and sweetly, let people love this earth, let it be a fine, blooming garden …”. It is necessary to conserve love and protect the earth beauty and Nature. A blooming Nature full of birds’ songs is a source of life, Kindness, Truth and Beauty, a pledge of mankind immortality. At the dawn of the history Bashker people adopted these signifycant things.

A geographical area has an effect on an economic activity, material and spiritual culture of Bashkort people. The way of life, peculiarities of housing conditions, a national costume, food and national cuisines, art and crafts, a national geography, folklore, a musical culture, a mentality of Bashkort people have a seal of Nature. A bashkir cattle- breeder’s way of life is based on an adaptive lifesupport system. This system implies love for Nature, morally-aesthetic form of relation to Nature.

The Bashkorts as well as many nomadic   peoples   of  Eurasia   were spending about half of their life in temporary dwellings, the most ancient and the most universal kind of which was a tirmah, which was warm in hard frost, and protected from heat in summer.

The internal walls of the tirmah (air) were covered by large patterned fabrics, home-made carpets, woven and embroidered towels, celebratory clothes, hunting accessories, horse harness, and arms. Tirmah's spheric shape personified the cupola of the sky, its top opening was associated with the sun.

With the approach of spring the Bashkorts left their constant winter settlements  awyls, and went to steppes, forest glades, mountain valleys, river-banks and lakesides, and arranged temporary settlements consisting of portable dwellings there: tirmahs of felt, and huts of branches. It was the first seasonal spring settlement. They remained in their spring stopping places till the pastures were able to give sufficient forage for huge Bashkort herds -horses, sheep, and cows.

Secondly, the Bashkort were engaged in seminomadic cattle breeding, fishing and hunting, it being known that cattle breeding took a leading place. Horses prevailed in Bashkort herds. Bashkorts could freely roam from place to place de fended against invades and made raids on neighbouring tribes.

The horse gave  high-quality meat, which was known as a dietary product and as an effective cure for a number of diseases. It surpasses in caloricity and chemical structure the bird’s meat, pork and mutton.

The Bashkort kymythe is famous far outside Southern Ural, it is a high-calorific and medical drink produced from mare’s milk. Both common people and outstanding khans used it as a cure for different diseases. And not only the Bashkorts. «This drink, — wrote the great Russian poet and writer Alexander Pushkin, — is widely used by all mountain and nomadic tribes of Asia. It has a pleasant taste and is considered to be rather healthy».

The method of preparation of the kymythe was made secret and was transferred from generation to generation  only in the circle of the family. Those, who were trained to this work, were blinded.

From olden times the Bashkorts were engaged in agriculture. As many other semi-nomadic peoples, they were engaged in it as an addition to cattle breeding. The semi-nomadic cattle breeding, being a main kind of traditional household, determined their homecraft. Currying was widely spread among the Bashkorts, they made fur coats, water-skins, footwear, belts, pendants, sheaths, bow's covers, etc.

Thirdly, the Bashkorts were engaged in hunting. It gave them meat. But Bashkort people hunted only for fur – bearing animals and not for game – birds strictly regulated a bag necessary for keeping a normal life and they stopped hunting during the period of animal’s reproduction and rearing of the young. At the time of spawning they avoided of noisy works near rivers, watched for a renewal of grass at pastures, tried not to cut trees during havest time.

Our ancient ancestors learned to produce warm clothes using skins of animals. Ancient hunters used bones and fangs of bears, wolves and fangs of bears, wolves and pendants with images of foxes, deer as amulets to protect themselves from accidents.

Before going to hunt  a bashkir hunter performed ritual ceremonies, i.e. first of all he hunted in thoughts. As a part of Nature he absolutely depended on it and thus on successful hunt. Ancient “ornaments” and magic subjects(fangs of animals, beads) were the material embodiment of this idea. Collectors of berries and mushrooms – women and children – went on their craft with other thoughts: it was important for them to find berry places and avoid meeting wild animals, snakes. Female and children’s amulets contained images of berries, fruits and flowers.

The Earth is inhabited not only by human beings but by many other living beings, too. We can’t live without them. Human beings are part of the Earth together with wild nature.

Our homeland is rich in flora and fauna. Birds were the closest friends of our ancestors. Birds are one of the main attribute of the tribes. For example, the bird of the Uthargan tribe is a crane. Bashkorts held sacred such birds as a crow, a cuckoo, an eagle. There were prohibition to kill and eat the meat of such birds as a swan, a crane, an eagle, a falcon and an owl. The echo of bird’s cult can be traced back in a spring festivity “Kargabymkahy” (a crow festivity), habantuy, Nardugan and others.

Colourfully- dressed women, girls and children with a big pot set out for a festivity. Coloured dresses of women, unrestrained laughter, merriment, dances, different sport competitions were to wake a sleeping Nature up. Naked trees were decorated with colourful ribbons, beads, silver coins in order to have rich harvest, rain, lush grass, good breed and well-being in summer. Old women made porridge, young people sang and danced in a ring, played various games. After this entertainment the people were saying: «Crows! Eat porridge, let a new harvest be rich», —putting the left porridge on stones and stubs. Bashkir people fed totem birds, there was also a cuckoo tea festivity. The people had no confidence in this bird. Having flown, a cuckoo began crying, women and girls being, afraid of her cuckoo, got prepared for a festivity and watered by milk the tree where the cuckoo was sitting. Sometimes boys put eggs on the top of the tree and begged the bird for happiness and well- being. They sang songs about a cuckoo, danced like this bird. Grown-ups told different stories, legends to children. Contact with Nature had a spiritual and aesthetic influence on children. Having done their duty, people became quiet and had a feeling of harmony with Nature. Sensible ideas of bird-festivities were based on philosophical thoughts about an indissoluble union of Nature and mankind.

Inspite of hunting our ancestors were engaged in fishing. Rivers were full of fish, because they were not polluted. Rivers were so rich in fish, that children could catch them with their hands.

 The bashkir people were engaged in apiculture. Burzyanski honey is high appreciated. Undoubtedly, the bashkir honey is famous all over the world.

 Love for the Nature is reflected in art, songs, legends, fary-tales, costumes of Bashkorts. For example, the costume expressed the world outlook of ancient people. It is obvious that the Bashkir national costume had a cosmic structure consisting of three layers. The basic structural partitioning was similar to the world model, consisting of the upper, middle, and underground layers. Headdresses in this vertical system of the structure of the world made the upper world — the sky, stars, the sun, birds. The outer garments symbolized the universe, but there were no sharp borders between all three worlds. Ornaments with images of animals, birds, trees, bushes, flowers, rivers on dresses, shirts, aprons tell about it.

The underground world - the lower part of a dress and footwear was associated with the underground or underwater kingdom, a land of the dead. A foot wrap symbolized cerements. Iron metal plates, buckles were attached to the instep. They had a protective magic function.

The process of creation of a costume, as well as any sacral activity, imitated the process of creation of the world. In rituals of an antiquity the main idea was to eliminate the chaos and to establish the cosmic order, where every creature and thing had their own place. This basic representation of archaic world outlook was directly reflected in formation of the costume with the help of various symbols.

 Special attention in traditional clothes of men and women was paid to belts. They were richly decorated with metal buckles in the form of heads of animals and birds, jewels and silver plates with embossed ornament. They were also made of leather, metals, weaved of multi-coloured yarn with a certain magic quantity. The belt was especially important in a man's costume. Only boys and grey-haired old men could do without belts. Due to numerous finds of bronze and silver belt buckles and overlays in the form of birds' heads, horses or fantastic animals it is possible to judge that a leather belt was rather important for a soldier, therefore becoming more and more perfect to the extent of a piece of art in which the art of processing metal and leather was synthesized.

 What does the National Flag of the Republic of Bashkortostan stands for the clarity, virtue, and purity of the intentions of the republic`s peoples; the white one for their peaceful disposition, openness, readiness for mutual cooperation; the green one – for freedom, the eternity of  life. The kurai flower is a symbol of friendship, its seven petals.

 Folk-tales and legends are not only informative value of our people but also reflection their world outlook to the environment.

These legends commonly links with animals, plants, heavenly bodies and natural phenomena.

Here are some of them.

THE MILKY WAY

It happened a very long time ago. There were neither stars nor the Milky Way in the sky.

Cranes used to come to the Urals, to the valleys of the Hakmar and Aghidel from the south for the summer. In olden days people used to say that they came from the land called Hindustan.

One year when the cranes were flying to the warm lands, a gale and storm broke. Baby cranes began losing their way, some of them, growing weak, would drop on the ground. So the grown-up cranes, in order to show the way to the others, dropped some feathers. Those feathers turned into stars.

That's how the stars appeared along the path of the cranes' flight.

Now the cranes, which had fallen behind, could return by the stars. Those stars have become 'The Birds' Way' ever since.

SEVEN STARS

In ancient times the Earth was as small as a spoon, and the sky was as small as a bowl. Human race was growing, wild beasts became more numerous. The Earth was slowly expanding. It grew vast, and the vault of heaven widened.

At that time all the people used to eat from one cauldron. One day an Alyp  came, he picked up the cauldron and drained it. What was to be done? The people began to make another cauldron - more capacious. But it was necessary to make a larger scoop for the larger cauldron. The cauldron was cast of silver and the scoop was made of gold.

The Alyp came and tried lifting the cauldron. 'That will do,' he said and put it in its place. Then he took the gold scoop in his hand. 'This thing is too light,' he said and tossed it into the air. He was going to catch it but the scoop wasn't there: spinning round, it went up, reached the stars and remained there, among them.

Alyp's scoop still exists. It shines as seven stars: four stars are the scoop, three stars are its handle - altogether, seven. This Alyp's scoop is turning all the time: in the evening its mouth is above, by the morning its backbone comes upwards.

And so it happens day in day out.

THE GREAT BEAR

Long ago there lived a man who had seven daughters. All of them were beautiful, all were brave: they always kept together when they went out. Nobody could help admiring them, everybody was attracted by them.

One day the girls were walking by the foot of a mountain. The King of divs saw them and set off in pursuit of them. Immediately they ran up holding each other's hands, climbing to the top of the mountain. The div followed close behind them. It seemed that he would catch them soon. But at the last moment the girls, one by one jumped up soaring into the sky. The seven girls found themselves in seven places. They stood close to each other not to be separated. Having turned into seven stars they began to shine. Later they were called 'Yetegan Yondoth' -'The Seven Stars.'        

THE STAR ZEKHRA

A girl named Zekhra became an orphan when she was very young. She was always offended and beaten. Her step-mother even did not let her in the house, and the girl had to sleep outdoors, under everyone's feet. One night she was kidnapped by yens and pareys. They took her far away and told her to pour water into a barrel which was as big as the world.

“You’ve got to fill it before the dawn breaks”, they said, “or we shall take your life.” The girl fetched water again and again, but the barrel would not fill.

Hardly had the yellow hue of the dawn shown when the evil spirits arrived. Maiden Zekhra looked up at the Moon in the Sky and said with a moan:

“Oh, my Moon! Would you have me by your side! I grudge my life to these hideous creatures.”

The Moon came running down from the sky, took Zekhra and carried her away. Bringing her up, he put her to a vacant place by his side. That's how the star Zekhra appeared at the Moon's side, so people say.

The Bashkorts glorify Nature in songs. No matter what part of the land they might take their origin in, the subject matter of these songs is similar: the admiration of the landscapes' beauty and the worship of Nature. Thus the Nature itself, the earth and water, were perceived by our forefathers as a sacred abode and native home. Those, who were for some reason torn away from their homeland or suffered a disaster, grieved for it and longed to return ("The Hanaihary Hill", "The Aghithel", "The Uyil River"). For the lyrical hero of the songs Nature is a constant source of philosophical reflections on the surrounding world and everyday life, an unmatched spiritual power of support and a wonderful source of inspiration "The Hakmar", "The Dim Riverside".

 In the past annual Summer Nardugan «ecological» festivity of mercy and compassion upon Nature was an evidence of a high level of ecological development passed fiom generation to generation. This time (from June 25 to July 5) was a period of «a spare regime»: grown-ups and youngsters looked after Nature, there were strict prohibitions on hunting. In these days people cherished Nature: threw flowers into water with a hope of a good and kind summer. Summer is the time of a violent blooming and reproduction in Nature, flourishing of a vital power, splash of energy. It is the days of great harmony and reconciliation of a human being with Nature. Our ancestors realized that regular exhaustion of natural resources does harm to a human well-being. A spiritual and pedagogical potentiality of this festivity is great. Summer Nardugan demonstrates moral and humane relation to an environment The main idea of this festivity is that a man must retain Nature in the same state as he finds it. The way of thinking of our ancestors made for the character of the interrelation with an environment.

People believed that a rich harvest depended on a solicitous and careful attitude to Nature.

One of the spring festivities was a merry-making sabantuy. This spring festivity was celebrated before moving on a summer nomad camp. It was important time for Bashkirs: they waited for Nature's favour to have a good life. During short summer months they needed to summon up fresh energy, prepare dried food for winter, to fatten cattle and to get high and consistent harvests of millet and barley. People asked gods for well-being, peace and happiness, warmth and rain, a rich harvest and grass. Being confident in gaining god's favour people moved on to a summer nomad camp. Subsequently, ritual festivity was influenced by Islam. In the past Bashkir people had a custom of going out for having a rest close to Nature. On a sunny, warm day a well-dressed married couple set out by horses to Nature. House-keeping, every-day problems were left and this couple plunged into the world of Nature. It was a holiday of new feelings and power. These mass contacts with Nature helped to pass on spiritual values and ecological instructions to young generations.

Our ancestors realized that Nature was a keeper of culture and being. Spiritual wealth of people depended on Nature. Destruction of landscapes damages the roots of spirit and the future of Bashkir ethnicity. In programs of ecological education there should be paid more attention to wildlife and area conservation, forest - parks care, greenery planting purification of water, improvement of local area. The main duty of modern generations is the animal and plant world conservation, natural landscapes restoration, Nature protection.

Literature.

1. Азнагулов Р.Г., Аминева Ф.Х., Галлямов А.А. Родной Башкортостан. Уфа: Kитап, 2003.
2. Ishbirdin E.F. Bashkort Birds. Ufa: Kitap, 1988/
3. Kuzeev R. G. Studies of Historical Ethnography of the Bashkorts. Ufa, 1957.
4. Myrthabulatov M. Material Culture of the Bashkort People – “Vatandash”, № 1, 2002.
5. Rachkmatullina Z., Valliullina Z., Koulieva A. Ecological Experience of Bashkirs in Spiritual Formation of Modern Personality. – “Vatandash”,

     № 10, 2003.

Рецензия

на работу Янчуриной Наили по теме

 «Bashkort people are close to the Nature».

Янчурина Наиля, ученица 7б класса, проявляет большой интерес к английскому языку с пятого класса. Она победительница (I место) всероссийского конкурса (2006 г.) «Лучший проект» по учебникам «Мир английского языка», награждена дипломом и ценными подарками. Поэтому, я думаю, что у нее есть некоторый опыт работы в таком виде деятельности. Найля в своей работе «Башкиры близки к Природе» объемно, полно, многоаспектно рассматривает и исследует изучаемую проблему. Шаг за шагом обоснованно доказывает, тщательно анализирует и увлеченно описывает, как башкиры, являясь частью природы, бережно относились к своей родной земле, любили ее и восхваляли. В работе она придерживается всех этапов изложения материала: вступительная часть, основная и заключительная. Во вступительной части отвечает на вопрос, почему она выбрала эту тему. В основной части она разносторонне отражает исследуемую проблему. В этой части она показывает, что она имеет глубокие знания по данной теме, использует разнообразные источники: книги, учебники, газеты и журналы. Она хорошо владеет английским языком и грамотно излагает добытую информацию из источников и полученные сведения от бабушки, дедушки и других пожилых людей деревни. В заключительной части делает подробный анализ, подкрепляя свою мысль многочисленными примерами и картинками, связывая эту тему с экологическими проблемами сегодняшнего Башкортостана.

Наиля сама хорошо поет, хорошо знает фольклор нашего народа, любит народные песни – эта тема близка ей, поэтому она творчески отнеслась к освещению этой проблемы.

Рецензент:  Тукумбетова Фания Гаязовна,

                      учительница английского языка.