Lidiia Chechulina comments on a Kukhlianka (I A 2911

00:00-3:25

„These are summer hides, taken from reindeer in July, as they have already started growing hair after the spring molt. The fur mosaic is made from the hides of reindeer legs. And fabric threads were apparently already available in trade, as some of the ornaments are made from such threads that they had embroidered onto leather. The hood is decorated with a mosaic of reindeer leg fur.

This is a double kukhlianka: the inner side has the fur facing inward, while the outer side has the fur facing outward. Certain embroidery is made from parts of the throats of marine animals, from reindeer mane hairs, and from dyed squirrel furs. Other patterns are made from fish skin or from smoked leather.

This kukhlianka likely dates from the 1920s, as artificial (traded) threads and colored twine were already available at that time, you see? The ornaments are made in the style of the coastal Korjaks (Aliutors). Therefore, this kukhlianka either comes from a woman from the Aliutor area or from a woman from the Vyvenka region.“ (Subtitles ☸︎ + cc)

Recorded during a seminar at the Foundation of Siberian Cultures by Erich Kasten. Fürstenberg/Havel, 2020.