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Games

In spite of the universal education that the state provides to children, the role of domestic education remains important for what Kalmyks call 'growing up to be a Kalmyk' which prepares children for adult life in society. Folklore, beliefs, practices related to pastoralism and hunting, and many other kinds of knowledge are taught in the family environment through various games. Games, however, are not exclusive to children. For adults, games also bear educational, entertaining, aesthetic, and bonding significance. Many traditional games reinforce social norms and values.

Dramatic social, cultural, and economic changes that took place in Kalmykia over the past century, however, have reshaped and re-prioritised many aspects of traditional domestic education as well as social values, which can also be seen in the changing pattern of games. This video collection hosts stories about traditional games that are rapidly losing their popularity and educational significance.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 32
  • ItemOpen Access
    Sergei Olzeev, About games in Siberia and my friend Misha
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-03-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Sandzhiev, Artur; Churyumov, Anton
  • ItemOpen Access
    Petr Tazaev, Kalmyk wrestling
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-02-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Bembeev, Aleksandr; Sandzhiev, Artur
  • ItemOpen Access
    Petr Tazaev, About children's games
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-02-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Bembeev, Aleksandr; Sandzhiev, Artur
  • ItemOpen Access
    Khongor Bryugidikov, About Tseren Balzanov
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2017-07-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Terbish, Baasanjav
  • ItemOpen Access
    Kheecha Sandzhiev, About games in Siberia
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2017-11-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Koldaev, Tseren; Korneev, Gennadiy; Bembeev, Aleksandr
  • ItemOpen Access
    Galina Erdneeva, About games and toys
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2017-10-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Korneev, Gennadiy; Bembeev, Aleksandr; Bembeev, Aleksandr
  • ItemOpen Access
    Evgeniy Dzhokhaev, Sanal Ochirov, Archery
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2016-02-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Babaev, Andrei; Kovaeva, Bair; Ubushieva, Bamba; Gedeeva, Darina
  • ItemOpen Access
    Bembya Lidzhiev, About games
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-10-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Churyumov, Anton
  • ItemOpen Access
    Yuriy Sangadzhiev, Ankle bones
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2017-10-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Koldaev, Tseren; Koldaev, Tseren
  • ItemOpen Access
    Vasiliy Sukhotaev, Kalmyk games
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-08-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Churyumov, Anton; Sandzhiev, Artur
  • ItemOpen Access
    Tatyana Lidzhieva, About Kalmyk wrestling
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2017-07-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Terbish, Baasanjav
  • ItemOpen Access
    Sergei Olzeev, Children's games and toys before WW Two
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-03-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Sandzhiev, Artur; Churyumov, Anton
  • ItemOpen Access
    Andrei Boskhomdzhiev, a Kalmyk game
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2017-11-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Korneev, Gennadiy; Bembeev, Aleksandr; Bembeev, Aleksandr
  • ItemOpen Access
    Maria Beltsikova, Games with ankle bones
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2017-12-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Churyumov, Anton
    Maria says that in her childhood she played various games involving animal ankle bones. Each side of an ankle bone has a name: alts, takh, bek, chokh. One game involves knocking out small ankle bones from the row with larger ones. Children throw an ankle like a dice to determine who moves first.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Ivan Ulyumdzhiev, About Children's Games and Sheep’s Bones
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2017-08-01) Terbish, Baasanjav; Korneev, Gennadiy; Churyumov, Anton
    Ivan says that in his childhood he played with ankle bones. Boys also played by ramming each other with their foreheads. In the past, sheep were killed for food only after it reached 5 years of age. The 25th bone in the vertebra of the sheep was used to play a special game.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Sangadzhi-Garya Dzhekiev, About Children's Games
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2019-03-14) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Sandzhiev, Artur
    Sangadzhi-Garya talks about games that children played in his childhood. He reminisces: When we were small, we played a catch-up game. Holding each other’s hands, we used to run around the tent. Also, we played with a ball made from white wool. People played this game in the evening. The rule was: whoever found the ball in the dark, that person won. People also played with balls made from horse hair. We often played with ankle bones. There were no other toys.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Ksenia Kardonova, About Children's Games
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-06-06) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Bembeev, Aleksandr
    Ksenia: In childhood we played a lot. I had male and female dolls, I sewed clothes for them, fed them and played weddings. Interestingly, we distinguished them by khoton, this is our khoton, that is yours and we visited each other. We played how our parents lived, we imitated them. Also, we played hide-and-seek and racing. There was a game called Tsagan monda (white ball). In the evening we would make a ball out of rags. At dusk or at night someone would throw it and we would search for it. The one who found the ball was the winner, and then the winner throws the ball. We also played ‘lapta’. These games have been forgotten now. In Siberia we played hopscotch. We also made dolls out of old pieces of fabric. We made doll’s hair using threads, tied a shawl on its head and painted its face. We sewed dresses and skirts for the them. My doll had many dresses. I used to sew doll clothes until the twilight. We gave names to our dolls. Our dolls had parents and siblings. This is how we played.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Ivan Mengleev, About Children's Games
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-08-21) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Sandzhiev, Artur
    Ivan talks about a game with ankle bones and explains how to make playing balls from cow’s hair: Ankle bones are smooth on one side, and not so on the other. In the past, to dye them red, people boiled a herb called ‘goose feet’ and put ankle bones into the water. One ankle bone was chosen, and it was ground flat on a stone. Then a small hole was made inside it which was filled with lead to make it heavier. This ankle bone was used in a game where players took it and hit with it other ankle bones that were arranged in a line. The players each took the ankles bones they hit. People also made balls from cow’s hair by rolling it in their hands and applying saliva. Such balls were strong.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Dzhidzha Araeva, About Children's Games
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-07-19) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Shovunov, Sanal; Sandzhiev, Artur
    Dzhidzha talks about two games that she played in her childhood, namely ‘shaga’ and ‘tsagan modn’. The former involves ankle bones, and the latter is a game played in the evening. A game testing one’s speed, tsagan modn involves throwing a stick and chasing it. Whoever gets the stick first is chased by others who try to take it away.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Bulgun Lapsina, About Toys of My Childhood
    (Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2018-09-11) Terbish, Baasanjav; Churyumova, Elvira; Korneev, Gennadiy; Churyumov, Anton
    Bulgun reminisces about toys in her childhood: In 1944 my older sister found money somewhere and bought me a toy – a clown. The head of the clown was made from clay, but the rest was rag. Even during the war they made toys from gauze, dyed in green. Before exile, children played on the street with whatever they could get hold of (chunks of porcelain and lids). After the war dolls with a plastic head appeared. When girls play with dolls they learn how to be a mother, a housewife.