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Item Open Access Pastoral Tradition among Torghuts in Khar Us(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-23) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThis video delves into two main themes: livestock diseases and their treatments, and the fire worship ritual practised among the Torghuts in Khar Us. Torghuts in Khar Us were settled in one Beis banner and further divided into three Sums: Ikh Khuu, Dund Khuu, and Bag Khuu, representing the eldest, middle, and youngest sons, respectively. Muga, born in Ailch valley, Khar Us, in a Torghut family in 1939, traces her maternal lineage to the Choros Ööld from Bortal. As a child, Muga observed that although the Torghuts in Khar Us were smaller in scale compared to other places, they remained disconnected within the banner. Consequently, they were not familiar with broader social contexts, but know very well about the everyday rituals and traditions passed down through generations. Regarding livestock disease, Hadaash, Godron, bone fractures, and dislocations are prevalent, and Muga typically treats them with herbal medicines she either prepares or gathers from nature. Occasionally, some ailments are treated using remedies derived from their wild counterparts. For example, organs from Argali sheep are used to treat similar diseases in domestic sheep. In her youth, Muga suffered severely from lung disease. Her father treated her by catching a fox and administering its raw lung, which she consumed. This unconventional treatment rendered her lungs exceptionally robust, enabling her to traverse high altitudes effortlessly. Traditionally, marmots and deer were also consumed for their medicinal properties. Fire worship, a pivotal ritual among the Oirats, is conducted annually in November. During this ritual, families, ranging from a few to thirty, gather to share in the ritual’s auspiciousness and feast together. The ritual culminates with the offering of a sheep fetus to the fire before the assembled guests. Following this offering, the host performs a libation to the sky, fire, and earth three times. Collecting fortune is another crucial aspect of the ritual. The host family stores vital organs of the sacrificed sheep in a leather bag, invoking fortune loudly from the fire as offerings the fetus, butter, milk, and other valuable items. The bag is kept in the home for three days before the organs are consumed by the family.Item Open Access From Mountain to Meadow: The New Realities of Herding in Tost Village(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-28) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThe video highlights the routine tasks associated with sheep herding in Tost Village, Khar Us. Tost Village serves as a middle summer pasture for herders, allowing them to graze livestock from 20 May to 20 June. However, in recent years, an increasing number of herders have been reluctant to move deeper into the mountains after 20 June, thus reducing their seasonal migration to lower altitudes such as Tost Village throughout the year. Consequently, sheep grazed at lower altitudes during the hot summer months are more prone to insects and diseases, necessitating frequent administration of antiviral medications and regular washing.Item Open Access Pandemic in the Pastures: Tost Village’s COVID-19 Dilemma(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-26) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThis video highlights the challenges of COVID-19 testing in Tost Village, Khar Us. The pandemic has triggered frequent and extensive lockdowns across China, significantly impacting remote rural areas. The footage captures herders travelling by car, motorcycle, or horse from their sparse pasturelands to the village centre to receive their COVID test. Despite their isolated living conditions and limited interactions with crowded urban centres, these herders face a heightened risk of virus transmission due to their involvement with frequent testing initiatives. Additionally, indistinctive long periods of lockdowns across the country largely affected herders' everyday tasks related to livestock and farming activities.Item Open Access Ööld groups among Torghuts in Khar Us(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-25) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaWhen the Eastern Torghuts migrated to Xinjiang, the Qing government relocated them to various places within the region. One group was settled east of Jargalant river in Khar Us as Beis Banner, which was divided into three Sums: Ikh Khüü, Dund Khüü, and Bag Khüü, representing the eldest, middle, and youngest sons, respectively. However, the middle son's group consisted of the Choras clan, part of the Ööld groups who had fled to Khar Us from the Ili region following the Qing government's large-scale purge in Ili. According to local elders, about 54 households successfully arrived in Khar Us at that time. Initially, they settled around the river basin known as Narin Gol, where they established an Oboo worship ritual site under a single aristocracy until the 1930s. By the 1940s, these Choras people had gradually moved to the Salhit pasture and were eventually absorbed into the Torghuts, thus being recognized as Torghuts.Item Open Access A Zakhchin family from Mongolia(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-23) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThis video explores the story of a Zakhchin family whose parents emigrated from Mongolia to Xinjiang in the 1930s due to the communist policies implemented in Mongolia. My name is Noosondai, the youngest of nine children, born in 1936 in Bor Tüngu, now known as Sawan County. My mother's family, the Noyan Geleng, originated from Gobi Altai province in Mongolia. It was a time when communism reached Mongolia, prompting the wealthy and aristocratic to flee the country due to the new regime. My mother, previously married to a Khalh man in Mongolia, left him behind when she moved to Xinjiang with her siblings. I was born to her late husband. In our culture, we are traditionally forbidden from speaking our parents-in-law's names, and this is the first time I have shared their names. Their names were Mijid, an Ööld from Bortal, and Manga, a Uryanhai from Altai. In those days, parents arranged their children's marriages, and I was married to a man ten years senior, chosen by my mother. Together, we had nine children. For over a decade, my husband and I herded cows for a commune until he was wrongfully accused of being a member of the Nationalist Party during the Cultural Revolution. Post-revolution, as we were not allocated any pasturelands, my children sought their own livelihoods in various ways. I now live with my youngest child, who works for a coal mining company in Jargalant.Item Open Access Understanding collectivisation in Khar Us: an accountant’s story(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-04) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaDalantai, born in 1938, served as an accountant for four communes and was dispatched to the Bureau of Animal Husbandry when the privatisation policy was implemented in 1983. As a result, he provided many insights into the commune, mobile pastoral economy, and the modernising projects that took place in the communes where he worked.Item Open Access Bayanöndör oboo in Khar Us(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-08-30) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThere are three main Oboo worship sites in the Salhit pasture in Khar Us: Bayanöndör Oboo, Shaliwan Gegen Oboo, and Epic Jangar Oboo. From Bayangu to the Jargalant River, every valley is distinctively named by the Torghuts. For example, from east to west, the names are: Huiten Gol, Tekhin Horoo, Tostiin Horoo, Ayuut, Mösön Salaa, Tüleetin Salaa, Ashaatin Salaa, Gamuhain Bituu Hargai, Bayan Hargai, Devsen, Janjin Horoo, Ailch, Hurgutin Bulag, Jargalant River, Salhit Maljih Talbai, and Tabilhat Maljih Talbai. Climate change has caused significant social transformation in recent years. Herders no longer move to their summer and winter pastures in the deep mountains, leading to overstocking in the lower-altitude pastures.Item Open Access Tseher Sandag's Journey: Bringing a Buddha Statue to Xinjiang(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-08-25) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThis video tells the tale of Tseher Sandag, who travelled to Lhasa and brought a Buddha statue to Xinjiang. Tseher Sandag, an Uraanhai individual with extensive travel experience and multiple skills, hailed from the Altai region and eventually brought back a Buddha statue to the White Monastery of Khar Us. In the video, Baajin Bo explains the entire process in detail. The story vividly illustrates the Torghuts' desire to have a living Buddha to protect them after their eastward migration to Xinjiang from the Volga region, the Manchu's intervention in the Torghut religious affairs, and the reluctance of Tibetans to give their living Buddha statues to the Torghuts in Xinjiang.Item Open Access Education, Collectivisation and Privatisation(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-08-17) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaMy parents were Uranhai Mongols migrated from the Altai region to Bor Tüngü, along with 38 other households, in the early twentieth century. Some years later, they were once again moved to Khar Us due to the constant attacks by Kazakh bandits in the 1940s, led by Usman and Kalibeckh. Before I was born, my parents had three daughters and waited for nine years for my arrival. After I was born, they decided to adopt me to my uncle, in an attempt to ward off bad luck, and named me after an elder, Baajin Bo. When I was young, there was no Mongolian school in Tost village of Khar Us, which led me to receive education in Kazakh for five years and an additional three years in Chinese. I am convinced that Oirat Mongolian culture would not be so vulnerable to assimilation if we had had our own education centre at the time. During that period, most Mongolian teachers in Khar Us received their education in Hobogsair, and those teachers were predominantly Öölds from Tarbagatai. In addition to this social history through personal experiences, Baajin Bo also discussed stories from the collectivisation period. He clearly remembers the communal government at that time importing fine wool rams from Australia to Xinjiang for sheep breed improvement. These rams received much better care than human beings, being fed 3kg of maize, 5 eggs, and sugared water three times a day. People, on the contrary, were unable to fill their stomachs. As a result, people often stole eggs to cook for themselves and lucerne to feed the horses they rode, except during inspection times. Through these improvements, the collectivisation government often compared their lives with Australians, urging workers to work as hard as possible to achieve the four modernisations (industry, agriculture, security, and technology). In 1983, a new policy of privatisation marked the failure of collectivisation, allocating pastures and livestock through contracts of certain durations. However, the biggest subsequent problem has been contention over pasture. Because of the multiethnic nature of the region, official corruption, problematic pasture allocation, and certificate issuance have caused countless problems for local herders. In Baajin Bo’s case, he went through all the legal processes with various courts from regional to prefecture level and eventually secured his pasture.Item Open Access The Art of Roping on Horseback Among the Torghuts(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-08-16) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThis video explores the traditional knowledge of catching animals by roping on horseback. However, this tradition among the Torghuts in Khar Us is on the verge of disappearing, as people now tend to rope while standing, with some even unaware of the skills involved in roping. Lassoing from horseback has its advantages; for example, it allows the rider to utilise the horse's power to control the roped animals. In contrast, standing on the ground requires several helpers to control animals such as horses or other large animals.Item Open Access Protecting Livestock: Herders’ Struggles with Wild Animals in Tost Village(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-08-15) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaIn this video, Baajin Bo shares his experience of encountering and hunting wild animals. Baajin Bo was born in Tost village and has lived there his entire life as a herder. Hunting has been a significant part of herders’ lives in the past, not just because they were too poor to rely solely on their prey and domestic livestock, but because hunting itself holds more significance for mobile pastoralists. However, since the Chinese government confiscated all hunting-related tools in the name of protecting wild animals in the 1990s, herders have faced challenges in protecting their livestock from wild animals such as wolves, bears, and even wild boars. Consequently, herders sometimes find ways to catch or scare off wild animals if they attack domestic livestock. In this video, Baajin Bo shares his experiences of encountering leopards, how they attack and take livestock, and the ways in which herders protect livestock from leopards by keeping a cat at home. Additionally, he discusses local knowledge related to wild boar, lynx, Argali sheep, deer, and wolves.Item Open Access The Torghut palace in Khar Us(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-30) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaMani Wang, born in 1920 and died in 1976, was a hereditary administrative leader of the Torghuts in Khar Us. He was the ninth-generation prince. His grandfather, Palta, was a governor of the Altai region and a senior military officer in the Beiyang warlord government in Beijing. Palta's eldest son, Minqing Wang, studied abroad and eventually settled in Taiwan. The second son, Tserendorj, studied in France and returned to teach at Peking University. The Mani Wang Palace covered approximately five mu (about 0.33 hectares) and comprised nearly twenty rooms, including bedrooms, a living room, east and west wing rooms, various storerooms, and a kitchen. The entire palace was made of wood. In 1931, at the age of 11, Mani Wang went to Tibet with his father to study Buddhism for a year and continued his studies for another five years at the Yellow Monastery in Khar Us. In 1943, at the age of 24, Mani succeeded to the princely seat but was soon dismissed when the communist regime came to power.Item Open Access From Pastures to Plantations: The Transformation of Khar Us(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-14) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThis video explores a new migrant village in Khar Us. In 1995, the Khar Us government resettled herders from Tenger Mountain to a lower altitude to cultivate land. Each household was allocated 100 mu of land, transforming their pastoral lifestyle into an agricultural one, a practice at which the Chinese people excel. Today, the village comprises about 500 households, including Kazakhs, Mongols, and predominantly Chinese, who have cultivated over 10,000 mu of land over the years. Initially dominated by Mongols, now only 50 households remain, with Nayantai being one who decided to continue farming. According to Nayantai, this was the correct policy for herders, enabling them to produce forage for their livestock. However, the presence of Mongolian cultivators has diminished as many have either rented out their land long-term to Chinese farmers or sold it permanently. In addition to promoting land cultivation, the Khar Us government also introduced donkeys to the village to boost the incomes of newly settled herders through the sale of donkey milk. Culturally, however, Mongols refused to herd donkeys and eventually sold them to Chinese farmers. Concerning the cultivation of cash crops, many Chinese farmers use excessive amounts of fertiliser and chemicals on their cotton farms, not only degrading the land but also driving insects from cotton fields to cornfields cultivated by minority groups. Consequently, these minority groups struggle to compete with Chinese farmers. In contrast, Nayantai, representing the younger generation, is more open to interacting with different people in the village and focuses on planting corn for his livestock, which he feeds to livestock for fattening before selling them in the market.Item Open Access Vaccinating sheep(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-25) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThis video primarily focuses on vaccinating sheep in Tost village, situated at the foot of Tenger Mountain. In the past, herders and their livestock would move into the deep mountains during the summer. However, nowadays, instead of moving into the mountains during the summer and winter, herders prefer to stay at a lower altitude, such as Tost village, during the summer and in agricultural land during the winter. Consequently, the hot summer has led herders to spend more money on medicines and constantly vaccinate their sheep to protect from various diseases. This practice not only impacts the health of the livestock but also potentially affects the people who consume the meat.Item Open Access Preserving Tradition: The Art of Torghut Embroidery in Khar Us(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-20) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThis video is about the embroidery of the Torghuts in Khar Us. Making traditional dress and embroidery were essential skills for Torghut females, transforming their everyday attire into gorgeous ritual costumes in the past. As a bridge between tradition and the present, she claims to have provided all the material necessities that a mother should do for her children. She explained that she invested most of her time in embroidering traditional objects as elegantly as possible for her children, even though they do not appreciate it as much as she did. In addition to this, she has also made various objects for other purposes. In 2014, she made 20 saddlebags with Torghut embroideries and presented them as a gift to the Mongolians of the Bulgan province in Mongolia. In her understanding, although her children are not keen to inherit this tradition from her, she is attempting to make as many things as possible and pass them down to her children and grandchildren. Given that they are increasingly distancing themselves from their traditional roots, she hopes that one day in the future, they will understand their rich cultural heritage through seeing her handmade objects.Item Open Access Cultural Heritage and Modern Challenges(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-19) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThis video extensively discusses the transformation of Salhit pasture, and veterinary practices based on fifty years of work in the region. In addition to this, Irinchinara also explained the general history of the Torghuts in Khar Us, including Höhtolgoi Oboo worship, Epic Jangar, the folk song association, history of the Buddhist monastery, and the Torghut noble family. Two main topics explored here are. First of all, the Salhit pasture was established in 1958 with about eighty households. However, in the subsequent sixty years, fewer changes have occurred regarding the way of economic life and population, compared to neighbouring pastures and villages such as Tost and Ailch. The development of tourism in those regions has brought a large number of outsiders as permanent or temporary residents, whereas the Salhit pasture has seen fewer changes over the years. Instead, the outflow of the population has been serious in recent years, with people predominantly tending to settle in the regional centre of Khar Us and only returning to the Salhit pasture for short-term visits. Eventually, only 30 Torghut Mongolian households remain in the Salhit pasture. In the meantime, population inflow, particularly from other ethnicities such as Kazakhs, has significantly increased over the years. Secondly, before joining the veterinary team in 1972, Irinchinara received his education in the Kazakh language and later learned the Mongolian writing system independently. After joining the veterinary work, he accumulated extensive knowledge of veterinary medicine not only through communication with traditional Kazakh folk medicine but also through Mongolian traditional medicine, enriching his experiences. Now, Irinchinara is considered the best veterinary doctor in the region, capable of treating livestock in different ways and achieving mostly successful results. As shown in the video, he explained some of the diseases with examples of livestock.Item Open Access The Epic Jangar: A Tale of Tradition, Struggle, and Revival(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-18) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaHongor is the oldest Epic Jangar singer among the Torghuts in Khar Us. He learnt the Epic Jangar from an individual known as Mönkhbayar. Mönkhbayar was one of the noble family assistants of Wang in Khar Us, particularly in charge of curating festivals, singing Jangar, and other literary events. However, during the communal period, he was criticised and dispatched to pasturelands to herd livestock for communes. Coincidentally, one of these pastures was adjacent to Hongor’s parents' pasture, enabling him to learn the Epic Jangar from Mönkhbayar around 1964. Given that it was a time without television and the internet, Mönkhbayar often sang the Epic Jangar for neighbours privately at night, as it was banned as an evil practice. At that time, people were terrified by previous policy implementations such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. When academic figures, including Batai, Badma, and Erdeni, came to Khar Us to collect materials regarding traditional culture, people hid as much as possible to avoid further entanglement with politics. In subsequent years, more people became involved in traditional culture, singing the Epic Jangar on radio, gradually making the public aware that they could openly share their knowledge with journalists or scholars. Around 1978, Jamtsa, a researcher at Xinjiang University, organised an Epic Jangar conference at Hobogsair Mongolian Autonomous County and invited most of the Epic Jangar singers across Xinjiang. Through the conference, Hobogsair was officially designated as the home of the Epic Jangar and dominated the field for the following decades. In contrast, Epic Jangar singers in Khar Us were somewhat neglected, even though they were the same groups of people in different regions with the same traditions. Since about 1997, the situation has progressively improved, and Jangar singers from all regions in Xinjiang have been constantly invited to Jangar conferences or other events to perform Jangar. On one occasion, they even visited Bulgan province in Mongolia to perform Jangar. Hongor claims in the interview that, “In my understanding, the Epic Jangar is a historical narrative promoting love for mother nature, equality without ethnic or national conflicts, helping the poor and disabled community, vigorously fighting against demons to protect our hometown and its inhabitants, and striving for a peaceful life.Item Open Access Exploring the Historical and Cultural Narratives of Khar Us(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-30) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaMost Kalmyks or Oirats in Xinjiang respect and cherish their noble lineage tradition as taking historical leaders and Buddhist figures, such as living Buddhas and lamas, as their spiritual teachers. In this interview, however, Dambirjav explores the unknown sites of Buddhist and noble leaders in Khar Us. Gomjavin Dambirjav, born into an Ööld family in Bortal, recounts his family's history. His parents initially belonged to the third Sum of the ten-Sum Öölds in Dörbeljin and escaped to Bortal in 1892 when Chagan Gegen convened fifty households to resettle them in Khar Us after constructing a Buddhist monastery. Since this incident, the subsequent three generations have distanced themselves from Buddhism and lived independently in Bortal, and eventually in Khar Us. The second theme discussed in the video is the notorious history of the noble leaders of the Torghuts in Khar Us. The discussion expands from Minchin Wang and his private life and eventual escape from Khar Us to Taiwan, to Beis Noyan and his three wives, his descendants, as well as the demise of this aristocratic lineage under the communist regime. The third topic of the interview relates to the Zahchin community who migrated to Khar Us in the 1930s, confronting the communist regime of Mongolia at the time. Damdinbazar, the leading figure of the Zahchin, eventually found himself in an ambivalent position where neither China nor Mongolia recognised these people as their citizens. The Republic of Mongolia claims they betrayed their country, whereas China designated Zahchins as secular pilgrims (mong. Tsagaachid) and recognised them as citizens of Mongolia. The discussion also involved the deeds of Palta Wang. When the Torghuts migrated east to Xinjiang from the Volga region, a part of them settled in Khar Us under the leadership of Bayar Wang. His son Palta, who studied in Japan and became the governor of Altai upon his return to Xinjiang, is widely known among the Torghuts for his positive reforms and constructions in Khar Us and Altai. However, the Torghuts in Khar Us believe that he was poisoned by the Qing government. Eventually, Dambirjav interprets the Kazakh position in Khar Us. Khar Us is a place where, except for two rich families, Eelei and Shaadai, poor people gathered from various regions. One of these groups is the Kazakhs, who mostly came to Khar Us around 1922 when the communist regime took control in Kazakhstan. They escaped under the guidance of Alash, initially herding livestock for the Torghuts and Chinese in Khar Us city.Item Open Access Choras Oboo and the descendants of Jungar Khanate(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-07-30) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThe Choras Sum in Tost village comprises a group of people who escaped the Jungar-Qing war and eventually settled in Khar Us. After the Torghuts migrated eastwards to Xinjiang from the Volga region, the Choras community was incorporated into the Torghuts and organised as one of the Torghut Sums. Over the course of 300 years, the Choras gradually assimilated into the Torghut groups, and few of them are aware of their historical roots, simply identifying as Torghuts. However, the Choras Oboo worship ritual reflects their distinctiveness from the Torghut groups.Item Open Access Cultural Significance of Food Among Torghuts(Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge, 2021-08-06) Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Bulag, Uradyn E.; Fuerwa, Dorjraa; Fuerwa, DorjraaThe video showcased the most significant social etiquette of hospitality among the Torghuts, highlighting the crucial role of livestock meat, dairy, and cereal foods. Within the Torghut community, every part of sheep meat holds either respectful or derogatory meanings. These meanings are not only reflected in everyday interactions between guests and family members but are also evident in respectful rituals related to sacrifices or worship of local deities, as well as in social rituals encompassing marriage, festivals, and death rituals. In addition to meat-related food practices, the Torghut herders also rely heavily on dairy and cereal foods, which play a significant role in their lives and social activities. During the summertime, herders primarily consume dairy products, including yoghurt, butter, and milk wine. These dairy products play an even more significant role than meat in certain daily and special ritual practices. Similarly, cereal foods such as barley and wheat flour are crafted into specific shapes for daily consumption and ritual practices, each serving its related purpose.