In this interview Galina talks about the Aavikhn clan, its land, and about his father who was from the Bootkhud clan. alina: My father knew many interesting stories. I think the land of my (husband’s) clan, Aavikhn, is also interesting. There is a saying that, ‘People from the land of the Aavikhn clan live happily. Whoever leaves this land, becomes poor’. I’ll give you an example. In 1997 a girl from our clan got married to a man from Chilgir. We, her relatives, went to pay her a visit. Among us was an old wealthy man who had many horses. He said to us: ‘The land of the Aavikhn clan gives happiness to its people’. On 14 June 2003, five of us – including me, Boova Arnyudaev, Maria Badaeva, Roza Lazareva, and Sergei Dzhalaev — set out on a journey to the places that had temples in the past. There is one particular hill. In the past on that hill there stood several nomadic temples housed in yurts, including a temple of the Aavikhn clan, a temple of the Asmud clan, a temple of the Noinakhn clan, and a temple of the Khavchn clan. We all bowed on the hill and moved clockwise. There is a valley nearby where in 1928 the Khambo Lama gave teachings to a large audience. Maria Badaeva, who was with us, had participated in that teaching during which she received her Russian name. The yurt temples nomadized from that hill further to a place called Altsynkhuta that had a stationary temple in a wooden house. It served as a winter station. The land of the Aavykhn clan has its spirit-protectors. People who leave this land end up in unhappy situations. When Kobtsev left this place, he died not long afterwards. We had a veterinary doctor who also died as soon as he moved to another place. I am telling you this based on my analysis. So, when we prayed on that hill, it rained lightly and then a rainbow appeared in the sky. We took pictures, went to Elista to have the negatives developed, but nothing appeared on the photos (which proves the miraculous power of that place). My father told me many stories. He was from the clan of Bootkhud. (As you may know) During Tsagan Sar and Zul we make bortsg biscuits in the shape of a bird. When I asked my father why we made such biscuits, he relayed a legend to me: ‘Once upon a time the ice mountains melted down, flooding the land. People did not know how to get to the dry land. One old man made a bird and gave it life. The bird showed the people the way to the dry land.’ The founder of the Bootkhud clan was a blacksmith. When we make offerings, we include a bird-shaped biscuit as well. My father also told me that inside our clan we have two sub-clans, namely the Doomakhn and the Daagnakhn. The Doomakhn is a small grouping, consisting of not more than seven families. Since the Doomakhn had few people, the Bootkhud took them into their clan and helped them. Where does the name Daagnakhn come from? The story is as follows. The Bootkhud had a beautiful foal. The Kalmyk word for a foal is ‘daag’. One day people from Khanata stole that foal. Upon learning about the theft, the Bootkhud people went to Khanata and took a boy as hostage, saying: ‘Return our foal and we will return your boy’. Nobody, however, came for the boy. The Bootkhud people brought up the boy. He grew up, married and became the founder of the Daagnakhn (i.e. ‘people of the foal’). Question: Tell me about the blacksmiths. Galina: People say that the Bootkhud clan originates from a blacksmith. The old man who created the (legendary) bird was a blacksmith. My father was a very skillful man who could do many things. He could weave a rope, make whips. I keep his whip on the wall in my office. My father put electric lamps both inside and outside of our house. He also made tools to grind grain. These tools are in Ergeninskiy now. With his skills he glorified the clan of Bootkhud who originate from a blacksmith.