The role of the local history school expedition in the study of the national architecture of the wooden architecture of the Yansk Yakuts

Sedalishcheva Sargylana Nikolaevna Laboratory assistant researcher, GBU "Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)" 677027, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Kirova str. 21, 907, sq. 907 Sargulana_@mail.ru

The study of local lore belongs to the type of complex sciences. D.S. Likhachev in his work ^[10] notes that local lore as a separate field is combined in many scientific subjects such as environment, history, culture, ethnology, ethnography, natural sciences, natural humanities, etc. When you start studying or exploring one significant historical place, the study begins first of all, from acquaintance with the history of the origin of this place under study, then you move smoothly to the cultural, ethnological, archaeological aspects. Therefore, local history has a broad meaning in the field of knowledge of many subjects

I.Y. Ivanova points out that the study of local lore contributes to the education of patriotic feelings, love for the motherland, and the formation of public consciousness. She also claims that local historians can always be local lovers, that the study of local history always comes from love of the motherland ^[6].

Students begin to study local history as part of a research work on the history of their small homeland. In this, the role of the correct organization of local history school expeditions is great, since in the field, in nature, the student clearly sees the material under study and feels what is happening in reality, comes into contact with the past time, which concerns the life of the ethnos of their small homeland.  When a student is interested in the history of his ancestors, their origin, their tradition, their way of life and way of life, then he develops motivation for research knowledge, develops observation of the surrounding process of the material under study ^[7].

Local history as a field of science is the subject of the formation of knowledge, skills and value orientations, the development of creative abilities, education of respect for the history and culture of the history of the native land. Also, love for the Motherland is embedded in local history, which forms civic responsibility and consciousness for small native lands, which expands to the great homeland of the whole country ^{[11, 15]}.

It was by organizing local history school expeditions that they tried to delve into the history of the Sakha peoples through their remnants of dwellings, as for the wooden architecture of their small homeland – Verkhoyansky district. Verkhoyansky district is located in northern Yakutia, part of the Arctic zone. Our Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has a large territory in the geographical map of Russia not only by settlements, but also by the natural landscape. The nature of Yakutia is very svobraznaya and diverse in the division of territoriality: Central Yakutia has a low–lying relief of an alas–like landscape, and Northern Yakutia has a mountainous, forest-tundra nature, even deeper into the territory of the sea - an Arctic desert. Due to the rich diversity of the nature of Yakutia, local lore has a wide meaning in the study of flora and fauna, as well as the history of the local peoples, their material culture, traditions, way of life, way of life and lifestyle, Yakut ethnography.

Traces of the history of the origin of the Yan Yakuts are very well reflected and traced in the features of national architecture, such as booths (summer and winter houses), barns, hexagonal cookhouses, hitching posts (ritual, court, ceremonial, funeral, etc.). The wooden architecture of the Yan Yakuts is connected with the history of small nationalities like Evens, Evenks and the alien people of the Yakuts. Therefore, the material traditional culture of the Yan Yakuts is located at the junction of two cultures and has the origins of the northern and central Yakuts.

Work with local history material is divided into two parts – theory and practice. In the theoretical part, students get acquainted with historical material about their small homeland. When certain objects of a certain area are studied, then students should know who lived, what historical events were, what forms and types of wooden architecture buildings were, imagine the natural landscapes of that time, etc. And in the practical part, students already really feel and work with the architectural material of wooden architecture, conduct descriptions, architectural measurements, determine to what time or century they belong, specify the types and forms of architectural structures of booths (winter and summer houses), barns, hitching posts (court, ritual, ceremonial, funeral).

Starting a project to study the material culture of national architecture "Along the paths of the ancestors", we investigated traces of the residence of the Yan Yakuts in the remains of wooden architecture in the Sartan, Arylakh, Suordakh, Borulakh, Adychinsky naslegs of the Verkhoyansky district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

The concept of wooden architecture includes architectural constructions, ritual architecture. While researching and fixing the wooden architecture of the Yan Yakuts, we mainly noted hitching posts, booths, hexagonal cookhouses, tyusyulge Ysyakh-a, dating back to the XVIII-XIX centuries.

In our opinion, the introduction of folk ideas related to housing into modern life and their popularization are important both for the preservation of their ethnic cultural model and for the formation of the right policy and modern requirements for the construction of traditional architectural buildings. Yakut settlements were scattered over numerous alaas and river valleys, and the distances between the nearest neighbors sometimes reached several hundred kilometers ^[3].

In the theoretical part of the local history work, students should have an idea of the historical periods of the development of the life of the peoples of their small homeland. The history of Yakutia can be divided into such periods as:

- The life of the Yakuts before the arrival of the Russians. At that time they lived in the Alaas, river valleys, divided into different clans.

- The life of the Yakuts after the arrival of the Russians. At this time, certain prisons, villages, etc. appeared.

- Pre-revolutionary life.

- Post-revolutionary life (collective farms, state farms)

- Soviet times.

During these periods, the influence of the culture of other peoples is very well traced in the construction of residential houses and religious buildings.

The unique features of the wooden architecture of the Yakuts before the arrival of the Russians are reflected in the works of travelers, political messengers of that time. Thanks to their works, we learn the primordial history of architectural buildings, as travelers, service people have repeatedly noted with surprise such a nature of the location of settlements, types of housing and outbuildings.  But before dwelling on the construction experience of the Yakut people, there is a need to look at its origins and historical roots ^[4].

The formation of the folk architecture of the region is closely connected with the culture of the ancient Turkic people, which carries a synthesis of several cultures: Paleasiatic, Turkic, Russian ^{[3, 8]}.

A few words from the history of the ethnography of the Yakuts and archaeological excavations on this issue. Winter dwellings of the yurt-balagan type were found and investigated by archaeologists B.E. Patri, M. Gryaznov, A.P. Okladnikov on the territory of the Baikal region. According to them, two types of settlements and buildings served as dwellings of Kurykans: summer and winter. In winter they lived in quadrangular booths – turuoru erkinneh diie (yurts), in summer in round birch bark tents – uraha. According to all data, they are approaching the Yakut traditional dwelling – a farce ^{[3, 8]}.

A well-known geographer, a specialist in the field of cultural geography V.N. Kaluzkov believes that ethnocultural landscape studies is part of cultural geography ^[8].

An invaluable contribution to the study of Yakut dwellings, in particular building rituals and beliefs, was made by the first major collector of Yakut ethnographic and folklore material I.A. Khudyakov (1890). One chapter of his work describes the dwellings and buildings of the Verkhoyansk Yakuts ^[15].

In V.L. Seroshevsky's fundamental work "Yakuts" (1896), a separate chapter is devoted to Yakut dwellings and buildings, which describes the interior of the Yakut booth. In his work, V.L. Seroshevsky for the first time made an attempt to reveal the design of the appearance of residential buildings ^[12].

G.V. Ksenofontov made a valuable contribution to the study of material culture. Analyzing the ritual and symbolic aspects of the Mogol Urasa (a monumental architectural structure of the Sakha people), G.V. Ksenofontov comes to the important conclusion that this type of dwelling primarily acts as a cult temple, which later lost its former ritual purpose ^[3].

Of particular importance in the study of the Yakut dwelling is the work of F.M. Zykov "Settlements, dwellings and outbuildings of the Yakuts of the XIX – early XX century: a historical and ethnographic study" (1986), which is devoted to the study of traditional forms of settlements, dwellings and outbuildings of the Yakuts and their comparison with the dwellings of the South Siberian peoples. The author examines almost all types of winter and summer types of dwellings, explains their evolutionary development, compares them with the dwellings of the Turkic-speaking peoples, and also describes in detail the outbuildings and construction equipment. Studying the origin of the Yakut farce, F.M. Zykov reveals the southern origins of its construction ^[5].

In the practical part, the forms of local history work are excursions, hiking trips, meeting with the bearers of stories, local historians, expeditions. In our opinion, purposefully organized local history research expeditions of schoolchildren play an important role in the study of local lore of the small motherland, where students awaken interest in search and research activities in the field. It is in practice that students can master the research methodology, solve research tasks, determine the object and subject of research, build a research plan, analyze and summarize the results obtained ^{[2, 11]}.

Local history school expeditions include familiarization with the study area (the territory of residence in river valleys), individual independent observation, collection of material (survey of the study areas from local residents) and architectural measurements of the material, desk processing of the material.

Methods of conducting a local history expedition of schoolchildren.

1.                      Preparation of the route of the expedition to study the local history of the small motherland. This includes the development of the route: for how many days the route will be calculated; what the route can be. Routes can be on foot; horseback; by motor boat, etc.

2.                      The work plan of the study: which specific places to stop at and what needs to be explored, what materials should be studied during the route, who should be met to learn about the history of the study of the area, etc.

3.                      Preparation of equipment for research. For earlier it is necessary to prepare equipment and forms for the study of the national architecture of wooden architecture. To fix cultural and traditional buildings of the XVIII-XIX centuries, you need a good camera, a meter or a long wooden ruler for architectural measurements, drawing materials for drawing, special forms for previously prepared sizes.

4.                      Desk processing of material on the study of cultural and traditional buildings of the XVIII-XIX centuries. After collecting materials during the expedition route, count their number; determine the conservation status; determine the uniqueness of the value; determine and concretize the history of these constructions, etc. ^{[8, 9]}.

Methods of local history research are empirical and theoretical levels:

- empirical level methods: survey, questionnaire, observation, description, photographing, architectural measurements;

- methods of theoretical blood: historical, logical, study and generalization, classification ^[14].

Thus, starting from 2014 to 2015, from 2017 to 2018, a district expedition of schoolchildren "Verkhoyanye – the pole of cold" was purposefully conducted under the project "Along the paths of ancestors" in Borulakhsky nasleg. Also in 2014 we were in the Sartan nasleg, and in 2017 – in the Suordakh nasleg and in 2018 – in the Adychinsky nasleg.

In 2014, students were given a description and accounting of yurts-booths and hitching posts-serge along some remnants along the route from Tomtor – Tokuma – uch. Ebe – uch. Omohto – uch. Nyaalbaan – uch. Turuk. (without water crossings). The total length of the route was 110 km. The route was completed in 10 days, from July 4 to July 12, 2014. In this route, we collected material and made a description of 16 yurts-booths and 25 hitching posts-serge, 2 barns.

In 2015, we made a description and accounting of yurts-booths and hitching posts-serge on some remnants along the route from the village of Tomtor – R. Amydai – M. Kumakh – oz. Bulgunnakh – uch. Aa?Y okhtubut – Kup locality: uch. tura?, Simnakh, Uus alaastara, Chyyrykaan walun oto?o, Kuruoleh – Khatyryk – Arbyn – Sokhsolooh – Khampa – o? kuol – kie? Sileen – Molokuun – Tomtor. The total length of the entire route was 134 km. for 10 days, in July 2015. In this route, a description was made of 20 yurts-booths, 43 hitching posts-serge, 5 barns.

In 2017, we made a description and accounting of yurts-booths and hitching posts-serge on some remnants along the route from Tomtor village – Tokuma village – uch. Ebe – uch. Tuguttah M. Bytahyttaah – Ar?Aa kuol – Mae – Kylban – Satay (Sygynakh) – Sakhaar sayylyga – uch. Olom M. Leebi – uch. Toguruon – M. Leebi – Bilir – Buordaah kurdugen – Elbeh kuol M. Khaltyhy – Ar?Aa sayylyk. The entire route ran 120 km, passed in 8 days in June 2017. We made a description of 45 yurts-booths, 51 hitching posts-serge, 9 barns.

In 2014 , we were with an expedition in the Sartan nasleg and recorded three booths on the remnants along the route of the village of Yunkur – uch. Sayylyk with a length of 10 km .

In 2017, we went by motor boat along the Dulgalakh River to the village of Suordakh, and then with the expedition we walked along the route S. Suordakh – Hara yuryakh – Buor ylar – M. Khatyngnakh – Ylbaidakh – Ikki yuryakh – Mas haidybyt – ula?a – Sis haya with a length of 50 km . During this time, 10 booths were recorded on the remains of the road and Miron Vasiliev's booth (Muruon Baai) was found.

In 2018, in the spring, they drove by car to the area of Kaltegay of the Adychinsky nasleg with a length of 71 km and recorded the remains of the Gavrila Novgorodov (Bahaa Baai) letnik ^[13].

During the conducted local history school expeditions, students recorded all national architectural objects – booths (winter houses, summer houses), barns, hexagonal cookhouses in accounting cards, which consist of such parts as:

- The name of the area.

- Geographical location.

- Distance from the locality.

- Direction from the locality.

- The history of the creation of an architectural monument: the year of creation; who is the owner; property; economic structures.

- Description of the architectural monument: area of the territory; area of the object; height of the object; width, length and perimeter of the object; safety; appearance; interior, household utensils;  additional economic constructions; scientific value of the object under study; local features of wooden architecture;

- Sketch and outline of the object.

Then, during the desk processing, all the collected data is filled into a single register:

And the hitching posts were registered in separate forms, in which architectural measurements were noted.:

- The name of the area.

- Geographical location.

- Distance from the locality.

- Direction from the locality.

-          Types of hitching posts.

- Dimensions of the hitching post.

-          Description of the architectural condition.

In addition to registration in the forms, students made sketches with drawings.

During the desk processing, all data on the hitching post was entered into a single register:

As a result of local history school expeditions, 81 booths, 17 barns, 138 hitching posts belonging to the XVIII-XIX centuries were collected and recorded.

Of the many described yurts-booths of the Borulakh nasleg, only well-preserved architectural buildings can be considered, of which there are very few. One of such architectural buildings is the summer estate (sayylyk) Gerasim – a wealthy rich man, which is located from the village of Tomtor in a south-westerly direction at a distance of 1 km. This balagan of the letnik (sayylyk) is the estate of the XIX-th century, the rich man of the 1st Baydunsky nasleg Yumshanov Gerasim Petrovich. Balagan letnik (sayylyk)relatively saved. Here you can see the furniture of that time. This letnik's booth (sayylyk) is a historical monument of Verkhoyansky ulus.

And in a more preserved one there was a pilot of Gavrila Petrovich Novgorodov – one of the rich Yansk Yakuts of the Adychinsky nasleg. His letnik is located in the area of Keltegay, now there is a base of local horse breeding.

It is according to the project "On the paths of ancestors" that students, having visited local history school expeditions, feel proud of their ability and wisdom in surviving and living in the harsh conditions of the north for their ancestors, for their small homeland. It is in the process of studying the history of their native land that they acquire knowledge in history, but also master the methods of research activity. Therefore, local history as a field of research activity is an important factor in the formation of practical and intellectual skills, promotes a holistic perception of the surrounding world in its diversity and versatility. In local history expeditions, students actually reveal the patterns of life of past events of their native land. 

Thus, the role of local history research expeditions of schoolchildren in the study of the small homeland is important. Such forms of organization of local history expeditions personally bring together and touch modern students with the history of their ancestors, with their way of life, way of life and national and ethnic traditions.

Thanks to local history, the student has the opportunity to learn more about the history and tradition of his people, to open the curtains of the past of his native small region.

Also, local history works as an element of students' research activities should contribute to the formation of scientific work skills, activation of research activities, involvement of students in research activities, disclosure of the creative potential of children.