Шмидт А.В.   Кениг А.В.  

Kaldan fishing: based on the materials of Sherkaly 1

Reporter: Шмидт А.В.

ABSTRACT: Kaldan fishing is an industtial way of fishing, especially valuable species – whitefish and sturgeon. The kaldan consists of a trap – a sack made from a single piece of fishing net and a special sinker that held this net at the bottom. The boat slowly floated down the river, dragging the kaldan along the bottom. The trap caught fish going upstream to the spawn. Here a special role played a kaldan stone, which was a sinker in a shape of a ski. It was the very thing, on which depended the qualities of the trap. According to Ethnography of the 19th century, one Ostyak produced up to 200-300 muksuns in this way during the summer. There are many legends and traditions associated with the kaldan stone. It was protected from the evil eye. It was believed that the more mica inclusions on it, the better it attracted the fish. Sometimes the fish was depicted directly on the stone. On the kaldan stone, there was performed a ritual of sacrifice with fire, so that the fishing was successful. Kaldan fishing became widespread in the Lower Ob River. According to the ethnographic materials, as well as to the folklore data, in the 19th century kaldan fishing was very popular among the native population. But in the first half of the twentieth century, it almostly completely disappeared. Two samples of such sinkers were found in the settlement - Sherkaly-1. Both stones are broken, they were sacrificed to the patron spirits. There is a graffiti on one of these kaldan stones.


To reports list