MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. Winter in the Arctic, as well as in most parts of the Far East, continues not at all for just three months. The frost may be so strong, that going outside is the last thing you may want. However, since ancient times, people who lived in Russia's eastern part, have worked in such conditions in daylight hours. They had only little time for winter games and fun. Here is a story about what games the Udege, Eskimos, Yakuts, Evenks and Buryats used to play and what traditional entertainment has survived to the present day.

Bone strikes

"Their games depended greatly on main occupations. The Buryats, historically a nomadic people, pastoralists, and thus most of their games were with bones of domestic animals. A traditional competition is to break with the back of hand a bull or cow backbone - "heer shaalgan" - it was an initiation ceremony for young men: having broken the bone, the boy acquired the status of a young man," said Chingiz Akhanyanov of the East Siberian Institute of Culture.

They prepared the bones during the slaughter season in late autumn and early winter. The bones were boiled and cleaned of meat. One such bone was 30 cm long, 6 cm wide and about 6 mm thick. The competitors began from breaking thinner bones - winners continued to compete in following stages. It is not that easy to break a bone with the back of the palm. At times, the contestants could cut or even break their palms - at every stage the bone thickness and strength got only bigger.

Practically all Buryat games developed strength, endurance, accuracy and dexterity, the expert added. The same could be said about the Evenks, who often competed in throwing a "maut" - a lariat, or in "kurkat" - where teams tug a poll.

Similar skills were developed in games among the Udege - the people who live in the Maritime and Khabarovsk Regions. For example, in "mosini" - belt wrestling. "The winter frost stirred up the opponents who were naked to the waist. The men grabbed onto each other's special leather straps, trying to knock the opponent down and keep him lying on the back on the snow for a while. The Bikin Udege were known for a throw over the hip," said Arina Levchenko of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East.

On deer and with dogs

The Udege people traditionally competed in running on kamus skis made with deer shin or elk skin - on those skis it was easier to climb up the slopes. The Udege competed running along frozen riverbeds at a distance of 1 to 2.5 km, using only one stick. A more extreme option was a high-speed descent from the hill. The youth also had fun riding on the national rawhide shoes - olochs: they soaked the sole and waited until it froze up - for better sliding.

Very often Far Eastern players used leather balls filled with animal skin. The Evenks called this game "machikat" - they kicked the ball like in a relay race.

The Eskimos had a different version: two teams on the field tried to grasp a ball to pass it to the main player - 'mother.' "Normally, ball games are for summer, but the Eskimo children played with balls only in winter, when huge snowdrifts grew around their yarangas (traditional tents)," said Valentina Leonova, leader of Chukotka's Inuit Council. Every 'mother,' when the team 'got' the ball, was to kick it and catch saying special words, and at the same time to do best not to fall off the snow pile - if failed, the team appointed a new captain.

Dogs have been faithful and most important companions for the Udege hunters. The animals also took part in winter sports, including in 150-200 m skiing. The winner was the fastest and most cohesive pair - a rider and his dog.

The Yakuts traditionally competed in reindeer sled races - they were part of the so-called Northern All-Around. "It included riding deer races, Nordic snow wrestling and towing a skier with a deer," said Dmitry Sergeev of the "Modun" Manchaara National Sports Center. "Other popular games were jumping over sleds, competitions to lasso lariats of thin buckskin straps."

Energy-saving approach

An alternative to outdoor games were games indoors: it's hard to imagine anyone playing for too long when the air is minus 60 degrees. Inside a yurt, next to the hearth, the Buryats enjoy "shagaai naadan." The purpose is to knock down one bone (a target bone) with another bone. Those are small ram bones. Depending on the position on the field, they denote "taban khushuun mal" - traditional five types of cattle: sheep, goat, cow, horse and camel. It is a game of wit, counting and memory: the players need to remember which side of the lamb's ankle, "shagai," corresponds to which of the five animals. Other important rules are: "shagai" is beaten with the right hand middle finger, all the won ankles are to be taken only with the left hand, when beating and collecting the gained ankles, players must not touch other ankles, and, when preparing for a strike, a player must not aim at one pair and then move to another one. The winner is the one who collects most ankles.

"There were no strict rules in games with knuckles (a bone of a sheep, ram or other small cattle - TASS) - variations were numerous," said Chingiz Akhanyanov. This game, like the game of breaking a spinal bone, is still popular in Buryatia. Recently, the region has organized festivals of traditional games. Strongmen and dodgers compete on national holidays, including during Sagaalgan, the Buddhist New Year, celebrated in late winter.

"Another historical fact - the Buryats used to have a popular game "shatar" - chess. In the 19th century, it was nothing special, and there are written records saying the Buryat lamas (priests - TASS) won chess tournaments from the Decembrists," he added.

The Buryat chess have slightly different rules, and the game is longer, which is ideal for winter evenings. So, the "hubuun" pawn (meaning "child") in "shatar" moves only one field ahead, castling is not done, and if one player has only the king left, a draw is announced.

Natalia Kanchuga, a collector and keeper of the Udege culture, a guide at the Bikin National Park and an elder of the Krasny Yar village, said in her childhood, in the 1960s and 1970s, to entertain children during long winter evenings, adults fried Manchurian nuts on a stove. The shell cracked, and the children pulled out the pulp with matches or pointed sticks. "We competed to see who would eat the most nuts. Every family stored huge amounts of those nuts for winter - both as a treat and as a medicine," she said.

Another entertainment the Udege children inherit is the "game of pebbles". Kids pinch small pebbles with a thumb and forefinger - up to five pieces at a time, toss and catch them. The one who manages not to drop any is the winner. "Now we would say the game develops motor skills, makes fingers stronger and improves the reaction. However, for many generations, it has been just a traditional entertainment," she added.

Written by TASS Correspondents: Elvira Balganova, Ksenia Sukhikh, Konstantin Vasilyev, Ulyana Latskevich, and Dmistry Osipov.