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Falconry - Traditional hunting with birds of prey
  • Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright
    Manage No EE00002038
    Country Kazakhstan
    ICH Domain Social practices, rituals, festive events Knowledge and practices about nature and the universe Traditional craft skills
    Address
    Falconry is practised along traditional bird migration routes in a number of regions Kazakhstan, mainly in Zhetysu, Akmola, Karaganda and Pavlodar provinces. There are also some regions in Southern Kazakhstan. It depends on open terrain so that the falconer can follow the bird. Thus, habitat dictates the practicality of falconry and shapes its particular local variation of traditional styles.
    Year of Designation 2012
Description Hunting with eagles (kaz. "burkit", lat. Aguila Shrysaetus - “Golden Eagle”) is an ancient practice of social and cultural heritage of traditional Kazakh people of hunters - kusbegi ("qusbegi"), eagle ("burkitshi") who tamed and trained eagles for hunting. Originally training eagles for hunting was predominantly the hobby of ordinary people and was a kind of craft for them. This type of hunting has supported nomad budget. Therefore, Kazakhstan has always been traditionally a place, above all, catching the birds and training them in order to use for hunting in the future. Birds were tamed in two ways: adults caught on bait, or raise the chicks out of the nest. Kazakhs believe that the best hunters are obtained from adult birds that hunt with a special zeal, once accustomed to the owner. Hunting always passes on horses usually together with the Kazakh national dog - a hound "tazy". Kazakhs divide the hunting with birds of prey to specific hunting with eagles and falcons, hawks, merlin. Golden Eagles are used primarily for the purpose of making a job. They were used for hunting wolves, foxes, karsaks and mountain goats. Merlins used mainly for sports and recreational purposes, as it was a favorite pastime of the nobility. Falcons assisted in hunting for small wildfowl, and hawks let geese, bustards.
Social and cultural significance Kazakh tradition of hunting with birds of prey has always been noble and esteemed custom. This ancient tradition is preserved until today. Currently there are more than 70 officially registered hunters with hunting birds in Kazakhstan are engaged engaged in catching, preparing wild fowls and special equipment, and training volunteers willing to be prey hunters. Today, hunting with eagles in Kazakhstan distributed as dispersed worldwide and is considered a Kazakh national sport.
Transmission method Transmission is vital to all falconry communities and it includes many activities related to falconry practice, knowledge of the environment, the proper management of the falcons and cultural values. Falconry as a cultural tradition is transmitted between generations by a variety of means, such as mentoring, learning within families, or formalized training in clubs and schools. In Kazakhstan, transmission of knowledge and skills is provided in dynastic families of falconers or via formal education (falconry clubs and extracurricular courses). Dynastic families of falconers (Kusbegi or Burkytshi) have been training from generation to generation professional falconers that master the skills of catching, taming and training the bird.
Community The dynasty of hunters passes down the secrets of training for hunting birds from generation to generation. Each region has its own variety of hunting birds on the basis of landscape and climatic conditions (that varies greatly in Kazakhstan). Professional hunters with hunting birds have a natural gift of education and training of wild birds. Mastering the art of kusbegi ("qusbegi") and hunting with eagle ("burkitshi") requires a lot of time and patience. The main objective of the training of birds is to teach submission to the will of master hunter.Communities involved in hunting with birds of prey are villages and kinship groups, tribes, families and individuals, as well as organized falconry clubs, falconry heritage trusts and institutions. In addition, there are supporting agencies and associations such as falcon hospitals, breeding centres, conservation agencies, traditional falconry equipment makers, artists, poets, and professional falconers. The main falconry associations and centers are: 'Burkytshі' and 'Kyran" Federations, 'Zhalayir Shora' Centre for Falconry, 'Sunkar' Falcon Nursery Centre.
Keyword
Information source
Kazakhstan National Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage

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