#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Dolgan shoes – chizhi – are high men’s and women’s holiday boots made of fur with a silk embroidered top.
The project is called Byhy (means Striving in Dolgan). It was prepared under the guidance of Polina Shirokih, director of the Khatanga children’s creativity center. According to the authors’ collective, the village needs a place where young residents could receive basic knowledge of dealing with kamus (shaggy reindeer leg fur), sewing Dolgan national shoes and working with beads.
Maria Bolshakova, a chum worker with forty years of experience, will conduct training courses in sewing chizhi.
It is worthy noting that in January 2018, when the chum workers became official, they received an increase in their salaries and the entry in the employment record book – ‘chum worker of the third professional qualification category’.
Those who cannot attend the lessons in person can study remotely: video master classes for processing kamus, cutting and sewing boots, embroidering accessories and traditional Dolgan shoes with beads will be posted on the Internet. The participants of the Bykhy project will hold skill contests in Khatanga.
It should be added that the attention of Khatanga residents to the crafts of the indigenous peoples of the North is quite high. Thus, a school of craftsmanship was opened at the Museum of Nature and Ethnography, and even earlier the first craft fair was organized.
Text: Larisa Fedishina, Photo: open source
