Miniature copies of household items are still popular toys for children among the northern peoples even today. They are created from natural materials — clay, birch bark, wood, leather, and fur. Boys traditionally play with miniature boats, bows and arrows, deer figurines, small sleds, copies of traps, hunting belts with knives. Such toys prepare the child for the future role of a hunter, reindeer herder and fisherman. Girls play with dolls and attributes of women’s crafts, learning housekeeping from an early age.
The exhibition presents a miniature copy of a baking oven, which is called “nyan kor” in the language of the Khanty people. Such an oven is usually located outside.
The Khanty people call the oven located inside the house “chuval”. It is used to cook food and make a fire, which remains the only source of light in the house throughout the day.
The basis of any Khanty oven is a frame made of bird cherry twigs, coated with clay and grass. To build a “nyan kor”, firstly a mortar of greasy fine clay with dry grass (most often sedges) is mixed. Then the resulting mass is put layer by layer on the wooden frame from the outer and inner sides, carefully drying each of them.
The exhibition presents a miniature copy of a baking oven, which is called “nyan kor” in the language of the Khanty people. Such an oven is usually located outside.
The Khanty people call the oven located inside the house “chuval”. It is used to cook food and make a fire, which remains the only source of light in the house throughout the day.
The basis of any Khanty oven is a frame made of bird cherry twigs, coated with clay and grass. To build a “nyan kor”, firstly a mortar of greasy fine clay with dry grass (most often sedges) is mixed. Then the resulting mass is put layer by layer on the wooden frame from the outer and inner sides, carefully drying each of them.
The clay keeps the temperature well, so that not only bread can be baked in the Khanty oven, but also pies, and cheesecakes with berries, as well as fish and meat. To cook something, “nyan kor” should be well heated in advance — the firewood should burn out completely. Then the hot ash is swept with a broom made of conifer branches soaked in water. Only after that, the molds with dough are placed in the oven, which should be tightly closed with a shield and propped with a stick or a wooden shovel.
Since the Khanty are constantly on the road, baking ovens are often built on sleds. And in camps they are put under a canopy.
Therefore, the oven platform also has a status of a sacred space, and each of its objects believed to have special magical power. For example, the Khanty use even the slightly diluted soot from the oven or chuval as a healing remedy for stomach colic.
Since the Khanty are constantly on the road, baking ovens are often built on sleds. And in camps they are put under a canopy.
Fire is considered a sacred element among this northern people. The worship of natural forces, primarily the earthly fire and the heavenly body, arose at the dawn of humankind and is considered one of the very first forms of religious views.
Therefore, the oven platform also has a status of a sacred space, and each of its objects believed to have special magical power. For example, the Khanty use even the slightly diluted soot from the oven or chuval as a healing remedy for stomach colic.
