National toys help to understand the character of the people, their history and worldview. Children have always been a great joy for the Nenets people — they were greeted as a gift from the gods. Cozy cradles were made for children and clothes were sewn from the softest skins and rawhide. Each children’s toy had and still has its own purpose, it educates children and helps them develop an understanding of their culture.
The Nenets willingly devote their free time to board games. They borrowed checkers, chess and cards from Russian settlers, and the Nenets learned to carve wooden boards and figurines themselves. Children and adults love to solve homemade puzzles, one of them is “kyylys”, presented in the collection of the Purovsky Museum. Translated from the Nenets language, this word means “who”, “which”. There is another name for the toy — “throwing a lasso”.
The kyylys consists of a square board with round holes, which symbolizes the starry sky. There is a thread with various figurines, and at the end of the thread there is a pointed wooden rod. The sun personifies a beautiful woman, the goddess of fertility, as well as the cult of the sun, which is important for the Nenets. In ancient times, the northern tribes celebrated the appearance of the sun in January after a long polar winter as the onset of a new year. The moon is a night luminary that reflects sunlight. According to the Nenets, the moon dies and is born in heaven just like living beings on earth.
A kyylys player takes the rod in one hand, catches a figurine and hits a hole on the board. Each hole has its own prize points: the closer to the center, the better. The number of figurines that the player managed to put on before falling into the hole is also taken into account. The winner is the one who caught all four figurines and hit the center hole of the board.
The game kyylys develops dexterity and reaction speed. According to the testimony of the Forest Nenets, more than a hundred years ago, kyylys was a gambling game in which men competed at the fair and bet their property: deer, chums, and even wives.
The Nenets willingly devote their free time to board games. They borrowed checkers, chess and cards from Russian settlers, and the Nenets learned to carve wooden boards and figurines themselves. Children and adults love to solve homemade puzzles, one of them is “kyylys”, presented in the collection of the Purovsky Museum. Translated from the Nenets language, this word means “who”, “which”. There is another name for the toy — “throwing a lasso”.
The kyylys consists of a square board with round holes, which symbolizes the starry sky. There is a thread with various figurines, and at the end of the thread there is a pointed wooden rod. The sun personifies a beautiful woman, the goddess of fertility, as well as the cult of the sun, which is important for the Nenets. In ancient times, the northern tribes celebrated the appearance of the sun in January after a long polar winter as the onset of a new year. The moon is a night luminary that reflects sunlight. According to the Nenets, the moon dies and is born in heaven just like living beings on earth.
A kyylys player takes the rod in one hand, catches a figurine and hits a hole on the board. Each hole has its own prize points: the closer to the center, the better. The number of figurines that the player managed to put on before falling into the hole is also taken into account. The winner is the one who caught all four figurines and hit the center hole of the board.
The game kyylys develops dexterity and reaction speed. According to the testimony of the Forest Nenets, more than a hundred years ago, kyylys was a gambling game in which men competed at the fair and bet their property: deer, chums, and even wives.
