Compiled by:
Hermine Dreyfuss, Mary Helsaple,
Sharon Gibson, Judy Gebben
and Barbara Diamond

Photos by
Hermine Dreyfuss

The Kyrgyzstan Exhibit was on display at the Penrose Public Library
April 6 through October 31, 1997

Legend has it that when God was giving out land to the peoples of the earth, the Kyrgyz, who like to eat and sleep as much as anything, were doing just that and missed their assignment.

They went to God and asked if they too might have some land for their people, and God replied that he had none left. "But," he said, "since you are a kind and hard-working people, I will give you a small, but beautiful parcel of land I was saving for my dacha (a traditional holiday home in the countryside)."

Now take a walk in God's Dacha through the eyes of the children of Kyrgyzstan as expressed in their art; through photographs of the everyday life of the country; and through the beautiful needlework, leatherwork, musical traditions and other products from the gifted hands of the Kyrgyz people.

"KYRGYZSTAN: Nomadic Culture In The Modern World"

The Kyrgyz people have a strong musical and oral storytelling tradition. Until Russian academics began compiling some of the oral history for publication in this century, it was merely handed down through the generations, as would be appropriate for a nomadic culture.

Akyns, or storytellers, accompanied by a komuz (stringed instrument), recite or improvise stories of the past as well as incorporate spontaneous tales about those present at the performance. This still occurs, often on an informal basis, at many social gatherings. Most Kyrgyz sing and play the komuz, and there are several folk ensembles that give concert performances.

A specialized akyn is the manaschi, the interpreter of the folk epic Manas, around which Kyrgyz culture has coalesced as a means of regaining identity since independence.

The Manas epic is a cycle of oral legends, longer than the great epics of the West (Iliad and Odyssey) and the East Mahabarata). The manaschi both interprets and performs the poem and is revered by the society.

Each year a national competition of aspiring manaschis is held in Bishkek and attracts not only Kyrgyz boys and men from throughout the country, but an occasional woman or Russian youth as well.

In August 1995, Kyrgyz from throughout the region assembled in Talas, the site of the birth of Manas and his tomb, for a millennial celebration of his birth. Thousands came with their yurts sporting regional designs and a variety of textile expressions of their culture. Musical performances and traditional horse games, as well as food and fellowship, signaled the strong feeling for the Manas tradition that exists and that the current government has encouraged as a way of creating national cohesion and identity.

Educational Goals:

• Students will identify the relationship between Kyrgyzstan 's culture and our American culture.
• Students will experience the process of making handmade crafts from Kyrgyzstan.
• Students will learn how to utilize the resources available on the Kyrgyz people and country.
• Students will develop an understanding of nomadic traditions and symbols used by the early Kyrgyz people.

General Information About Kyrgyzstan

• Kyrgyzstan is about the size of Minnesota and lies on the same latitude as New York.
  
• The country's diversity makes it interesting for students to research and report on. Reports could take the form of: graphs, diagrams, charts or creative illustrations.
  
• Kyrgyzstan has four distinct climatic regions which include: steep, mountain, desert and river valley. The elevation ranges from 1,600 feet in the Ferghana valley to a high of 24,704 feet at the Pobeda (Victory) Peak, one of the ten highest mountains in the world.
  
• The average temperatures in Bishkek ( the capital city) are 85-100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter.
  
• Kyrgyzstan has a diverse population with citizens from more than 80 nationalities. The culture is rich in tradition drawing on its nomadic roots. Even today it is possible to find shepherds and herders living in yurts.
  
• Kyrgyzstan is a constitutional republic with three branches. Legislative power rests with the 105-member Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament), which consists of two houses, the Legislative Chamber and the Assembly of People's Representatives. Their new constitution was adopted in 1993. It guarantees individual rights and freedom of speech and of the press.
  
• Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, is one of the most beautiful and progressive cities in Central Asia. Located along the Silk Road, this city of 700,000 people at the base of the Tien Shan mountain range has a climate similar to that of Colorado Springs. Bishkek is a film industry hub and has vast capacities for industry and mining, as well as tourism and recreation. (Bishkek became a sister city of Colorado Springs in 1994.)

Additional Information:

U.S.A.I.D. Country Profile: Kyrgyzstan Interactive Central Asia Resource Project

Constructing a Model Yurt by Judy Gebben

Purpose:

To learn what type of shelter the nomadic people of Kyrgyzstan lived in and to understand the construction of this shelter.

Background:

Kyrgyzstan has the best pasture land in Central Asia, and mountains cover 94% of the country. A tough and hardy people, the Kyrgyz livestock herders still take their animals to the high meadows for grazing during the warmer months where they live in the traditional nomadic dwelling, the yurt. This shelter is made of heavy, coarse felt with an interior wooden frame.
Felt is made from the fleece cut each year from the numerous sheep that graze on their abundant pastures . . . some say that the sheep outnumber the people in Kyrgyzstan. Felt making is one of the primitive arts that predates weaving; it is used in many parts of the Kyrgyz culture. A shelter made of felt, like the yurt, would insure a cozy night's sleep in the cool mountain climate. Thousands of Kyrgyz gather each year for their national storytelling competition in the telling of the Manas epic. They all come with their yurts sporting regional designs and a
variety of textile expressions of their culture.

Appropriate level: Upper Elementary

Materials:

• copies of the pattern included
• cardboard or tagboard
• white felt
• scissors
• glue (hot glue gun needed for felt)
• optional: embroidery yarn and needle

Procedure:

1. Using the pattern provided, have students cut their yurt out
of the cardboard or the tagboard and the white felt.

2. Construct the walls of the yurt by gluing in a circular fashion. Then fit the roof to the walls allowing the smoke hole to remain open. The cardboard or tagboard will provide the support for the felt "tent" that in real life would be a wooden framework.

3. Optional activity would be to have students embroider designs on the felt before attaching it to the underneath structure. Designs should reflect students' environment or personal interests.

Extension of lesson:

1. Create a yurt village by placing every student's yurt on a table which has been pushed against the wall. On the wall, create a mural depicting the 24,000 peaks of Kyrgyzstan.

2. Create a two-part diorama with an American Indian Teepee village and a Kyrgyz Yurt village in the other part to compare these nomadic shelters and the environment in which they were used.

Krygyz Hat by Sharon Gibson

Purpose:

To become familiar with a traditional hat worn by the Krygyz people as a part of the Imagination Celebration exhibit. To create a felt hat that can be decorated and worn by the student.

Motivation:

Watch the video on Krygyzstan, "Kyrgyzstan, Karakol Tourism. "Investigate Kyrgyzstan on the Internet.E-mail: info@tour.karakol.su. Visit the Imagination Celebration exhibit at Penrose Public Library downtown.

Vocabulary:

kalpak--(Kyrgyz term for hat) felt.

Closure:

Wear hats to the Kyrgyzstan exhibit! Have a parade of Kyrgyz hats.

Material:

• Tagboard template
• 4 pieces of 8 1/2 x 11 paper or felt
• scrap pieces of colored felt or paper
• glue
• scissors
• markers

Process:

• Teacher should create several bell-shaped templates out of Tagboard or old file folders.
• Use the attached pattern.
• Each table of students (4) should have a template.

1. Have each student trace the bell-shaped template on to a piece of white 8 1/2 x 11 paper. A good heavy paper is necessary or white felt may be used.
2. Cut out the shape and continue to trace from this piece on to 3 more pieces of 8 1/2 x 11 paper.
3. Cut all 4 bell shapes out. Decorate by applying colored shapes of paper or felt as in applique or use markers to simulate stitched designs.
4. Glue edges of bell shapes together. Edges may also be stitched with colored yarn. Or yarn may be looped through holes punched in the edges of the seams. Line two seems up and punch the holes through both sections at once so they line up for "stitching."
5. Tack up with a stitch or staple two opposite seam edges of the hat. These will be worn over each ear with a seam down the front and back.
6. Dry before wearing.

Kyrgyz Felt Rug by Judy Gebben

Purpose:

To create a felt rug that can be decorated by the students; an educational component of the Imagination Celebration exhibit about the Colorado Springs' sister city of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Motivation:

• Watch the video on Krygyzstan, Kyrgyzstan, Karakol Tourism.
• Investigate Kyrgyzstan on the Internet.
• Visit the Imagination Celebration exhibit at Penrose Public Library downtown.
• Look at slides and photos of Kyrgyzstan rugs.

Vocabulary:

• shirdaks (Kyrgyz term for felt rug)
• felt
• applique
• border
• symmetrical

Background:

The people of Kyrgyzstan are nomadic sheep herders. The traditional home is a yurt constructed of felt. In this cool, high altitude climate one can imagine the need for a functional warm floor covering. These rugs have evolved into beautiful pieces of artwork that incorporate applique designs.

Closure:

Display the rugs on the wall.

Materials:

Rugs may be made from either pieces of felt or paper. Have a variety of colors to choose from.

• scissors
• glue
• scratch paper
• pencil

Process:

• Teacher should have a piece of colored felt for each student the size of the finished rug.
• Each group of students should have photos of rugs and examples of the designs used in their appliqué.

1. Have each student sketch the design they want to create on a piece of paper. Stress the fact that they will have to cut out each piece and glue it down.
2. Give each student either a piece of paper or a piece of felt the size that the rug will be.
3. Have a variety of pieces of colored paper or felt to cut out the designs from.
4. Have students create a symmetrical design for the border of the rug.

How to Make Felt by Judy Gebben

Purpose:

To experience making felt from the fleece of sheep to understand the life and culture of Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz make hats, rugs, shelters called yurts and wall hangings from felt.

Background:

Legend attributes the invention of felt to St. Clement, who cleverly put carded wool in his shoes to cushion his feet while on a long pilgrimage. To his amazement, he found that the pressure and moisture of his feet during this long walk had worked the wool into felt.

Another story tells of a woman washing her clothes on the Nile River in Egypt. As she worked, she noticed masses of soft whitish material floating in the current and gathering in shallow pools. She scooped up this soft substance, placed it on a rock and went back to her laundering. After the heat of the sun dried the fibrous mass, she lifted it off the rock and found that she had a white thick material the likes of which she had never seen before. Her mind raced as she thought of the rugs she could make for her house when she did the same process on a larger scale.

Felting probably has an origin earlier than recorded history but it was mentioned by Homer. It predates weaving, perhaps as early as 2500 B.C. Early nomadic tribes used it for tents, arrow-proof vests, shields, clothing and rugs; they had an abundant source of fleece in the sheep they herded. It was introduced into

Europe at the time of the Crusades. Fine felt is used to make hats, coarser felt is used for table covers and carpets. A stiff rough felt has been used as roofing and sheds and primitive homes. Clothing is made from fine quality fleece. Felt is a material formed by uniting and compressing fibers of wool, fur or other materials into a compact body by what is termed the "felting process." The felting process, whether done by hand or by machine, requires:

• heat
• lubricant
• agitation or friction
• moisture

In this process, loose substance is converted into a close, thick material of great strength and durability. Wool fibers have scales which the felting process interlocks, shrinks and hardens.

Appropriate level: Middle school or High school

Materials:

• fleece
• hand carder
• a rubber mat
• Ivory soap
• a sink or bucket with hot water
• an outside working area with cement sidewalk
• Optional: dyes

Procedure:

1. Fleece needs to be carded.
2. (Heat Process) Working outside, each student needs carded fleece. Place fleece in hot soapy water; then pull out and place on rubber mat. (Lubricant Process) Work in 1 tablespoon of Ivory Liquid with fingers.
   (Friction Process) Place fleece and mat on ground. Stomp several minutes with your feet. Fold fleece at right angles roll over and stomp again. Repeat procedure several times. About 10 minutes duration.
3. When the fleece has hardened from the friction, heat and lubricant - you have made a piece of felt.
4. Now make something useful out of your felt - a hat, purse, wall hanging - embroider designs, add buttons, sequins, beads or leave it plain. (See hat project.)

Where to buy fleece:

Dodie Weier Green Valley Weavers
1807 N. Weber
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
(719) 448-9963

A Felted Geode

Procedure:

1. Make ball of white fleece, layer it with alternating colors of dyed fleece and more white fleece - until you have a ball about the size of a softball.
2. Place ball of layered fleece in the toe of a nylon stocking.
3. Outside students need to soak the ball in Ivory Soap and hot water and then beat the stocking-held ball on the side walk this is the friction that makes the fleece into felt. You can put the ball in a stocking in your washing machine and the agitation will also make felt.

A bibliography of resources in the Pikes Peak Library District

Kyrgyzstan: Nomadic Cultures of Central Asia

Non-Fiction:

Across Asia by Land: Adapted from To the Ends of the Earth by Irene M. Franck and David M. BrownstoneNew York, 1991. (Y380.1095 A187) Grades 6 up.

Description of the evolution of the trade routes across central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan. Over 50 maps and illustrations are interspersed throughout the text.

Demi. Chingis Khan. New York, 1991. (J950.2092 G329d) Grades 2-5.

Beautifully illustrated short account of the life of Genghis Khan, with information about nomadic life in Central Asia and his invasion of Kyrgyzstan in the 13th century.

Harvey, Janet. Traditional Textiles of Central Asia, New York, 1996. (746.0958 H341t) Grades 6 up.

Contains full-color large photographs of clothing, rugs and other fabrics from Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries.

Kyrgyzstan, Minneapolis, 1993. (J958.43 K99) Grades 5 up.

Discusses the history, topography, people, culture and economics of Kyrgyzstan.

Lands and Peoples, vol. 2: Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania. Danbury, CT, 1995. (J910. L263 1995, vol. 2) Grades 4 up.

Vol. 2 from 1995 contains a short chapter on Kyrgyzstan and other newly formed countries of Central Asia.

Major, John. The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History, New York, 1995. (J950.1 M234s) Grades 2-4.

Very brief generalized account of a few major stops on the Silk Route in 700 A.D.

The Silk and Spice Routes, New York, 1994. Grades 5 and up.

A four-volume series published by UNESCO on all aspects of the silk route trade. Kyrgyzstan was a major corridor of the Silk Route.

Inventions and Trade by Reid Struan. (J382.09 R358si)

Exploration by Sea by Reid Struan. (J382.09 R358s)

Cultures and Civilizations by Reid Struan. (J909. R358s)

Explorations by Land by Paul Strathern (J380.109 S899s)

Star, Blue Evening. Tipis and Yurts: Authentic Designs for Circular Shelters. Asheville, North Carolina, 1995. (69 0.81 S795t) For all grades.

Thomas, Paul. The Central Asian States: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan. Brookfield, CT., 1992. (J958.T461c) Grades 3-6.

Weiss, Harvey. Shelters: From Teepee to Igloo. New York, 1988. (J392.36 W429s) Grades 2-5.

Contains one short chapter on yurts.

World Nature Encyclopedia, vol. 16: Northern Asia. Milwaukee, WI., 1989. (J Reference 574.503 W927 v. 16) Grades 4 up.

This volume covers climate, vegetation, animals and birds of all of Northern Asia and includes some specific information on Central Asian environments.

Media:

Central Asia and Kazakhstan (videocassette). Evanston, IL., 1992. (947.086 C397) Grades 6 up.

A profile of the Silk Road, including visits with families in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekhistan. (27 minutes)

Tuva: Voices from the Center of Asia. (sound recording: 33 1/3, 1 Disc) Washington, DC, 1990. (HQ USSR TVF S17) All grades.

Recorded by Smithsonian Folkways Records in 1987 in the yurts of the Tuvan people. Contains a wide variety of songs and chants with traditional instruments of the herding culture.

Jim Keen of Keen Communications, P.O. Box 62855, Colorado Springs, CO 80962. (719)593-2155.

Fiction:

McKay, Lawrence. Caravan. New York, 1995. (J EASY MCKA) Grades K- 3.

A 10-year-old boy travels through the mountains of Central Asia with his father.

Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. New York, 1989. (Young Adult YF or YP STAP).

11-year-old Shabanu grows up in her nomadic culture, facing rigid family and cultural roles, experiencing adventures with deadly consequences. A view of Islamic nomadic cultures which are similar to Kyrgyzstan's ancient culture. (Also available on audiocassette: AUDIOC F STAP).

Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Haveli. New York, 1993. (Young Adult YF or YP STAP)

Continuing adventures of Shabanu.

Thank you's for the Kyrgyzstan Exhibit -- KCIC

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