Many people who make Siberia ocs often refer to Siberia as a nation. Siberia is not a nation, it is a large geographical area which is the home to many different ethnic groups.
This excuse is often made for singular "native American" ocs too; Using the excuse that because of the Russian conquest of Siberia which resulted in the massacre and displacement of the different peoples of Siberia, this is a justification to put all of these different groups into one, singular, Siberia OC, as apparently, there's no point in doing actual research into the different ethnic groups who are native to Siberia!
This I find to be blatantly disrespectful, conflating such diverse groups into one (often whitewashed as I'll get onto later) singular OC and flippantly saying "oh well a lot of them are dead now so..." is again, disrespectful and insensitive. A Tuvan is not an Evenk is not a Yakut is not a Buryat is not a Chukchi is not a Koryak.
That list I just gave you is just a small example of the sheer diversity of the ethnic groups who are native to Siberia.
It leaves a very bad taste in my mouth when people use the Russian conquest of Siberia - an already sensitive topic because of the displacements and killings of the native people of Siberia which in turn, resulted in an ethnic cleansing, as a vehicle to then create (as I said before, often whitewashed) OCs which dismiss the unique cultures and histories of these different groups. Do people...Not see the irony in this?
Honestly, just 5 minutes of research into the native groups of Siberia would show you that trying to conflate all of these different cultures into one just does not make sense regardless. Though these cultures share similarities because of course they are North East Asian - this is not a justification to waive off the diversity of these ethnic groups!
Let's take Buryats and Yakuts for example, two ethnic groups who live in Siberia and who are considered to be Siberians. Buryats are a Mongolic people, their culture is quite similar to that of Khalkha Mongols, the majority ethnic group in Mongolia. Yakuts on the other hand, are not a Mongolic group.
The Buryats live primarily in the Republic of Buryatia, located in southern Siberia, Russia, while the Yakuts, also known as the Sakha, inhabit the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in the Russian Far East. Both groups have historically practised nomadic herding, but the Buryats traditionally focused on cattle herding and moved with their herds across the vast steppe, while the Yakuts were known for their reindeer herding and horse breeding in the Arctic and subarctic regions. The Buryats' culture has been heavily influenced by Tibetan Buddhism due to historical connections with Tibet, and shamanism also plays a significant role in their spiritual practices. The Yakuts' culture, in contrast, reflects influences from both Turkic and Siberian indigenous elements, with some Russian cultural assimilation over time.
Geographically speaking, they also differ. Buryatia is characterised by diverse landscapes, including mountains and lakes, while Yakutia is known for its extreme cold temperatures and vast tundra. Despite their differences, both groups have rich cultural heritages and face challenges in preserving their traditions and languages amidst Russian colonisation.
Just between Buryats and Yakuts, you can already see how they differ culturally and linguistically. Of course there will be some similarities as they are both Northern Asian cultures, but we don't give Spain and Portugal a singular personification because of similar characteristics/cultures now, do we?
Another issue I have with Siberia OCs is when, not only (by default) is a Siberia OC blatantly dismissive of the diversity of the ethnic groups who are native to Siberia, but when they make their already insensitive OC... White Russian, or half Russian? Do I even need to explain why this is offensive?
Yes, a majority of people who live in Siberia now are ethnic Russias. Do you ever... wonder why that is though?
What's worse is when people know, but then use the displacement of the people of Siberia as a justification to make their Siberia OC half Russian or white. This is blatant white washing, and though many groups are Russified, this does not mean that they've completely let go of their native culture and or are extinct, nor is it an excuse to ignore their native cultures to make an insensitive oc.
There is a difference in recognising that yes, some of these groups have gone through a process of Russification/have adopted many aspects Russian culture (to varying degrees depending on the group) , and straight up white washing their cultures by making a half white-Russian or a white Siberia OC - as if each of their unique identities do not deserve the agency to be represented by an equally unique and accurate personification.
Groups in Siberia never had strong relations with ethnic Russians until the Russian conquest of Siberia. It's okay to have an oc of a Siberian ethnic group which reflects the degree of Russification that that group underwent because (unfortunately) it's true for many of them - Kazakhstan for example is a central Asian country that underwent a process of Russification and it's accurate to reflect the degree to which Kazakhstan was Russified and how this affected him in his personification. Despite it being an unfortunate fact, you can't escape it, and I am not against reflecting this.
But it's a whole different ball game when you take already marginalised groups of people, squeeze their diverse cultures into a clusterfuck of an oc, which is already bad in and of itself⌠but then WHITEWASH THIS OC. EVEN WORSE WHEN THEIR CULTURES WERE ACTIVELY PERSECUTED BY THE RUSSIAN STATE, AND ARE STILL BEING PERSECUTED.
Further, the idea of making the Siberia OC "young" (even an oc of a singular Siberian ethnic group) as in, born during the Russian conquest era⌠and make Russia some sort of father to Siberia⌠This just absolutely reeks of paternalistic colonialist propaganda; the idea that these groups had no culture, no right to govern themselves or the idea that they didn't have the ability to govern themselves before the Russians came and subsequently "gave them culture" and "enlightened them" in their ways.
What other actual justification is there to do something like this? Seriously? When these cultures are actually quite old and predate the Russian conquest?
As a Filipino who has to deal with this sort of trash from Spaniards, it is not appreciated.
Further, if it wouldn't make sense to make a native American group OC half white because of white settlers in America, and if it wouldn't make sense to make the Philippines half Spanish because of our colonisation under the Spanish, why then is it ok to do it to the native people of Siberia?
This is the WORST part about Siberia ocs. But people who make their Siberia ocs the representation of 2p (or BOO! EVIL!) Russia.
This is so egregiously racist and I don't even know how people can headcanon this without even batting an eye.
First of all, making Siberia the "evil Asian" side of Russia⌠okay I've bloody banged on about this before but I really don't care at this point. This is stepping into peddling eugenicist racial science about Russian.
The rhetoric that Russians (but this also applies to other eastern Europeans, however I'm specifically talking about Russia here seeing as it's about Siberia ocs) are not "true Europeans" because of Asiatic influence, both from the past (Mongol invasions) and present (Russian Asians who are the result of the Russian conquest of Siberia and central Asia). And because of this, this means that Russians are also a load of evil, Eastern Hordes too because of their so called "Asiatic" heritage.
There's a saying in some Eastern European countries about Russians. It goes something along the lines of "Scratch a Russian, you'll find a Tatar." This is used in an offensive manner to basically call Russians subhuman or evil because of their so-called "tatar" (Asian) heritage.
Keeping this in mind⌠Making Siberia⌠the "evil Asian side" of Russia⌠yeah I'm not beating around the bush with this one. You're a filthy racist if you do this.
It's even more egregious when you're using Siberians as a justification to make your cheap 2p Russia OC evil, as if SIBERIANS are the aggressors towards Russians. WHEN THEY WERE THE ONES WHO ARE COLONISED BY RUSSIA AND TO THIS DAY FACE MARGINALISATION UNDER THE RUSSIAN STATE. BUT NO. THEY'RE THE BIG EVIL AGGRESSORS TOWARDS YOUR INNOCENT WHITE BLORBO, RIGHT?
tl;dr If you have a singular "Siberia" oc it's trash no matter what, hope this helps đ
In this post, where I use "Sakha" and "Yakutia", they are interchangeable
If you just want headcanons, it's right at the bottom of this post
Name: Erchim Basygasov
The reason why I gave him this name:
Erchim, in the Sakha language means vigorous/active/energetic. I think it suits him well as I see him as being quite outgoing/a busy body.
Basygasov: I know it seems like I gave him a Russian last name but there is a reason behind this. Many common Sakha surnames are either Russian in origin or are modelled after Russian names. I chose to go with the "Sakha name that was modelled to sound like a Russian name" route. The nickname "Bahygas" comes from the adjective meaning "able to draw" in Sakha, and so this Sakha nickname is then modified to sound like "Basygasov" as a surname. I chose this surname because I see him as actually being quite artsy!
Origins
His exact birthdate is extremely uncertain as its said that the Sakha people may have settled in the area around the 9th-16th centuries
I'll say that he emerged from 1300-1400 as a distinct group to try and find a balance between those dates.
The ancestor of the Sakha before they migrated Northwards are said to be the Kurykans, who moved from Yenisey River to Lake Baikal in the 7th century, and likely had some level of mixing with Mongolic peoples.
Specifically Sakha's origins were most likely during the great migrations in the 13th century (obviously he existed a little bit before these migrations occurred)
Some of the native inhabitants of the Lena (Evenki, Eveni, Yukagir) assimilated with the migrants (him) from the Lake Baikal region/Southern Siberia who were pressured to move because of the Buryats/pressure from the expanding Mongol Empire (according to Sakha's own legends)
The migrants from Southern Siberia, brought language, oral history, and livestock herding. In fact it is these things which is what suggests that Sakha's origins are due to this migration from the south to the north, especially the horse and cattle breeding which was a Southern economy. Unlike Sakha's reindeer herders neighbours, the Sakha farmed horses and cattle, assimilating Eveni and Evenki (Tungusic) cultures in the process, and we can see this especially through Sakha's shamanic traditions.
It was this mixture of cultures that brought about the Sakha people. I actually think Sakha first represented these migrant groups from Lake Baikal as a child and formed his stronger identity as he migrated and assimilated other groups.
This is because the Sakha people greatly tie their origins to these migrations, and as mentioned before, according to their own legends, they were "driven out" by the Buryats/expansion of the Mongol Empire to move Northwards, centring the origins of their history to these migrants and the migration.
These migrants are speculated to be of Turkic/Turko-Mongol origin. Possibly even Khakas to an extent
Mfw Sakha sounds like Khakas đ¤
But in all seriousness, the origin of the ethnonym Sakha was seen as linked to the Sagay Khakas of Abakan River however this cannot be seen as certain
So Sakha settled in areas with grazing along the Lena, Vilyuy, and Aldan rivers. Again this differed from the smaller, original populations like Even, Evenk, and Yukagir (reindeer herders), who either assimilated or relocated to uplands due to their hunting and reindeer herding economies.
So... Sakha đ¤ Chukotka when it comes to assimilating people
Sakha oral epics mention leaders like Tygyn, the most powerful among them, who formed a chiefdom in the 17th century by subjugating other clans.
So in the late 16th to early 17th centuries, Kangalastsy tribe, led by Tygyn was the most powerful and respected.
They lived in the central steppe area of the Middle Lena valleys, enabling them to excel in cattle farming and gain economic and military advantages.
The Kangalastsy were significant in shaping the Sakha culture, and it's somewhat speculated that they are linked to an ancient tribal union called kangly, which opposed the Hunnic State in the Syr Darya region centuries before (cannot be certain).
According to Sakha folklore, Tygyn was a descendant of Badzhei.
He was the son of Munn'an Darkhan and the grandson of Tyusyulge Darkhaan. Tygyn was notably tall and became the Chief King after his father.
And again, he united various Sakha clans.
So he was kind of like... The Sakha version of Genghis Khan?
However, in 1628, Tygyn's forces were defeated by the advancing Russians, armed with firearms. He was captured and imprisoned, where he suffered from a skin condition and passed away in 1632.
In that same hear, the Yakutsk fort was built, forming Yakutia's link to Russia.
However this was not at all peaceful. The Sakha rebelled seven times (1633-1684) and was met met with harsh suppression.
But before this, Tygyn did manage to be a pain in the arse for the Russian Cossacks - it is mentioned that in 1631 they could not collected fur tax from him
Further: In Legends, Russian Cossacks met Tygyn and praised the power of the Moscow Tsar. They asked Tygyn and the Sakha people to submit, promising mercy, wealth, and rewards. However, Tygyn declined, challenging the Cossacks to a fight instead.
In 1634, Cossack chief Ivan Galkin noted that Kangalas princes (Tygyn's sons/descendants?) controlled vast land and people, even other princes.
They avoided paying taxes for a while. But by 1637, Tygyn's sons submitted, paid taxes, gave hostages, and showed loyalty. Many Sakha people followed, making the Sakha territory part of Russia.
The fact that a majority of the other Sakha people submitted along with Tygyn's sons goes to show how influential Tygyn's lineage was/links to what I said previously about how influential they were in shaping Sakha culture
In the next year, 1638, the Yakutsk district was created, becoming Yakutsk province in 1775, and later Yakutsk region in 1784
So....Sakha was essentially on a pretty strong grind before Russia came along. Tygyn put up a good resistance but his sons on the other hand... đ¤ He malds about it but he also knows it was kind of inevitable
Still kind of glorifies Tygyn to this day
Before Russian colonisation, Sakha was pretty enthusiastic/strong willed. His strong willed nature still followed him however the enthusiasm waned a little under Russian colonisation. A large part of his early enthusiasm can be chalked up to his new found wealth and strong leader, so it was a pretty drastic change of mood once it was abruptly ended by the colonisation period. He didn't take it too well because it was, well, unexpected. He (rightfully) held on to a lot of anger/resentment for a while.
I've mentioned other people who he had contact/relations with such as the Even, Evenk and the Yukagir. Major parts of Sakha culture were derived from these peoples. I see those three as almost being his mentors in a way because of this. On one hand, they were annoyed at this kid who suddenly moved there out of seemingly nowhere which is now forcing them to move more North >:( but on the other hand it was also "Well... He's here so we might as well try and teach him some things if he wants to survive đ". I see Evenkia as being his main kind of mentor as Evenki culture influenced Sakha culture more majorly.
On average, Sakha has a good relationship with all of them (especially when they ask him for advice on legal troubles.)
To be fair though, Yukagir is probably the most annoyed by Sakha (when she does feel in the mood to be annoyed at someone) because mass-assimilation affected her the most.
Life under Russian colonisation
In the 17th century, Sakha people fought fiercely against Russian control until 1642. Then, Russian missionaries tried to convert the Sakha to Christianity between 1651 and 1700.
During the 18th century, the Sakha had to move due to political and environmental reasons. Russians took advantage, taking control of Sakha areas.
By 1773, the Imperial mail system reached the Sakha regions. Political opponents of the Tsarist regime were put in prison camps. In the 19th century, Yakuts switched to sedentary farming and Orthodox Christianity.
In 1846, gold discovery led to Russian immigration, changing the demographic of the population.
In the early 20th century, Yakuts were involved in the Russian Civil War, supporting both Red and White armies. In the aftermath of World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the Civil War, the Soviet government established the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922.
While Sakha was somewhat... Appreciative of this move, it still wasn't enough. By appreciative I don't mean he kissed Russia's ass on got on his knees thanking him, absolutely not. More like, he saw it as a push in the right direction in general.
Sakha is always one to push things to get his way, and though some things from the Russians were inevitably accepted such as orthodox Christianity and sedentary farming - this is not a testament to Sakha keeling over easily. As I will talk about in my next bullet points, Sakha played a prominent role in not only protecting his own interests, but other Siberian interests too.
This is why earlier I talked about the likes of Even, Evenk and Yukagir asking him for help with certain legal troubles. I think Sakha has always been quite outgoing and you can see this even before Russian colonisation. So this skill of his stuck through, which is why he's such a prominent player in these types of affairs but also very keen on getting himself out there, as seen later under my "Business brained?!" subheading of this post.
Collectivisation and sovereignty
From 1925 to 1960, Sakha agriculture was collectivised, leading to resistance and subsequent repression.
Sakha organisations, schools, and publications were banned, and Stalin's industrialisation policies led to significant Russian immigration into Sakha .
Throughout this period, Yakuts fiercely clung to their language, which became a symbol of resistance under Soviet rule. It was one of the only ways in which they could resist
In the late 20th century, amid Gorbachev's reform policies, Sakha nationalism resurfaced.
In March 1990, an Association of Peoples of the North was formed, with Sakha playing a prominent role.
This association aimed to protect the interests of 26 ethnic groups, including the Sakha, and increase their bargaining power in economic and political negotiations with Moscow.
In August 1990, Yakutia increased its autonomy within Russia by issuing a declaration of sovereignty
Sakha proclaimed its sovereignty within the Russian Federation in September 1990, adopting the formal name Yakut-Sakha Soviet Socialist Republic, aligning with the traditional name of the Sakha people.
In August 1991, Sakha's parliament passed a law, transferring control of all state enterprises from the USSR central government to the republican authority.
By December of the same year, Mikhail Nikolayev secures a resounding victory, becoming Sakha's first president with over 70 percent of the vote
Further push for greater Sovereignty
In January 1992, Sakha parliament aimed for more independence, proposing a treaty with Moscow. The treaty would give Sakha control over precious metal reserves for global sales. But this sparked criticism from local Russian legislators, calling it secessionist.
In May 1992, a new constitution established Yakut-Sakha, declaring local natural resources as owned by the people.
During this time, the Sakha parliament accused the Russian Central Bank of withholding funds, causing economic issues. This led to worker payment problems and threats of strikes, risking disruptions in diamond, gold, coal, and other exports.
...Sakha is definitely not afraid to speak his mind and outright call Russia out on his bad behaviour, but this goes for anyone who behaves badly in general too. He cares little for sparing peoples feelings when his interests are being obstructed - especially if it's Russia doing so. This doesn't mean that he's not open to working with Russia, just that he places importance on emphasising his own interests. If it doesn't benefit him somehow in some way, he doesn't want to deal with it.
This attitude is reflected in a point I make later on in this post, which talks about an incident that took place in December 1997 in which the Sakha Republic refused an agreement with the Russian defense ministry.
Business brained?!
This may seem like a random subheading but I have talked about the contents of this previously so hear me out.
In June 1992 Sakha's President Nikolayev visited Latvia for economic ties.
Then, in August of the same year, Presidents of Sakha, Tatarstan, and Bashkortostan warn Moscow about regional sovereignty plans.
In February the following year, Sakha and Irkutsk Oblast sign an economic cooperation agreement.
In May 1993, Sakha and Mongolia agree on cooperation in science, culture, and trade.
The next month, Sakha and Kazakhstan sign a five-year economic cooperation pact.
In January the following year (1994) Sakha and Ukraine agree on a five-year economic cooperation deal.
Sakha was very eager to #grind and get himself out there after being declared the Republic of Sakha in late December 1991. As I said before, Sakha has always been quite goals driven even before Russian colonisation, so it's not really a surprise that he did this.
I see him as being a big organiser of events between the Siberian peoples and is always one to lend an ear out/a helping hand out if someone is in need of some assistance.
Examples of him not taking shit but also being business brainedâ˘:
In March 1997, Sakha opposed a military rocket launch from Svobondy Space Center due to safety concerns. The government doubted the environmental impact and technical safety of the rocket. Despite objections, the Ministry launched the rocket, and its second stage fell near a Sakha village.
This incident led to a lawsuit against the Military Space Force, causing Sakha to cancel its 1996 agreement.
In October 1997, Yakutia's Parliament members expressed concern to national deputies about insufficient support for the Far North residents in the upcoming winter. They stated that 80% of Sakha's resources come from outside the republic, but government support for these deliveries had drastically reduced to 20%.
The deputies argued that the proposed 1998 federal budget lacked a separate allocation for delivering products to the Far North, leaving the state neglecting its responsibility to support this region.
In December 1997, Sakha's government refused an agreement with the Russian Defence Ministry for using its territory as a rocket dumping ground due to lack of examination and compensation. The agreement was later signed after agreeing to share revenue from commercial launches.
In July 1998, Sakha passed a law allowing various entities, including foreign citizens and legal entities, to use mineral deposits if registered in the republic and authorised by Russian and Sakha laws.
What's important is that the law also banned using these resources for nuclear weapons, mass destruction weapons, and radioactive substance burial.
Sakha isn't necessarily 100% against working with/co-operating with Russia of course as it does have it's benefits and it's not his goal in life to just purposefully antagonise. However his more outspoken nature and willingness to bluntly point things out has given him a bit of a reputation - despite him actually being quite co-operative/amicable for the most part. He's willing to co-operate, but not to bend over and shut himself up if he disagrees with something.
Quick sidenote on the Dolgan: I see Sakha as being quite close with Dolgan. Dolgan culture incorporates aspects from different groups, including reindeer herding from the Evenki, herd dogs from the Nentsy, and women's fur coats from the Sakha.
In fact, the Dolgan people originated from a few Evenk clans that later adopted a dialect of the Turkic-speaking Sakha (Yakut).
So Sakha does try to look out for Dolgan and imagining him like. Dressing her up/giving her clothes and jewellery is so cutee. He's a lot more involved with her than Evenkia is, much to his annoyance.
Headcanons summarised and some more headcanons:
He is actually quite interested in art! There's the National Art Museum in Sakha which I think he likes to go to to unwind
It's also the largest Art Museum in North East Siberia
Is quite good at drawing himself and is quite crafty. Doodles often when he's bored during a meeting
Big organiser of get togethers/events
Quite outgoing/approachable
Smoker đ¤
Saul Goodman of Siberia I guess
Proud father⢠to Dolganđ
Considers Evenk, Even and Yukagir his mentors however acknowledges that Evenk was the major one, even if he slightly annoys him these days
Sakha produces 1/4 of the world's diamonds yet little of that wealth has tricked down to him. Which is something he malds about
Unfortunately diamond mining has disproportionately affected Sakha's neighbours. That being, the Even, Evenk, Yukagir and Chukchi.
He does feel guilty about this, especially considering how 3/4 of them were his former mentors. This is a point of tension in their relationship
Lowkey intimidated by Chukchi/Chukotka..
His life isn't consumed with hating Russia 24/7 however he'll never truly care for Russia or like/love him. He tolerates him most days and that is probably the most positive feeling he'll be able to feel for Russia (this can be said for a lot of the other Siberians to be honest)
Sure, he likes when Russia is co-operative and he benefits from it but that's not him liking Russia himself
Funny relationship with Buryatia/Mongolia like wow a huge part of my identity was formed because of you guys pushing me out.
Some... Not so healthy coping mechanisms but he's gucci for the most part
Debate club vibes
Russia can be quite chauvinistic at times and tries to paint himself as some sort of mentor to Sakha. As you can guess Sakha despises when he does this and reminds him who he actually considers his mentors
"I'd let Evenkia leave me with another baby again before -"
Lowkey tries to be sort of a big brother to other Siberians despite being younger than quite a few of them
This sort of irks the older Siberians at times
Was baptised at some point in the 18th century and was given a Russian name that he went by for a period of time (only in front of Russia tbh). Has since dropped the Russian name completely.
Gets extremely agitated when Russia calls him his former Russian name
Workaholic đ but is always willing to lend a hand with helping someone if they really need him
Good legal advice đ
Has his own little art projects that he barely has time to finish. A lot of which is just making cute jewellery for Dolgan -
In this post Iâm going to be talking about Sakha and Evenkia's mentor-student relationship. In my master post about Sakha I talked about how we can see how the Sakha people assimilated certain peoples into their own through observing certain traditions of theirs, the most prominent being their shamanic traditions which were greatly influenced by the Evenks and Evens.
The Evenks have had a profound influence on Sakha culture in particular though, which is why I headcanon Sakha and Evenkia to have a mentor-student relationship, or more like, they used to have a mentor student relationship. The Sakhaâs people genesis began when they migrated from the area of Lake Baikal/Southern Siberia up Northwards, most likely because of pressure from the expanding Mongol Empire.
When Sakha first migrated, he came into contact with a number of different people, such as the Yukaghir, Even, and Evenks, who he considers all his mentors to an extent, however Evenkia was the most prominent one and had the most impact on his culture.
Sakha was young, bright eyed, eager and somewhat annoying, especially to his older neighbours who were pressured to move upwards because of him. Evenkia was also kind of irked by him, but was much more willing to guide him than the others were. Close contact and intermarriage between the Sakha and Evenk people
Letâs first compare both Sakha and Evenkia folk epics about the universe and see how similar they are, and then talk about Evenks influence on the Sakha language.
Sakha Folk Epic Olonkho:
- Sakha epic poetry envisions the universe with three levels: Earth (middle), Heaven (upper), and Hell (lower).
- The universe is symbolised as a giant tree, Aal Luuk Mas, housing these levels.
- Lower level: Devil (abaahy), Middle level: ajyy people, Upper level: deities and some evil spirits.
- Earth and Heaven are interconnected, with Heaven representing spirituality and Earth as a material entity.
- Animism features gods (ajyy), demons (abaahy), spirits (itchi), ancestors, and animals (ßÜr) across the three levels.
- Different regions in the upper world are designated for creators, good spirits, ancestors, and evil spirits ruled by Uluu Toyon.
- Heavenly bodies influence life on Earth; the Sun is associated with Yurung Aar Toyon, the god who rules destinies.
- Olonkho describes Heaven with 7 (sometimes 8 or 9) layers and 4 parts (East, West, North, South).
- Yurung Aar Toyon (upper God, the white master, white creator) is the Master of 9 heavens, Tsar of 8 heavens, and prince of 7 heavens.
- Heaven writers record each personâs destiny, and shamans, transforming into clouds, encounter different cloud types.
- Cloud characteristics (all clouds have their own characteristics): âaahar bylytâ (passing), âkuotar bylytâ (escaping), âjetineh bylyttarâ (thunderstorm clouds).
Now letâs compare to Evenki tradition about the universe:
- Evenk epic envisions the universe, which they call Buga, with three levels: upper (Ugu Buga), middle (Dulin Buga), and lower (Hergu Buga).
- Ugu Buga (heaven) has parts like Juri Jultjen Turinyn (place of the rising sun), Jenin Nadar Bomchar (mother of the seven canyons), and Nadan Buldjar (land of seven seas)
- Earth, referred to as Sivir, is described as the âmane of our Earth,â the middle green world.
- Ugu Buga, the upper world, is portrayed as a place of eternal summer and well-being. God Seveki resides there, creating the middle world.
- Warriors from the middle world journey to the upper world to seek brides â daughters of the sun Dylacha Khunadin, moon, and stars Bega Khunadin.
- Buga represents the upper entity governing nature, taiga life, and human-animal spirits, with Buga Musin (mistress of the universe) depicted as a moose cow, reindeer, or an old woman in charge of spirits.
- Humans are associated with heavenly entities like Dylacha (sun), Gevan (dawn), Nyangnya (heaven), and sky. Humans are living things that are a subject to these entities.
- Tribes like ai, aji, agbea, aji ajmak, ai tegel have names reflecting qualities of help, rescue, goodness, and beauty.
- Their purpose is to create good in the middle and upper worlds, opposing the Avakhi tribe from the lower world, engaged in constant conflict without intermarriage.
As we can see, they both share the same HEAVEN â MAN â EARTH triad. However there are some differences along with the similarities. In the epic worldview of both the Sakha and Evenk, the structure of the heavens is remarkably alike. However, the Sakha cultural narrative doesnât distinctly portray heaven and earth as realms of good and evil. The Sakha envision heaven as not only inhabited by gods but also by evil spirits and ancestors, while for the Evenk, heaven resembles a paradise. According to Evenk epics, devils and enemies are only confined to the lower world, whereas Sakha epics depict evil spirits across all three worlds.
The sky god, recognised as the Creator of the Middle World, is referred to as âYurung Aar Toyonâ in Sakha and âSevekiâ in Evenk. The Sakha term the middle world as âajyy landâ and its inhabitants as âajyy ajmaga,â whereas the Evenk collectively call the residents of all three levels as âaji.â
The Sakha and Evenk people also share the concept of the Serge as being the model of the universe:
- A Serge is like a pillar used to tie horses in Sakha culture.
- In Sakha, it's important for shaman traditions and used in rituals during celebrations, weddings, and the summer holiday Yhyakh.
- In Evenk culture, Serge is a special object representing the world's structure. It has three parts: the upper dome for the upper world, the disc-shaped part for the middle world, and the rounded part for the lower world.
- A sacred reindeer tied to the pillar serves as a connection between humans and God, specifically the Master of the upper world, named Seveki.
So Sakha and Evenkia do have a number of similarities when it comes to their religious practices from their time living together. The Sakha people adapted aspects of Evenk belief into their own.
When Sakha first arrived, as I said before, Evenkia was initially irked by him, as the migrations pressured his own people to move further Northwards. However this did not last long. Evenkia certainly took a liking to Sakha. In Evenk culture, many of the childrenâs activities mimicked adult duties, and so it was almost natural that Evenkia would want to teach a (younger) Sakha and take him under his wing, especially considering how keen Sakha was to learn because of the fact that he only just recently moved there and needed to help around. Evenkia was a huge relief for him.
A lot of the words Sakha borrowed from Evenkia was a result of him trying to adapt to new living conditions:
- In phonetics, some changes occurred in Sakha due to Evenk influence, like certain sounds not occurring at the beginning of words (g, h and p) and changes in intonation.
- Morphologically, Sakha borrowed affixes like -chaan and -ndja, -ndaa from Evenki.
- Vocabulary-wise, Sakha borrowed words related to landscape, flora, fauna, clothing, reindeer breeding, and dwelling from Evenk.
- Polish scholar S. Kaluzhinsky found around 400 Tungusic words in Sakha and listed more words related to various aspects of life.
- Evenk words were likely borrowed during the Sakha adaptation to new living conditions, with a focus on clothes, bird names, geographical features, animals, plants, and reindeer breeding terminology.
So in this sense Evenkia truly was Sakhaâs teacher/mentor, and was one of the reasons why Sakha was able to adapt to and make sense of the new living conditions he found himself in. They got comfortable with each other pretty quickly, and Evenkia tried to instill in him certain values that he thought were important â such as not gossiping or rumour spreading. In Evenk culture, gossiping/rumour spreading is greatly frowned upon, and most likely had something to do with not screwing up the accuracy of the location of an animal during a hunt. Iâll refer back to this later, but all in all, Sakha learned a lot from Evenkia, and Evenkia was more than pleased to teach him.
They certainly got comfortable with each other quite quickly, and Sakha definitely found Evenkiaâs more bawdy jokes in particular to be quite funny, but was careful not to make them back (in Evenk culture, bawdy jokes are acceptable but elders are allowed to make them in front of younger people and men in front of women, but not the other way around)
Now onto Sakha and Evenkias relationship with Dolgan. I talked about Sakhaâs relationship with Dolgan and how heâs like a father to her in a previous post:
âQuick sidenote on the Dolgan: I see Sakha as being quite close with Dolgan. Dolgan culture incorporates aspects from different groups, including reindeer herding from the Evenki, herd dogs from the Nentsy, and women's fur coats from the Sakha.
In fact, the Dolgan people originated from a few Evenk clans that later adopted a dialect of the Turkic-speaking Sakha (Yakut).
So Sakha does try to look out for Dolgan and imagining him like. Dressing her up/giving her clothes and jewellery is so cutee. He's a lot more involved with her than Evenkia is, much to his annoyance.â
I also see Dolgan taking after Sakha personality wise, as I see Sakha as someone who is quite hard headed/outspoken (I jokingly called him the Saul Goodman of Siberia) and I see Dolgan being that way too, as the Dolgan people wield a lot of influence in Siberia despite their small numbers,
âThe 2002 Russian census recorded 7,261 Dolgans in the whole Russian Federation. The Dolgan people today are one of the most politically powerful groups in their territory, and many senior officials of the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug are Dolgans.â
âThe Dolgans and other indigenous peoples in the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug have created an Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug through which they are demanding the rights to control their own destinies. The Association has declared that indigenous peoples in Taimyr have priority rights to the land and its subsurface resources and hopes to be able to use revenues from mineral exploitation and economic development to fund programs addressing the many social and economic problems facing indigenous peoples today.â
So Dolgan really is like Sakhaâs protĂŠgĂŠ/junior (and yes heâs very proud of her).
This is more of a crack headcanon of mine but seeing as the Dolgan originated from Evenk clans that took on a dialect of the Sakha language, I see Dolgan as almost being their child. Though I believe that Sakha had a much greater hand in her upbringing considering they, again, took on a dialect of the Sakha language, took on Sakha attire and personality wise, sheâs also very much like Sakha. However she physically looks more similar to Evenkia. Due to the fact that Sakha had a greater role in her upbringing he uhh holds some resentment towards Evenkia for dumping her on him for not having a bigger part in it, he was his mentor after all. Evenkia dismisses his complaints as silly rumours (âdidnât I teach you the importance of not gossiping?), which only annoys Sakha further.
Itâs okay though, Sakha is now bigger and stronger than his previous mentor and can make him pay him back in his own way ;)
But in all seriousness, Sakha does credit Evenkia with helping him adapt and survive when he first moved and wonât ever deny that, though he sometimes finds Evenkia irksome to deal with these days. Yukaghir defends Evenkia because sheâs also an oldie and so she uses his age to defend him most of the time.
No, China never "saved Russia" from the big evil Mongolia during the Mongol Empire period because China was a part of the Yuan dynasty in East Asia and the Golden horde was in Eastern Europe and Central Asia ! The Mongol Empire broke up in the 1260s into separate Khanates! They never met ! Cope!
Russia and China's earliest interactions:
"The relations between China and Russia go back to the 17th-century, when the Qing dynasty tried to drive Russian settlers out of Manchuria, ended by the signing of the Treaty of Nerchinsk. Russian Empire consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century, after the annexation of part of Chinese Manchuria (1858-1860)"
No! Russia wasn't "wandering all alone uwu" in Siberia when China came along and met him! Russians were actively displacing and mass murdering Siberian natives, Siberia wasn't an "empty land", it was inhabited by many different types of people. This idea that Siberia was some no mans land that was up for taking is genocide rhetoric! Stop using it for your rochu fluff headcanons !
I cackle when I see people parade around their singular Siberia ocs. What the fuck do they represent exactly? The Sakha? Evenk? Buryats? Evens? Soyots? Yukaghir? Oroch? Nenets? Nanais? Tuvans? Nivkh? Chukchi? Koryaks? ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT GROUPS??
It's like making a fucking Africa OC and treating Africa like it's a singular country.
I gave her the Tuvan name "Kara-Kat" which means blackberry because honestly, I thought it was cute. Also, it's extremely hard to find Tozhu names in particular. However I don't think it's not strange for her to have a Tuvan name as the Tozhu have lived with the Tuvans for a while and the Tozny Tuvan territory is a part of Tuva, and Tuvan is their first language.
The origins of the Tozhu Tuvans are widely contested however it is seemingly a common consensus amongst various ethnographers of the North East that they most likely had Samoyedic origins. Dolgikh, a prominent ethnographer of the North East, classifies the Tozhu Tuvans as being a distinct group with Samoyedic origins/are a Samoyedic language people, as opposed to Tuvans who are Turkic-Mongolic.
On Tozhu as a region of Tuva and Tuva as a whole being connected: Historically, the Tozhu land was also distinct from what was then Tuvan land. The Tozhu region of Tuva is the largest, however the least densely populated. When the Tozhu territory became part of the Qing, the Western and Central areas of Tuva were not a part of this, and instead were ruled by the Oirat Mongol (by Oirat Mongol I'm not talking about hws Mongolia I'm talking about a different Mongolic group) Zhungar Khanate. Historically, the Tozhu region was distinct from Tuva until 1757, when the Zhungars were ultimately defeated by the Qing. Tozhu, along with Tuva, then came under rule of the Qing dynasty until 1911. Like the other reindeer herders, she pretty much just was content doing her own thing and trading with whoever and became subject to many different rulers over the course of her lifetime.
The ancestors of Tuvans as opposed to the Tozhu Tuvans according to scholars are most likely from a loose confederation of Turkic language speaking tribes who descended from the Huns, and as early as the 6th century inhabited the Altai, Northwestern Mongolia and what is now Tuvan territory.
I am still a little lost as to what century I'd give to Tozhus birth date. In the modern day Tozhu region, the tribe name that was mentioned the most was called "Dubo" and this was recorded by Tang dynasty chroniclers. This is believed to have been derived from an evolution of ethnonyms that produced a variation of names, such as Tuva, Tofa, Topa, Tuba, Dukha. Perhaps a common ancestor? As mentioned before, these names were first recorded during the Tang dynasty however it ts unknown if these ethnonyms were always Turkic or were originally Samoyedic and then Turkicized. I think whoever the âDubo" could have been an ancestor to her.
We know that the Tozhu came into closer contact with the Russia in 1944 once Tuva was annexed so they must have been around before then, and similar groups to the Tozhu like the Tofa/Tofalar have an even longer history of contact with Russian which began in 1648. I'm going to be safe and say perhaps they emerged anywhere between the 13-15th century.
The reindeer herders of the Eastern Sayan, Tozhu, Tofa, Soyot and Dukha are undeniably linked. The territories in which they inhabited are mountainous, forested, isolated and difficult to reach. This in turn, provided them a haven from Turkic and Mongolic invaders alike, as noted by ethnographer Larisa Raylinskaya.
When reading about the reindeer herders of the Eastern Sayan, I came across a remark that these peoples are unique in a sense that they've never shed blood nor engaging in conflict - but only fleed/escaped danger when it came nearby. It is said that those who retreated in these mountains are the ancestors to the Soyot, Dukha, Tazhy and Tofa.
Onto why the Tozhu people are called "Tozhu Tuvans" again and why, despite being called this, are distinct from the wider Tuvan population of Tuva and therefore from a historical and ethnographical standpoint AND a hetalia standpoint, Tozhu would warrant it's own personification - hence why I am talking about Miss Tozhu right now!
Once the Tozhi were incorporated into the u
Uriankhai by the Mongols and then later on becoming a part of the Tuva republic - by virtue they were considered Tuvans, even a Tuvan subgroup - which is a bit of a misconception. The Tozhu live in Tuva, and so are called Tozhu Tuyans by virtue of living there, however ethnographers of the North East almost unanimously agree that the Tozhu are their own distinct people.
Miss Tozhu does not mind being called a "Tozhu Tuvan" as she is part of greater Tuva, however her lifestyle is different from Tuva's traditional lifestyle, and she's quite keen on letting people know that she is not exactly a âTuvanâ and has her own history and lifestyle - thank you very much! She doesn't get into a huge fuss if sheâs called a Tozhu Tuvan or whatnot as that's not technically incorrect, however she does have her own history sheâs proud of.
A brief and kind of story which highlights the differences between the Tozhu and Tuvans: A Tuvan buddhist (Tuyans are predominantly buddhist) visited the Tozhy region and set up a kuddhism study club. None of the locals were interested (i think Miss Tozhu probably snorted at this.) Miss Tozhu, despite being part of Tuva, doesn't have many of the same interests as Tuva and doesn't really put in an effort to be interested, not because of malice (though, she will say something snarky tf someone calls her a "sub-group" of Tuvan) but simply because she's content with doing her own thing like she has been doing for a few hundred years now. Tuva knows this but can't help but take it as a slight sometimes. It's not as if she's disconnected from Tuva of course. However she's definitely not going to be joining any of Tuva's Buddhism book Clubs anytime soon.
The Tozhu are animistic/shamanistic. While Tuvans and even Mongols originally were also animistic/shamanistic, a majority of them have turned to buddhism. The Tazhu, like the other reindeer herders of the Sayan, have little to no interest in buddhism. I see her as still being quite in touch with her practice and kind of tuts at Dukha when she sees him camping outside Ulaanbaatar (capital of Mongolia) during Christmas time and charging Mongolians to ride on the reindeer (also because hey don't just let anyone on your reindeer you don't know if they'll behave and those are your livelihood-) but ultimately (begrudgingty) respects his grind.
Circling back to the Uriankhai - the exact meaning of Uriankhai has been contested. During Qing rule of Mongolia, Mongolia governed Tuvan territory and assigned the term "Uriankhai" to Tuvans and pretty much anyone on or around Tuvan territory if they were close enough. Therefore, it was and to this day, still is a generic term to refer to the peoples North West of Mongolia, hence Tuvans being the major group under the Mongolian label "Uriankhai" meant that a lot of other âUriankhaiâ people such as the Tozhu and Soyots and Dukha were misrepresented as being Tuvan. This definitely irked Miss Tozhu but itâs not as if she can do anything about it. Sometimes she'd point out how hypocritical Mongolia was when he'd rant about people still referring to him as Tatar when he calls different groups the same name himself all the darn time and yes she thinks his reaction is hilarious.
Not only are the Tozhu distinct from Tuvans in their (most likely) Samoyedic heritage as opposed to the Turkic Tuvans, but so are their lifestyles. The Tozhu live in birch-bark tipis which are typical of reindeer herders, whereas the Tuvans live in felt yurts. Tuvans have had more direct contact with Mongols whereas the Tozhu (whether on purpose or not) managed to avoid as frequent contact with Mongols, Tuvans raise livestock for meat whereas the Tozhu rely on hunting for their meat - they do not eat their reindeer.
Major Tozhu clan names, such as Todot, have Ket origins, and other major Tozhy clan names such as Choodu, Kyshtag, Khaazyt etc are Samoyedic in origin, further indicating that Tozhu's Samoyedic origins and close ties to the Ket people. In
fact, the Tozhu language is so distinct from the Tuvan language that Tuvans call the Tozhy language "Tozhu Chugaaâ, meaning âTozhu talk", Tozhu would prefer it if Tuva just called it the "Tozhu language" and sometimes tries to correct him into calling it that but she guesses that that distinction is good enough for the time being.
I don't think Tozhy and Tuva dislike each other at all by the way, it's just that they don't really have too much in common, but ultimately they do respect each other and there's no hard feelings between them (for the most part), probably because historically they havenât had conflict with each other and well now they pretty much live next to each other, so. Tuvan ts the first language of many Tozhu people, and the use of the Tozhu language has been waning, though it is in a far better position compared to the Tofa and Soyot languages. They sometimes bicker about this. They have grown closer over the years due to living next to each other and of course, the Tozhu are widely called the Tozhu Tuvans.
So who does Miss Tozhu relate to then? Miss Tozhu finds a lot in common with the other reindeer herders of the Sayan, the Soyot, the Tofa and the Dukha with Miss Jozhu living in the South Western quadrant.
Like the other reindeer herders, Miss Tozhu greatly respects her reindeer. As noted before, the Tozhu have to hunt for their food unlike the Tuvans who raise livestock for theirs - the Tozhu, like other reindeer herders, do not eat their reindeer. In fact, the reindeer herders of the Sayan avoid killing animals unless it is absolutely necessary. They rely mainly on fish and wild game for their protein intake. It is speculated that Reindeer herding may be the oldest form of animal husbandry in Siberia/North East Asia.
I think out of the reindeer herder gang, Miss Tozhu is the one who usually gets them all together and is the most extroverted. They're all quite closely related when it comes to their lifestyle, language and origins. In addition, she and Tofa are very keen on rekindling their old relationship. Historically these two groups are quite close but became divided due to the administration under the Russian Empire.
In addition, Tofa's close contact with Russia as opposed to Tozhu means that the Tofa have pretty much abandoned their traditional way of life and their language, however this is not the case with the Tozhu. The situation is the same with Soyot.
The Soyot and Tofa were in the original 26 âofficially designated Indigenous Small-Numbered groups of the Russian federation." Due to this and the influx of Russian and Buryat (in Soyots case) culture and language, along with the collectivization policies implemented and the downfall of the USSR which lead to the collective institutions also collapsing, these two groups have lost their native language and lifestyle.
The Tozhu were also incorporated into this grouping, however in a much later date - 1993. The Tozhu also have a larger population, so of course they were harder to assimilate.
The Russian period for the other reindeer herders was extremely hard on them because of the collectivisation policies - it's not exactly a time they enjoy remembering however the ugly memories still rear its head. Despite Tozhu not being so affected by Russia as most of the other reindeer herders were, she gets slightly paranoid about the safety of all her reindeer as a result. So she sometimes finds herself scolding Dukha, for example, when she sees him being "careless" with his reindeer.
As in, camping outside Ulaanbaatar and charging any random Mongolian civilian money to ride on his reindeer during Christmas time (the Dukha fled from the Russian collectivisation policy and so was not subject to it.)
So, in short:
Generally quite chill but has that (1) thing that will make her go >.> (calling her merely a Tuvan subgroup) The most extroverted out of the reindeer herder gang!
Can kind of give older sister vibes
Bickers with Tuva like they're an old married couple sometimes
Has pictures of her reindeer in her wallet and is kinda paranoid about their safety at any given time
Likes to do a little trolling from time to time
I think Tozhu trying to uh âsaveâ Soyot from Buryatia's clutches is quite funny (the Soyot are extremely assimilated to the Buryats)
Because a lot of Tozhu clan names are Ket in origin, she does try to have nice chats with him, even if he uh is keen to get back to his own little routines after they stop talking.
Tozhu: L + ratio + ur a Buddhist
Tuva:
Sources:
âHEY, YOU! GET
OFFA MY TAIGA!â
COMPARING THE
SENSE OF PROPERTY
RIGHTS AMONG THE
TOFA AND TOZHU-
TYVA - Brian Donahoe
A LINE IN THE SAYANS:
HISTORY AND DIVERGENT PERCEPTIONS OF PROPERTY AMONG THE
TOZHU AND TOFA OF SOUTH SIBERIA - Brian Donahoe
Naming Practices and Ethnic Identity in Tuva - K. David Harrison
So bored I made an absolute mess of a moodboard for my OC of Sakha (Erchim Basygasov)
Explaining some choices:
Yes he's an artist, I put the Sakha art museum here :3 (at least that's what I hope it is) I think he likes sketching people's faces he's seen that day or maybe people he just remembers
I think he's a bit of a workaholic so yes papers and whatnot...
Horses because Sakha people traditionally kept horses. The fact that they do so unlike their Even and Evenk counterparts is actually one of the things which points to Sakha people originally coming from Southern Siberia nearer to the likes of the Buryats who also kept horses, but then were displaced and moved Northwards
Bad habit number 1: smoking. Listen there's worse out there
So I think it's important to balance their characterisation in a way in which they are distinctive characters with interesting personalities and backstories but also acknowledges the challenges they face without making their entire character essentially "They're sad all the time because of Russia" or "Stop talking about their struggles under Russia I don't like politics."
I think both are problematic however I find the latter to be far more distasteful because well. This is a nation personification OC we're talking about and not only that, they're essentially nations within a nation (Russia) by virtue of colonisation and so are minority groups within the larger nation. Hell - because of displacement and immigration from European Russia , a lot of these groups are minorities within their own lands. It's a special case when dealing with minority groups/occupied people personifications and it's particularly egregious when someone wants to forgo any kind of acknowledgement of these power imbalances yet still insists that their interpretation is sensitive.
I've seen some pretty bad OCs of Siberian groups which are the product of the creator going "I hate politics stop talking about politics!" or, an almost direct quote, "I hate when people shove politics into historical hetalia." Which... Is an interesting take to say the least considering how history feeds into politics and vice versa. Historical hetalia is a beast in an of itself and is one of the only hetalia communities/bubbles in which "no politics" will get you laughed out the door from what I've seen considering *gestures to my previous statement*. If you've ever taken a history course - you'll know how much history and politics are intertwined.
This is how you get interps which consists of the likes of "Russia was wandering around the empty lands of Siberia" which not only blatantly disregards the brutality of the Russian colonisation of Siberia but also promotes the concept of "Terra Nullius" or "Virgin Land". I'm quoting myself from an even bigger post I have in store which focuses on anti Mongolian sentiment however stereotypes about Mongolians and Siberian groups often overlap because of their placement in Northern Asia, hence why it applies to both,
"In addition, to hone in on Mongolia being an "untouched, pristine" land - this is also a common trope that is launched towards traditionally nomadic "unsettled groupsâ (such as Siberian and Native American groups). The concept of "Terra Nullius", a Latin word meaning "nobody's land". It completely disregards the presence and rights of the people who inhabit the land and has been historically used to justify the colonisation and displacement of such groups - their land belonged to "nobody" so it was essentially up for grabs...It divorces the people from their landscape and paves the way for dangerous misconceptions and justifications to blossom.
Here is an example of "Terra Nullius" in action in a Russian propaganda poster, encouraging Russians to move to Kazakhstan."
Or interps such as "[Siberian group] has forgiven Russia for everything he did/most things he did and is in love with him" which implies that the mistreatment of the Siberian groups is merely something in the past when it is in fact ongoing. The mistreatment of Siberian groups such as the Sakha, Buryats, Chukchi and Tuvans has been all the more highlighted in their disproportionate mobilisation in the invasion of Ukraine - and the heaps of scapegoating that was subsequently shovelled onto them.
That's not to say ethnic minority soldiers in the Russian army shouldn't be held accountable for their crimes - however that and the fact that they themselves are victims of Russian imperialism can both exist as true statements. The scapegoating is so bad that even Pope Francis joined in, blaming the brunt of the war crimes committed onto "Non Russians" such as Buryats and Chechens, as they do not come from "Russian culture."
Back to my main point... I think the resistance to do research on and publicly acknowledge how these groups live under Russia and what kind of struggles they face in some kind of bid to "not paint them as victims!!11" is sorely misinformed and ignorant. Because well. They are victims.
Not in the sense that you should portray them as sad, pitiful, weak little meow meows but in the sense that yes they are living under Russian occupation and are an occupied people who's been subjected to centuries of Russification, and so compared to making an OC of Mongolia who is an independent nation state at least I think there is far less room to be hauling around "leave politics out of historical hetalia!" "don't talk to me about politics!" "stop victimising them!!" because then it leads to tone deaf interpretations such as "They've forgiven Russia for everything and is in love with him âĽď¸đ", "Russia is actually [Siberia groups] father", "Here is my singular Siberia OC who represents ALL Siberian groups and by the way Russia is their father" (yes these are all real interpretations I've seen and I've made a separate really strongly worded post ranting about it) and worse. I mean I've literally seen an "aph Siberia oc" who was Russia and France's love child. Terra Nullius executed Hetalia-style.
I don't really think I need to elaborate on why a singular Siberia OC is problematic - Siberia is filled with a myriad of different groups who speak different languages, have different origins and ways of lives and practices, different religions, who've experienced eras of peace and conflict with each other, etc and yeah to shove them all into one personification is an erasure of the sheer diversity that is in Siberia. I definitely don't need to elaborate on why making Russia a father to any of these groups is problematic, to say very the least.
On the point of "don't only portray them in a victimising lense", I think making Siberian groups all depressed all the time is also a Russia-centric perspective. Of course it's ignorant at best to not acknowledge their shared suffering because of Russia however when this point and this point alone is central to their character I believe in a way that it strips them of their autonomy and ability to feel things and do things outside of Russia's gaze. There is absolutely a lot of joy to be had despite their current situation, perhaps even in spite of their current situation. It's ok to give them odd quirks and put them in funny situations as well as acknowledge that they are an occupied people and approach that territory carefully when need be.
For example, I made my Buryatia bubbly and loud but made my Tuva a bit more deadpan because I see them as a pair who often associate with each other and I think the dynamic is funny. I also made Buryatia an overbearing "husband" to Soyot who is perpetually tired⢠from all the se- .
I made a crack dynamic between Sakha, Evenkia and Dolgan where Evenkia was Sakha's teacher at first but then became a deadbeat dad leaving Sakha to primarily raise Dolgan, thus Dolgan takes after Sakha and is uh lawyermaxxingđ. Yukaghir is the little old lady of the group who is often forgetful but very nifty and Chukotka acts like a big sister to people which Koryak (who I see as her brother) always finds annoying and they often bicker. Ket is on the slightly edgy side and is extremely particular about his routines and Nganasan terrifies Nenet because he eats reindeer whereas Nenet doesn't.
All of these quirks/ more lighthearted interpretations and "they are an occupied people under Russia" can coexist. One should not be thrown out for the sake of the other.
I think there's also problem - though I've seen this far less, in making Siberia ocs purely as a middle finger at Russia. As in, you made the OC because you wanted to say loud and proud FUCK RUSSIA which well yeah, fuck Russia, but I highly doubt your interest in this group lies outside of wanting to #own the Russians which is dehumanising in and of itself. At least pretend to care about the history and culture instead of using an entire group of people to make a virtue-signally oc purely to try and upset some Russians.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Sakha and Russia fanfic set in 1906 following the disbandment of the Yakut Union. Don't be fooled by the title lol this is not a romantic fanfiction. Please read the historical notes at the beginning for more context
This is a repost but I've made some edits, it was originally in response to an ask I received about how I personally go about making Siberia OCs (as a complete foreigner) and how I portray their relationship with Russia
Start of post:
I know that you're probably aware but for anyone who stumbles upon this post, I'm not Northern Asian or Siberian myself. I'm just someone who's interest/hobby is researching Northern Asian history and culture (started with just Mongolia, my interest also extends to Central Asia) which started when I was around 13/14? So please keep that in mind. This is a post written by an outsider (with the perspectives of Northern Asians taken into account of course), for other outsiders.
If I'm being quite honest, Hetalia Siberia OCs in particular are quite a... Niche corner of the Hetalia fandom. Especially in the anglophone/Western fandom. I'd say they're more popular in Russian speaking country personification communities (not always specifically Hetalia) purely because of the obvious - Siberia is a part of Russia. Unfortunately I do not speak Russian, nor am I really familiar with the Russian speaking hetalia fandom or country personification circles. However I have spoken to Northern Asian folk who are a tad more familiar with these circles than I am, and have come to find that even then, people who post Siberia personification OCs are few and far between, and those who do, post them very rarely and there's little else of these characters other than once in a blue moon art.
In the Western/English speaking fandom, as I've said before, there's really not a lot of us. Most representations of Siberian hetalia OCs usually come down to sparse dottings of fanart across different sites such as Tumblr, Deviantart, and Instagram. I am not on the hetalia amino so I wouldn't know but I highly doubt there are many, if any, Siberia OCs posted on there. I frequent hetalia twitter, particularly amongst North Asia (by that I mean Mongolia) adjacent posters, who are mainly Japanese. However it seems as if Mongolia is the furthest North most will go. So the circles I'm personally aware of (well not really circles as there's not a lot of us in the English speaking fandom) that do post about Siberia OCs are mainly here on tumblr, instagram, and I guess some rare art posted on Deviantart.
Honestly I don't think I can really recommend someone in these circles that I'm aware of (other than @peonycats as we developed a lot of these OCs together along with a lot of research of course) in terms of writing their relationships with Russia respectfully or writing respectful OCs in general for quite a few reasons:
Some of these creators don't post their OCs frequently enough for me to pass a judgement on/have become inactive
I don't know some of them personally, so again, cannot pass any judgement
Some creators genuinely have really insensitive portrayals of Siberian groups relationships with Russia
I am aware of certain creators who have excused racism against Northern Asians and others who have defended the Russian state's mistreatment of them (yes, despite posting about Northern Asians). I'm not giving out specific names but I'm not going to recommend them either
This isn't me trying to toot my own horn when it comes to hetalia Siberia OCs as despite my long standing interest, I want to reiterate that I am not from there. But to answer your question on how I would personally represent them/how I'd approach representing them from an outsiders POV (I guess this could apply to other country personification communities too such as countryhumans because of the common theme but I've only ever been in hetalia so,):
I think part of the question can be answered with the post you are referring to. It is vital to understand the nature and history of why Siberian groups are a part of Russia in the first place - colonisation. And it is just as vital to understand and acknowledge the effects of colonisation on such groups and the ongoing mistreatment and injustices they face under the Russian state. Without this in mind, representations of Siberian groups' relationships with Russia end up being tone deaf and one dimensional at best. At worst, orientalist caricatures and/or colonisation apologia.
This does take a lot of reading and research. Not just on the aforementioned topics, but also on orientalist depictions and stereotypes that are associated with Northern Asians. It's all good to be knowledgeable on how the colonisation of Siberia took place and ongoing injustices indigenous Siberians face, but that with no understanding of racist and exoticised stereotypes - a majority of which being a result of colonisation and an overall eurocentric outlook on "unsettled" peoples (putting "unsettled" in quotes here because the concept of a people being unsettled is in itself a eurocentric concept that was used to justify colonisation and the concept of "virgin land" that I talked about in my previous post), still results in insensitive depictions, both overall as characters and especially with their relationship with Russia. It's no good touting facts about how the Sakha people were colonised but then make up headcanons about how Russia had to "teach" Sakha to "behave" (this is a real example I've seen).
That being said, whilst it is obligatory that those topics are read about and applied accordingly, I also believe giving them agency is just as important. I don't want to say "putting too much emphasis on the colonisation aspect" but rather, emphasis on the colonisation and ongoing injustices without giving them a level of agency can also result in insensitive depictions. Siberian groups did and continue to fight/push back against the Russian state and it is just as important that their efforts and diligence against the face of their oppressor is acknowledged. It is correct to acknowledge that they are victims of Russian imperialism, but it is also correct to give them agency and depict them giving Russia pushback. Otherwise, this sort of portrayal diminishes the vast efforts Siberian groups have gone through and continue to go through against a much more powerful nation, and you end up with a bunch of OCs who's entire characterisations consists of merely being a punching bag for Russia.
On the other hand, and this is a depiction I've seen: there is such a thing as tokenising Siberian groups solely in order to signal to people how much you hate Russia. In this way, Siberian groups are depicted only as tools for the original poster to vocalise their distaste of Russia, with little exploration of their relationship with Russia outside of this and frankly, little exploration of them as characters and their history/culture overall other than "lol guys look they're trolling Russia!!!1" (and this is on the rare occasion that they are even talked about by such creators). I have absolutely no problem depicting them trolling Russia or conspiring to ruin Russia's day or something because we all know he deserves it, but this should not be the sole way in which such groups are ever brought up - if they are even talked about in the first place. I'm not saying to depict their relations with Russia as only doom and gloom and I do think the concept of them trolling him or annoying him is funny, but when such groups are only brought up in order to show them pwning Russia and nothing more, it, 1) runs the risk of downplaying the severity of the mistreatment they go through 2) runs the risk of these OCs not having any character outside of their relationship and interactions with Russia 3) can even give off the impression that Russia is the victim of their bad behaviour rather than the other way around.
It's even worse if offensive stereotypes are used in these depictions. Whilst Greenland is not a part of Siberia, groups in Greenland and Siberia are in many ways related not just through history and culture but also in the ways in which they are stereotyped. I've seen a depiction in which it seemed as if the creator was acknowledging that indigenous Greenland groups are mistreated, but to combat this they portrayed Greenland as being a violent, unruly drunkard that "abused" Denmark all the time, but it's okay because Denmark deserved it. Not only is an offensive stereotype of indigenous Greenlanders being used in this "look at Greenland owning Denmark!" portrayal, but Denmark is almost seen as a victim of Greenland's bad behaviour rather than the other way round. This is why I said that it is so important to learn about offensive stereotypes that are associated with Northern Asian folk, because you can be knowledgeable on how they are mistreated but still create insensitive depictions if you are not familiar with racist stereotypes. Nothing wrong with depicting Siberian groups giving Russia pushback, or depicting them annoying or trolling him, but please don't fall into using offensive stereotypes to do so and do not solely use these groups as a tool to display your hatred of Russia - that in itself is dehumanising.
When I say that "I'm not saying to depict their relations with Russia as only doom and gloom", that certainly doesn't mean portray them as being in love with Russia with little acknowledgement of ongoing injustices. Ships are a tricky enough subject in the hetalia fandom because of the nature of the content, however it's important to be sensitive if you are portraying an indigenous and settler relationship, especially if the colonised are still a colonised people with no independent state of their own and are "autonomous regions" that are a part of the coloniser nation state. I will not speak on Siberians who may choose to do this as this is their lived experience (though, I have not come into contact with any so far that do so - and those I have talked to about this topic have shown great distaste towards these types of depictions), but if you are an outsider who chooses to do this you seriously need to be careful (speaking as an outsider).
I cannot tell you what to ship or what not to ship. But I can sure as hell tell you that I have seen depictions of Sakha (for example) being portrayed as a woman who is infatuated/in love with Russia, who has "forgiven" Russia for everything he did, and who selflessly does things for him. And I can't say that the Sakha people I have talked to are impressed with this portrayal.
It's even worse when you consider that the whole "Sakha woman selflessly in love with a Russian man"Â is literal colonisation apologia:
In Yakutsk, the largest city built on permafrost, the Abakayade Memorial celebrates the union between the Russians and the natives. It repre
There is an overglorified myth promoted of a Sakha woman called Abakayade selflessy marrying a Russian settler by the name of Semyon Deshnev, whereas in reality she was forcibly converted and married to him. The picture of the statue I linked above is colonial apologia, that is supposed to represent the "love" between the natives and settlers.
I myself do not ship any Siberian indigenous group with Russia and I'm not planning on doing so. All I can say is to tread lightly, and don't push out flimsy half-baked portrayals without thoroughly thinking about it considering the steep power imbalance between the indigenous and the settlers, especially amidst the recent and ongoing disproportionate mobilisation of indigenous peoples in the invasion of Ukraine. How I see it anyways, there are much higher stakes when shipping an indigenous group and it's settler vs two nations who have a long history of warfare with each other like France and England, or at least two independant nations. I, as an outsider, personally would not romanticise or make a lovey dovey relationship between an indigenous group and the settler group period - especially as I am not indigenous in any sense and when it comes to Siberian indigenous, those I have talked to so far from this region seem to unanimously dislike such portrayals.
This point kind of links to my previous one, but I would not portray a Siberian group and Russia's relationship as the Siberian group being some sort of helper or even something of a mom friend - a "rock to lean on" in Russia's life who "keeps Russia in check". I have seen this portrayal with Sakha, Kazakhstan and even Belarus. It's already quite odd to depict the colonised comforting the coloniser. However it gets a little more problematic when you realise that the colonised are almost being portrayed as accessories of Russia/ enthusiastic bearers of emotional labour for Russia. I have spoken to a Northern Asian who is more familiar with Russian country personification communities and they've seen a portrayal that unfortunately, fits that description almost perfectly.
It's important to portray their relationship with Russia as rounded and with both sides having equal say and shown to be fully developed characters in their own rights, though this applies more specifically to the Siberian OC in the relationship as they are the ones who are often reduced to accessories in their relationship with Russia. By this I mean that depictions of their relationship with Russia centre around Russia's feelings and perspectives with little thought put into their feelings and perspectives. They simply act as sidekicks or side characters to Russia rather than fully fledged out characters with their own agency and opinions. Further, it's pretty egregious to show the Siberian group as acting as comforters to Russia who willingly and even enthusiastically partake in engaging in large levels of emotional labour for Russia to "keep Russia sane" when Siberian groups have historically been exploited by Russia and continue to be exploited by Russia to this very day. From fur tax, to forced conversions and Russification, to nuclear testing sites that resulted in poor health conditions for those who inhabited the area, to the disproportionate mobilisation of indigenous Siberians in the invasion of Ukraine - it hasn't stopped. This isn't to say that you're not allowed to depict a lighter side to their relationship, but to boil it down to "Sakha/Buryatia/Chukotka etc. are fiercely protective of Russia/selflessly goes out of their way to help Russia/act as Russia's rock to lean on" is very... Questionable, considering the circumstances.
Bit of a side note but in general you should not be treating Siberian OCs as exoticised accessories. Of course there is nothing wrong with admiring their clothing or jewellery or arts, however it becomes a problem when outsiders use these aspects of their culture to mystify such groups and subsequently view them through an exoticised lense - and so they are reduced merely to pretty objects for outsiders to ogle, and not groups of real people. Because of how niche Siberia OCs are, some may think that drawing a Siberian in a pretty headdress or posting "Siberian aesthetics" and calling it a day is enough to be deemed as knowledgeable or sensitive on the culture in question despite other actions showing otherwise, because there's not really anyone to call them out on their questionable treatment of such cultures. But just know, it's not acceptable to reduce such cultures to merely aesthetics, real research and most importantly respect is the priority (I have unfortunately interacted with people who would repost indigenous Siberian clothing and aesthetics for example but then at the same time, justify/dismiss their mistreatment under the Russian state.)
On an (almost) final note, I would never portray Russia as being a father or even teacher to any Siberian group - period. I've talked about this in a previously very strongly worded post, however portraying Russia as a father to any Siberian group holds many questionable and downright offensive connotations. First of all, these groups existed before Russian colonisation, they had their own unique histories and cultures before Russian settlers arrived. These groups have histories that go back further than the very concept of Russia. This sort of paternalistic outlook is often used by settlers around the globe and colonisation apologists - that the groups they colonised had no culture and no real tangible history before their colonisers arrived, and that the coloniser in question acted almost as a parent and/or teacher to the colonised, lending them a generous hand to "civilise" and "enlighten" the "barbarous" indigenous people. This kind of portrayal of a Siberian group's relationship with Russia is misguided at best and colonisation apologia at worst. Siberian history did not start when Russians arrived, culture was not gifted to them by Russia.
Finally (can you tell I'm a professional yapper?), this is about portraying 2P!Russia or the "evil side" of Russia as... The Asian/Siberian part of Russia. This goes far beyond a mere "disrespectful" portrayal of Russia's relationship with Siberian groups. I'm going to insert an excerpt here on an up and coming post of mine that centres around how anti-Mongolian sentiment manifests, however anti-Mongolian and anti-Siberian sentiment often overlap because they are Northern Asian groups,
Brief summary of what oriental despotism is:
Oriental despotism is the theory that Asian societies are more inclined/prone to authoritarianism than European societies. It is a eurocentric view which paints Asian civilisations as a monolith and ignores complex power structures and nuances in favour of oversimplifying them as simply being authoritarian/having an extremely strong centralised and most importantly "despotic" (basically, backwards) rule.
"...Russia's weirdness and antisocial behaviour when compared to other European characters being blamed solely on Mongolia/Asiatic influences in Russian culture is the theory of oriental despotism rearing its ugly head even if people are not aware that they are doing it.
This next point not only talks about Mongolia but the indigenous Siberians of Russia. I have seen people make 2p!Russia (AKA "evil" Russia) Asian or represent Siberia because:
1)They want to show the Mongol/Tatar influence/side of RussiaÂ
2)They want to show the Siberian side of Russia
Considering 2p Hetalia characters are often portrayed as the "dark side" or "evil side" of nations I don't think I need to explain why this is racist, especially after the explanation of what oriental despotism is
In the case of the Siberians I'd argue it is even more egregious to do this. Siberia is a part of Russia because of Russian imperialism/colonisation. Many indigenous Siberian people were killed, their languages and way of lives close to destroyed or destroyed period, and are being disproportionately mobilised by Russia in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In fact, Siberian soldiers, especially Buryats who are a Mongolic people, are being scapegoated for the brunt of Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.Â
Pope Francis himself scapegoated the non-(ethnic) Russian soldiers for a majority of Russia's war crimes in Ukraine:
âGenerally, the cruellest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryats and so on,â
From:
...So not only is Russia being called a continuation of the Mongol Empire, with articles titled "Putin Khan" being published without anyone batting an eye, and with a Siberian/Mongolic ethnic minority being scapegoated for Russia's war crimes despite them being victims of Russian imperialism and an ethnic cleansing, do you understand how insensitive it is to make the "dark/2p Russia" a representation of Siberia or the Mongol/Tatar influence on Russia?
To note: It's not just Buryats being disproportionately mobilised.
To use Russia's indigenous Siberian population as a representation of 2p/dark/evil Russia is so unfair it beggars belief. Those people are victims of Russian colonisation, yet their "despotic, Asiatic" ways will be used by racists to scapegoat Russia's bad behaviour onto, despite again, being victims of Russian colonisation and imperialism themselves.
Yes, Russia colonised you, forced you out of your traditional ways of life and destroyed the use of your language. Yes, the Kremlin is unfair to you and you live in the most deprived and poverty stricken areas of Russia. Yes, you're being disproportionately mobilised in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But you committed the crime of ruining the whiteness of Russia simply by existing there - your despotic Asiatic ways is one of the reasons why Russia is so backwards, you are at fault for the brunt of the warcrimes committed in Ukraine because you are inherently more "barbaric" than white Russians.
"Confronted with a world ruled by the settler, the native is always presumed guilty" (Frantz Fannon)""
That's all I have to say on that topic for now. I decided to include it as although it's technically kind of a portrayal of Russia's relationship with Siberian groups, as the Siberian groups are all blended into one and then made the "evil" part of Russia. It's genuinely one of the worst interpretations I've seen of Russia and Siberian groups in a hetalia context.
Oh and, this should be obvious. Singular Siberia OCs (as in, "Here is my aph Siberia OC who represents THE WHOLE of Siberia and is the amalgamation of EVERY SINGLE SIBERIAN GROUP INTO ONE!!") will always be offensive, period. I talk about this in a previously strongly worded post and the post mainly centers around this point. What's funny is, this post was part of the reason of why someone thought it was acceptable to harass me with fake accounts on, as they (not Siberian or even Northern Asian) argued people should be "able to do what they fucking want <3" (actual quote) in terms of depicting singular Siberia OCs. Meanwhile, actual Siberians agreed with the post. So, there's that. Again, this seems to be an acceptable interpretation to some which I would find funny if it wasn't so... Stupid? It's like making a singular Africa OC. It completely undermines the diversity of the groups that inhabit Siberia. I've seen people justify this kind of depiction by saying "well all of these cultures were killed by Russia/are dead now anyways so that means it makes sense for them all to be portrayed through (1) personification" I'm sorry but 1) So many of these cultures are still alive and kicking, they most definitely aren't "all dead" 2) Who the hell are you as an outsider to declare a culture dead? Especially when there's evidence to the contrary?
The worst singular Siberia I've seen was an abomination of the singular Siberia OC and "Russia as a father to Siberian groups" mashed into one. It went like "Russia was walking along the empty snowy plains of Siberia and found a little girl there who was the representation of Siberia and he raised her and is partly her biological father". Let's break this down:
Strike 1: The concept of Terra Nullius or "Virgin Land" - Siberia was not an empty no mans land for settlers to roam around in and lay claim on, it has been the home of indigenous Siberian groups for thousands of years
Strike 2:Â Undermines the brutality of the colonisation of Siberia and the atrocities that took place
Strike 3:Â Singular Siberia OC
Strike 4:Â Russia being this personifications biological father and the father who raised her. This has... Extremely disturbing connotations, especially on the biological father part when you consider the sexual violence indigenous Siberian women were subjected to. This is also why I bitched about that interpretation I saw of Sakha being portrayed as a woman who is hopelessly in love with Russia.
Here's that strongly worded post in question, yes I do sound like a grade A bitch here but you would not believe the crap I've seen that lead up to me making this post:
What's most important in depicting Siberian groups' relationships with Russia is by seeking out Siberian perspectives online whether it's through forums or videos, and if it's possible -Â asking them directly. You cannot make an OC that is a representative of a nation/group of people without centering and incorporating the aforementioned peoples voices, especially if the OC in question is a representative of an indigenous group because frankly, there are higher stakes with such depictions. I understand with certain groups it's harder to directly reach out to them, whether it's because there's not very many of them or for other reasons. In the meantime though, that should not stop you from doing reading and research, and getting into contact with other groups and asking their perspectives.
TL;DR
It's important to do research on the colonisation of Siberia and the ongoing injustices Siberians face at the hands of the Russian state in order to depict a sensitive portrayal of a Siberian group's relationship with Russia. Research should also be done on racist and exoticised stereotypes Northern Asian folk face in order to avoid such stereotypes when depicting such relationships with Russia. They should be acknowledged as victims of Russian imperialism but they should also be given agency and should also be depicted as giving pushback so as to acknowledge the efforts Siberian groups make in order to fight back against mistreatment of the Russian state. I would not personally portray a Siberian group entering into a romantic relationship with Russia as the Siberians I have spoken to are uncomfortable with this kind of depiction, if you choose to do so however as an outsider - be careful.
Siberia OCs should not be treated as accessories or enthusiastic bearers of emotional labour to Russia and should first and foremost be fully fleshed out characters with their own thoughts, feelings and personality outside of Russia before depicting their relationship with Russia so as to avoid unknowingly portraying them as accessories to Russia. I would not portray Russia as being a father or "teacher" to any Siberian group as the former is blatantly historically incorrect and offensive, and both are concepts that are used by settlers and colonisation apologists alike ("the indigenous had no culture or tangible history before we came, we acted as a teacher/parent to them in order to civilise them). Singular Siberia OCs that are meant to represent every single Siberian group in one personification will always be offensive. When making Siberia OCs and depicting their relationships with Russia, research and seeking out Northern Asian perspectives is vital.
My personal interpretation:
Honestly, I think the most positive feeling Siberian groups feel for Russia is tolerance. The baseline emotion they have for him is dislike/distrust. I see Russia as kind of being... Fake nice to them if that makes sense? Not in a two faced sense but I think he likes them on a very surface level as of course they are a part of Russia so he will include them in on things/have groupchats with them/visit sometimes but it's kind of like. Beyond that he isn't so nice in the sense of actually taking their complaints and criticisms to heart and has an "everything is fine ^J^" mentality to things. So many places in the far East of Russia are extremely neglected because the Russian state does not care to improve living conditions for such places - Tuva being a prime example. I think Russia usually gives more attention to regions that he can get something out of, like Sakha with his rich mineral reserves.
Sometimes for PR purposes he'll tokenise Northern Asian groups to tout himself as being a #rich and #diverse nation like "wow, I am such a diverse nation and we treat our ethnic minorities/indigenous groups as one of our own" and "our ethnic minorities are not victims unlike American SJW ones" (actual shit I've seen Russians say). Basically, he'll use them to big himself up all the while his treatment of them is questionable at best. I also think Russia orientalises them to an extent and will sometimes refer to them as "fierce warriors" or some other bullshit like that (again, actual shit I've seen Russians say) and usually doesn't really take their complaints seriously or kind of brushes it off, if not that he'll minimise their complaints. A lot of them usually bite their tongue and roll their eyes at this.
There are quite a few (like Sakha for example) I think who go full on lawyer mode as a way to give Russia pushback (this forces Russia to respond essentially) but also I do think it's funny when they just conspire to ruin Russia's day somehow or troll him/are snappy or petty to him. Basically, they only really tolerate him at best and see right through his childish/innocent/friendly demeanour. Not to say that there aren't lighter moments between them or that every interaction between them ever is antagonistic but yeah. Hm I don't think they're as...Afraid of him as a lot of other nations are? Not that they don't ever fear him or fear the consequences of questioning his actions, but moreso that well - they're a part of Russia of course and so are more used to him. Less fear going around more "oh god what's he going to do this time".
Was looking up quirks of the Mongolian language and this Mongolian language website explained this phenomenon:
"This has got to be one of the most beloved of all the tricks Mongolian Language has to offer. To sum up quickly, this is a fun rhyming device that is used by Mongolians on a daily basis to express the concept of âet cetraâ or âand that kind of stuffâ. To perform this, all you need to do, is say a word, and then follow it up with the same word but with the first letter switched to âMâ. For example, âWhat do we need to get at the store for the party tonight Khishge?â, âOh you know, just piv miv, chips mipsâŚ.â. Or âHey Amaa, who is gonna be at the party tonight?â, âOh you know, Zaya, Mayaâ, meaning Zaya and that crowd of people"
This gave me the headcanon that, when Mongolia is speaking to another nation in another language, and he's quite tired , he will use this quirk in that language and not even realise it, and then has to explain himself to the other nationđ
This was the website btw:
 Mongolian Language is one of the least studied, most fascinating, unique, and intriguing languages out there. Mongolian language has its qu
Mongolia can't own a small dog. He possibly can't. He and his people always had "bankhar", that is a big dog that people don't really train or such and mongolians give any of their left over meals such as bones and fat to their dog. And we never allow dogs into the house and is expected to herd the sheep and such. Dogs were always raised like this since the old times by mongolians. To us even if they're called "Man's best friend" they're always like a bit lower rank than humans. So moral of the story, don't let Mongolia take care of your small dog by making it sleep outside and freeze it or giving too much fat and big bones that can make small dogs get poisoned and choke from small places of bones.
(please don't make this mistake cuz my grandpa almost killed my Yorkie by making her sleep outside.)
Hi there! Iâve noticed you a lot around Aph Mongolia posts, so I wanted to ask you some questions! First, as a foreigner, what you made you so interested in this character? Second, could you go into who you ship him with and why? Itâs nice to see people still actively talking about my boy, so I was hoping to engage a bit!
Hi! :D Thank you for the ask! Well, I guess I've been interested in Mongolian culture/history for a few years now, it first peaked my interest when I was around 13? So its been 6, almost 7 years of being obsessed haha. I really love reading and learning about Mongolian history and culture, I even really like Mongolian music too and listen to it along with all of my other songs on my playlist! I first got into hetalia when I was 12, and so my love for hetalia and love for Mongolia kind of collided and well here I am all these years later still posting about it lol!
Over the years my hcs of Mongolia as a character has changed as I've read more about Mongolian history/culture but also influenced from what other people post about him so there are things from old accounts I may have posted in the past which I don't agree with now but. I honestly think Mongolia as a character would be so damn interesting? Considering his past and current way of living, and how he got to where he is now. Like there's so much history there to work with, not even just when he had an empire, but before that and after that too. Even who his predecessors could have been/were is so interesting to me. He himself really influenced a lot of other nations histories also. His relationships, with other nations too is so interesting to think about!!
Ships, some are a lot more wholesome than others:
Tibet x Mongolia - YES DHSJD LOVE THEM thank you @flyingsassysaddles so wholesome đ
India x Mongolia - @flyingsassysaddles made a really good post about that ship and the history between the two which got me into it!
Turkey x Mongolia - umm old history and they just seem really fun together tbh!
Japan x Mongolia - I think the history between them is kind of funny tbh đ plus nowadays both countries are on good terms with each other! Both have similar kind of interests, with Japans national sport being Sumo and Mongolias is bukh, also I think Mongolians dominating Sumo is hilarious I'm sorry. I have a bit of a raunchy reason for shipping them too but I'm not sure of what your age is so I'm not sure if I should answer that for you!
Vietnam x Mongolia - lol she beat his ass đ I think he kind of respects her for that tho. but I think this would be a power couple tbh like I can see them both just standing next to each other with resting bitch faces đ
Ok this one is controversial asf LMAO its China x Mongolia â ď¸ I don't personally see it as a healthy "ship" though like. At its best I like imagining them as two old men bickering with each other but like unlike the other ships which have a lot of potential to be healthy this one, no not really when you look at the history and current politics. I mean you're Mongolian of course you know this haha. I'm a little hesitant to put out Monchu content for this reason even tho like. I recently wrote a one-shot lol. For me when I'm being serious about the ship and not viewing it in the usual light-hearted hetalia lense, it would be like a tragic/complicated/unhealthy/emotionally taxing/toxic "relationship". I have a post planned in which I try to explain it but I'm very hesitant to even post it.
This one seems so random hahaha but Philippines x Mongolia because I was curious and looked up Philippines-Mongolia relations and like. It was quite short but there was a small painting of a Mongolian couple who visited the Philippines in the 17th century in there? And they were in furs and all and considering the heat and humidity of the Philippines đ¨ So I find it funny just. Thinking about him going there on a whim or something because screw it why not and being unprepared for the humidity and aph Philippines being like bro what is wrong with you đ Also I think him calling aph Mongolia Mango-lia is cute jdsjdjaj. This is more of a fun, random one.
I have some poly ships with him too but idk they're not too fleshed out :> Thank you sm for the ask tho I love reading your insight on things!
