Udihe

“Fall. Krasnyi Yar village” by Ivan Dunkai. Oil on canvas; 60×80 cm (2010).

“Udihe Hunter” (with carved wooden idols) by Ivan Dunkay. Watercolour; 30×60 cm (2006). Image source http://dunkay.ru/galereya

“Winter Hunting Hut” by Ivan Dunkay. Oil on canvas; 80×100 cm (2006). Image source http://dunkay.ru/galereya

Agzu hills

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

Agzu rainbow

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

Agzu street

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

Agzu street view

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

Agzu war memorial

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

The alder tree girl

In this folktale, a fairy nurses an alder tree into a girl in order for her to look after her baby daughter.

Aleksandr Pionka

An old woman and her tiger cub

This contemporary Taiga legend tells of an unlikely friendship between an old woman and a tiger cub.

Back-carrier (burden-frame)

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

The bear hunt

A story about the speaker and her husband’s encounter with a bear on the river Dzali.

The bear, the tiger and the man

A folktale about a bear and a tiger who go in search of a two-legged animal, reputed to be the strongest of all.

Bibliography for Udihe

Published resources on Udihe include traditional stories and major studies on the grammar and lexicon.

The bird cherry song

A children’s ditty traditionally sang while softening bird cherry fruits.

Bird cherry tree shavings in Udihe culture

An account of how to make cherry tree shavings and their range of uses in the Udihe community.

Bird-cherry tree shavings used in baby cradles and as kitchen sponge.

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

Bridge over Bikin in Krasnyi Yar

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

A chipmunk in the taiga forest

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

Drying the green beans

The fairy and the ten bald spirits

A folktale about a fairy whose magical tricks and malice save her from being eaten by ten bald evil spirits.

The flower wife

A tale about a man’s quest to find his lost wife after she is reincarnated in a flower.

The fox wife

A story about a man whose beautiful new bride turns out to be a fox.

The fox with ten tails

Illustration by Gennadii Pavlishin from a collection of Udihe folk tales (V. Kialundziuga, "Dva solntsa" (Khabarovsk, 1974)).

This tale is about a man who fights the fox with ten tails to get the beautiful bride he desires.

Gamuli and Amuli

A folktale about two girls travelling around looking for husbands.

Ginseng hunting

A personal story telling how the Udihe used to hunt for ginseng roots.

Handmade gloves

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

A house made of tree bark

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

How I tamed a roe cub

A true story about a couple raising an abandoned roe cub.

How Udihe elders used rotten ash tree

An account by an Udihe woman explaining how her community used pieces of rotten ash tree for newborns.

Hunter’s winter hat (Ud. bogdo)

Source: http://www.sakhalin.ru/Region/crossroads/crossroads.htm

A hunting trip

A true narrative about an Udihe woman going on a hunting trip on the river with her husband and her son.

The iron bird and the silver bird

A folktale about a hero. Helped by the silver bird, takes revenge on the evil iron bird who killed his family.

Klavdiya Kolenchuga

Krasny Yar

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

Krasnyi Yar

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

Krasnyi Yar street view

Photograph by Maria Tolskaya.

Lexical glosses for Udihe (English)

An index of the English translations of the Udihe lexical words found in the texts.

Lexical words in Udihe

An index of the Udihe lexical words found in the texts.

Lidiya Simanchuk

The moose and the frog

A short fable about a naive bored moose who challenges a clever frog to a race.

My newborn son’s death

An account of the passing of an Udihe woman’s newborn son.

Nadezhda Kukchenko

1922-2010

Nadezhda Kukchenko (on the right) with Maria Tolskaya. Krasny Yar, 2006.

Nadezhda Kukchenko in her garden

The oriole grandson

A folktale about a woman searching for her grandson, changed into an oriole bird for killing too many birds.

Polina Sun in an Udihe gown

Portrait of Evdokiya Kialundziga by the Udihe artist Ivan Dunkay. Watercolour; 50×50 cm (2006). Image source http://dunkay.ru/galereya

Portrait of the Udihe writer Nikolay Dunkay (1930-2004) by his nephew, artist Ivan Dunkay. Oil on canvas, 50×70 cm (2002). Image source http://dunkay.ru/galereya

Ud writer Nikolai Dunkai - by Ivan Dunkai.jpeg

Published texts in Udihe

Published texts in Udihe include illustrated primers and traditional folktales.

The river Bikin

Riverbank in Krasnyi Yar

A roe (Capreolus pigargus)

Source: http://www.rors.ru/ru/activity/trofei/maket3/kosula.htm

Running barefoot in winter

A speaker’s story about an Udihe amusement from her childhood: running around in the cold barefoot.

Sable trap

The seven sisters

A folktale about seven sisters living together. When the eldest turn into an evil spirit, the others must flee.