We've already observed some of traditional summertime activities like shaving the reindeer skin, making nartas and horeys). This time we are watching Kostya's nephew Myangcha, who is following our neighbor Yaroslav and making tynzyan - the Nenets lasso.  Alexandra decided to film the process as detailed as possible, so please watch our short film - though we didn't film all stages of the lasso making,so will be continued.

Press here to watch video about lasso making

The first stage is to soak reindeer skin in water - to remove all fur from it. Then one cut a narrow (about 1 cm) skin strips in a spyral from the middle of the skin. For one lasso one cut a strip about 80 machs (usual measure of length in tundra, equals a distance between two hands stretched in sides).

Wet skin then is puled on nartas to dry - this time it needed just one night to dry. Then one have to soften the dry skin using a metal ring, after that one checks if the whole strips' width is even, and cuts the unnesessary parts. The width must be a little less than 1 cm. It's the stage were our film ends, but the meticuluos work of Myangcha doesn't end here. Later he must fold the skin strip four times, interweave it and add plastic (or traditional horn) block. So appears s skin lasso: it's value on the internal Nenets market equals 15 thousands Rubles (a high-quality lasso for a competition will cost about 20 thousands Rubles).

Myangcha is making a lasso:

Albina and Myangcha are cutting skin straps:

(please press "Читать полностью")

Kostya and Myangcha are pulling the skin straps on a narta:

Alexandra with her camera:

Myangcha is cutting dry skin for lasso-to-be:

Albina is making "temboi" - threads of reindeer tendon: