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Yurt

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A Yurt is a traditional felt home of the nomads who live on the cold, barren steppes of Central Asia.

File:Prokudin-Gorskii-42.jpg
Uzbek woman at the entrance to a yurt in Turkestan; 1913 picture by Prokudin-Gorskii.

Yurt or yurta is a Turkish word for these portable traditionally felt dwelling places, borrowed as a loanword into many languages, including English. The Kazakhs, who use them, call them Kigizui and the Mongolians call them ger. The Russian obsolete name is "kibitka" (although nowadays "yurta" is used) whilst the Afghans call them "Kherga" or "ooee". However, yurt is the best known word.

Wooden poles or uuks in Kyrgyz connect the lattice-work walls on the bottom of the yurt to the crown or shangrak (the hole in the middle of the tent for the smoke to escape and light to enter). This wood frame (kerege) is then covered with felt and then sometimes with canvas.

The crown itself is emblematic in many Central Asian cultures. In old Kazakh communities, the yurt itself would often be repaired and rebuilt, but the shangrak would remain intact, passed from father to son upon the father's death. A family's depth of heritage could be measured by the accumulation of stains on the shangrak from generations of smoke passing through it. A stylized version of the shangrak forms the main image on the flag of Kyrgyzstan. Its cultural iconography is also represented in the tubeteika, a traditional Central Asian skullcap which bears a resemblance to the yurt.

In the modern Turkish language, the word "yurt" is often used synonomously with "homeland," rather than in reference to a particular structure. Many modern enthusiasts, mostly based in the U.S., have used the name "yurts" for some of their round huts as well. Although those structures may be copied to some extent from the originals found in Central Asia, they have been greatly changed and adapted and are in most cases very different.

In the United States and Canada, yurts are made using hi-tech materials. They are highly engineered and built for extreme weather conditions. In addition, erecting one can take days and they are not intended to be moved often. Often the designs of these U.S. yurts hardly resemble the original designs and are better named modern yurts or yurt derivations as strictly speaking they are no longer round felt homes that are easy to mount, dismount and transport.

In Europe, most yurt makers are making adaptations of Mongolian and Central Asian styled yurts from local hardwoods. These yurts may have been adapted for a wetter climate with steeper roof profiles and waterproof canvas. In essence they are yurts but many lack the felt cover that is essential in traditional yurt. Even Genghis Khan himself lived in a yurt on the steppes. His always had the finest linen and felt woven into the rooftop.

Unlike many U.S. manufacturers these yurts are very similar to those found in central Asia. In Holland one yurt maker makes exact replicas of Mongolian Gers. Froit, has studied yurt making in Mongolia and recently published a book about Ger making, The Real Mongol Ger Book.

A diversity of groups and individuals use yurts for a range of reasons from full-time housing to school rooms. In some provincial parks in Ontario, yurts are available for camping.

See also

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