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- 53 Keyes, F. Charles, Ed., Ethnic Adaptation and Identity: The Karen on the Thai Frontier with Burma.
- Uzbeks in the Eyes of the Kyrgyz
- 55 Unlike in the West, the Central Asian people make a very clear distinction between their maternal and
- Kochkorbay (my grandfather)
- 56 In 1968, my uncle Anarbay was appointed the collective’s head farmer, which gave him some tough tasks. He worked as a perma
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97 use as fertilizer is unimaginable. But as the Mongol’s nomadic cultural system is in favor of animal husbandry, they consider dry dung clean and use it as fuel. Unlike in many other cultures, a meal without meat is hardly considered a meal for the Mongols. The author is right in stating that the non-existence of meat in meals is equated with starvation. Among the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz of Central Asia, this notion still persists, but not among the Uzbeks, who consume smaller amounts of meat and have developed various foods made from vegetables only. Bulag gives many more such examples, which Outer Mongols use to distinguish themselves from the Chinese. All of these arguments put the Inner Mongols on a lower level, because they eat Chinese food made from “dirty” pork, and vegetables grown with fertilizers made of human faeces. In sum, the Inner Mongols, including the author himself, who consider Outer Mongolia as their true homeland, are seen by Outer Mongols as the victims of their assimilation with Chinese culture. Similar stereotypical views are found among the Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. In the traditional/nomadic Kyrgyz stereotypical view, sedentary people, who were called Sarts, merchants, or townsmen, were characterized as being conservative in terms of male/female relationships, stingy, and sly. In contrast, the Kyrgyz nomads viewed themselves as being open-minded, humble, generous, and hospitable. As is true among the Mongols, the popular derogatory Kyrgyz name-calling for the Uzbeks is “eshek sart,” “Donkey Sart,” using the animal as an identity marker. As young children, we used to fight with Uzbek children using these words. They would call us, the Kyrgyz, “it kirgiz,” “Dog Kyrgyz.” (I don’t know why). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 98 The relationship between the contemporary Kyrgyz and Uzbeks is not as hostile as it is between the Mongols and Chinese, because unlike the Mongols and Chinese, Uzbeks and Kyrgyz share many cultural elements, including Turkic language, Islamic faith, and some food traditions and customs. Despite their common Turkic heritage, however, some minor and major differences in their local customs and manners (which I will discuss later in this chapter) serve as separate ethnic identity markers and thus prevent them from intermarrying and crossing each other’s ethno-cultural boundaries. Based on his research among the Karen ethnic group in Burma, Charles Keyes argues that the cultural distinctiveness of an ethnic group is not sufficient for the existence of that group. In the case of the Karen, “structural oppositions” are necessary to maintain ethnic boundaries. Keyes maintains that when/if the structural oppositions between groups are eliminated, the cultural differences between them may disappear by way of assimilation.53 In Burma, the moving of “hill tribes” such as the Karen down to the lowlands causes a change in their ethnic identity.54 In our case, when the nomadic Kyrgyz moved from the mountains down to the lowland Ferghana Valley where the agriculturalist Uzbeks traditionally live, it did not change or eliminate the main socio-cultural, linguistic, biological, and racial factors between the two peoples. When we study the dynamics of identity formation among the Kyrgyz we need to consider several key factors. Nomadic life and the economic challenges and activities around it shaped people’s views in certain ways that were different from those of 53 Keyes, F. Charles, Ed., Ethnic Adaptation and Identity: The Karen on the Thai Frontier with Burma. Philadelphia: Institute for Study o f Human Issues, 1979, pp. 6-7. 54 Op.cit. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 99 sedentary peoples. Lifestyle and economy were the number one factors that created a value system, set of customs and rituals, and distinct “nomadic” identity for the Kyrgyz. What are these traditional values and set of customs that many Kyrgyz still foster, and what makes them distinct or different from the Uzbeks? We could say that an ecological boundary led to cultural differences, which led to group feelings and group boundaries. But then the Soviet and post-Soviet political and ideological nation-building processes have both transformed and hardened the boundaries. And it remains to be seen whether current globalization will soften them again.
Growing up in southern Kyrgyzstan, I experienced both Uzbek and Kyrgyz social life and culture. I was familiar with many of the general views or “stereotypes” about the Uzbeks. During my research, when I interviewed more than thirty Kyrgyz men and women about their views of Uzbek people and their characteristics, I received many general views and stereotypes I knew. For this chapter, I selected only four interesting and representative interviews. The first group of Kyrgyz men and women whom I interviewed was my paternal relatives. Of all the Kyrgyz living in Kizil-Jar, my paternal55 grandparents (chong ata) and great uncles (aba) and aunts (chong apa) have the most authentic knowledge about the Uzbeks and their culture. They lived in Uzbekistan among the Uzbeks for more than forty years and interacted with them on a daily basis before moving back to KMl-Jar, 55 Unlike in the West, the Central Asian people make a very clear distinction between their maternal and paternal family members. There are two different sets o f kinship terms for maternal and paternal grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 100 Kyrgyzstan in the mid 1990’s. My grandfather Kochkorbay and his two younger brothers, my abas, great uncles Anarbay and Anarkul, all married Kyrgyz wives and had large families: Kochkorbay and Anarbay have 9 and Anarkul 7. All of their children were bom and raised in Uzbekistan. I interviewed my now late grandfather Kochkorbay and great uncle Anarbay about how they ended up living in Uzbekistan, their interaction with the Uzbeks, and the socio-cultural differences between them and Uzbeks. Below I will briefly summarize the story of their settlement in an Uzbek village. In 1939, the Kizil-Jar sel’skii sovet or sel’sovet (village council) was moved to the region of Toktogul. This relocation of the village administration was known as kochurmo, relocation. In 1941, when WWII broke out in the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz living in Toktogul did not want to be mobilized to the front lines. So, in 1942, together with other relatives, my great grandfather with his three young sons left their winter house in Toktogul, taking only a sack of wheat flour loaded on an ox, and fled back to Kizil-Jar. At that time my grandfather was a fourteen year-old boy. In 1942, as they recall, there was no one permanently established in Kizil-Jar. Many men had been taken into the Soviet Army and many had fled to neighboring Uzbekistan which was also part of the Soviet Union. So, in September of 1942, my grandfather followed those who had fled to Uzbekistan. Uzbek administrators welcomed Kyrgyz families, for their collective farms needed herders to take care of the farm’s livestock and fulfill their meat and wool quotas. My great grandfather and other Kyrgyz herders avoided the Army by working as herders for the Uzbek collective farm. The war years were difficult, and everything that the farm grew—all the agricultural products and meat—had to go to the front. People had very little to eat. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
101 In the summer, all the Kyrgyz families took the farm’s livestock to the mountain pastures, and in late autumn they returned to their winter places in various Uzbek villages. They continued to stay in Uzbekistan after the War. Their children went to Uzbek schools. However, they did not assimilate to the Uzbek language or culture. Kyrgyz herder families were able to preserve their own linguistic and ethno-cultural identity by speaking Kyrgyz at home and by not intermarrying with Uzbeks. My great uncle Anarbay56 noted that the Kyrgyz men wore their kalpak, men’s hat made from white felt, and the Uzbek men wore their ala dopu, round shaped caps made from cotton. When I asked my great uncle about how important it was for him and for other Kyrgyz to preserve their identity and culture he told me the following:
As you know yourself, we only intermarried among the Kyrgyz living in Uzbekistan. And we carried out all the marriage ceremonies according to Kyrgyz marriage tradition, such as paying the pride price in livestock. Other feasts such as funerals and ash (memorial feasts) were carried out according to Kyrgyz culture. Unlike the Uzbeks, we always erected a yurt for the funeral and killed a horse. We invited both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. We also made sure that our children spoke Kyrgyz at home. Therefore, when my youngest daughter went to Bishkek to study, her teachers and friends were very surprised that she spoke Kyrgyz without any accent. Kochkorbay (my grandfather): Uzbeks kill only one sheep for their feasts, whereas we kill a larger animal, usually a horse. My father gave a feast for his first three grandsons in 1957. When the Kyrgyz had such feasts, the Uzbeks were happy, for they got to eat more meat. We had the Kyrgyz traditional horse games such as ulak. Uzbeks usually bring artists [musicians] to their feasts, but they have less meat. 56 In 1968, my uncle Anarbay was appointed the collective’s head farmer, which gave him some tough tasks. He worked as a perma (farmer/herder), head o f the Kyrgyz herders for thirty years. He was in charge o f all the Kyrgyz herders, sheep, horses, and cows. He had to fulfill the farm’s wool quota, which was at least two kilograms per sheep and 110-120 lambs from 100 sheep. When they could not fulfill the quota, they gave their own livestock. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Unlike the Kyrgyz, they do not pay bride price and don’t steal their brides. The bride’s parents prepare the dowry and the gifts for the groom. The groom’s side gives only one sheep for the bride’s wedding feast; sometimes they buy the meat from the bazaar. They do not serve jiliks [parts of cooked sheep meat; see below for the detailed discussion] to the in-laws. I personally participated in their kudachilik [first meeting of the in-laws]. They divide the rib into four pieces and serve to the guests. Besides killing a horse for the people, we also give soyush to all the relatives coming from far and near.
children married an Uzbek. But none of them had such intentions. There were many Uzbeks who wanted to marry my daughters or give their daughters to my sons. Some of the wealthy families even offered to pay the bride price according to Kyrgyz custom. But I refused to give my daughters, saying that your customs do not fit my customs and vice versa. If my daughters married Uzbeks, they would not have been able to adapt to Uzbek life and culture and they would have left their marriage sooner or later. Moreover, Uzbeks follow religion more strictly than the Kyrgyz. They dislike men who are over thirty and do not pray five times a day, whereas, we the Kyrgyz begin praying when we reach the age of 70-80, though not all do. Because we grew up in the mountains being free, we did not have much to do with religion. As for their personality, they are kind and very hospitable people. However, as the saying goes: [The kindness of] the Kyrgyz lasts all the way around the mountain (for a long time), whereas, the Sart’s all the around the house (for a very short time). This saying refers to the duration of one’s kindness. Also, we are close to our paternal relatives. They, unlike us, feel closer to their maternal relatives. They don’t have the tradition of knowing their tribal history. Instead, they say that they are Uzbeks or tell you: “I am from Namangan or Andijon.” We, as nomads, look more stout and stronger than the sedentary Uzbeks. Kyrgyz are calm people who do not pay much attention to small things. Uzbeks are very hard working people. They are very good farmers and do the best agricultural work. What else would they do if they don’t go to the mountains? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
103 The following interview was taken from my fifty-year-old maternal uncles Askar Siiyunaliyev, who has been a herder his entire life. He is the father of five children, all of whom are married and have children of their own. His two oldest sons help him with herding his livestock and mares. They live in a mountainous Kyrgyz village called Ak- Suu (White River), which has no Uzbek population. Ak-Suu is about 40 km away from the Uzbek border in the AksY region of southern Kyrgyzstan. My uncle, before the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan was closed, interacted with Uzbeks—mostly men—in bazaars when he came to sell cattle and buy goods in my hometown of KYzfl-Jar.
Uzbeks find a common language quite fast. They have a sweet and soft language so that you do not even notice how quickly they get inside you. When you go to the bazaar they can easily deceive you. They are not like the Kyrgyz. The Kyrgyz are more trusting and laid-back. They do not care much about money. They (the Uzbeks) consider one or two soms (Kyrgyz monitary unit) as money. Most often we sell our cattle to them for fifty or a hundred soms cheaper. When they visit our village by chance, we open our doors and let them stay overnight at our house, whereas if we happened to go to their house, they do not open their door. They seem to be afraid. One time, it became quite late and we wanted to stay overnight at one of our (Uzbek) acquaintance’s house in Besh-Tal in the Kosh-Dobo area. His wife said that her kojoyun (husband or master) was not home and thus did not let us in. Among the Kyrgyz, our women can invite guests into the house before her husband gets home. When a guest comes to our house, we immediately bring whatever food we have to the table. They (Uzbeks), however, sit there for a long time cutting and chopping their carrots and onions, and the food will be ready late in the evening. We, the Kyrgyz, when we invite someone to our house, we invite from our heart, whereas the Uzbeks do it with the tip of their tongue. Your tayata (my maternal grandfather, his father)’s distant uncle is an Uzbek. One time we visited his house and they brought rice pilaf with meat on top. My uncle used to visit us a lot, so he knew our way of Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 104 serving food. His son was cutting the cooked meat and my uncle was winking at him saying that he has to cut the meat into bigger pieces and that he should pour us vodka almost filling our glasses. It is also interesting that they kept telling us over and over that we should eat food even though we were already eating. They themselves did not eat much. Even when they are hungry they hesitate to eat. I spoke to many Uzbeks who came to our village as mandikers, (hired laborers). For some reason, many of them lie to you that their uncle or grandfather was Kyrgyz. I think they are afraid of us or want to be closer to us. Once I hired about ten Uzbek women to cut sunflower heads. One of them said that her husband was Kyrgyz. They stayed in a tent for five days. Their ages were between twenty and forty. We gave them breakfast in the morning, a warm meal for lunch, and butter, bread, and tea for dinner followed by apples and watermelons. They are hardworking people in general. They can endure the heat much better than we do. They wear their scarves on their heads and their knives in their hands and they just keep working. We are used to living in the mountains. If our women do similar work, they do it quietly, whereas these women kept talking loudly and made a lot of noise. If your daughter fell in love with an Uzbek man, would you give her to him? No, I would not. They make their new bride cover her head and face and wear ishtans (traditional loose pants worn by Uzbek women in summer time) and do not let her go outside. Also, I do not want my grandchildren to be Uzbek. Their customs are very different from ours. One time we went to the funeral of my (Uzbek) uncle Adi'lbek’s mother (in Uzbekistan). They locked up her body alone in the house and stood there without crying. We did not follow their customs. My father, mother and I all entered their courtyard crying out loud (in the Kyrgyz way). Our uncle’s wife approached us and said that we should not cry. My father pushed her away. She got upset and said cursingly: “Do whatever you want!” So we continued crying out loud as we walked towards the house. There was total silence, no sounds of wailing to be heard. No one was eating food. My father went into the house to see the deceased. We were invited to another room where we recited Quran in honor of the deceased. They served us tea. This took place in 1976. Before discussing the above statements, I would like to present another interview, which I took from an educated Kyrgyz couple in Kizil-Jar. This couple has worked closely with ethnic Uzbeks living and studying in the town: Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 105 Would you give your daughter to an Uzbek? The wife: We would never marry our daughter(s) to an Uzbek! I am a nationalist and I hate the Uzbeks, because I have worked with them and know them pretty well. As the Kyrgyz saying goes: “Kirgiz kir aylangicha, Sart tarn aylangicha,” “[The kindness of] the Kyrgyz lasts all the way around mountain (for a long time), the Sarts’ all the way around the house (for a very short period.)” They are labbaychi.57 They do not say things from their heart but only with their tongue.
Uzbeks is like the sky and the earth. Concepts of good and bad, shame, pride and honor are much stronger among us. Uzbeks do things only for money. To give you a basic example, the mendikers (hired laborers)'. I offered them one som per kilo of cotton58 picked and I was going to take them to the cotton field by car. However, when my friend offered them one som and two fiyihs (coins/cents) per kilo, they immediately went to him, all of them, men and women together. Another thing is that their society is based on matriarchy. Among the Uzbeks, the mother plays a big role in bringing up the children. If a Kyrgyz man marries an Uzbek woman, his children will become Uzbek and grow up being hypocritical, dishonest, and cunning. For example, if we have some money related issues in our family, we can forgive each other, whereas, they make a big scandal out of it. We are embarrassed of what other people say about us if they hear us. Also, the Uzbeks are people with no roots. They do not know who their seven forefathers or tribe/clan are. In regard to kinship, they are much closer to their mother’s side. We carry the tribal name from our father’s side. That is why they call their homeland, native town, or village
The Uzbeks do not like the Kyrgyz. They say that we are rude. 20% of Ki'zi'l-Jar’s population is Uzbeks. There is another saying “Sartti'n toyuna bargicha, ari'qti'n boyuna bar”, i.e., “It is better to go to a stream than to go to a Sart’s feast.” In other words, one can at least dip bread into
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