Buryat people

The Buryats, Mongols of the Baikal country, form with the Yakuts the two indigenous pillars of Siberia, speaking Buryat-Mongol round Ulan-Ude, their capital on the Uda. Traditionally the great northern branch of the Mongols, they share nomadic herding, felt gers and milk-tea hospitality with all Mongolic kin, while shamanist oboo cairns and Buddhist datsans divide the steppe between two faiths. Russian Cossacks, Soviet purges of lamas and shamans, and the partition into Buryatia, Ust-Orda and Aga okrugs tested the nation; Inner Mongolian and Khalkha cousins across the border kept the language whole. Ulan-Ude opera houses, Sagaalgan lunar new year, wrestling, archery and the Geser epic keep Baikal's Mongols singing. Ust-Orda and Aga okrugs keep the western and eastern dialects. Mongolian and Inner Mongolian cousins share the festivals. Ulan-Ude markets sell milk tea to every visitor. Nomadic herding still feeds half the countryside. Felt gers still dot the steppe around Baikal. Buryat-Mongol is taught in every republic school.