The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Sherryanne De La Boise
Nadaam Festivals
22,400 wrestlers, 105,000 horses ridden by child jockeys, and 9,500 archers will compete in the Mongolian Nadaam Festivals each July. We travelled to the capital of Mongolia for its Nadaam Festival, July 2018. A celebration of independence and nomadic culture. Think of it as a hybrid of July 4th's national pride, the Olympics' games' athleticism, and a county fair with everyone dressed beautifully.
The people either wear a beautiful flowing silk robe with a tight sash at the waist, a hat with a knob on top, a long black braid extending down the back, and silk pants tucked into highly decorated leather boots. Or, they wear the uniform of their employment, from the garbage workers in green pants and fluorescent vests to the bank ladies, in short A-line red dresses under loose fitting beige suit jackets. Just like at the start of the Olympics, they will parade around the stadium as proud workers from a firm/industry; as representing one of the nine tribes; or as transporters of a symbol of Mongolian national pride, like the yurt or the crane.
There are 30 three-wheeled bicycles, each pedaled by two people in bright blue silk robes over orange puffy silk pants and hats of black fur and orange silk. Atop of the bicycle is a grey and white silk 12' demoiselle crane, its long neck stretched, as if in flight. The crowd cheers as these "birds" "fly" around the race track.
Marching bands cross the field, escorting 100 identical brown horses with riders in red and blue silk uniforms. The President of Mongolia, rides a horse and waves to the crowds.
There are two beauty pageants. One for Miss Mongolia and one for Mrs. Mongolia. To encourage a higher birth rate, Mrs. Mongolia must have had at least four children. The competitors wear form fitting white silk gowns and have their children walking with them.
The thrill for me was the wrestlers. Wrestling has no time, space or weight limits. Anyone is welcome to participate. The great-great granddaughter of Genghis Khan wrestled any man who wanted to marry her and beat them all. Recently, a wrestler was too ill to compete, so his sister put on his uniform and went as him. When she won all her battles, she ripped open her costume to reveal she was a woman. From that day forward, the wrestling costume is an open vest, a bolero jacket, to keep women away.
A wrestler loses when any part of his body, other than the soles of his boots, touches the ground. The winner helps him to his feet, then bows to him.
The people packed into the stands wear in a mixture of traditional costume and western wear. Their long bows are leaned against the wall or on hooks on the posts that support the deck above. There are hundreds of bows, for there are many archery competitions of both men and women occurring during the festival. The stands are to the left of the archery range. We have to be careful when watching the archery. A fast arrow gone astray could be deadly.
The archers do not bring, nor carry arrows. At the start of the competition, they are given the arrows that they are to use. There is no "ladies tee," like in golf.
The women line up behind the same line as the men and shoot at the same targets, but in separate competiti ons.
The old men can be found in a heavy tent adjacent to the archery. They are playing a gambling game of rolling the knuckle bones of a sheep.
The scoring is dependent upon which of the five sides lands upwards and where it lands. They are squatting in an open circle, with teams of six men on opposite sides.
The Mongolians will paint and give as gifts the knuckle bones. They also have a winter version, played on ice, similar to curling. I find this boring to watch.
Small children are everywhere. The older children do not come to the capital's Nadaam Festival, as there are no competitions for them. They compete in the 331 regional Nadaam Festivals occurring all over Mongolia. The exception are the two long distance horse races. The Mongol Derby, which covers 1,000 km recreates a horse messenger system developed in 1224 by Genghis Khan. The course is kept secret until the race begins. It includes mountain passes, green open valleys, wooded hills, river crossings, wetland and floodplains, sandy semi-arid dunes, rolling hills, dry riverbeds and open steppe. Each rider uses 27 horses. In 2019, a 70 year old from Idaho won.
The race we watch was 17 miles, straight over the steppes, with 7 year old horses. The jockeys are 5-13 years old (Mongolian children can ride bareback before they can walk). The horses are only 12-14 hands, but muscle machines. The trainers of the first five winners receive big purses. The riders of the first five get scholarships through graduate school and big cash prizes.
But, just to complete the race is also a big honor for a child to bring home to their family. We see several horses collapse just before the finish line. Their riders crumple to the sidelines, awash in tears and shame. The Mongolians let them cry themselves out. It's a terrible disappointment.
A large dump truck pulls up, and the men roll the dead animal into it. The horses don't stumble and die over a distance. They just suddenly drop dead.
The Mongolians drive just like they ride horses: If the road has too many twists, they take off cross country, straight to their destination. If there are double lanes each direction and one direction is jammed with traffic, cars will move over and fill the oncoming lanes (both of them). They never have head-on collisions.
I am to spend a day on a Mongolian horse. Thank heavens for fermented mare's milk at lunch (an adult beverage). It has a sour taste, but makes the afternoon much more pleasant.
While I am surprised how agile and quick my horse is, it takes all my restraint not to scream, as that will make the beast go even faster. The Mongolians are amused that I am such a terrible rider. I will be saddle sore for days to come.
But, at least I was not like a fellow traveler (not my husband) who had a little too much mare's milk and could not get his leg over his mount.