Ongon Borto

Buryats

Irkutsk Guberniya, Balagansky Uyezd

late 19th century

Fur: fur: leather (sheep); wood: larch; metal: iron; fiber: horse hair

length 33.0; width 20.5

Peoples of Siberia and Far East

РЭМ 1635-31

"Ongon" (guardian spirit) is an anthropomorphic image of the elder Borto, who, according to some legends, was a great shaman, according to others - a warrior, leader of the Khangin clan. In the Cis-Baikal region, the veneration of ongon Borto was widespread. He received the respectful epithet Borto ubgen - the elder Borto. Ongon was kept in a yurt and revered as the spirit of the patron ancestor of the Buryats.