Certificate received on registration of cultural heritage in UNESCO list

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A ceremony took place on Friday in the Central Palace of Culture to welcome the certificate on registration of the complex rituals of Mongolia for tending livestock, the "Coaxing Ritual for Baby Camels", which has been inscribed in the UNESCO List of Heritage of Intangible Cultural Pieces in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO L.Purevsuren made the opening remarks at the ceremony and received the certificate from Mr L.Gantomor, the Minister of Education, Culture and Science. The FM thanked a team that performed the nomination works and people of Omnogobi aimag who keep the traditions, and granted them copies of the certificate. The decision on registering the cultural piece of Mongolia was made at the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held from November 30 to December 4 of 2015 in Windhoek city of Namibia. Mongol herders perform the coaxing ritual to encourage a female camel to accept a new-born calf or to adopt an orphan. The mother is tied close to the calf and a singer begins a monotone song accompanied by gestures and chanting. The coaxer changes the melody depending on the mother’s behavior, which may be initially aggressive, and slowly coaxes her into accepting the calf. Performance of the ritual takes place at dusk or twilight and requires great skill in handling camels, as well as talent for singing and musical skill on the horse head fiddle or flute. Most herdswomen engage in techniques and methods of coaxing, but professional coaxers may be enlisted to undertake the ritual when a singer or musician is unavailable within the local community. The ritual acts as a symbolic medium for creating and maintaining social ties among individual nomadic families and their community. It is transmitted from parents and elders to youth through home tutoring. Changes in the social and cultural environment, however, have negatively affected its viability. Today, motorcycles are preferred to camels as a means of transportation, and increasing migration to urban centers has diminished the number of young herders. The number of cultural bearers is therefore decreasing rapidly as new generations lose touch with their traditional ties to pastoral husbandry.